Signs of a ****** driver

[rasta]

When you're cruising along, scanning all the cars around and in front of you, what are some signs you see that warn of a ****** driver? Of course, we can all see jerkoffs on their cell phone, but what else? I have two big ones......people that leave their blinker on and people that haven't turned their headlights on when they should be. You have to be so careless to do those two, so when I see 'em, I can only wonder what stupid **** the driver might end up doing

[Bentley813]

People that don't turn their blinkers off, following the person in front of them too closely, not turning off high beams - although that's tougher to tell with all these HIDs nowadays.

Not necessarily sh!tty driving, but I'm also weary of people talking with other people in the car. I almost go ran off the road in my car a few years ago because the four people in the SUV next to me were singing or something and paying no attention to me.

[flitecontrol]

If you haven't read them, David Hough's books, Proficient Motorcycling, and More Proficient Motorcycling, do a good job covering this topic. Lots of other good info in them as well.

[adouglas]

The blinker thing isn't so much a sign of sh*tty driving as it is a sign of inattention. It doesn't hurt anyone.

Lousy driving includes:

• Failure to stay in lane (or crowding the other lane)
• Overly aggressive driving (not tailgating so much as treating traffic like a slalom ski run)
• Sudden moves like dive bombing the exit ramp from the center lane
• Failure to yield right of way
• Failure to TAKE right of way when it's yours
• Failure to drive at more or less the pace of traffic (either WAY too fast or too slow)
• Twitches (like when the driver's been texting and suddenly realizes he's drifting into the other lane)
• Constantly tapping the brakes (often due to tailgating, but not always)
• The slow weave from one edge of the lane to the other (often due to texting)
• Driver obviously doing something else in the car (like when you look through the back window and see them futzing with something in the passenger seat)

Signs of inattention include

• Failure to turn on headlights in the dark (common in cars that have both daytime running lights AND dashboards that light up even in daytime)
• Leaving the blinker on
• Driving side-by-side with another car at the same speed rather than getting out of the passing lane (real pet peeve of mine)
• Failure to move over when flashed to pass, even when they can (this usually results in getting passed on the right, a firm move back into the passing lane to get their attention and a polite "move over next time" finger point)

[ally99]

Originally Posted by adouglas

[*]Driver obviously doing something else in the car (like when you look through the back window and see them futzing with something in the passenger seat)
[*]Driving side-by-side with another car at the same speed rather than getting out of the passing lane (real pet peeve of mine)[*]Failure to move over when flashed to pass, even when they can (this usually results in getting passed on the right, a firm move back into the passing lane to get their attention and a polite "move over next time" finger point)[/LIST]

YESSSS, pet peeve of mine too. Slow drivers in the left lane.

Andrew pretty much covered all of em, but I profile cars too...I won't open the can of who I profile and why, but I'm very wary of certain types of drivers and vehicles.

[DEFY]

Beater cars, cars that look as if they have been in a demo derby. I try to park far away from these people and stay away from them on the road. If you don't care to take care of your vehicle probably safe to say that your a sh*tty driver.

[antiant]

• Braking in corners or braking before you enter some type of turning lane

• Drivers who go way below the speed limit, creating a trail of cars behind them

• Drivers who don't use their blinkers at all

• Drivers throwing things out of their window (sunflower seeds, cigarette butts, etc)

• Drivers who don't plan their route ahead of time, then crowd everyone else for their last minute decisions.

[ez12a]

people that like to brake for no apparent reason.

people that try making a right turn as you approach to squeeze in. Even if there's an empty lane next to you that they're going to use, it creates a hazardous situation.

[tfkrocks]

Slow drivers in the left lane piss me off the most

[csmith12]

A driver that merges at a significantly slower speed than the pace of the traffic they are merging with.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by csmith12

A driver that merges at a significantly slower speed than the pace of the traffic they are merging with.

What's even worse is if you're stuck behind them and have to merge too, I'm not comfortable with the concept of merging slower. My brain doesn't work that way, I see merging options far more clearly if they're in front of me rather than behind me.

I'm also peeved by the drivers who toss **** out of their window but that's not the biggest issue, Whenever I actually get hit by a cigarette that's still burning I just pull up beside the car and casually show them a birdie before going back to my position or gunning it.

