Crazy Driver Stories

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
Look, I'm not talking about the guys who want to go fast when it's reasonable, I'm talking about the lane swerving d-bags that push people out of the way to get 2 car lengths ahead in heavy traffic.
Follow my thinking here - if you move right to get out of my way, then I don't have to swerve around you and pass on the right.
 

Mike in Anchorage

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2009
Location
Anchorage, AK
TDI
2016 Touareg Lux, 2015 Golf Sportwagen SE, new 4 Sept 2017;2009 VW Jetta TDI Sportwagen (Ruby) sold to VW on 22 SEP 2017
While I am thinking of stories with me on my motorcycle . . .

There have been a couple of occasions where I pull up to a 4-way stop sign, other drivers came to a stop before I did, and they attempt to wave me through the intersection as a courtesy. Even if I make eye contact with the drivers, I sit immobile until they move on, as you cannot yield the right of way. There has been two separate occasions where an uncomfortable length of time went by where the other driver kept on waving me to move into the intersection. On those two occasions, I put my bike on the kickstand, walked over to the driver in the other car, and told them "You cannot yield the right of way. It is a basic rule of the road. Smooth flowing and predictable traffic depends on the right of way to avoid accidents. Commanding me to go first when you have the right of way creates confusion due to unpredictable traffic. YOU CANNOT YIELD THE RIGHT OF WAY!"
Similar to those of us who are cyclists, the pedal type. In Anchorage this summer, those who make rules tried to modify them so that a cyclist or pedestrian in a crosswalk who is crossing properly with the light would always be guilty if hit by a car. Yes, you read that correctly. The auto driver would NEVER be at fault for hitting someone in a crosswalk, even if the crosswalk light said it was time to cross. Wouldn't that produce some wild driving habits? Fortunately the bill got dropped.
 

1tdi

Veteran Member
Joined
Mar 21, 2004
Location
CT
TDI
Jetta 99.5 Black
I was leaving a parking lot when i stopped to make a left turn, a new chevy suburban drove accross (it had the right of way), as it pulls far enough away i left off the clutch, and as i do this i hear a Crash, and a second after that i hear a burnout followed by a louder crash, as roll up to see what happened, a lady in a BMW wagon backed out of her spot without looking into this suburban, then somehow put the car in drive and floored it and knocked the X5 that was parked in front of her out of the spot completley. She got out of her car looking as if she **** herself. I laughed, and texted my buddy what happened. Scary part is that she is still allowed to drive.
 

nate379

Veteran Member
Joined
Jun 8, 2010
Location
Palmer, AK
TDI
05 Jetta
The Anchorage laws that are current are junk though.

My friend STOPS at a stoplight. 20-25 secs later a guy on a bike hauling butt slammed into the side of his Jeep. Hard enough to break off a mirror and dent the door and fender

Friend almost lost his job and house over it. The law found him 100% guilty even though he was not even moving. In other words according to the judge if I took a bike and plowed into a parked car, they would be liable.



Similar to those of us who are cyclists, the pedal type. In Anchorage this summer, those who make rules tried to modify them so that a cyclist or pedestrian in a crosswalk who is crossing properly with the light would always be guilty if hit by a car. Yes, you read that correctly. The auto driver would NEVER be at fault for hitting someone in a crosswalk, even if the crosswalk light said it was time to cross. Wouldn't that produce some wild driving habits? Fortunately the bill got dropped.
 

That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
Ya...that law makes lots of sense....politicians:rolleyes:

I saw a guy get creamed just yesterday.

Again...some moron kid who's driving across/through a line of stopped traffic. Who doesn't look to see what's coming in the lane just beyond....and Bam!

He gets hammered by a 3/4 ton tuck. Air bags deployed and all that...but it looked to be a relatively low impact hit and a glancing one as the guy in the truck had pretty good reflexes...braked and swerved...so it was a glancing blow. Truck seemed okay but the car's a write-off. Expensive lessen to learn...as well as messing up the day for the guy in the truck.
 

sirpuddingfoot

Veteran Member
Joined
May 14, 2010
Location
Seattle, WA
TDI
05 Passat, 05 Jetta
Follow my thinking here - if you move right to get out of my way, then I don't have to swerve around you and pass on the right.
A: I'm not the left lane rolling road block, I'll slow down and move over to let you pass, even if I was already going 15 over.
B: I'm watching people move through traffic behind me and judging them based on that. Do you not drive through heavy 4+ lane traffic and notice that there are idiots moving 20+ mph faster than traffic causing people to slam on their brakes as they swerve through traffic? If that's not you, then I'm not blocking you. Jebuz.
 

