Sooo...driving is a BITCH. Rant here to alleviate stress.

[FlamesKickAss]

4X i sit here reading this post as if you were sitting in front of me at pete's pub or at softball. Awesome just awesome

[Pagal4321]

I think merging would be much much easier if, during rush hour, people would let a car into the lane they are trying to "merge" into, otherwise traffic backlogs and the whole intersection becomes a cluster *blank*!

[4X4]

Originally Posted by jammies

Dude you need to videotape that rant and Youtube it. Y'all can be the famoius "Angry Road Guy" and cash in bigtime.

Ha ha ha! That's a pretty funny idea.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by 4X4

There seem to be very few people that can drive in a nice, thoughtful, logical way. The rest of the drivers fall into one of two groups:

1. You are the timid loser that freaks out that you have to turn left in about 12 minutes, so you slooooow down on McLeod Tr and start desperately trying to change lanes. Finally someone lets you in, even though you're going 20kph under the limit, and you get in to your coveted lane, only to proceed in that lane through 4 sets of lights before making that emergency turn.

2. You are the a-hole I spoke of earlier. The rules are the rules, dammit and you'll be damned if anyone is going to bend them while you're around. You are the same person that will go 40 down a one lane each way road, caring not about the many, many people behind you. Of course when you pull up to a light and a temporary extra lane appears, inevitably the guy behind you pulls up beside so that he can take off quick and get in front of you and go 50. But NO!! How dare he!! You'd better pin it so that he's forced back behind you once the parked cars eliminate his lane. You'll show him, won't you? You'll show him good by forcing him behind you again and then going 35.


The few left over are the people that go the limit all the time. Except when we're feeling a bit lazy. Then we're going 40. But when we see someone in aour rearview, we speed up and go the limit. We are also people that don't pull out in front of someone and go slow. We never turn left over a double solid unless there's nobody behind us. We always let people in that are going the same speed as us. When we turn right, we move closer to the curb so that the people behind can keep going and not lose their speed, we do not make a biiiig arc to the left before turning right unless we're towing a trailer. When we pull up to a light on a one lane each way road, we signal if we're turning left so that the people going straight through know to get into the other lane and not get stuck behind us while we wait to turn. We check our mirrors constantly and know all the cars around us. When we parallel park, we pull up to the car in front and thus only take up one spot, not two. When we speed, we only do it where it's safe. Weaving through traffic is not safe. Going 120 on Deerfoot is safe at certain times. When we turn a corner on a major road, we look at the G.D. f'n sign and we fricken well know whether it's a yield, merge, or if we have our own f'ing LANE! WHEN THERE ALOT OF F'ING TRAFFIC IN A LEFT TURN LANE, WE BLOODY WELL GO WHEN THERE'S A FREAKING GAP IN TRAFFIC. WE DO NOT WAIT FOR THE F'ING LIGHT TO TURN RED AND SCREW WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN 4 MORE CARS GETTING THROUGH. AND FFS WHEN A LIGHT TURNS GREEN ON A GREEN ARROW WE GO! GO YOU STUPID MORONS! GO! IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ANY GREENER AND IT'S NOT GOING TO FLASH ANY F'ING FASTER! WE ALL WANT TO TURN, NOT JUST YOU YOU INCONSIDERATE, MENTALLY LAZY A-HOLES!!!!

This one bends me right the F out of shape. I hate when you see each car take off as if they each have their own light that just turned green.

car 1: Oh the light turned green, okay, well I'll look around, make sure it's safe to go....and, here we go, not too fast though, there's lots of time for me to get through this light

car 2: OKay well, that car took off, I'll wait til he goes through so I can see the light and confirm that it has infact turned green, and that the first car wasn't just blowing a red.....and yes, it appears as though the light is in fact flashing green, okay, now I'll just ease through. I'm the second car, so surely I can make it through before it turns red, no need to rush.




