Audi hates America - sells new A6

I hate American drivers so I don't see the point of getting upset.
 
Pretty much. Worst driving standards of any country I've driven in, by a long way.

It mainly comes from the attitude of people, rather than their driving education, though. After the tenth time of trying to merge in from a slip-road onto a freeway and everyone acting as if I was invisible, and indeed, making room for other people to merge on to the freeway from slip-roads and watching whether they take my polite invitation, I concocted an experiment.
I done exactly the same but replacing the freeway on-ramp with a door. See, in the civilized world, if you're entering say a petrol station or 7/11 type shop, and you swing that door open, you check behind you quickly, and if there's another person walking up to the door, you hold it, rather than continuing to walk and letting it shut behind you, necessitating that person opening it again. I explain that in that much detail because the results of my experiment, an analog of attempting to merge on to the freeway and the reaction of drivers to that, were thus;
Nine of the ten people I politely held the door open for walked right through as if I were invisible, as if it was an automatic door, without a glance in my direction. That mirrored the reaction of people when trying to merge on/off of a freeway or change lane. The one out of ten actually saw me, stopped dead in her tracks, looked at the door then back to me, then looked me up and down, the signs of confusion all too apparent on her face. Why is this man holding a door open I saw her think. Is he maintinence?. Upon seeing this grind through her brain through the look on her face, I gestured through the door, what in Britain, Spain, France, Portugal, Africa, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and everywhere else I've done this, means "Please, come on through, have a nice day". Of course the gesture got us nowhere; she continued to stare in a state of confusion like a monkey faced with an abacus. She may have got there eventually, but after ten seconds of awkward stand-off I decided I'd had enough of trying to find the decency in Americans and walked away.
For reference, about 49 out of 50 in Europe will acknowledge you in some way, either making eye contact and saying "thank you", or just smiling. This also bears out on the roads, where nine times out of ten, another car will slow down, speed up, or change lane to give you room to merge on from the slip-road.

Americans; the problem with your driving is not that your test is too easy, or that your cars are too big or soft, or that you don't take enough pride in your driving. It's that you don't notice other human beings around you.



Edit to add a more optimistic little ending;
We stopped our car at the side of the road for a break in Nevada out on a very remote road, and the very first guy that drove by stopped to check we were ok and hadn't broken down or needed help. So not all hope is lost.
 
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GraemeH said:
Pretty much. Worst driving standards of any country I've driven in, by a long way.

It mainly comes from the attitude of people, rather than their driving education, though. After the tenth time of trying to merge in from a slip-road onto a freeway and everyone acting as if I was invisible, and indeed, making room for other people to merge on to the freeway from slip-roads and watching whether they take my polite invitation, I concocted an experiment.
I done exactly the same but replacing the freeway on-ramp with a door. See, in the civilized world, if you're entering say a petrol station or 7/11 type shop, and you swing that door open, you check behind you quickly, and if there's another person walking up to the door, you hold it, rather than continuing to walk and letting it shut behind you, necessitating that person opening it again. I explain that in that much detail because the results of my experiment, an analog of attempting to merge on to the freeway and the reaction of drivers to that, were thus;
Nine of the ten people I politely held the door open for walked right through as if I were invisible, as if it was an automatic door, without a glance in my direction. That mirrored the reaction of people when trying to merge on/off of a freeway or change lane. The one out of ten actually saw me, stopped dead in her tracks, looked at the door then back to me, then looked me up and down, the signs of confusion all too apparent on her face. Why is this man holding a door open I saw her think. Is he maintinence?. Upon seeing this grind through her brain through the look on her face, I gestured through the door, what in Britain, Spain, France, Portugal, Africa, Italy, Germany, Netherlands and everywhere else I've done this, means "Please, come on through, have a nice day". Of course the gesture got us nowhere; she continued to stare in a state of confusion like a monkey faced with an abacus. She may have got there eventually, but after ten seconds of awkward stand-off I decided I'd had enough of trying to find the decency in Americans and walked away.
For reference, about 49 out of 50 in Europe will acknowledge you in some way, either making eye contact and saying "thank you", or just smiling. This also bears out on the roads, where nine times out of ten, another car will slow down, speed up, or change lane to give you room to merge on from the slip-road.

Americans; the problem with your driving is not that your test is too easy, or that your cars are too big or soft, or that you don't take enough pride in your driving. It's that you don't notice other human beings around you.



Edit to add a more optimistic little ending;
We stopped our car at the side of the road for a break in Nevada out on a very remote road, and the very first guy that drove by stopped to check we were ok and hadn't broken down or needed help. So not all hope is lost.
Click to expand...