2004Nick

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2004
Location
Powell River, BC
TDI
2004 Jetta TDI Wagon
This is good fun, guys, but maybe you need to hear my Grandfather's poem:
HEAR LIDES THE BODY OF JULIAN GREY,
WHO DIED DEFENDING HIS RIGHT OF WAY
HE WAS RIGHT (DEAD RIGHT) AS HE SPED ALONG
BUT HE'S JUST AS DEAD AS IF HE'D BEEN WRONG! No Kidding. :eek:
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
Do you not drive through heavy 4+ lane traffic and notice that there are idiots moving 20+ mph faster than traffic
No one in traffic moves faster than me. I ride a motorcycle about 60% of the time, and my defensive driving has to consist of being an Alpha Driver in traffic so as to avoid incompetent drivers from maiming or killing me. If I don't drive offensively I put myself in serious jeopardy. I do not, however, drive like an idiot. I stay left, I don't make unnecessary abrupt lane changes. However, when I flash high beams to pass, and people don't move right to give way, I pass right of them when I get an opening, or I pass left in the breakdown lane of a controlled access divided lane highway.
 

That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
I've got another one from this morning.

I'm cruising along in the far right lane of a four lane road.

Some old guy in a old gray/white Ford Tempo pops out of a lot or side road on the left and shoots all the way across to my lane in front of me. My wife says "look out!" and I had to slam on the brakes....to make it worse he promptly puts on his brakes and slows down.:eek:

We passed him and made our displeasure clear. :mad:

He didn't even need to be in that lane. He traveled along it for some time. So what was the big rush to get over there. Traffic wasn't even that heavy. Not to mention that that move wasn't legal.
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
On my commute to work on the George Washington Parkway, there is a crosswalk for a bike/jogging path that crosses the Parkway. This particular crosswalk has stop signs facing the bike/jogging paths so the users of the path are supposed to yield to traffic careening down the Parkway (speed limit is an anemic 40 MPH, but drivers regularly do 60 MPH). I have seen accidents where a driver attempts to stop by slamming on their brakes on the Parkway to let cyclists or joggers cross, and the driver gets rear ended.

But this irks me. Cyclists and joggers routinely just dart out into the crosswalk without yielding to traffic (they have a stop sign). This happened to me this morning as I was about 40 feet from the crosswalk. I just did not bother to slow down (even though I saw the jogger just run into the crosswalk as he looked at me) and I acted as if I did not see him and just kept my speed constant. I came about 10 feet from smacking him as he crosses my path. He gets pissed off and flips me off. He has the stop sign!

--Nate
 

Sayray24

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 5, 2010
Location
Olney, IL
TDI
1998 VW Jetta
i got one. about a week ago i was getting ready to pass a semi. i was in the left lane on interstate 70 westbound in indiana (two lanes each direction) when 2 motorcycles flew up on my right. i sped up to close the gap on the semi (i was already within a car length) and the first bike shoots through. then after i was even with the semi the second drives in-between me and the the truck. if i had drifted toward the truck at all he would have been toast.
 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
i got one. about a week ago i was getting ready to pass a semi. i was in the left lane on interstate 70 westbound in indiana (two lanes each direction) when 2 motorcycles flew up on my right. i sped up to close the gap on the semi (i was already within a car length) and the first bike shoots through. then after i was even with the semi the second drives in-between me and the the truck. if i had drifted toward the truck at all he would have been toast.
It's called lane splitting and legal in a couple states.
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
But this irks me. Cyclists and joggers routinely just dart out into the crosswalk without yielding to traffic (they have a stop sign).
A lot of idiot kids at the local college do this. I just increase my speed about 3-5 mph to really mess with their timing, and lay on the horn to get their butts moving. Again, this mostly happens with me on my motorcycle. If they are extremely lackadaisical and arrogant pedestrians, and I get close enough, I smack the frappucinos out of their hands as I ride by.
 

