Stupid Driver Stories

Wow, even my '96 base model Sebring had ABS. Came in handy a couple of times in the winter.
 
I like that I don't have it cause it's more fun. I just was poor and got cheap tires because the car, at the time, was only driven on the weekends mostly. Now that my beater got totaled I'm driving this to work every day and realizing how junk they are. So having tires with better grip would certainly alleviate the issue greatly.

They're some brand of Hanooks. I had a set of Bridgestone Potennza's that were phenomenal.
 
lip, that's just because they both drive Opel Zafira's, they're bound to be old and useless...

I nearly had a fatal crash in Germany, doing exactly the same thing... I was coming around a corner in the right (ie slow) lane at 215 kph, and some useless little Peugeot just merged onto the motorway at around 90ish kph...
I immediately braked and turned the wheel to go in the fast lane, and apparently my Astra didn't like that combination of moves at that speed...

ESP going wild, ass of the car hanging out left, right, left again, and then I finally got control back, still doing 160+ kph...

as I looked in my rearview mirror, there was a little old lady in the Peugeot, completely oblivious of what just happened...
 
Oh Lord, I hate that one!

We used to have a wierd one here: Picture a highway, heading north. There's a left hand merge onramp, and a right hand merge off-ramp. Some geniuses would simply get on the highway, swerve across three lanes of traffic (and you'd have to be swerving, not a gentle drift) and get back off the highway to get onto the other highway. This used to cause major tie ups when someone didn't get over quick enough.

I was doing my delivery runs one day, came over the slight yet blind hill before this ignorantly designed masterpiece and found a sweet old lady (I presume) PARKED there, diagonally across 1.5 lanes in her Lincoln Luxo-barge. The truck I was following at 70 suddenly swerved, and then it was my turn to see not 100 feet in front of me this lady waiting for traffic to clear to she could continue her diagonal travel. For the record, yes, a 93 Ford Ranger can do sharp panic swerves.

Years later, they did finally get smart. They put up a 300 yard long concrete barrier along the left hand merge lane. So now you're dumped out under the bridge well past the right-hand off ramp. Not a chance to pull anything stupid, unless someone decides to go for the gold in that field.
 
Polygon said:
I should have known better than to spend a ton of money of body and paint. The weekend after I get the car back from the shop I decide to take it to the local Cars n' Coffee. Upon leaving, heading towards the interstate, the left lane was backed up and I was in the right lane which was not. I was going 50 MPH, and yes I should have known better. Anyhow, some asshat in a Toyota truck decides to just pull out. He does this so close to me that I had time for one thing and I turned instinctive onto the shoulder to pass him. Anything else would have resulted in me hitting him, hard.
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Yeah, lots of accidents happen this way. Never, ever, ever go at a significantly different speed than people in adjacent lanes when in heavy traffic.
 
I've had one possibly dangerous situation and one seriously really freaking dangerous situation today, both on the same trip as a passenger.
  • After a fuel stop at a motorway service area, we pulled out onto the autobahn again. In front of us was a very old looking man (as in "not fit to drive anymore") in a Skoda Fabia. He didn't accelerate at all on the acceleration lane! As traffic was light, my driver changed into the right lane behind him and gave him cover to change too, without a faster car approching behind him. The old man didn't, even after some honking on our part. We then decided to floor it and leave him behind us - the farther, the better. Which was easy because he stopped on the acceleration lane...
  • Going on the left lane at somewhere between 170 and 190 kph, we had a woman in a Renault Twingo change from middle lane directly in front of us at a considerably lower speed. The result was an emergency breaking with ABS becoming active, light luggage (jackets and stuff) on the rear seats flying around and us coming within 1 metre of rear ending that Twingo. And possibly an imprint of my right foot in the passenger side floor pan.
    Luckily, my driver (and me to a lesser extend because I wasn't really paying attention, why should I) sensed something would go wrong in that situation, it just looked that way...
 
Some wigger in an eclipse, nearly rear ended me at a red light today and then proceeded to tailgate me in third gear when I was doing ten over down a two lane. He saw me take an off ramp in front of him at a slightly irresponsible speed and as far as I can tell the degenerate in the eclipse thought that was me saying, "let's race yo."

When he pulled up next to me at a red light I told him, "I'll fucking break your arm if I ever see your wigger-mobile on my ass again." He just stared back at me with a stupid look, and then almost ran a red light when the left-turn arrow changed to green. I don't get road rage too bad usually but I really wanted to slam this kids acne-face into a brick wall.
 
I was riding home (my front wheel bearings are shot apparently) taking it very easy and slowly. Along comes some dumb white gangsta-wannabe type in an Astra, fake "turbo" and "boost" badges and all, nearly clipped me while overtaking at an indicated 43mph. When I finally got to a light next to him he seemed totally oblivious to what he'd done and drove off before I could say anything :rolleyes:.
 