I swear, if every idiot just put their damn foot on the god damn pedal as soon as the car in front of them started to move, and showed one god damn ounce of hustle, we'd see 10 cars getting through a turn light instead of 4 or 5.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The few left over are the people that go the limit all the time. Except when we're feeling a bit lazy. Then we're going 40. But when we see someone in aour rearview, we speed up and go the limit. We are also people that don't pull out in front of someone and go slow. We never turn left over a double solid unless there's nobody behind us. We always let people in that are going the same speed as us. When we turn right, we move closer to the curb so that the people behind can keep going and not lose their speed, we do not make a biiiig arc to the left before turning right unless we're towing a trailer. When we pull up to a light on a one lane each way road, we signal if we're turning left so that the people going straight through know to get into the other lane and not get stuck behind us while we wait to turn. We check our mirrors constantly and know all the cars around us. When we parallel park, we pull up to the car in front and thus only take up one spot, not two. When we speed, we only do it where it's safe. Weaving through traffic is not safe. Going 120 on Deerfoot is safe at certain times. When we turn a corner on a major road, we look at the G.D. f'n sign and we fricken well know whether it's a yield, merge, or if we have our own f'ing LANE! WHEN THERE ALOT OF F'ING TRAFFIC IN A LEFT TURN LANE, WE BLOODY WELL GO WHEN THERE'S A FREAKING GAP IN TRAFFIC. WE DO NOT WAIT FOR THE F'ING LIGHT TO TURN RED AND SCREW WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN 4 MORE CARS GETTING THROUGH. AND FFS WHEN A LIGHT TURNS GREEN ON A GREEN ARROW WE GO! GO YOU STUPID MORONS! GO! IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ANY GREENER AND IT'S NOT GOING TO FLASH ANY F'ING FASTER! WE ALL WANT TO TURN, NOT JUST YOU YOU INCONSIDERATE, MENTALLY LAZY A-HOLES!!!!

Everyone needs to read this part.

Turning light - if you are sitting at a traffic light, watch the other direction. If you can't see it, watch the traffic flow. You can do your makeup or text while sitting at a red if you want, but glance up every 5 seconds. Don't just zone out then go "Holy shat!" when someone honks you to go.

Merging - biggest diff between traffic in Calif and Alberta. Albertans just simply don't know how to merge or drive highway. Even a poster in this thread (I believe its this one), not naming names, but bitching that someone "cut them off" but switching into their following distance. Guess what, thats because they wanted to change lanes.

General rules of driving highway :

- merge when you get an opportunity and you are up to speed. If you merge early, make sure you are up to speed and not going 50 when everyone else is going 100. I merge early a lot, but I'm always up to speed and the car behind me doesn't need to slow down.

- right lane drivers - get the F out of the way so people can merge and exit. I don't know why this is so difficult (or why nobody mentions it), if you have another 3km before you exit, get the F out of the right lane.

- switching lanes - watch the traffic flow. What are the cars behind you going? Is there someone who is gunning it? Who are the slow drivers? Watch for those who arn't paying attention or are too stupid and hit gas, break, gas, break on the highway and arn't following the flow of traffic. If you break, the guy behind you breaks, the guy behind him breaks... so on and traffic gets backed up. General rule (that is never followed), NEVER USE YOUR F***ING BREAKS ON THE HIGHWAY unless you are about to KevanGuy a deer. If you gotta slow down on your exit, slow down at the exit or signal well in advance so cars behind you don't have to break. In bigger cities, this is what turns highways into parking lots.

- don't tell getting cut off so god damn personally. And let people into your lane, they don't *always* have to switch into your lane after you. Accomidate. Watch other drivers tendencies, their car will usually change speed (little faster or slower) or maybe tend a little towards your direction if they want to change lanes. Be aware that they are going to change lanes, and accommodate.

- if you are changing lanes, watch the car 2 lanes away and see what their tendencies are. So you don't both merge into the same lane.

- cars that merge onto the highway change 2, 3, sometimes 4 lanes. Don't act shocked, you've seen it hundreads of times. If they are making a sharp lane change when merging, don't act so surprised if they are taking a couple lanes to merge.

- don't try and "police the highway" you're just doing more harm then good

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Phanuthier

Everyone needs to read this part.

Turning light - if you are sitting at a traffic light, watch the other direction. If you can't see it, watch the traffic flow. You can do your makeup or text while sitting at a red if you want, but glance up every 5 seconds. Don't just zone out then go "Holy shat!" when someone honks you to go.

