dseag2

I'll have to admit I'm on of those impatient drivers who drives my car like I stole it and who honks if someone gets into my lane or doesn't go when the light turns.

But more and more, I'm noticing drivers that seem to wander around aimlessly, turning at the last minute with no turn signal, coming over into my lane, crossing 3 lanes of traffic to make a turn, sitting at a green light long after it has changed and just generally poking along like they've never driven before.

I live in Dallas, and my neighborhood is not a huge tourist area, so these are people who generally live here.

What's going on? Is everyone so absolutely glued to their devices that they just don't care anymore? Are the requirements to get a driver's license so lax these days?

Hey, I realize that most people don't really like to drive like those of us in this forum, but isn't there at least an obligation to fake it?

I'm the last one to want to have to give up my steering wheel for a driverless car, but I'm starting to think it might not be such a bad idea for the other 90% on the road.

Anyone else with similar frustrations? How do you handle it? Deep breaths?

jimbosr1

every time i drive these days i drive like everyone else on the road are first day drivers that had a six pack before they got behind the wheel.

mmarshall

First of all, there are a number of drivers and car enthusiasts in this forum (and similar forums) who don't drive aggressively. Long ago, I learned the difference between a car enthusiast and a speed enthusiast, and how one doesn't necessarily mean the other.

As to why drivers in your area (Dallas) lumber along, not paying attention, or being careless, that is certainly not limited to North Texas. With the enormous traffic level here in the D.C. area (arguably the worst in the country outside of L.A.) I see much the same thing every day. I think some of it is just what you have noted........people simply engrossed in electronic devices or other senseless distractions. But a significant percentage is probably the aging of the population....you've got people still driving well into their 80s and even 90s, living longer lives today with better medical care, but still having to cope with slower reflexes, poorer vision and hearing, and the ability of the brain to process large amounts of information more slowly.

chikoo

I handle it like a T-800, scanning continuously all around and making sure I am not involved in an accident just because of others mistake.

RXSF

I haven't found a way to handle it. I have high blood pressure and I think it shortens my life every time I drive.

Stereorob

people are getting dumber and have less patience these days. not only are they bad drivers but nasty aggressive ones at that! also id say 85% of bad driving these days is because drivers have there noses in there phones. every morning and evening to and from work half of the drivers I see are texting or scrolling through facebook on there phone. it infuriates me, and its also sad to me because people are so self absorbed in themselves and what others think of them, or want to stick there nose into other peoples business that they are loosing the passion of simply driving, and that they could miss something really cool in life because of it.

last week I was driving home from work, Im VERY careful driving because I love my car and its very old but immaculate and I know that even a slight fender bender will total it because of its age (95 Ls400) and it took me so damn long to find one that wasn't beat on that I don't want to have to go thru that again. anyway some idiot girl in a caravan almost sideswiped me because she had her nose in her phone. she was swerving all over the lane, looking at her phone and giggling. I was PISSED. I STOOD on my horn and what does she do? rolls down her window and screams at me about what an ******* I was. what a sad world this is becoming.

ArmyofOne

Man, I totally understand. I live in the DFW area too, and I see rediculousness all the time. I see a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of people with eyes down at their phones. I also see a lot of people doing 5-10 under the speed limit in the left lane causing backups and slowing traffic down for miles...but you know what infuriates me the most out of all of this?

F'ing TRUCKERS. I know there are some good ones, I also know that trucks are a necessary evil. But I have been cruising at 80 (in a 75) in the left lane, gotten 25 feet from the back of a rig in the right lane as I am coming up to pass, and in the blink of an eye, the trucker swerves into my lane at 62-65mph to pass a slower truck, a lot of the time with no signal. This causes me to have to bring my 6000lb truck's speed from 80 to 60 in a span of 10 feet in order to not die. Its happened to me more than once, and it usually happens every time I drive US 75 Northbound or Southbound. Big Rigs, especially in DFW are abound. There are 5x as many trucks on the roads now than there was 10 years ago, and demand for truck drivers is increasing as the millennials begin looking for careers that allow them to sit on their asses for hours on end.

My other pet peeve is slow left laners. Sure fire way to get my 22" LED Lightbar flashed at you. Do the speed limit or move the F over. Other people have places to go too. You don't own the road It's that simple.