Just curious, what state were you in? Also, was it a big city? Different regions of the country are as different as different countries really. That's why I find the US as a whole fairly analogous to Europe. (In practice too, this analogy works fairly well in terms of economy and such)
 
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GraemeH said:
Pretty much. Worst driving standards of any country I've driven in, by a long way.
It mainly comes from the attitude of people, rather than their driving education, though. After the tenth time of trying to merge in from a slip-road onto a freeway and everyone acting as if I was invisible
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You're merging onto highway traffic. While vast majority of times (even truckers) will shift over to left lane to let you in, the ball is in your court to match the speed appropriately and go.

GraemeH said:
[...]Nine of the ten people I politely held the door open for walked right through as if I were invisible[...] The one out of ten actually saw me, stopped dead in her tracks, looked at the door then back to me, then looked me up and down, the signs of confusion all too apparent on her face.
Click to expand...
Have you actually been to the US or do you simply imagine us for total morons and spew your ignorant crap? Frankly I'd bet on the latter. Had you actually been here you'd notice that while many things may be said, the fact that we're publicly impolite to one another is not one of them. Not in New York City, not in Chicago, not in Ala-fucking-bama. Drop by NYC and ask for directions, people will but take you there by hand. Had you actually been here, you'd notice that 9 out 10 times, that person you holding the door for would say "Oh, thank you" and either pass thru if you so indicate or repeat the process for the followers. I know, I do it every day, everywhere.

GraemeH said:
We stopped our car at the side of the road for a break in Nevada out on a very remote road, and the very first guy that drove by stopped to check we were ok and hadn't broken down or needed help.
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And that would/does not surprise me one bit. Had both been on receiving and giving end on more than one occasion. It's pretty normal here especially on rural roads.

As for driving on US roads, same rules as everywhere apply: there's a style of driving, usually strange for outsiders; there are good/bad/indifferent drivers; takes some getting used to.
 
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Not all americans are bad, I grew up in ohio, land of elevation change coupled with ridiculous buffalo-class winter weather.


See the finland episode of top gear, these two things either make a race car driver out of you, or kill you.
 
Yes why are some of the forum members being such apologists for the bad American drivers out there, complimenting won't make them better drivers. Nobody is saying YOU guys are the bad drivers or 100% of Americans are bad drivers because that's ridiculous. The Audi ad is clearly insulting the percentage of the American driving population who are lousy drivers and deservedly so. Are you guys saying those guys should get a free pass from mockery? No I don't think even you would be that generous.
 
This commercial could play in any country and be true. I have yet to see any evidence from any country that shows there drivers are any better or worse than America.
 
Donington said:
Very subtle Audi, very subtle.

As for 'em Germanics hatin' on AMerikuh, well, not really. I thought they were obvious facts too.
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That's a Camry.
 
As a Brit who has driven in several American locations I hereby testify that the majority, like everywhere else I have driven, spend their time on the road in a state of unconscious incompetence. Unless you're in Houston where things get really hairy.

Drive defensively but positively, be aware of everything that is going on around you all the time and other people's driving shouldn't affect you.

Simples.
 
I wonder where the intelligence of the A6 I drove last weekend went, when it nearly landed me in the ditch or the oncoming traffic due to torque steer...?
 
Well the car watched your driving for a while and decided that you're an intelligent driver. After that conclusion it took a well deserved nap. This was when you and your intelligence let the poor Audi down.... It will never forgive you!
 
MacGuffin said:
I wonder where the intelligence of the A6 I drove last weekend went, when it nearly landed me in the ditch or the oncoming traffic due to torque steer...?
Click to expand...

Did you happen to fart whilst in the car? 2000 calculations per second can plot a very exacting revenge.
 
RoamingGnome said:
You're merging onto highway traffic. While vast majority of times (even truckers) will shift over to left lane to let you in, the ball is in your court to match the speed appropriately and go.
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Could be a reason, here (as in Scandinavia, not the UK, still checking on Germany and France) responsibility is shared between both parties.

For my own reference: Sweden Art 3 ?43 Norway Forskrift om kj?rende og g?ende trafikk ?8 #2 Denmark Faerdselsloven (help, it's in danish) Finland Finland (doesnt seem to specify though this one says no, Y U no have sensible search engine Finland?)
 
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AiR said:
Could be a reason, here (as in Scandinavia, not the UK, still checking on Germany and France) responsibility is shared between both parties.
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Nope, not here. The Traffic on the autobahn has the "right of way". If you are merging into the Autobahn you have to "give way". Drivers on the Autobahn don?t have to make room for you or anything. If possible most people do tend to make room ... but that?s just being nice, not a rule.
 
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Simple rule in the UK and I suspect most of mainland Europe is that you give way if you are joining a road more major than the one you are already on.
 
Yes that is the Ukanian rule too. Having said that mostly people will let you in - Audi and some BMW drivers excepted - (with a headlight flash or wave of a banana) anyhow.
 
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