Merging - biggest diff between traffic in Calif and Alberta. Albertans just simply don't know how to merge or drive highway. Even a poster in this thread (I believe its this one), not naming names, but bitching that someone "cut them off" but switching into their following distance. Guess what, thats because they wanted to change lanes.

General rules of driving highway :

- merge when you get an opportunity and you are up to speed. If you merge early, make sure you are up to speed and not going 50 when everyone else is going 100. I merge early a lot, but I'm always up to speed and the car behind me doesn't need to slow down.

- right lane drivers - get the F out of the way so people can merge and exit. I don't know why this is so difficult (or why nobody mentions it), if you have another 3km before you exit, get the F out of the right lane.

- switching lanes - watch the traffic flow. What are the cars behind you going? Is there someone who is gunning it? Who are the slow drivers? Watch for those who arn't paying attention or are too stupid and hit gas, break, gas, break on the highway and arn't following the flow of traffic. If you break, the guy behind you breaks, the guy behind him breaks... so on and traffic gets backed up. General rule (that is never followed), NEVER USE YOUR F***ING BREAKS ON THE HIGHWAY unless you are about to KevanGuy a deer. If you gotta slow down on your exit, slow down at the exit or signal well in advance so cars behind you don't have to break. In bigger cities, this is what turns highways into parking lots.

- don't tell getting cut off so god damn personally. And let people into your lane, they don't *always* have to switch into your lane after you. Accomidate. Watch other drivers tendencies, their car will usually change speed (little faster or slower) or maybe tend a little towards your direction if they want to change lanes. Be aware that they are going to change lanes, and accommodate.

- if you are changing lanes, watch the car 2 lanes away and see what their tendencies are. So you don't both merge into the same lane.

- cars that merge onto the highway change 2, 3, sometimes 4 lanes. Don't act shocked, you've seen it hundreads of times. If they are making a sharp lane change when merging, don't act so surprised if they are taking a couple lanes to merge.

- don't try and "police the highway" you're just doing more harm then good

That's a great post, and the bolded part is really important. There is no need to take things personally and try to correct other people while driving. You're not the police.

[Phanuthier]

Originally Posted by flameswin

That's a great post, and the bolded part is really important. There is no need to take things personally and try to correct other people while driving. You're not the police.

You know whats funny is, driving between cities in Calif yesterday (the road that goes from Pleasonton to San Francisco), speed limit was 55, I was going 75 like everyone else, car in the left lane was going a bit faster and this cop car from Santa Clara rips up the left lane going 85, tailgates the left lane car for about 30 seconds, guy in left lane changes into my lane, and the cop just hits the gas and goes back to his 85. (sirens not on or anything, another county)

[Traditional_Ale]

^ Perfect post, Phanuthier.

I wonder how many of these fools would die on the Autobahn in Germany inside of five minutes?

I remember my Dad on family trips in an 11-seater 5-spd VW van burning down the Autobahn at about 175 km/h and still being passed at the speed of light by other drivers. They must have been doing well over 210-220 km/h or more.

The Autobahn demands the driver become fully engaged with the car and the road. No cellphone weilding, GPS re-programming, make-up re-applying soccer Moms and Dads driving huge Escalades with steering wheels bigger than their forearms.

[Antithesis]

At the risk of sounding like some complete sycophant/ass-kisser/brown-noser, I have the following anecdote to report:

I used to be 'merge before the end/shake head at waits till the end guy' ... then I read what seemed to be some well-informed arguments against that on here and decided to throw caution to the wind. Like George Costanza, I decided to do the opposite, and I'm not going back.

A further admission: I am also now 'lets guy who waited until the end in' guy. Take that 'stop-and-wait' brigade!

[ResAlien]

Got to play one of my favourite games on the way home today. Clipping along in the 2nd to last left lane of the highway, doing 75 in a 65, and this guy is tailgating me ridiculously. Hey, go around on the left if you're in such a hurry, no one is there ya dingus. Nope, he decides he wants to pass me on the right. Well, that's just a dick move, so I speed up the second he hits that right lane. Long story short, I mexican roadblocked him for a good 5 miles, all the while watching as he is screaming and pounding on his steering wheel. Next time don't be a jerk.