^This

^also this.

mmarshall

It can still be hard work, though, Josh, even sitting in a nice leather seat. First, chronic fatigue and drowsiness among long-distance truck drivers is a serious problem from many hours behind the wheel (that might explain some of the careless things you've seen them do). There are Federal regulations covering driving-hours, but these are often ignored by trucking companies and self-employed drivers....and they can be difficult to enforce. Second, even with softer seats, long hours sitting down, with pressure on the spine and nerves, can lead to lower-back and leg problems like sciatica (I've had it myself), which is another distraction for the drivers.

EZZ

I scan the road continuously too...to avoid cops. I found the only way to drive around is treat it like an obstacle course and just get around people. It helps to have a nimble, smaller car with a decent power and to scoot through those little gaps in traffic

MattyG

Driving is very much an acquired skill and driving fast is an art form. Unfortunately too many regular drivers have made it their mission in life to win every stoplight fight, every two lane, three lane contest. But they are neither artists or skilled professionals. Their cars drive them.

You want to see bad drivers? Come to Canada. Alberta in Western Canada, is the Cowboy Capital of the place. The Lower Mainland is even worse.

Driving is now a combat sport and a form of bullying because, it's easy to get your license and the price of admission is pretty cheap. Not driving way over the speed limit? I'll bully you by coming up on your bumper like a NASCAR racer.

If only NA would adopt tough European measures, ie. Germany.

dseag2

Well, this is how I'm going to react the next time someone cuts me off or drives slow in the left lane. My fave.

litesoarer

They've been getting real bad about that crap lately. They'll swing over just before a hill and not actually pass until half a mile after the crest of the hill.

I had a pair of truckers playing around the other day just blocking both lanes on I35 at 60mph. Service road slingshot very handily solved that problem.

Sulu

Despite a ban on using hand-held devices while driving -- talking, texting, typing, dialing or reading email -- here in Ontario, I still see many drivers holding a cellphone to their ear or head down, peering into their lap, obviously texting or reading email. I try to give them a WIDE distance. Of course, you can tell that someone is illegally on the phone when you come up behind a slow driver who suddenly speeds up when discovering that traffic ahead has left them far behind..

I also try to give truckers a wide distance, quickly passing them (waiting if I have to until I get enough room to very quickly pass in front of them). (Sometimes I am frustrated by drivers who seem to be tagging along beside a truck, blissfully unaware that the trucker probably cannot see them and could very suddenly swerve into their lane.) Despite the use in Ontario of speed-limiters that limit trucks to 5 km/h over the limit of 100 km/h (challenged and upheld upon appeal), we still see truckers try to pass in the middle lane (large trucks are forbidden from the left-most lane in Ontario), effectively blocking otherwise law-abiding drivers behind them.

litesoarer

I've found that the rumble strips are a nice little way to signal "hey, lead. follow, or get out of the way."

With how bright the lights are on some of our cars nowadays I hate to flash people less than 100ft in front of me.

Stroock639

i think another problem is that because a modern car is just so good at isolating you from the road, you forget that you're still going over 100 feet every second even at a modest 70 mph, so you feel comfortable enough to look at the phone or play with the car's infotainment screens. (call me crazy here) i think the road test should require you to do some form of multitasking while taking the test. there's a lot of information being constantly taken in by multiple senses while you're driving, and if you're unable to juggle these things at once you're a hazard to yourself and others. just think about fighter pilots... they're in a slightly more extreme environment i'll admit that but flying and driving still require similar motor skills and coordination.

people also don't give a s*#t about the actual driving aspect of driving, and if anything just see driving as a chore to get them where they need to be. and honestly if you're in a crappy car and have never experienced a good one it can be hard to see why driving can be considered enjoyable. it's still no reason to be all over the place or constantly looking down at your phone. i also think it should be a requirement to be able to drive manual before getting your license. it'd be irrelevant to just about everyone but as long as it clears the roads up a bit i'm happy.

i honestly wish most people would go into autonomous cars... if anything it should be a requirement that if you don't score a certain mark on your road test you should be forced into using an autonomous one lol... then the car in front would see the rapidly approaching onslaught of 90s japanese eight-cylinder luxury and move over so i don't have to brake and waste that lovely kinetic energy. and i will be that guy to cross multiple lanes during a corner, but that's only to hit the apex