Question for those of you who consider yourselves "aggressive drivers"

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:They are narcissistic.

Funny I feel it's the exact opposite. The clueless drivers who think as long as they're following the "rules" whatever is happening around them doesn't matter, are the actual narcissists.

+1

They DGAF about anyone around them. In fact, I think some find pleasure in being the "left lane monitor" and holding up traffic for miles.

So it's weird I think of myself as kind of an aggressive driver but not a 'policing driver' which I think is an entirely different beast.

I like to get where I'm going and I have no tolerance for slow/incompetent drivers. They super annoy me. So I will weave around them. Or if a jerk driver does something jerky I will REALLY lay on my horn.

But I would NEVER like, track down a car to show my displeasure. Or ride the left lane at a slow speed to teach people a lesson. My aggressiveness comes from a combination of enjoying fun driving and not wanting people to slow me down.

I think the road ragers are not quite the same as the aggressive drivers, or at least they're two distinct flavors of the concept.

I don't think these are the "aggressive drivers". More like passive aggressive.

I am similar to you. I like efficiency and find it disturbing that so many people aren't aware of what's happening around them. They should be watching the flow of traffic and placing themselves in the correct lanes. If you want to drive slowly, fine, but stay in the right lane.

I think of my car as a water drop flowing down a rocky stream and I look for the path of least resistance. Around here, since so few people get the "stay right, pass left" concept that requires a lot of weaving.

I love that metaphor! That is how I think of it too. And I get almost peaceful zen like satisfaction in executing a smooth passage through a trafficky section. It's like a puzzle. I am constantly monitoring the cars and their habits around me and identifying problems or trends in the lane speeds. There is nothing more satisfying than picking the PRECISE right moment to change lanes to what was a slower lane to maintain pace.

Exactly! I watch it all so I know right when & where to go. Get past all of the wankers and then smooth sailing!

Brilliant! For me, it's like I'm playing a real video game and if I do an extra smooth manuever (safely!) then points! That zen of feeling like you are just navigating it all just right while keeping your eyes on all the cars around you. Love it!

And you are an idiot - seriously.

How fast you get through any part of the roadway is purely a reflection of the carrying capacity of the road divided by the number of cars. You can speed up in a particular section and get a hard-on because you are passing people but in the end you have to pass through the same bottlenecks and driving fast along one stretch only gets you to the next bottleneck sooner.

And our roadway system is at capacity for much of the day.

I love rolling up behind the jacka$$ macho drivers who just zoomed past me two minutes earlier with a rage acceleration and are now anxiously waiting at the same light that I coast into having saved gas and wear and tear on my car. And then they zoom off and the cycle repeats itself 2 minutes later.

Sure drivers need to pay attention and go when the light turns green and stay in their lane and use their turn signals to help to maximize the efficiency of the system but speeding, and "filling the space" and running red lights does nothing to increase the throughput of autos and only leads to more accidents (which is one of the controllable things that most leads to delays) and stress and wasted gas.

To me I think you are more aggressive than I am. You seem to harbor more anger while driving than I do. Or the other pps here relating to each other

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Brilliant! For me, it's like I'm playing a real video game and if I do an extra smooth manuever (safely!) then points! That zen of feeling like you are just navigating it all just right while keeping your eyes on all the cars around you. Love it!

Except that when you crash, real people really get injured or killed.

I've never been in a car crash.

Actually I lied sorry. I have been in one car crash. Sheeting rain at night on an empty highway I was driving very carefully but spun out and nicked the median and lost control.

Not a single other car on the road and I was on hyper alert.

So I have never been in a car crash that was remotely related to aggressive driving.

Well you were not driving carefully enough if you got in an avoidable accident - if you lost control because of conditions you were not driving very carefully.

But keep on patting yourself on the back.

I'm not saying I am blameless. But it was a highly difficult driving situation and I had only been driving for three years at the time. I should have gotten a hotel an hour earlier frankly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They are narcissistic.