[250rr]

This may get me in trouble. So be it. Keep in mind that my car while I was a poor college student was a Chevrolet Vega Estate Wagon. Forest Green with fake wood siding and a lime-green-rattle-can painted front left fender that was originally red and pulled from a junk yard. You can't get any lower than that, trust me.

I am very cautious around cars that are, shall we say, in need of repair. Mostly because I fear these folks can't afford insurance. And I have had three people run into me that didn't have insurance. (One rear-ended my dream car.) Nothing scares me more than someone who thinks they have nothing to lose. You would think not having insurance would make you more careful. Think again.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by ally99

I won't open the can of who I profile and why, but I'm very wary of certain types of drivers and vehicles.

Does this mean you profile drivers of certain ethnicities?

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by rasta

When you're cruising along, scanning all the cars around and in front of you, what are some signs you see that warn of a ****** driver?.........

Bad drivers are abundant, but I try staying 100% alert about the really dangerous situations that some of them can create for me.
It is vital to identify those situations during the first seconds of development, while we still have time to plan a escape route or an evasive action.
I can only achieve that degree of alertness when my mind is silent and tranquil, state that is (at least for me) unreachable while I am observing, comparing and judging other drivers.

Just scanning and refraining from mentally discussing things is equivalent to have the front brake's lever covered.

On the same note, bad driving has the common factor of absent minds, reason for which, it comes in any form and personality: tourist trying to find an address, mothers in a hurry to pick up students, contractors running to meet a deadline, intoxicated people, unemployed people going to an interview, a father who just received a distressful call, etc.
Not every soul that must drive likes or excels at doing it.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by rasta

Does this mean you profile drivers of certain ethnicities?

everyone is a bad driver until proven a good driver (rare) when you're riding. A lot of people profile by ethnicity, unfortunately it holds true a lot of the time. But that's only because you profile for bad drivers and almost everyone sucks at driving

[Alex]

All of the above is on my list as well. In addition, I find myself checking the plate. The way license plates are handed out sequentially here in CA, it's easy to know from the plate about when it was issued. When I see a new plate on an old piece of crap car, I've already put them in the high risk bucket (almost certainly no insurance, no assets to worry about).

[ally99]

Originally Posted by rasta

Does this mean you profile drivers of certain ethnicities?

As stated, I won't open that can. Just that I do, and more times than not, I'm glad that I did.

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by rasta

Does this mean you profile drivers of certain ethnicities?

its socioeconomicism not racism. people don't understand the difference and it sincerely pisses me off.

that guy who drives a ****** car and looks like he is twacked out is going to be a ****** driver. regardless of the color of his skin. it just so happens that certain areas, certain ethnicities are more prevalent in specific socioeconomic categories. stop trying to call the racism card, i'm tired of hearing it when its not there.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by alex.s

its socioeconomicism not racism. people don't understand the difference and it sincerely pisses me off.

that guy who drives a ****** car and looks like he is twacked out is going to be a ****** driver. regardless of the color of his skin. it just so happens that certain areas, certain ethnicities are more prevalent in specific socioeconomic categories. stop trying to call the racism card, i'm tired of hearing it when its not there.

Not sure that's what the other post was referencing, but I see your point

[alex.s]

Originally Posted by Alex

new plate on an old piece of crap car

this is actually a really great point.

[adouglas]

Originally Posted by 250rr

This may get me in trouble. So be it. Keep in mind that my car while I was a poor college student was a Chevrolet Vega Estate Wagon. Forest Green with fake wood siding and a lime-green-rattle-can painted front left fender that was originally red and pulled from a junk yard.

I'd rock that car like a boss!

[Bob2010]

Next time you see a girl looking down at her phone while driving , lay on the horn - watch them freak out

[rasta]

I like brake checking texters when I'm in my cage

[antiant]

Almost got into a head on today because...

• People who can't drive in their own lane. (Happens a lot on mountain/rural roads)

What's worse is when you're stuck and can't move, or have no exit on the side. It's harder to detect, if they're coming from a blind corner.

[rasta]

Originally Posted by antiant

Almost got into a head on today because...

