WORST DRIVERS ON THE ROAD? Worst driving you've ever seen?

[camthepyro]

What do them being chubby have to do with it?

Anyway, yes, very old people are bad. But young woman are the absolute worst. Period. They drive too fast, don't put all of effort into driving well, aren't very careful about what they're doing, and are usually either applying make-up, or talking on a cell phone while driving. I say this because every teenage girl I know does this. I honestly get scared driving with my gf or sister sometimes. Plus, when girls are pissed, they drive really dangerously fast... while crying.

Yeah, teenage guys drive fast, and often recklessly, but most of them put an extreme amount of pride in their driving ability, therefore, concentrate hard on what they're doing, instead of driving recklessly while chattering away on a cell phone.

[9000white]

i drive dangerously fast too when i am crying.
this is usually after i had to go to the dealer to get parts.

[JC Viper]

It's nice to open up a can o' worms and the fact that its mostly agreed that young bloods, esp. women are top offenders. But not all young women are bad (just trying to avoid getting slapped by fems in the forum) mostly its the spoiled ones.

Shame that I fall into that 18-25 males category agewise but after seeing so much wrecks involving idiots made me a mature alot faster.

As for cabbies, ugh... the ones in NYC are so reckless but don't get in trouble because the argument is that they are immigrants trying to make a living (as stated in a letter from some Indian woman who represents the TLC after being menaced by a cab).

I hate that the U.K. and U.S. and Canada still see bikes as a nuisance from what I read on stuff coming up in legislation.

[ZooTech]

What do them being chubby have to do with it?

Ever try to merge onto the freeway while cramming two bear-claws down your pie hole?

[shane-o]

Trades men in utes or vans (light trucks SUV's) and young males who dont ride bikes.


These are the people that scare me the most on the roads.


little ol men and women dont pose any threat to me.

[MrGompers]

The geezers can be a menace but at least they drive slow & are generally easy to avoid.

The worse drivers are the aggressive ones. Don't matter the age, race, or gender.

These are the drivers that will tailgate even if you are already doing 100mph on open road.

These are the drivers that won't let you pass.

These are the drivers that will try to pass you in heavy traffic just to get ahead of you no matter the cost. (this is especially amusing when you have a faster car than they do)

These are the drivers that have smashed up cars and obviously don't care much about them & have already been in numerous wrecks.

These are the drivers that will cross 3 lanes of traffic to get 2 car lengths ahead in heavy traffic.

These are the drivers that pull out if front of you EVEN when there are no other cars currently within a 100 mile radius of you. (but hey that 2 seconds savings was worth it)

Some of the worse things I've seen on the road in no particular order. I'd also like to add that when you have a fast car everyone wants to challenge you. As a previous owner of a Camaro Z28 and a Trans Am I can attest to this.

While driving to work one day in heavy traffic I'm talking NYC style traffic. I see this BMW SUV weaving in and out of traffic. He's also using the breakdown lane as a personal passing lane & not doing shoulder checks when he changes lanes either. He gets mired in traffic and I catch up to him. I look over and its some guy in a business suit talking on a cell phone. By the way he was driving I was expecting to see some blood or something. If your in that much of a rush take a plane buddy.

One time I was driving on a 2 lane divided highway (has a large median in the middle) at about 55mph. Another car was beside me doing the same speed. Which is very reasonable since the speed limit was 50mph. Out of nowhere this old beat up Caprice starts tailgating me. The Caprice switches lanes and tailgates the other driver. Neither one of us would speed up so the Caprice decides to pull into the breakdown lane and pass us both. At the time I was driving my Camaro and could have blown this Caprice into the weeds. I was going to as well until I saw 2 kids sitting in the back seat. Needless to say I let'em pass. (btw it was a woman driving) I felt sorry for those kids. I hope their still alive.

One day while walking to my office in the city I see this tractor trailer. Since its unusual to see tractor trailers in the city due to the narrow streets I figure the guy was lost. Sure enough he was and asked me for directions. He starts to make his turn (you know they make wide turns) and outta no where this car tries to cut inside. No way in hell did the tractor trailer driver see this car. Then the crunching begins. The look on that ladies face was PRICELESS. BTW, no injuries.

Since this is a bike board I mite as well give one bike example.

I'm driving my bike on a divided highway. 2 cagers on the right waiting to pull out. I slow down figuring one of them will pull out. Sure enough one does. Now the cager and me are in the same lane. I figure that can't be good and speed up to get the hell outta there. Wait for it.......The cager speeds up too. He's determined not to let me pass. No consideration for my safety at all. I was essentially boxed in between 2 cars. You could say I was in an involuntary lane split. I was able to pass anyway since he had a piece of krap pick-up. Must've been another case of short penile syndrome.

As a side note I'd like to add that people who have fast cars and drive them slow are annoying as hell. (not neccessarily dangerous tho) You don't know if they'll let you pass or not. Cuz if they wanted to they could blow you away.