GoFaster

Moderator at Large
Joined
Jun 16, 1999
Location
Brampton, Ontario, Canada
TDI
2006 Jetta TDI
Some old guy in a old gray/white Ford Tempo pops out of a lot or side road on the left and shoots all the way across to my lane in front of me. My wife says "look out!" and I had to slam on the brakes....to make it worse he promptly puts on his brakes and slows down.:eek:

We passed him and made our displeasure clear. :mad:

He didn't even need to be in that lane. He traveled along it for some time. So what was the big rush to get over there. Traffic wasn't even that heavy. Not to mention that that move wasn't legal.
When I am on my motorcycle, I try to time things so that if there is another vehicle turning into my travel direction, that I don't arrive side-by-side with them, to avoid this very thing from happening. I have had people do violent corrections in response to a quick "I'm here" toot of the horn.

Contributions from the last couple of days. Last night, I'm riding with a buddy, approaching a traffic light (green), we're in the right lane of two lanes in this direction and there is traffic waiting at the light to turn right (into our direction). Front car in line starts going (and my friend saw this, and changed lanes to the left!) then the driver saw us and slammed on the brakes with the nose of the car halfway into our lane. Car driver behind him saw the front car start moving but didn't see the front car stop. Bang!

BOTH of those drivers were guilty of not paying attention ... not being adequately aware of their surroundings ...

Then today's event. City traffic in Toronto; moderately heavy but moving. Chevy Trailblazer up ahead was showing signs of impatience, then ducked left towards a side street ... failing to notice the teenage pedestrian who was in the process of walking across the street that the driver was about to turn onto! The pedestrian jumped out of the way and the dumb driver stopped at the last moment but it was VERY close to being a pedestrian hit.

Pedestrians are approx 50% of the traffic fatalities in Toronto.
 

That Guy

Veteran Member
Joined
Jan 23, 2009
Location
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
TDI
2001 MKiv Golf TDI
Those automated cars at the DARPA challenges might be a solution some day....excluding any computer glitches.;)

Although... I hate being a passenger so I hope there's an overide.

Most people might perfer them because they are easy. If most people let their cars do the driving, the uncertainty and surprise factors of every day driving should diminish greatly....which should make for a more enjoyable drive for the rest of us.

And I can take a nap if I want to on those extra crappy workday mornings too.:cool:
 

CNDTDI

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2008
Location
near Ottawa, Canada
TDI
2012 jetta tdi 6m
I am guilty of doing what I call slingshot, when I notice another young driver, I give her till I hit the speed limit ans watch as the other guy doing his macho thing, and doing 20-30 km/h over the limit while I do my 10 km/h over still legal.

as for retarded morning traffic I'm going the opposite way as i just finish work at 7:30 am so I never have to see traffic :D and makes me very happy as I would kill someone if i had to do it (even with what little Ottawa gets for traffic)
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
I was driving on Hwy 14 just north of L.A. I was the head of a pack of cars and was doing between 75 and 80 mph. I saw 2 cars about 5 people standing on the right shoulder but didn't think anything of it. I was in the fast lane with 2 lanes to my right and a carpool lane on my left.
When I was within 500 feet, one of the guys runs into the traffic lanes and stops right in front of me. I hit the brakes and jumped into the carpool lane on my left without even looking. That was the craziest thing ever. As I kept going I watched in my rearview him just keep standing there and traffic come to a stop.
People standing in the road = SPEEDBUMPS

After having lived a few years in a ghetto, I have learned a few things to keep in mind. My father and uncle both spent time in Vietnam, and taught me "To survive in life you need to be courteous, polite, and professional; but have a plan to kill everyone you meet."

If someone is blocking the progress of your car, you ALWAYS need to be on edge and ready to run them over at a split-second notice. Why? They might be standing in the middle of the road (with a group on the side) to rob or carjack you.

 

velociT

Top Post Dawg
Joined
May 10, 2006
Location
Not Austin, TX
TDI
06 Jetta TDI *sold*
If someone is blocking the progress of your car, you ALWAYS need to be on edge and ready to run them over at a split-second notice. Why? They might be standing in the middle of the road (with a group on the side) to rob or carjack you.
Very true.