They recently changed this intersection near my place. Now there are two left-turn lanes, the center lane goes straight and the right lane has a choice to go straight or turn right. The two black paths are the new turn lanes. The red path shows the course of the idiot.

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First, she approaches the intersection and gets in the right most left turn lane and stops at the green light. (Note that because the intersection changed recently it is very well marked, signs, stripes and street markings all say those lanes must enter the freeway ramp.) I honk at her, and she pulls out, cuts the corner, stops on the ramp and then tries to make a U turn over the median into the traffic waiting for the light!
 
I had to drive almost the entire length of my commuting at 60 km/h instead of 100, because some military? truck was leading a km-long queue on the highway and didn't go any faster. Would 80 km/h really have been out of the question? Now it had five Russian rigs behind it + tens of cars.

And yeah, pulling up to the school parking lot was hindered by a driving school truck wanting to turn there reeeaaallly slllloooowwwllly. Wtf was it even doing there?
 
NooDle said:
this happens to me SO often. People just can't stay in their lane when turning left it seems...
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It's always exciting to turn left at this junction coming from NE doing a left turn to SE. It's a two-lane left turn, the corner closes on exit and the left lane there (about where the blue car crosses the pedestrian crossing on the image) is fairly narrow.
 
NooDle said:
this happens to me SO often. People just can't stay in their lane when turning left it seems...
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Do they usually make a U-Turn over a median into a packed freeway offramp, also?

I figured the idiot behind the wheel would drift out of her lane, I backed off and let her. What I didn't expect was for her to pull that bone-head move.
 
^no the U turn is new, not had that before... but it's weird how angry people get when you're doing nothing but stay in your lane... they feel it's somehow their lane and you need to move.

Same thing happens on those multi lane roundabouts, people usually only use the outside lane, even if they only need to get off at the 3rd exit. I just zoom by everyone on the inside lane and change to the outside lane if I want to exit. Somehow, even though this increases the flow of traffic, people are angered by this...
 
My wife IMd me from work jut now with this. Oh my god, I love her so much :grin: :

(12:35:53 PM) Katy: so... I was almost just run over by a stupid lady driving a Mini
(12:36:20 PM) Katy: that's not important though... the important part is that it was red, with stupid GB stickers all over it, and a union jack on the roof.
(12:36:27 PM) Katy: and... a front plate that said 'The Stig'
(12:36:40 PM) Katy: and I shouted at her that the Stig wouldn't ever drive a Mini
(12:36:50 PM) Katy: and then she was so shocked that she almost ran into someone else.
(12:37:51 PM) Katy: she went all bugeyed and slackjawed when I shouted.
(12:38:22 PM) Katy: I'm not sure if it was because she was surprised I knew who the Stig is - or surprised someone called her out on her bullshit carbage
 
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NooDle said:
^no the U turn is new, not had that before... but it's weird how angry people get when you're doing nothing but stay in your lane... they feel it's somehow their lane and you need to move.

Same thing happens on those multi lane roundabouts, people usually only use the outside lane, even if they only need to get off at the 3rd exit. I just zoom by everyone on the inside lane and change to the outside lane if I want to exit. Somehow, even though this increases the flow of traffic, people are angered by this...
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Stupid people.
 
warren said:
My wife IMd me from work jut now with this. Oh my god, I love her so much :grin: :

(12:35:53 PM) Katy: so... I was almost just run over by a stupid lady driving a Mini
(12:36:20 PM) Katy: that's not important though... the important part is that it was red, with stupid GB stickers all over it, and a union jack on the roof.
(12:36:27 PM) Katy: and... a front plate that said 'The Stig'
(12:36:40 PM) Katy: and I shouted at her that the Stig wouldn't ever drive a Mini
(12:36:50 PM) Katy: and then she was so shocked that she almost ran into someone else.
(12:37:51 PM) Katy: she went all bugeyed and slackjawed when I shouted.
(12:38:22 PM) Katy: I'm not sure if it was because she was surprised I knew who the Stig is - or surprised someone called her out on her bullshit carbage
Click to expand...

:lol: That made my day!
 
warren said:
My wife IMd me from work jut now with this. Oh my god, I love her so much :grin: :

(12:35:53 PM) Katy: so... I was almost just run over by a stupid lady driving a Mini
(12:36:20 PM) Katy: that's not important though... the important part is that it was red, with stupid GB stickers all over it, and a union jack on the roof.
(12:36:27 PM) Katy: and... a front plate that said 'The Stig'
(12:36:40 PM) Katy: and I shouted at her that the Stig wouldn't ever drive a Mini
(12:36:50 PM) Katy: and then she was so shocked that she almost ran into someone else.
(12:37:51 PM) Katy: she went all bugeyed and slackjawed when I shouted.
(12:38:22 PM) Katy: I'm not sure if it was because she was surprised I knew who the Stig is - or surprised someone called her out on her bullshit carbage
Click to expand...

Does she have a sister? :mrgreen:
 
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