• People who can't drive in their own lane. (Happens a lot on mountain/rural roads)

What's worse is when you're stuck and can't move, or have no exit on the side. It's harder to detect, if they're coming from a blind corner.

Where were you?

[antiant]

Originally Posted by rasta

Where were you?

I was on the road about to enter the turn (I was in my car btw). This turn has a bridge and railing. The lady was going pretty fast around the corner, tipped into my lane and caught herself just in time to correct it. It was a close call. I was able to react in time to honk my horn, so maybe that caught her attention, I don't know. I had no room for an exit. I am always scanning for exit points, just in case there is trouble, but there are some stretches of road, where there is no room.

[Tigerpaw]

I don't trust any cage on the road.

Biggest pet peeve is, not using turn signals.

[Whiskey]

• Slow mergers
• side by siders,
• braking in corners,
• one headlight out,
• crowding out the merging point
• Tailgating
• half way across the lane coming around blind corners
• ******s in little ****boxes
• ****s in bigger ****boxes
• Fat ****s in large german saloons

[rasta]

Originally Posted by antiant

I was on the road about to enter the turn (I was in my car btw). This turn has a bridge and railing. The lady was going pretty fast around the corner, tipped into my lane and caught herself just in time to correct it. It was a close call. I was able to react in time to honk my horn, so maybe that caught her attention, I don't know. I had no room for an exit. I am always scanning for exit points, just in case there is trouble, but there are some stretches of road, where there is no room.

Yeah....cars coming into our lane is one reason twisty roads are always a risk

[alex.s]

here's the thing-

everyone driving slower than you's a ****in idiot and everyone driving faster than you is a god damn insane asshole.

the truth is everyone's a ****** driver. and if they aren't, they will be at some point

[csmith12]

Originally Posted by rasta

Yeah....cars coming into our lane is one reason twisty roads are always a risk

Like this?



I went back to find the driver was...

[Tigerpaw]

^^^ For no apparent reason ^^^

[alex.s]

the driver was ray charles?! did you ask for an autograph?!?! i thought he was dead

[Kevin1956]

What is it about people who drive a Prius? I'm to the point where I see one and prepare myself for a panic situation. Biggest head in the butt drivers ever.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by alex.s

the driver was ray charles?! did you ask for an autograph?!?! i thought he was dead

Seriously, I'm mad jelly. Ray Charles is the man, What I wouldn't give to get to meet him!

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Kevin1956

What is it about people who drive a Prius? I'm to the point where I see one and prepare myself for a panic situation. Biggest head in the butt drivers ever.

That may be in California, ....... in Florida, all of them have switched to Acura's.

I stop and dismount each time I see a black Acura near me.

[Sirref]

Originally Posted by Motofool

That may be in California, ....... in Florida, all of them has switched to Acura's.

I stop and dismount each time I see a black Acura near me.

Is that because of the age difference? the elder generation would likely care more about luxury (assuming that they can get it, which they likely can if they saved their money right) than about "saving the planet" I believe that I would find riding in florida to be rather stressful since I would have to be more alert of the cars behind me in addition to the ones in front of me. That's a state where I would filter at every light to make sure that I'm not getting rear ended. Or are my fears unfounded as I've never driven/ridden in florida?

[rasta]

Originally Posted by Kevin1956

What is it about people who drive a Prius? I'm to the point where I see one and prepare myself for a panic situation. Biggest head in the butt drivers ever.

Great call on that one! I'm still convinced I've yet to see a Prius drive the speed limit

[Motofool]

Originally Posted by Sirref

.........That's a state where I would filter at every light to make sure that I'm not getting rear ended. Or are my fears unfounded as I've never driven/ridden in florida?

However, filtering is forbidden down here.

Yes, we have the whole range of drivers: the texting teenager, the anxious soccer mom, the arrogant contractor, the evening drunk, the slow octogenarian; including the Northern drivers and Canadian tourists looking for directions and getting a break from the brutal winter.

Riding without colliding is doable in South Florida, but you must be fearless and extra alert.

[alex.s]

minivans
florida plates
first gen prius
those little stickers of your family on the back, including pets
trucks with a driver wearing a cowboy hat after 7pm
anyone wearing a scarf
convertibles with the top down
anyone at rushhour