Overly nice drivers are a road hazard

[Kavvy]

We all know it,

that driver stopping for a pedestrian not at a cross walk and not on a resident road, is a hazard.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe...ticle12573689/

We hear about reckless drivers, those who speed excessively or drive while under the influence. All bad news – no argument there. But the silent menace on our roads is the driver who thinks he knows better.

There are rules of the road for a reason, and niceness isn’t a good enough reason to break them.

If you are bored: discuss.

[The Yen Man]

I agree. Always go with the flow of traffic. If a jaywalker was savvy, they would be timing their cross after your car passes. Simple rules of the road that I wish more Calgarians employed. I noticed when I was in Toronto, I didn't yield to any jaywalkers, and they didn't expect me to yield to them, and it felt a lot safer that way.

Edit: Yikes, maybe I should have read the article first before commenting. But I still agree with the article. Unless I'm already stopped and letting in one car coming out the parking lot or off a side street, I try not to hold up traffic by being too nice. It's the same reason why now I take the initiative to go at a 4 way stop if I stop at the same time as the other car. 9/10 times they're expecting me to go first.

[mykalberta]

My mom (always has lived in a small town) recently came down by herself (sans my dad) to help us clean our new house. Her driving skills in the City made me want to pull out my hair. Constantly braking and letting people merge - it was so frustrating.

[bc-chris]

i completely agree with the article - it drives me nuts when people stop to be 'nice'. let the other people on the road fend for themselves - not to be a jerk, but everything just works better that way! 'nice' drivers are just as much of a hazard on the road as reckless drivers

my wife is really bad for starting to go, then hesitating/stopping, then going again. i don't know how many times i've been with her when she's done this and every time i let her know what i think.
other drivers see her starting to go, they hold up for a bit, then she stops... ohhh, ok, so they start to accelerate again, and then she starts to go again - soooo frustrating. i tell her every time, 'if you're going to go then GO, otherwise keep your foot on the brake!'


another one that totally drives me nuts is when people swerve or stop becuz there's a bird (or something like that) on the road. are you freakin' serious?!?!? you are going to put your life and the others on the road at risk becuz of a freakin' quail?!?!? (as an aside, some stupid lady swerved into my lane right in front of me yesterday to avoid a quail.... hey honey, you and your k-car will definitely fair worse than me and my pick up in a head-on collision!)
i think the only animals i actually try to avoid are huge ones (deer, moose, etc) that could take me out, otherwise, i don't worry too much if i hit something. it might sound heartless, but i put my life and the lives of those around me higher up than a squirrel. and just to be totally clear, i don't go out of my way to hit something if it's on the road.

[octothorp]

I've got a situation that typically comes up a couple times a week where I need to turn left across two lanes of slow-moving traffic a couple blocks from my house. Legitimate breaks in the traffic at this time of day are rare, and when the traffic does back up to a standstill, I'm often still prevented from turning as people on the busier street are stopped in the middle of the intersection. As such, I'm almost entirely dependent on someone being 'nice' and letting me cut across infront of them.
In the example that the writer gives, he bizarrely absolves from blame the driver who cut across two lanes of traffic without having a clear line of sight of the second lane. That is clearly the guy who is most at fault and the guy who's actively endangering lives, especially his own. If there was a collision here, I would expect that the law would find that the driver who cut across traffic that he could not see is at fault, not the driver who stopped unnecessarily. Just because somebody stops to let you turn or merge doesn't mean that you're obligated to do so if you can't be sure that it's a safe decision. Make a judgement, and if it's not safe, wave the guy on.

[smoothpops]

This may be a little off topic. What I don't get, is why some some drivers floor it when the light turns green, only to go speed limit. let your car get some momentum, and then accelerate to speed limit at a reasonable pace. It's better for your car, and if someone needs to pass to get into the next lane over, it's no big deal.

Back to the topic at hand; my sis is an overly polite driver that tailgates. no one should have to drive with/alongside her. it's frustrating and scary.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by smoothpops

This may be a little off topic. What I don't get, is why some some drivers floor it when the light turns green, only to go speed limit. let your car get some momentum, and then accelerate to speed limit at a reasonable pace. It's better for your car, and if someone needs to pass to get into the next lane over, it's no big deal.

Back to the topic at hand; my sis is an overly polite driver that tailgates. no one should have to drive with/alongside her. it's frustrating and scary.

I wouldn't say that I floor it but I am usually the fastest person off the line, I have a powerful car.. The people that I really cant stand are the slow accelerators. Driving on crowchild north at 24th street, it takes past the pedestrian bridge for some strugglers to get up to 80, not just once or twice, all the time, in every lane.

I would rather everyone punch it off the line than take 1km to get up to speed.

[The Yen Man]

Originally Posted by octothorp

I've got a situation that typically comes up a couple times a week where I need to turn left across two lanes of slow-moving traffic a couple blocks from my house. Legitimate breaks in the traffic at this time of day are rare, and when the traffic does back up to a standstill, I'm often still prevented from turning as people on the busier street are stopped in the middle of the intersection. As such, I'm almost entirely dependent on someone being 'nice' and letting me cut across infront of them.
In the example that the writer gives, he bizarrely absolves from blame the driver who cut across two lanes of traffic without having a clear line of sight of the second lane. That is clearly the guy who is most at fault and the guy who's actively endangering lives, especially his own. If there was a collision here, I would expect that the law would find that the driver who cut across traffic that he could not see is at fault, not the driver who stopped unnecessarily. Just because somebody stops to let you turn or merge doesn't mean that you're obligated to do so if you can't be sure that it's a safe decision. Make a judgement, and if it's not safe, wave the guy on.

