I just don't understand.

[Samsa]

I see plenty of bad driving, but I also think that it's important to realize that with millions of people on the roads each day accidents are inevitable, no matter how safe one drives.

 

[Starius]

Yeah, statistically speaking, sometimes its a wonder we don't have more accidents.

When I read the accident reports of our local paper... the majority of car accidents seem to include 1 of two elements: Alcohol or the Elderly.

And its important to remember that only a small portion of people who consume alcohol or are elderly get into car accidents, but those are the most common factors that I see around here.

On another note, back when I was at ISU in Ames I loved to watch all the students from warmer climates try to drive around in their first Iowa winter. Always plenty of them who totally didn't respect the ice and snow and either banged their car into something or got it stuck somewhere.

 

[thunderw21]

On another note, back when I was at ISU in Ames I loved to watch all the students from warmer climates try to drive around in their first Iowa winter. Always plenty of them who totally didn't respect the ice and snow and either banged their car into something or got it stuck somewhere.

That's very true.
I was down in eastern Texas for my freshman year of college. One day we got less than an inch of snow and there were car accidents galore. It was a Friday and fellow Texans at the college were wondering if they should risk going home for the weekend.

 

[Hondo]

Cheat death?

Twice I was almost hit by red-light runners, one a woman on cell phone, the other just as I as about to enter intersection. It pissed me off, death can wait another time. I'm thinking of writing the city about installing camera for red-light runners, geez there is a school near by. :rage:

 

[ScionPI2005]

Albuquerque is positively soaked with bad drivers. A little over two years ago, I was fortunate enough to be rear ended at a traffic light when the person behind me happened to be on their cell phone rage: go figure) and broke the chain of stopping cars. Even though they simply confessed to their error, and they had good car insurance that paid for all the repairs to my car, the frustration of getting numerous calls from insurance, vehicle repair shops, and arranging a rental car while mine was in the shop was a real pain.

I've never considered myself an irresponsible driver, but I can tell you this: Now that I know that even in the smallest of accidents where nobody is hurt at all, the process that develops after is just not worth it. People just need to be responsible and sensible.

But yes, everyday here, somebody is hugging my bumper. You just have to stop a bad driver, and then get out of their way so they can torment somebody else...:eusa_doh:

 

[LocktownDog]

When I read the accident reports of our local paper... the majority of car accidents seem to include 1 of two elements: Alcohol or the Elderly.

You oughta see it when my grandpa hits the sauce. :eusa_doh: 80 years old and still drives. I count myself lucky in two ways, however. He lives 3000 miles from me ... and as he weighs close to 400 pounds, he cannot figure out how to get into his Ford Escort without being sober. :eusa_clap

My mother worked for 30 years in the emergency room of a hospital. She always remarked that accidents and subsequent injuries have been getting worse since all the technology crept in ... dvd players, stereos with dozens of buttons, cell phones, etc. She swears teenagers and gadgets are the source of most accidents. In a couple more years, my oldest will be asking to get his license. I'm scared to death to allow it, because I know he can't focus on anything for more than a few minutes and gets distracted far too easily.

Richard

 

[Starius]

You oughta see it when my grandpa hits the sauce. :eusa_doh: 80 years old and still drives. I count myself lucky in two ways, however. He lives 3000 miles from me ... and as he weighs close to 400 pounds, he cannot figure out how to get into his Ford Escort without being sober. :eusa_clap

You know, my god mother just died this year, she was 99. She drove her car regularly till she was 95 or 96. Seeing her drive by always made me nervous, not so much for her age but for the fact that her head barely poked above the steering wheel.

My mother worked for 30 years in the emergency room of a hospital. She always remarked that accidents and subsequent injuries have been getting worse since all the technology crept in ... dvd players, stereos with dozens of buttons, cell phones, etc. She swears teenagers and gadgets are the source of most accidents. In a couple more years, my oldest will be asking to get his license. I'm scared to death to allow it, because I know he can't focus on anything for more than a few minutes and gets distracted far too easily.

Richard

I think the way to go here is to make sure his first car doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles for distraction.