Funny I feel it's the exact opposite. The clueless drivers who think as long as they're following the "rules" whatever is happening around them doesn't matter, are the actual narcissists.

+1

They DGAF about anyone around them. In fact, I think some find pleasure in being the "left lane monitor" and holding up traffic for miles.

So it's weird I think of myself as kind of an aggressive driver but not a 'policing driver' which I think is an entirely different beast.

I like to get where I'm going and I have no tolerance for slow/incompetent drivers. They super annoy me. So I will weave around them. Or if a jerk driver does something jerky I will REALLY lay on my horn.

But I would NEVER like, track down a car to show my displeasure. Or ride the left lane at a slow speed to teach people a lesson. My aggressiveness comes from a combination of enjoying fun driving and not wanting people to slow me down.

I think the road ragers are not quite the same as the aggressive drivers, or at least they're two distinct flavors of the concept.

I don't think these are the "aggressive drivers". More like passive aggressive.

I am similar to you. I like efficiency and find it disturbing that so many people aren't aware of what's happening around them. They should be watching the flow of traffic and placing themselves in the correct lanes. If you want to drive slowly, fine, but stay in the right lane.

I think of my car as a water drop flowing down a rocky stream and I look for the path of least resistance. Around here, since so few people get the "stay right, pass left" concept that requires a lot of weaving.

I love that metaphor! That is how I think of it too. And I get almost peaceful zen like satisfaction in executing a smooth passage through a trafficky section. It's like a puzzle. I am constantly monitoring the cars and their habits around me and identifying problems or trends in the lane speeds. There is nothing more satisfying than picking the PRECISE right moment to change lanes to what was a slower lane to maintain pace.

Exactly! I watch it all so I know right when & where to go. Get past all of the wankers and then smooth sailing!

Brilliant! For me, it's like I'm playing a real video game and if I do an extra smooth manuever (safely!) then points! That zen of feeling like you are just navigating it all just right while keeping your eyes on all the cars around you. Love it!

And you are an idiot - seriously.

How fast you get through any part of the roadway is purely a reflection of the carrying capacity of the road divided by the number of cars. You can speed up in a particular section and get a hard-on because you are passing people but in the end you have to pass through the same bottlenecks and driving fast along one stretch only gets you to the next bottleneck sooner.

And our roadway system is at capacity for much of the day.

I love rolling up behind the jacka$$ macho drivers who just zoomed past me two minutes earlier with a rage acceleration and are now anxiously waiting at the same light that I coast into having saved gas and wear and tear on my car. And then they zoom off and the cycle repeats itself 2 minutes later.

Sure drivers need to pay attention and go when the light turns green and stay in their lane and use their turn signals to help to maximize the efficiency of the system but speeding, and "filling the space" and running red lights does nothing to increase the throughput of autos and only leads to more accidents (which is one of the controllable things that most leads to delays) and stress and wasted gas.

To me I think you are more aggressive than I am. You seem to harbor more anger while driving than I do. Or the other pps here relating to each other

Fair point - I am angry about how other people drive because it makes the system more dangerous for no discernible benefit.

But I don't do any dickhead things when I drive - I signal, never use my horn, don't tailgate, stay out of the left land, let people merge etc. And haven't gotten a ticket of any kind or had an accident in 25 years.

And I'm getting where I'm going just as fast as you while using a lot less gas.

[Anonymous]

I think George Carlin summed it up pretty well, "Anyone driving slower than you is an idiot, anyone driving faster than you is a maniac."

[Anonymous]

I think one of the earlier posters hit on it that some men just like how fast driving makes their penises feel. In my minivan with a carpool full of kids in the back, I don’t have a lot of patience for that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dh thinks he’s “training” the drivers around him since cops never ticket. If you don’t use a turn signal, he’ll cut you off and honk. If you drive under the speed limit in the left lane and don’t get over, he’ll tailgate and honk.

