driving situation we've all been in

[RyanD]

people round here dont seem to think so

[deevergote]

this isn't possible for everyone, but I try to arrange my life and work and where I live so that I rarely drive in bumper to bumper traffic

actually, I live close to work now so I only drive for fun. I put 2000 miles on my car in exactly 6 months.

I agree with what Deeve said about "people playing a traffic cop" . Meaning if somebody is speeding, I will get in the slow lane and let them pass WAY before they get close to me - this kind of driving avoids many problems. First of all, somebody could truly be in a hurry (as in somebody is dying or they are late for the most important interview of their life - while it is rarely the case, it is still possible) Second, by avoiding "playing traffic cop" you are avoiding them getting mad and you getting mad. By playing with other drivers on the road, you are NOT going to teach them anything - once you truly understand that, you start driving differently and avoid all sorts of dangerous situations.

One of my observations when comparing russian drivers to americans is that in Russia when somebody wants to go fast - they just pass you and don't bother you if you don't fuck with them. In the US, on the other hand, people will purposely ride your ass and try to mess with you if they feel that you aren't driving as fast as they would like you to... and this will happen even when there is enough room for them to pass you and be on their way. I don't think there is anything wrong with passing in the oncoming lane IF you are truly in a hurry or if you are already breaking the law by speeding and don't care.

As for the situation described, if I am person "a"... it depends.. I mean if you are in a 911 and person "b" is in a big truck and with a bunch of friends, are you really going to risk your nice car being scratched and then going through the trouble of fixing it as opposed to just saying fuck it and letting them go? I don't look at it as a lose-lose situation because you don't really lose anything. Unless you are worried about your ego, then you need to go in a different way about driving to satisfy those needs - including what kind of vehicle you drive.

I do the same... I avoid traffic and congested roads as much as possible. I drive for a living, so I'm ALWAYS on the road... so I do my best to take alternate routes. I'd rather be driving further and longer than sitting idly in traffic.

I'll also move for anyone that's clearly going faster than me. Though if some toolbag is cutting off every car behind me, weaving through traffic, I MIGHT be the asshole that ensures he doesn't have a gap... just because. I usually try to do it near a known police hiding place, and open a gap just in time for him to go flying past a cop. It hasn't worked yet, though.

[cloudasc]

Though I WILL give you the finger if you wash your windshield in front of me at 60mph...

ROFLMAO, I wish you could have seen what happened the other day. Some douchebag did that to me on the highway, so I had to run my window washers to clear off their dirty fluid, and then in my rear view mirror I see the person behind me turn on their wipers, and then the person behind them turned on their wipers, and I presume it went on and on and on .

As for the op's original post, out here in houston, the merge on to the highway is where you run into your situation. I will tailgate the person in front of me so that someone won't be able to cut in, then most of the time they speed ahead, and cut the person off in front of me, or they lets every cutting douche canoe in.

Then theres the asshats that will run you off the road / sideswipe / merge directly into you. What really pisses me off, is when a two lane road has road construction, and most of the people line up in the unclosed lane, and the fucktards go speeding down the other lane that forces them to merge. Its the dickheads that speed past, and cut in at the last minute is why the traffic is even backing up / going slow in the first place. If the stupid shits would just get in line, the merge would be so much easier.

Theres also the idiots who put you in their blindspot, and then start to change lanes into you, so you honk the horn, they continue cutting you off, so you hold down your horn, and they proceed to come to a complete stop in the middle of a highway, causing a Semi behind you to start driving on the shoulder to avoid ramming into you.

Then theres the people that because you changed lanes from behind someone (I signalled) thats doing 30 in a 40mph zone, and they come up out of nowhere in their big ass truck doing 70mph riding your ass (while your already going 45), so I did a fast (get off my ass) brake check, that must of riled them up, and when they get a chance to pull up beside me they proceed to make the hand shape of a gun, and their thumb is the hammer motion at me. I'm like "Really? What are you 10? Point the real thing at me and see what happens".