[dieziege]

One time I was driving on a 2 lane divided highway (has a large median in the middle) at about 55mph. Another car was beside me doing the same speed. Which is very reasonable since the speed limit was 50mph. Out of nowhere this old beat up Caprice starts tailgating me. The Caprice switches lanes and tailgates the other driver. Neither one of us would speed up so the Caprice decides to pull into the breakdown lane and pass us both. At the time I was driving my Camaro and could have blown this Caprice into the weeds. I was going to as well until I saw 2 kids sitting in the back seat. Needless to say I let'em pass. (btw it was a woman driving) I felt sorry for those kids. I hope their still alive.

Hate to say it, but you are an effin moron for driving that way. What is the point of blocking both lanes? Personal power trip? Does it give you a woody? Pull your head out of your "O Ring" and pay more attention not only to your surroundings (don't drive alongside other cars, don't block all passing lanes, etc), but to the psychology of other drivers. And yes, I say you blocked both lanes because it was within your power to pull ahead a bit and prevent the situation from ever developing.

Not only is it more dangerous to drive alongside another car like that (if you must swerve, where are you going to go? If they decide to dial their cell phone, where are they going to go?), but you impede the flow of traffic and cause dangerous situations like you described.

For all you know she was trying to get her kids to an emergency room. There may have been another legitimate emergency. You don't, and can't, know... all you know is that you helped to cause and sustain a dangerous situation that could've been avoided by simply driving 100 feet further up the road, or diffused when you saw it developing by going a tiny bit faster for one minute. Instead you wanted a power trip. That's called passive aggressive behavior and it is extremely dangerous to you and everyone around you.

Aren't you the one who got sideswiped on your cycle pulling a similar stunt (riding alongside a car for no good reason)? I guess some people just don't learn.

Sorry to come off the hardass, but I wish people would use their &#*@ heads and not go out of their way to cause dangerous situations and then kvitch about other drivers being bad. Look in the mirror.

I've driven well over 500K miles over the last 10 years, and I'm generally one of the faster drivers on the road, and I've never caused, nor been involved in, any sort of moving vehicle accident (an idiot rear ended my stopped car once) and I've avoided hundreds... and I learned 475,000 miles ago that one of the hallmarks of safe driving is to diffuse potentially dangerous situations well before they become dangerous. That means thinking, every minute and every mile, about situations like the one you caused by riding/driving abreast of that other car, and the possible implications... and then taking action BEFORE a "situation" comes up to cancel the danger. I difuse perhaps a dozen such situations every time I drive, every time I ride... and I don't see any difference in the number or nature of those situations riding vs. driving... difusing means recognizing the idiots, recognizing situations that will cause frustration (slow moving trucks, drivers like you blocking all lanes, etc), recognizing road conditions, weather conditions, changes that can cause confusion, patterns of traffic and driving, etc... and leaving extra margins, passing people that are a hazard to have ahead of you, letting past the people who will be a hazard behind, going single file and leaving a lane open at times, staggering at other times... and getting off the road altogether at other times.

I'm convinced that the "cagers are out to git me" whiners so common around here are inexperienced drivers that are suddenly realizing for the first time what driving entails and instead of thinking through their own driving habits and developing defensive strategies, they take it as a personal assualt and start feeling wronged.

[MrGompers]

One time I was driving on a 2 lane divided highway (has a large median in the middle) at about 55mph. Another car was beside me doing the same speed. Which is very reasonable since the speed limit was 50mph. Out of nowhere this old beat up Caprice starts tailgating me. The Caprice switches lanes and tailgates the other driver. Neither one of us would speed up so the Caprice decides to pull into the breakdown lane and pass us both. At the time I was driving my Camaro and could have blown this Caprice into the weeds. I was going to as well until I saw 2 kids sitting in the back seat. Needless to say I let'em pass. (btw it was a woman driving) I felt sorry for those kids. I hope their still alive.

Hate to say it, but you are an effin moron for driving that way. What is the point of blocking both lanes? Personal power trip? Does it give you a woody? Pull your head out of your "O Ring" and pay more attention not only to your surroundings (don't drive alongside other cars, don't block all passing lanes, etc), but to the psychology of other drivers. And yes, I say you blocked both lanes because it was within your power to pull ahead a bit and prevent the situation from ever developing.

Not only is it more dangerous to drive alongside another car like that (if you must swerve, where are you going to go? If they decide to dial their cell phone, where are they going to go?), but you impede the flow of traffic and cause dangerous situations like you described.

For all you know she was trying to get her kids to an emergency room. There may have been another legitimate emergency. You don't, and can't, know... all you know is that you helped to cause and sustain a dangerous situation that could've been avoided by simply driving 100 feet further up the road, or diffused when you saw it developing by going a tiny bit faster for one minute. Instead you wanted a power trip. That's called passive aggressive behavior and it is extremely dangerous to you and everyone around you.