Oh bullshit. Around here if the left lane is going under the speed limit it’s because of traffic. He is a douche.

[Anonymous]

I'm often wondering why you even left the house at all, with all the time in the world, and absolutely no place to go, driving like an a**hole.

[Anonymous]

I’m a fast driver, but not aggressive. If someone cuts me off I get pissed and curse at them loudly in my head, but that’s about it. I enjoy driving and a nice car and refuse to be the stereotypical luxury vehicle driver. My husband on the other hand is super aggressive, though he will swear up and down he is not. He is passive aggressive in his daily life and I think it comes out on the road when he can “hide” behind his car. We get into major fights about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ambivalent implies I don't care.

That's not true. I care a great deal about making sure you know you will yield to me.

Oblivious, ambivalent, or.....asshole. Guess you know what you are.

[Anonymous]

I've found my people!

I am a fast and aggressive driver. It's not from narcissism or because I'm running late. I've thought about this, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm simply impatient.

Having said that, I agree with the video game folks. There is a satisfaction from executing a successful traffic maneuver through "trafficy" situations. Points!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've found my people!

I am a fast and aggressive driver. It's not from narcissism or because I'm running late. I've thought about this, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm simply impatient.

Having said that, I agree with the video game folks. There is a satisfaction from executing a successful traffic maneuver through "trafficy" situations. Points!

NP here who has also found her people. Totally agree with these assessments. I hate being trapped in a pack and will plan multiple moves to wriggle free. The good news for you all is that I’m paying more attention to everyone else’s position than anyone else on the road. Almost all of this is on the highways - I have definitely calmed down on residential streets. But I will never understand the people who pull up to a red light as the eighth car in line in the middle lane when the right or the left are empty or nearly so. Don’t you people have somewhere to be? Aren’t you interested in getting there?

[Anonymous]

I actually find aggressive drivers less dangerous and annoying than the slow, pondering ones. Aggressive drivers are pretty predictable in the types of things they will do, and they are also generally alert and paying attention to their surroundings (because they are figuring out how to get around everyone as fast as possible without crashing). Give me the guy tailgating me while I'm already doing 70 in a 55 any day, over the idiot texting, or doing 30mph on a merge ramp, or stopping in the middle of the road because they can't figure out where the entrance to Mattress Warehouse is, or who holds up an entire line of cars because their lane is left turn only and they didn't realize it and are panicking.

[Anonymous]

Where did you lunatics learn how to drive? I am clutching my pearls right now over your aggressive philosophies. And I rarely clutch my pearls. You should have your licenses revoked. You’re endangering people’s lives, don’t you realize that? Sheesh. Such selfishness, my god.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've found my people!

I am a fast and aggressive driver. It's not from narcissism or because I'm running late. I've thought about this, and I've come to the conclusion that I'm simply impatient.

Having said that, I agree with the video game folks. There is a satisfaction from executing a successful traffic maneuver through "trafficy" situations. Points!

NP here who has also found her people. Totally agree with these assessments. I hate being trapped in a pack and will plan multiple moves to wriggle free. The good news for you all is that I’m paying more attention to everyone else’s position than anyone else on the road. Almost all of this is on the highways - I have definitely calmed down on residential streets. But I will never understand the people who pull up to a red light as the eighth car in line in the middle lane when the right or the left are empty or nearly so. Don’t you people have somewhere to be? Aren’t you interested in getting there?

I’m the PP you quoted. I don’t understand those people. I always—always—go for the less congested option/lane/position.

Like you, PP. I’m always thinking 3 moves ahead. I get such a thrill when I out-maneuver someone who is jockeying for better position.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where did you lunatics learn how to drive? I am clutching my pearls right now over your aggressive philosophies. And I rarely clutch my pearls. You should have your licenses revoked. You’re endangering people’s lives, don’t you realize that? Sheesh. Such selfishness, my god.

You sound slow. You’re someone we go around. You don’t have to worry.