 

[Twitch]

I have always believed that other people who fly along much faster than I am going in the rain are of the mind that if they drive faster, being in the bad situation such as rain lasts less time. I know they can't see any better than I can yet they're going 25-30MPH faster. Their erroneous logic is- rain bad- go faster- bad thing over sooner.:eusa_doh:

 

[kpreed]

Being Stupid is not against the law (just ask the Police):eusa_doh: , but stupid folks drive that way anyway and I see it really job as security working in E.M.S..

 

[Forgotten Man]

Accidents are inevitable, they are going to happen! We don’t plan them to happen; hence the word Accident is appropriate.

However, more and more people are driving as if they have a death wish! They’re on the phone, driving their Escalade’s or what have you, tailgating the devil out of just about anyone going the speed limit, or those who are speeding too, changing lanes without signaling… cutting people off with a total disregard for other drivers and their safety. It seems their motto is: ME first, ME last, ME ALWAYS!

I usually drive 65 or less on the freeway in the slow lane… I have had friends make fun of me for driving the speed limit or less… I always tell them that 65 is the MAXIMUM, not the minimum! The sign does not read: Minimum speed limit 65. Sheesh! And does it only happen on the freeways? Not on your tintype! It’s even gotten bad on most city streets and thoroughfares. If the limit is 35 or 40, I tend to go a little over that my self, I confess… but, for some reason, there seems to always be some huge SUV or truck on stilts with their high beams trained on my rearview mirror! Allowing just enough space between my rear and his front bumper to allow a piece of paper to pass through! And there’s more then one lane of travel… why is it so hard to CHANGE A LANE??? I could seriously write a book!!! Maybe I should write Dr. Laura Schlessinger and ask her to write a book entitled: 1000 STUPID THINGS DRIVERS DO TO MESS UP THEIR LIVES!... and others.lol

My Uncle once said, he was going 95mph in the fast lane once... and even then, he was tailgated by someone wanting to go a 100mph!!! No matter how fast one goes, there will ALWAYS be someone who wants to go FASTER!

 

[Lincsong]

What city is this, Forgotten Man????

 

[Paisley]

The cause of my accident last year was a woman not looking for oncoming traffic (i.e., me) before she flew out of an alley into the middle of a three-lane street. Eleven months later, I'm still seeing a chiropractor and wearing splints in my mouth.

The cause of pile-ups is following too closely.

SUV drivers should remember that four-wheel drive helps you get going, but doesn't help you to stop.

 

[Fletch]

I could seriously write a book!!! Maybe I should write Dr. Laura Schlessinger and ask her to write a book entitled: 1000 STUPID THINGS DRIVERS DO TO MESS UP THEIR LIVES!... and others.lol

She won't do it. Bad driving is caused largely by thoughtlessness, self-righteousness and anger, some of the very same things that keep Laura in business. She wants to amp them up, not tone them down.

Going a step further, I would guess that many talk-radio-oriented simpletons regard bad driving as somewhere between a non-issue, distracting us from "higher" concerns, and a right, to be defended from assaults by do-gooders and the nanny state.

 

[K.D. Lightner]

My accident earlier this summer was caused by a drug-addled 19-year-old girl driving with a car full of boys. If there is any worse driver than a teenage boy, it is a teenage girl with a bunch of guys in the car.

Can you believe she side-swiped me on the driver's side when I was in a turn lane trying to cross a street to get to a restaurant. Not only did she try to drive around me, but drove over a yellow double line towards on-coming traffic. When I saw them whiz by in an old '92 LeSabre, saw them stop finally almost 1/4 of a mile past the accident scene, I thought: oh, boy, bet she has no insurance.

And she didn't. And she was driving with a suspended license. Her car was searched and impounded, there was warrant out on it.

My insurance company had to pay for the accident, they will never get a dime out of her, but I hope she is off the street for a few years.

Problems? People driving daredevil. People distracted by their multi-tasking. People driving long after they ought to stop, lots of elderly men and women. Thoughtless, aggressive drivers who think they own the road and everyone else can get out of the way. Then there is the drinking and drugs. Not to mention there are a lot more cars and folks out on the highways than there used to be.

There are times I would like to move to a small desert city and give up driving, but driving is freedom and mobility and power, plus the ability to have a social life, etc., which is why it is hard for the elderly to give it up.

karol

 

[carebear]

What city is this, Forgotten Man????

