Why are so many people such terrible drivers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's too many cars for the amount of road capacity and/or poor road planning, along with the combo of cars playing Frogger, racing, and weaving through traffic at high speeds and the high/hungover/distracted/new drivers (who are not necessarily teenagers) in both the left and right lanes going 20 mph under the limit. Both of those extremes piss off the majority who are otherwise safe, normal drivers and are just trying to get from point A to point B in peace. So no one is happy and it shows.

Just getting lights synced up would cut road rage. I'm very laid back, but when I hit 4 lights in a row on my way to work, I'm angry. The next person that cuts me off is getting the horn. I'm on the main road too, and the main road should have priority over side streets.

Lights out of sync is a feature, not a fault, in some places (looking at you, City of Alexandria). It's a method of traffic calming i.e. no one can speed or run bicycles over if everyone is waiting through multiple light cycles and then inching along at 5 mph. Agree that it's also a prescription for road rage.

[Anonymous]

...because how you get the drivers license in the US is quite a joke. Also, letting a 16 year old behind a wheel is crazy, crazy, crazy....the US has always been a developing country compared in many regards to Europe and always will be....well except the military.....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Many drivers think that the speed limit is the 'lower' speed which you should drive. In fact, it is the maximum speed limit. They must have gotten that question wrong on the driver's test.

Many? Almost everyone thinks that. If you are driving exactly at the speed limit you are pissing other drivers off. Want to see some road rage? Drive below the speed limit in the left lane

[Anonymous]

I would appreciate if folks used their turn signals and drove onto turning lanes when turning instead of turning from the right lane. I ask so little .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're all on their phones. All. the. time. Literally ppl are texting and driving constantly. I've seen ppl facetiming and driving (not looking @ the actual road of course).

And then there are just really bad drivers who lack any idea.

I was almost run into a few weeks ago by someone literally merging into traffic on Viers Mill Rd from the R without even looking!!! Then she did it again onto 355. I considered reporting her to the police but ppl are so crazy didn't want anyone to potentially target me.

Cellphones are a massive part of it, but a lot of people are just clueless. They leave absurd amounts of spaces between their cars, they park terribly, they make turns like a truck, they don't know how to stop for school buses (either don't stop, or stop when it's on the other side of the median), clog the left lane, take forever to switch lanes or get in the turn lane, and are utterly mindless about simple driving tasks.

I grew up learning to drive in this area, in the 90s. It's not hard. It just takes paying attention and watching your surroundings. Some are on their phones. A lot of people are just spaced out and stupid.

Space between cars (following distance) is extremely important and following too closely a major cause of collisions, especially when distracted.

Distractions are a huge problem. So is the “me first, everybody else is just a hologram” mindset that seems to have become the norm. But too many cars and not enough road is also a root cause.

PP here - I'm not necessarily talking about while driving, but stopped at a light. You do not (and should not) leave an entire car's length between the vehicle in front of you. You are wasting road space and creating needless traffic. It doesn't mean 6" from their bumper, but a couple of feet is plenty. Not 15 feet.

That’s fine until you are plowed into from behind and hit the car in front of you. You are liable too in some states.

[Anonymous]

Cell phones are a huge part of the explanation. I'm amazed at how many people don't even try to hide the fact that they are staring at their screen instead of the road. On the highway!

[Anonymous]

And it would be nice if people who merge on highways would understand that they don’t have the right of way and cannot simply ride the taper down and expect to slide in. I change lanes when I see people about to merge but not everyone is in a position to do so, and I swear today’s mergers don’t get that they need to speed up or slow down or do what it takes to merge, it’s on them, they don’t have the right of way. The motorist in the right lane has the right of way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And it would be nice if people who merge on highways would understand that they don’t have the right of way and cannot simply ride the taper down and expect to slide in. I change lanes when I see people about to merge but not everyone is in a position to do so, and I swear today’s mergers don’t get that they need to speed up or slow down or do what it takes to merge, it’s on them, they don’t have the right of way. The motorist in the right lane has the right of way.