That used to be the nightmare turn from Mcknight to northbound Deerfoot as well before they put in the the turning light. I remember it was pretty freaky trying to see if the far right lane on the opposing side had any cars before I could turn.

[sclitheroe]

I love how the author of that article rants at the "nice" driver, when it's clearly the guy making the left hand turn that is the maroon for not checking all lanes. Same situation could have played out with or without the "nice" driver.

Crappy article written by what is clearly yet another one of the self-annointed 1% of drivers.

[Vulcan]

Well he has a point about overly nice drivers who don't follow the rules of the road. It causes confusion and accidents although he could have picked a better example.

I agree. Always go with the flow of traffic. If a jaywalker was savvy, they would be timing their cross after your car passes. Simple rules of the road that I wish more Calgarians employed. I noticed when I was in Toronto, I didn't yield to any jaywalkers, and they didn't expect me to yield to them, and it felt a lot safer that way.

The thing is, it's not just with jaywalkers. In Calgary a pedestrian standing at a crosswalk will step in front of my car, when there isn't another car within view. All he has to do is wait 2 seconds for me to pass and life goes on with less irritation and waste. Yeah sure I like to stop for legal pedestrians when there is traffic but sometimes it makes little sense.

[Rathji]

I find it hard to understand how you could t-bone someone who had stopped to let someone out of a parking lot, like this guy is describing.

I do like this though...

If I had been distracted by the radio or driving a little faster

Really, if you are distracted by the radio enough that you could get into an accident when someone stops in front of you, I really think you should re-examine your driving habits and perhaps stop putting things on the internet that declare other people as bad drivers.

Just a disclaimer, obviously the person who stopped was in the wrong, but the overly dramatic stance of the author is ridiculous.

edit: This actually sums it up nicely

Originally Posted by sclitheroe

Crappy article written by what is clearly yet another one of the self-annointed 1% of drivers.

[Erick Estrada]

I really find it annoying when someone that has the right of way waits to let me go. It adds uncertainty that undermines the entire concept of 'right of way'.

[smoothpops]

Originally Posted by Swarly

I wouldn't say that I floor it but I am usually the fastest person off the line, I have a powerful car.. The people that I really cant stand are the slow accelerators. Driving on crowchild north at 24th street, it takes past the pedestrian bridge for some strugglers to get up to 80, not just once or twice, all the time, in every lane.

I would rather everyone punch it off the line than take 1km to get up to speed.

Hehe i have a corolla, even when i floor it, I go nowhere fast. My beef is more with the peeps that floor it off the light just to get to speed limit, there's really no need to do that and messes with the flow of traffic. they won't let you pass, but then they stop accelerating so you can't quite get in the lane, behind them. Almost as bad as the people that that only speed up when you're trying to pass them.

[Russic]

Stopping for jay walkers is a pretty big gear grinder for me. It always scares the hell out of me to be behind somebody like that just because I know the cars behind me won't be expecting it. I don't so much mind people who let others in though. Of course every situation is different, but as long as they're not hammering the brakes on Deerfoot while doing 115. People need to merge/change lanes and there's responsibilities for everybody to make sure that can happen safely.

[REDVAN]

Never stop for pedestrians who are not in a crosswalk- in fact, I sometimes start driving if non-jaywalkers are still walking but have left the designated crosswalk lines.

I honk at bad drivers. EVERYONE needs to start doing this so these people learn not to be idiots. If you just sit there and let them do what they're doing without embarrassing them, they will continue doing bad stuff and never learn.

[Hemi-Cuda]

Originally Posted by REDVAN

Never stop for pedestrians who are not in a crosswalk- in fact, I sometimes start driving if non-jaywalkers are still walking but have left the designated crosswalk lines.

I honk at bad drivers. EVERYONE needs to start doing this so these people learn not to be idiots. If you just sit there and let them do what they're doing without embarrassing them, they will continue doing bad stuff and never learn.

If you REALLY believe this, you need to spend some time in some major American cities

[Barnet Flame]

If you want to be a 'nice driver', be predictable and follow the rules of the road.

[Flacker]

Originally Posted by smoothpops

Hehe i have a corolla, even when i floor it, I go nowhere fast. My beef is more with the peeps that floor it off the light just to get to speed limit, there's really no need to do that and messes with the flow of traffic. they won't let you pass, but then they stop accelerating so you can't quite get in the lane, behind them. Almost as bad as the people that that only speed up when you're trying to pass them.

Getting to the speed limit in a timely fashion is messing with the flow of traffic? I think you are confused here. Or trying to justify the fact that your car sucks.

[Canehdianman]

I like the slow, apprehensive (scared) drivers!

It is their fear that allows me to sneak into the front of the line on Crowchild SB onto Glenmore EB every afternoon.

Shaves at least 5 minutes off my commute.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by smoothpops

This may be a little off topic. What I don't get, is why some some drivers floor it when the light turns green, only to go speed limit. let your car get some momentum, and then accelerate to speed limit at a reasonable pace. It's better for your car, and if someone needs to pass to get into the next lane over, it's no big deal.

Back to the topic at hand; my sis is an overly polite driver that tailgates. no one should have to drive with/alongside her. it's frustrating and scary.

I wish everybody would gun it when their light turned green. Do you know how frustrating it is when people wait until the car in front of them moves at least 5 metres away before they even take their foot off the brake?

Ideally at a green light, each car would start moving at the same time, like a train. Have those back-up proximity sensors in the bumpers connected to the gas pedal.