Official idiot driver thread

[KD57]

Well, since we have so much trouble with idiot drivers, I thought we might have a thread dedicated to these morons who somehow were able to obtain a drivers license. This will be for stories about your run-ins with these folks. We might even be able to learn something from the stories.

Mine begins this morning w/ the commuter that is always in a hurry to get to work. This story ends the way I prefer them to end.

I'm driving to work in a light rain. The highway goes from 2 lanes to 4 lanes, and the speed reduces from 60 to 40. Everybody sort of jockeys for position at this point, because up ahead the lanes split and if you are in the wrong lane, you miss the street you might want to be on. Traffic rarely slows below 50 here.

There is this guy I see EVERY morning in a red Mazda, racing thru traffic, cutting people off and forcing them out of the way. Well, this morning I see him coming up fast in the far right lane. I know he needs to be in the left lane to make his merge.

He passes me in the 40 mph zone, still doing 60+. He cuts right in front of me, causing me to get on the brakes, then veers over 3 lanes left, then swerving back to the right real hard to pass someone else.

Traction on a lightly wet street is somewhat poor. At this point, his traction diminished to zero, and he starts swapping, can't save it, and slams into a telephone pole while sliding sideways. Amazing he didn't hit anybody. He got what he deserves, and I am happy. I should have a few days of easy driving until he gets back on the road again. Maybe he will slow down some now. Idiot.

[jgreth]

I know that type of driver. As long as he wasn't hurt I can share your feelings of righteousness

[GatorTuba]

[GatorTuba]

I feel ya!

I was out riding this weekend on some backroads. I was doing about 45-50ish with NO ONE around. All of a sudden I look in the mirror and I see this Mini-Van coming up on me hard (I'm on a 2 lane road with a double yellow mind you with a soft shoulder). The speed limit is 45 so I figure that this guy wants to go a bit faster. So I bring it up to 55ish and take another gander in the mirror and the guy was so close to my back fender that I could have counted the bugs on his hood. So we come to a State Hwy junction and that peels off to the right with a stop sign. He's still right on my a$$. The speed limit on the new road is 65. So I gun it away from the stop sign to create some distance thinking that this guy may just back off. NOPE! There he is...right on my fender again. So I peel off (at 65 mph) on to the now hard shoulder and wave this guy by. He just blows by me at like 75 mph just to ride the next guys a$$ about 20 yards in front of me.

What a jagov.

[AZRyder]

Originally Posted by GatorTuba

I feel ya!

I was out riding this weekend on some backroads. I was doing about 45-50ish with NO ONE around. All of a sudden I look in the mirror and I see this Mini-Van coming up on me hard (I'm on a 2 lane road with a double yellow mind you with a soft shoulder). The speed limit is 45 so I figure that this guy wants to go a bit faster. So I bring it up to 55ish and take another gander in the mirror and the guy was so close to my back fender that I could have counted the bugs on his hood. So we come to a State Hwy junction and that peels off to the right with a stop sign. He's still right on my a$$. The speed limit on the new road is 65. So I gun it away from the stop sign to create some distance thinking that this guy may just back off. NOPE! There he is...right on my fender again. So I peel off (at 65 mph) on to the now hard shoulder and wave this guy by. He just blows by me at like 75 mph just to ride the next guys a$$ about 20 yards in front of me.

What a jagov.

I usually slow to a crawl...do a quick glance backward, lightly tap the brakes. If that doesn't shake em, I'll usually let them get in front of me at the nearest chance, still going slow up till then though, then if it's dark, high beam em right in the rearview when I'm sure I have enough space to stop or if there's another lane that I can swerve around it.

Or, I empty the tube of BB's from my pocket onto the road, they mike nice noises going into his fan blades and radiator...

[KD57]

Hey, I like the BB idea. Sometimes I go into a drunk driver routine if I am stuck on a road they cannot pass. They usually back off.

[GatorTuba]

HAHA! BB's...that should shake em. Off to the store I go!