If there is constant traffic people should space out to let the merger merge at speed.

But of course you are in a rush so can’t be part of the solution.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many drivers think that the speed limit is the 'lower' speed which you should drive. In fact, it is the maximum speed limit. They must have gotten that question wrong on the driver's test.

And yet you can do 150MPH on the Autobahn and people move over just fine. But every single day on 495 there are people camping in the left lane in their cars refusing to move.

I pass them on the left shoulder. I don't have time for their foolishness.

Exhibit A of the problem right here!!

[Anonymous]

I am a terrible driver and two of my kids are also because we are on the autism spectrum and really struggle to predict what other drivers will do on the road. I can’t tell if someone is about to slow down or speed up, is going to cut in front of me, is going to let me pass him etc. No idea how the rest of you do that.
If I lived in a big city with great public transport I probably wouldn’t drive but in America that’s pretty uncommon. My daughter feels the same way. I wish I didn’t have to drive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it would be nice if people who merge on highways would understand that they don’t have the right of way and cannot simply ride the taper down and expect to slide in. I change lanes when I see people about to merge but not everyone is in a position to do so, and I swear today’s mergers don’t get that they need to speed up or slow down or do what it takes to merge, it’s on them, they don’t have the right of way. The motorist in the right lane has the right of way.

If there is constant traffic people should space out to let the merger merge at speed.

But of course you are in a rush so can’t be part of the solution.

+1
You are supposed to ride the on-ramp til the end and then merge at speed! That's the point.
If roads are too congested for this to work, then I don't know the answer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a terrible driver and two of my kids are also because we are on the autism spectrum and really struggle to predict what other drivers will do on the road. I can’t tell if someone is about to slow down or speed up, is going to cut in front of me, is going to let me pass him etc. No idea how the rest of you do that.
If I lived in a big city with great public transport I probably wouldn’t drive but in America that’s pretty uncommon. My daughter feels the same way. I wish I didn’t have to drive.

What does it have to do with autism? You don’t need to interpret social clues. And you don’t need to try to predict what other drivers would do. Just try to look a little further ahead and not at the bumper of the car immediately in front of you

[Anonymous]

I trace it to the decline of the manual transmission. People who learn to drive manual (even if they will spend their entire lives driving an automatic) are better drivers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am a terrible driver and two of my kids are also because we are on the autism spectrum and really struggle to predict what other drivers will do on the road. I can’t tell if someone is about to slow down or speed up, is going to cut in front of me, is going to let me pass him etc. No idea how the rest of you do that.
If I lived in a big city with great public transport I probably wouldn’t drive but in America that’s pretty uncommon. My daughter feels the same way. I wish I didn’t have to drive.

What does it have to do with autism? You don’t need to interpret social clues. And you don’t need to try to predict what other drivers would do. Just try to look a little further ahead and not at the bumper of the car immediately in front of you

Defensive driving is all about anticipating other drivers’ actions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:And it would be nice if people who merge on highways would understand that they don’t have the right of way and cannot simply ride the taper down and expect to slide in. I change lanes when I see people about to merge but not everyone is in a position to do so, and I swear today’s mergers don’t get that they need to speed up or slow down or do what it takes to merge, it’s on them, they don’t have the right of way. The motorist in the right lane has the right of way.

If there is constant traffic people should space out to let the merger merge at speed.

But of course you are in a rush so can’t be part of the solution.

+1
You are supposed to ride the on-ramp til the end and then merge at speed! That's the point.
If roads are too congested for this to work, then I don't know the answer.

If there’s such congestion that traffic is bumper to bumper, then yes, someone needs to create an opening for a car to merge in from the on-ramp, but when there are sufficient breaks in traffic, it’s the merging driver’s responsibility to merge seamlessly without disrupting the flow of traffic. Don’t be a jerk on either side. If you’re in the right-most lane and can temporarily move over a lane to the left to allow cars to merge in from an on-ramp, do it. If you’re merging in, don’t play chicken with people by driving beside them to the point that you’re no longer each in separate lanes. Treat other people how you would like to be treated.