I consider myself a pretty safe and polite driver. Use turn signals, wait my turn, and generally avoid doing anything stupid. I'm not perfect of course, but I try. I normally ignore people when they piss me off as well..... yesterday it just didn't happen. I just wish people would pull their heads out of their asses and drive like they are not the only one on the road.
The big problem with this is everyone has their own opinion about what good driving is - everyone! For everyone who thinks waving others on at a stopsign or stoplight is ash-holey behavior, there will be many more who think that's the right and proper thing to do. My thinking is we're all in this together, the best we can do is be polite and work our way thru traffic as smoothly as we can without disrupting the flow......cause it doesn't matter what you do, someone will think you're doing it wrong. Leave the road rage at home, dispose of your batteries properly, not by throwing them at someone, and motor on - that's my philosophy. Life is short, and then it's over.
I do not live in the City of Filthadelphia "The City Brotherly Love". I live in the burbs 30 min away. That is a nick name from loooooong ago and trust me there is no brotherly love in the city. I try to NEVER EVERY go into the city because it is a Dump. The closest I get is the airport and that is still 15 min from the city via I 95 North.
Sorry this is so long, BUT... It may polite, but it is not proper. There is a prescribed method to a 4 way stop. When one person tries to be polite, it messes up the whole flow and causes problems -- either to the others waiting at the sign waiting for the "polite" driver to move through the intersection (it can be very hard with glare and modern tinting to see drivers waving, etc), or the ones behind the "polite" driver who are trying to get through the stop sign. Just do it by the book and it works. Then we have way too many morons on the road doing anything and everything but what they should be doing -- paying attention and operating their vehicle. Follow the rules, and it is usually a very smooth and easy experience. Start messing with it, and it can be hours before you get out of the mess created by those who are not doing it right. Take today for example. I went to have lunch with my dad. His office is about 20 minutes from my house on a day where traffic isn't being stupid. Today traffic was stupid. First, there was a wreck. Nothing serious, and all the vehicles involved were off the roadway in a turn lane that leads to an uncompleted office park (nobody turns there)... Except the stupid cop who was blocking 3 feet of the RH lane. No reason to be there, just where his car landed when he got there half on the small island and half in one of the 2 the lanes of traffic. All he had to do was pull off 3 more feet and the entire roadway would have been clear. Too much to ask because he was probably on his cell phone until he got out of the car, because every time I see a cop around here, they have a cell phone glued to their head. Traffic is BACKED UP FOR 5 MILES because of the cop, not the accident. Takes me 25 minutes just to get through that mess and I am only halfway there. Then I had to deal with the Left Lane Pokeys. The signs that say SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT are there to keep the passing lane(s) open. Speed limit is 45. The LLP's are doing 40-42 in the LH lane... All it does is slow things up. If you are going to go the same speed as the RH lane, then PLEASE get your sorry ass in it! Every one of the offending LLP's was female and on the phone. I am NOT putting down women, just stating the fact that in this case, they were all women on cell phones (3 of which were in Mercedes, nonetheless. Don't those have Bluetooth, for crying out loud???). So by the time I finally roll into dad's office, it has taken me almost an hour to get 15 miles. Thanks mostly to people's sorry driving. Atlanta's traffic sucks. The roads suck because the whole area is laid out like a wagon wheel, not on a grid. The roads are in serious disrepair which is a mystery to me because we pay OUTRAGEOUS ad valorem taxes on our cars every year (two MINI's in the house cost us over $600 this past week for tag renewals). Then you throw in the street name changes every time a road crosses a city or county line, the utter lack of English spoken in this area, and a healthy dose of simple stupidity, it makes for a driving nightmare. :cryin:
It has gotten to be a game with me... The only ones NOT on the phone are the ones holding the radar/laser. I have only been surprised once where a cop was driving and not on his phone.
Wow! Lots of vented spleens today. Everybody should feel a lot better. Just wanted to stop by and extend condolences and commiserations. We lost our Greta just last year about this time. She was 17 years old. Thank goodness there are still small towns. Heavy traffic here is waiting for a cattle truck to get around a corner or twiddling your thumbs waiting for two cars to clear the intersection. I think I'd slide off my cracker if I had to deal with that big city crap everyday. My old pop had a favorite question when we did drive into the city: "Why the hell does everybody have to be in the same place at the same time?"
I'm sorry about your kitteh. We lost our younger one on Black Friday. Miss the little bugger a lot. OMG, Atlanta traffic is hell. We've driven to Atlanta from OKC for JordanCon and DragonCon (and will again for D-Con this year), all in the MINI. First trip we made the mistake of coming from the north, and hitting the outside of the loop at 7:15am. OMFG. We pulled off and hung out at Dunkin Donuts for an hour. And traffic still sucked! The trip in April was horrible, due to the number of complete numbskulls that apparently receive drivers licenses in the area. I lost count of the number of people who think it was a-ok to drive on the shoulder to pass people, or that use the exit lane to gun it and pass people on the right, only to cut back across the white lines. It was just insane. I didn't think anywhere would ever beat Houston for stupid drivers, but Atlanta has. Pittsburgh was just crazy, but not evil like in Atlanta. lol.
James Taylor had it right......:biggrin5: [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30smAQOfusY"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30smAQOfusY[/ame] Damn this traffic jam How I hate to be late It hurts my motor to go so slow Time I get home my supper'll be cold Damn this traffic jam Well I left my job about 5 o'clock It took fifteen minutes go three blocks Just in time to stand in line With a freeway looking like a parking lot - chorus - Now I almost had a heart attack Looking in my rear view mirror I saw myself the next car back Looking in the rear view mirror 'bout to have a heart attack I said - chorus - Now when I die I don't want no coffin I thought about it all too often Just strap me in behind the wheel And bury me with my automobile - chorus - Damn... Now I used to think that I was cool Running around on fossil fuel Until I saw what I was doing Was driving down the road to ruin
Actually, I believe that this is the taught behavior for LEOs. It is for the protection of stupid people who pull over to the side of the road, but then don't look back to see if a car is about to go past them before flinging the door open. It also provides a bit of a crash barrier for the LEO as he/she walks up to the driver's side window to talk to the driver. Yes... it's a PITA that it happens, but I think that they are taught to block traffic that way to keep an accident scene (or car stopped for a traffic law infraction) safe. What gets me is the people who slow down on the highway to look at an accident on the OTHER SIDE OF THE ROAD. OK... I can understand that you need to slow down if you are driving past an accident scene (Ex: Accident on the right shoulder of the highway and you are in the right-hand lane), but if you are going the opposite direction and there are 8 lanes of traffic plus a median and 2 concrete walls between you and the accident, YOU DON'T NEED TO SLOW DOWN TO TAKE A LOOK. I sat in traffic for 30 minutes the other day while everyone slowed down to look at a Semi truck that had tipped over on the far side of the road. Even the ass who had been parked on the highway right in front of me for 30 minutes tapped his brakes to get a better look, contributing to the problem!