[MikeHump]

Hahahaha I love to play with tailgaters. I usually slow down to a speed where they get really pissed off and start honking the horn, and then let them attempt to pass me, then I'll speed up to their desired speed (usually only about 10 mph faster than I was going in the first place, which we all know cuts hours off of the commute...). Then when they get back into the same lane as me, I'll slow back down again and repeat the process hahahahaha. Eventually I usually let them pass, just in time for a red light or a stop sign. And then when I meet up with them waiting at the red light/stop sign, I'll share lanes and go all the way to the front just to make them even more mad hahaha. I don't understand, why people have to tailgate. Do they really think they're reaction time is so much better than everyone else's, so they can follow people that close? Do they know that an additional 10 mph will only get them to their destination about 30 seconds quicker than if they were just staying at a normal pace? Hahahaha...people are funny.

[inspiron]

Be careful dropping stuff on the road ... you don't want that stuff thrown up into your face/visor next time you're riding up that same stretch of road!

I've got a video that I shot this past week - as I'm coming up to a curve (two lane twisty road), there are two cages coming the other direction, one of them (a minivan, what else) is about 18" over the center line in my lane. I can't post the video right now - I hope I can finish editing it tonight...!

[KD57]

Some times I will do a brake check on them, but if I am on the bike, I just drop a gear and leave them. "Ok, I'm game, lets just see how fast you want to go"

[GatorTuba]

Originally Posted by KD57

Some times I will do a brake check on them, but if I am on the bike, I just drop a gear and leave them. "Ok, I'm game, lets just see how fast you want to go"

I hear that but when traffic is about 100 feet in front of you on a 2 lane double yellow...there aren't a lot of safe options.

[Alex13]

I was three cars behind a semi today on a two lane road and a middle turning lane. He puts on his blinker and gets in the turning lane and we began to pass. He then decides that this is not his turn so comes back over and both cars went off the road. The cars were ok, luckily it was a even with the road shoulder.I stopped in time but got a face full of dust and dirt. That wanker. Now my eyes are all itchy.

[GatorTuba]

And their mirrors are big enough...sheesh! Good thing you didnt become a mud flap for that 18 wheeler!

[Deno]

Friend and I were out riding Sunday afternoon, on a 2-lane state highway. Running about 5mph over the posted limit. There was a pickup truck behind us, but he wasn't tailing us close. After about 10 miles, he moves closer then passes us. And then, within 1/2-mile, he puts on his signal to turn left! Of course, there's oncoming traffic so we all end up having to stop until he can turn.

[Apertureguy]

Oh...my bad. I thought (based on the title) this was where we were supposed to go.

[inspiron]

Originally Posted by inspiron

I've got a video that I shot this past week - as I'm coming up to a curve (two lane twisty road), there are two cages coming the other direction, one of them (a minivan, what else) is about 18" over the center line in my lane. I can't post the video right now - I hope I can finish editing it tonight...!

So, I finally finished editing it ... check out the cars that come around the bend at about 4:45 ...

Shot in the southern Black Forest, L148, on May 2, 2008. SFW.

YouTube - Wehra L148, Black Forest, Germany

[GatorTuba]

Originally Posted by inspiron

... check out the cars that come around the bend at about 4:45 ...

Damded Mini Vans! And all I hear about is how the Germans have such superior lane dicipline. Probably on his cell phone or something.

Nice vid though!

[inspiron]

Thanks. The camera is actually able to take much better pictures, but because of the nature of my bike, it's mounted behind the smoked windscreen, which causes the reflections and reduces the amount of light getting to the lens...

[Apertureguy]

Pretty ride.

That little mini van was over the line for sure..

I had one last night. There's a lot of traffic and we're all on our way to a traffic light. So it's stop, go a little bit and then stop again till we get there.

I'm riding on the left side of the center of the road. Well, sure enough the road got a little wider (for the right turn off) and I might have edged a bit closer to the double yellow line...but what does the cager behind me do? She moves up to be right behind the car I'm behind.

So now I'm on and over the double yellow, because this idiot thought since there seemed to be enough room for her car...that's where she should be!

So I turn to the right, both my head and my body so she can clearly see me looking at her and I start waving and yelling "What The Heck Do You Think You're Doing!"

"Oh, sorry" she says back to me..."I didn't realize you were still there."

I left her once the light went Green.

[GatorTuba]

Originally Posted by Apertureguy

I didn't realize you were still there."

Isn't that usually the case...I find more and more that the people that DON'T ride or never have at all...simply DON'T see us. It's weird. I've been riding my entire life and I can honestly say that I can't ever remember NOT seeing a rider. That I know of...