EDIT: It feels so good to get that off my chest.

[crazymikey]

If I'm "person A", that means A is the first letter of the alphabet, so technically I'm number 1, so fuck everyone else.

I've turned into a real asshole driver where I live now because people here are so damn retarded at driving, I just get angry at pretty much every driver I encounter on the road. Move bitch, get out the way.

[MikeW]

chocolate starfish

I'm with Deev, in that, if it's blatantly obvious that they're lost or needed to get off quickly, and I hadn't been waiting long, I'd let them in. But if saw them jump out of line or they have that " Let's see which one of these suckers will let me in" look, then no I won't let them in.

However, as person a, which I've been, I would know my roads and their distances. There were roads like that where I used to live. 2 lanes would converge into one lane after a mile or two. I'd get in the merging lane only if I knew I could pass the first or second person. There was a time or two where I couldn't and I looked like an idiot but I don't care.

It's kinda like people getting ON the highway; every on ramp has a YIELD sign. That means that as YOU'RE getting on the highway, you must yield to ME who is already on the highway. But when you dont, or can't, let someone in, they honk or whatever. FUCK you. You were in the wrong.

[deevergote]

I hate when people who DO have the right away try to be "nice" and let you go. That just creates confusion. I'm not expecting them to let me go, so I don't react quickly. When I do realize what they're doing, they often change their mind... and then we almost collide.

If you have the right of way, freakin' TAKE IT. If you do not have the right of way, freakin' YIELD!
And if you're behind someone who is yielding, FREAKIN' DON'T REAR END THEIR GODDAMN CTS-V!

That is all.

[MikeW]

If I'm on the highway, have the right of way, and can get over, I will. Obviously if I can't, I can't. But there are those times where I just feel like exercising my right of way. Does that make me a dick? Maybe. Maybe not. #nofucksgiven

[deevergote]

If you have the right of way, it shouldn't be an issue. It's not a dick move to take the right of way when you have it. As long as you're not intentionally timing it so the person then has NO chance to get out in the foreseeable future (I've done that to people that thought they could nose their way in front of me... but that was simply returning their selfishness, not initiating my own!)

[h22sparkle]

If I'm person "a", and I can tell that person "b" is doing it intentionally to keep from waiting in line (as I did), I would be pissed, and probably block them. If they were clearly clueless and made a mistake, I'd probably call them a dumbass as I let them in (literally... window down, dumbass proclamation made quite audibly.)
If I was person "b", it would certainly be by accident, as I never do douchebag "me first" maneuvers when driving. In that case, I'll usually pull up next to "a" and try to make eye contact. Sort of asking permission rather than just trying to push ahead. If they intentionally avoid my gaze, I'll simply cut them off.

In a similar situation, one that happened to me today (and often happens at least once a week...) when lanes merge and traffic is heavy, the car in the lead has the right of way, regardless of which lane ends. If my bumper is an inch ahead of yours you yield to me. Right? And vice versa. Anyway, there's always some tool that wants to ride the bumper of the guy in front of him to try to push me out of his way. I usually stand my ground in this case, and today I ended up causing this assmonger in a Benz to curb his wheels. I will often yell "who's car is worth more?" in a situation like that!

I would do the same shit too, Me personally I get the option and I let them through that way I get to watch them try it on the next person and fail when they crash or scrape up a car. But you never know they may be in an emergency to a certain degree.

If they ask nicely then I let them go. But you get your occasional assholes too. I signaled and the guy just looked at me and proceeded to block me I go around him and drove slow he tried to dip around me and got clipped.

I put it in reverse looked at him and looked ahead and drove off slowly hey what can I say he did it to himself. If your going to play the dip and dive game look before you do it.

[stevediraddo]

http://www.drivernark.com/dick/

When people drive like a dick around me, I drive like a dick right back. If they are coming from an onramp or something sure I will let them in, but if I see them intentionally try to bypass the traffic, fuck them.

[deevergote]

"Nothing like driving and having a conversation about big tits with someone you secretly want to punch in the face."