My first flame this is great. You must be suffering from small penile syndrome as well. You completely ignored the fact that another car was in the mix as well. Maybe they should have sped up. Also, both of us were going above the speed limit. Also, a stop lite was a half mile ahead. BTW, there is no way in hell she was bringing those kids to the hospital. If someone needs to get to the hospital they should call the police and not drive like clowns.

Aren't you the one who got sideswiped on your cycle pulling a similar stunt (riding alongside a car for no good reason)? I guess some people just don't learn.

Nope that wasn't me never been sideswiped on my bike.

Sorry to come off the hardass, but I wish people would use their &#*@ heads and not go out of their way to cause dangerous situations and then kvitch about other drivers being bad. Look in the mirror.

Your not coming off as a hardass just as a clown who hasn't had his coffee yet. Good luck to you out there tho. If you think your driving abilites are supreme your going to need it. Your the type of person who will get smacked down hard someday on the roads.

[dieziege]

It wasn't a flame...and take some responsibility... yeah, there were other drivers "in the mix", but you had the power to, without any effort or harm to yourself, remove a dangerous situation and you didn't use it. That makes it a problem with you and your driving... and, because you didn't solve the problem, it makes it your bad driving.

Not *only* your bad driving. I counted three lousy drivers in that scenario.

The person you were blocking could easily have had an emergency you didn't know about; sick kid, enraged ex-boyfriend chasing them, dying father, who knows. They could've had a gun and decided to kill you for pissing them off. You don't know... all you know is that you decided to be Mr. Righteous and practice some penny-ante street justice. The person you were working with to block the road could've had power trip problems too. That leaves you to solve the problem. You didn't. Your fault. Your oportunity to learn and do better next time.

As for my own skills...I'm not claiming skills. I'm observing fact: in well over half a million miles in both heavy urban and rural environments, I've never made the road a more dangerous place the way you did in your little story. I've made it a point to get where I am going, and allow everyone else to get where they are going, safely and without judging the rightness of their motivations or the morality of their lawbreaking... if they are going to break the law I make sure I'm not putting myself in a place where a) I'm making the situation worse, and b) I'm more exposed than I need to be to their risk taking. Will I get some come-uppance for recognizing the fact that I'm bucking the curve? No...because I also know excactly what has allowed me to buck that curve... good training, retraining, constant hard work, vigilance...and taking responsability for making the road a safer place even if it means slowing down or speeding up to make way for someone who is breaking the law or trying to gain an advantage even though I don't think it is fair or right that they do it.

You remind me of my aunt...she's the one who was driving along on a one-lane highway in the winter doing exactly the speed limit and had a big truck come up behind her, flashing its lights and blaring its horn and in general trying to intimidate her into either speeding or getting out of his way. But she wasn't going to be intimidated...she stayed in her lane and was going to force the truck to slow down and obey the law like they should've. Only problem was that the truck's brakes had iced over and the poor truck driver was desperately trying to stop by engine braking alone and couldn't... so he smacked right into her, knocking her silly "O Ring" off into a snow drift as he tried to keep control of his truck. You would do the same thing, and feel just as righteous as she did, as everyone else laughed and rolled their eyes.

Being a good driver isn't about being fair, or being treated fairly, it isn't about driving slow or driving fast, it isn't about not using the potential of your camero or pushing the limits of your metro... it is about nipping dangerous situations in the bud as early as possible so that everyone stays safe whether they "deserve" to be or not, whether they are trying to be or not... and you are saying you don't do that... worse, you are saying it isn't your responsibility to do that. That makes you part of the problem.

[MrGompers]

Interesting how you could read that much into my driving habits by just that one little story. You still failed to take in all the details of that situation. You are only seeeing what you want to see to justify your desire to villify someone you don't even know. Maybe you should take up some hobby to work out your frustrations. Weight lifting works well for that.

The situation I described happened over 10 years ago and I have not encountered a similar situation since. The fact I still remember it says alot.

Its true that conditions can and do dictate actions while on the road. In that particular one I don't see how I did anything wrong. You are talking about the motivations of the other driver without knowing them. Since I was there I do know what the motivations of the other driver was. I can assure you that woman wasn't racing to the hospital nor did she have a crazy ex husband chasing her. The reason I know that is as the woman was passing me in the breakdown lane her kids were standing up in the backseat. There was also a traffic lite about a half mile ahead.

Once I let her go by all three cars were stuck at that red lite. She waited at the lite. If she was going to the hospital she would have ran the lite. She was only interested in getting ahead of us both regardless of the risks she posed to herself, her kids, and the other cars on the road.

Like I said before if someone has a true emergency its time to call the police. I'm sure a trained police officer can drive better & safer than any of us here.

If your curious I have never had a car accident and have been driving for 18 years. Along the way I've picked up alot of experience, but don't feel like I'm a better driver than anyone else unlike yourself.

I hope for your sake you bring down your attitude a little or your gonna get smacked down hard on the roads someday.