If it's me or a thief, it's gonna be thief lasagna ala road .
 

gburner

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 21, 2008
Location
Arlington, Tx.
TDI
2003 jetta
20+ mph

In most states here in the USA if you get caught going 20+ mph over the speed limit they can take you directly to jail no questions asked !!!:eek:
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
In most states here in the USA if you get caught going 20+ mph over the speed limit they can take you directly to jail no questions asked !!!:eek:
Around here the jails are usually at 120% capacity or higher. If any LE officer brings someone to jail for less than a felony, the sheriff will refuse to admit them.
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
http://www.pantagraph.com/news/stat...cle_b10a8b86-ba96-11df-8d68-001cc4c002e0.html

Here is the local news article about how the fines for traffic infractions are going up starting 15 SEP. In the article they all but admit that it is purely to generate more revenue.

This is pure awesome: "Under a new state law that took effect in June, an additional $15 per ticket issued would go into a fund meant to stave off layoffs of state troopers as the state grapples with a $13 billion budget gap. That fund is expected to generate about $22 million a year, said state Rep. Jim Sacia, a Pecatonica Republican who sponsored the bill."

Not-so-subtle message to state troopers: get out there and write tickets and you might keep your job.
 

SpamJ

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 6, 2001
Location
Cable, MN
TDI
Jetta Wagon 2002 Silver
Not legal anywhere in the US, just not illegal in CA, I have done some lane splitting on a Gold Wing in California, not for the faint hearted. I never hang near semi's, seen what a tire will do when it blows. Golden Rule works on the road.
 

MrMopar

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Mar 1, 2003
Location
Bloomington, IL
TDI
none
Not legal anywhere in the US, just not illegal in CA
Being a motorcycle operator puts you in a special class of operators (like nuclear reactor operators, aviation pilots, and masters of ships at sea). Being a motorcycle operator means you have authority to disregard laws and regulations to take reasonable action that departs from a licensed condition when such action is immediately needed to protect the health and safety of yourself and passengers and no action consistent with license conditions that can provide adequate or equivalent protection is immediately apparent.

Motorcycle operators are free to:
- disregard traffic control devices
- depart from standard lane markings
- use lanes of pavement typically closed to traffic (breakdown lanes)
- disregard any other law or regulation that they deem necessary for safe operation of their vehicle

Such a wide authority is necessary by virtue of being surrounded by inattentive clowns in cars who MAIM and KILL hundreds of motorcyclists each year. Vigilance and hubris are often the only defense that motorcyclists have when they take to pavement each day.
 

Power_Not_Speed

Veteran Member
Joined
Feb 18, 2008
Location
Nicaragua
TDI
2006 Jetta
Follow my thinking here - if you move right to get out of my way, then I don't have to swerve around you and pass on the right.

I stay left, I don't make unnecessary abrupt lane changes. However, when I flash high beams to pass, and people don't move right to give way, I pass right of them when I get an opening, or I pass left in the breakdown lane of a controlled access divided lane highway.


Being a motorcycle operator puts you in a special class of operators (like nuclear reactor operators, aviation pilots, and masters of ships at sea). Being a motorcycle operator means you have authority to disregard laws and regulations to take reasonable action that departs from a licensed condition when such action is immediately needed to protect the health and safety of yourself and passengers and no action consistent with license conditions that can provide adequate or equivalent protection is immediately apparent.


Motorcycle operators are free to:
- disregard traffic control devices
- depart from standard lane markings
- use lanes of pavement typically closed to traffic (breakdown lanes)
- disregard any other law or regulation that they deem necessary for safe operation of their vehicle

And from this, we can make what assumption?



I do not, however, drive like an idiot.
Again, wow.
 

TornadoRed

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Aug 3, 2003
Location
West Des Moines (formerly St Paul)
TDI
2003 Jetta TDI wagon, silver; 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, indigo blue; 2003 Golf GL 5-spd, red (PARTED); 2003 Golf GLS 5-spd, indigo blue (SOLD); 2003 Jetta TDI wagon, Candy White (SOLD)
Lane splitting by motorcycles is legal in California, but mainly in stop-and-go traffic. It is not something anyone should do when the lanes are blocked by cars or trucks traveling at 50-60 mph or greater.
 
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