Not to answer for him, but, in my experience...

Every City, Every State, USA

 

[Riposte3]

We've had several accidents here where the driver was texting someone while driving. :eusa_doh: One girl would have hit a crowd on the sidewalk if she hadn't been stopped by a light pole first!

In almost 15 years of driving I've only been in two accidents. One was my fault. I was going a little too fast for the vehicle on that road, hit an unexpected puddle and lost traction, and went into a ditch.

The other one was in an ambulance, while responding to a call. I slowed for a red light, saw all other traffic was stopped for me, and went through. Then this girl comes past the line of stopped cars in the other lane (she was on a 4 lane street), crosses 3 lanes (4 lane street with a center turn lane), and hits me right behind the driver's door. She never even touched her brakes. Her street had a 35mph limit, but she hit hard enough to bend the frame of the ambulance! Unfortunately, Virginia law is written so that the police couldn't charge her with anything (they did try, too!) :rage: Luckily, no one was seriously hurt, but both vehicles were totaled.

Of course, this being a college town, we have a significant number of drunk driving accidents, too.

-Jake

 

[Diamondback]

Yeah, the crap stupid people pull on the road is never-ending. I have to cross a six-lane surface-street in my area every day on foot, and it never fails that at least twice a week some jokers try to run me over...

Suggestion: look into PlateWire.com . Once you have an account, you input the state of issue and plate number of the driver you want to message, and your message.

I swear, Seattle drivers are some of the worst. A lot of them need their licenses pulled until they go back to and actually pass Driver's Ed...

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

I think it's also that when you are trying to be the good driver, others around who become the bad driver, force you into bad driving and you have to make a wrong maneuver because of them. There's no one to blame, really. We are all on the road together so all we can do is be self conscious of everything around us and ourselves.

Some streets aren't exactly driver friendly, and parking and turning can be a problem when the road wasn't thought out entirely when it was built. Especially those small parking lots and two lane streets. The cars that are parking are bigger than the parking lot. Old roads and streets were probably not designed for the amount of cars that come through it today, and maybe not for the size either, even though I know that there were big cars around at the time.

It's difficult to say that bad driving can be improved because it's bigger than just the drivers.

 

[Forgotten Man]

She won't do it. Bad driving is caused largely by thoughtlessness, self-righteousness and anger, some of the very same things that keep Laura in business. She wants to amp them up, not tone them down.

Going a step further, I would guess that many talk-radio-oriented simpletons regard bad driving as somewhere between a non-issue, distracting us from "higher" concerns, and a right, to be defended from assaults by do-gooders and the nanny state.

Ummm, it kinda was a joke... so, yeah!

I would like to share an experience that just happened to me... nothing crazy but, it could have been very bad if the man or woman driving was drunk... they may have been... don't know.

I was standing outside my house saying good night to some friends. We were standing next to my friend's car, no one was out, it was very late and we were talking. All of a sudden a white BMW SUV came out of no where... it was traveling at about 65+mph in a 35mph zone... they came very close to us! I couldn't believe it... it made me so mad! I almost wish I thought faster and wrote down the plate number... and called it into the police! Next time I'll be better prepared... I'll do it, I've had enough of these psycho drivers!!!:rage: Where is a cop when you really need one???

FM~

 

[Forgotten Man]

I think it's also that when you are trying to be the good driver, others around who become the bad driver, force you into bad driving and you have to make a wrong maneuver because of them. There's no one to blame, really. We are all on the road together so all we can do is be self conscious of everything around us and ourselves.

Some streets aren't exactly driver friendly, and parking and turning can be a problem when the road wasn't thought out entirely when it was built. Especially those small parking lots and two lane streets. The cars that are parking are bigger than the parking lot. Old roads and streets were probably not designed for the amount of cars that come through it today, and maybe not for the size either, even though I know that there were big cars around at the time.

It's difficult to say that bad driving can be improved because it's bigger than just the drivers.

Yes, there are roads and streets that are old that were designed long ago... however, it's a lack of obedience to traffic laws and posted speed limits that put people into a higher risk of having an accident. The laws are there, the signs are there for our safety... that's why we have rules and laws... not to take our fun away, but to help us stay safe.

FM~