[Traditional_Ale]

Originally Posted by ResAlien

Got to play one of my favourite games on the way home today. Clipping along in the 2nd to last left lane of the highway, doing 75 in a 65, and this guy is tailgating me ridiculously. Hey, go around on the left if you're in such a hurry, no one is there ya dingus. Nope, he decides he wants to pass me on the right. Well, that's just a dick move, so I speed up the second he hits that right lane. Long story short, I mexican roadblocked him for a good 5 miles, all the while watching as he is screaming and pounding on his steering wheel. Next time don't be a jerk.

After buying some new shoes today I was leaving the mall and on my way home when I realized this guy was tailgating me without realizing it I think. He didn't seem in a hurry or mad or anything, but seriously was totally following me maybe 3ft off my bumper.

I grabbed the lid to the shoe-box and a sharpie and wrote "YOU FOLLOW TOO CLOSE!" then showed it to him through the rear window of the truck cab. He laughed his ass off, gave me the thumbs up and went around me and on his way.

[missdpuck]

Originally Posted by 4X4

Ha ha ha! That's a pretty funny idea.

And then you can have your sister punch you in the face at the end.

[Suzles]

I would still prefer to drive here than in England. They are the ANGRIEST drivers, I think. No one there will never ever never let you get in front of them. If you aren't in the correct lane six miles early you will never be let in. Really, drivers here in Calgary are the MOST courteous I have ever experienced. 4 way stops would never work in England as everyone would go at once!

If I never drive the M25 again I will be very happy!

I think the problem with truck drivers (my husband being one) is that they just THINK they are superior - but they aren't! (I was always told the bigger/faster the vehicle the smaller the ........)

[JustAnotherGuy]

This reminds me of the people who drive 80 kms an hour on the highway in the mountains. Then we finally get to the section that has a passing lane and they speed up to 110 kms an hour. It makes me go insane if I don't get past them because they again slow down to 80 kms.

[rubecube]

In Victoria we have people who slow down for advance greens and people who yield when making a right turn on a green light. Morons.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by mykalberta

Its not a normal merge lane, its one where a 3 lane road goes down to 2. It wasnt designed to merge, this isnt the hwy 2 merge I am talking about, its the construction zone merge. It does nothing to assist traffic flow, all it does is allow some people to save 5 seconds off there drive.

This is quite simply wrong. Driver training 101.
You're supposed to go to the end and form 2 lanes of traffic that will criss cross. Moving over ASAP and forming 1 very long line is incorrect, and you've been pissed at people doing the right thing this whole time.

[twotoner]

I too feel all the pain on this thread. I'm getting an e-bike, no more car commuting for me.

[Traditional_Ale]

Why cant we just invent a Star Trek style transporter? London for work, Paris for lunch, Calgary for camping!

[Winsor_Pilates]

Originally Posted by 4X4

The few left over are the people that go the limit all the time. Except when we're feeling a bit lazy. Then we're going 40. But when we see someone in aour rearview, we speed up and go the limit. We are also people that don't pull out in front of someone and go slow. We never turn left over a double solid unless there's nobody behind us. We always let people in that are going the same speed as us. When we turn right, we move closer to the curb so that the people behind can keep going and not lose their speed, we do not make a biiiig arc to the left before turning right unless we're towing a trailer. When we pull up to a light on a one lane each way road, we signal if we're turning left so that the people going straight through know to get into the other lane and not get stuck behind us while we wait to turn. We check our mirrors constantly and know all the cars around us. When we parallel park, we pull up to the car in front and thus only take up one spot, not two. When we speed, we only do it where it's safe. Weaving through traffic is not safe. Going 120 on Deerfoot is safe at certain times. When we turn a corner on a major road, we look at the G.D. f'n sign and we fricken well know whether it's a yield, merge, or if we have our own f'ing LANE! WHEN THERE ALOT OF F'ING TRAFFIC IN A LEFT TURN LANE, WE BLOODY WELL GO WHEN THERE'S A FREAKING GAP IN TRAFFIC. WE DO NOT WAIT FOR THE F'ING LIGHT TO TURN RED AND SCREW WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN 4 MORE CARS GETTING THROUGH. AND FFS WHEN A LIGHT TURNS GREEN ON A GREEN ARROW WE GO! GO YOU STUPID MORONS! GO! IT'S NOT GOING TO GET ANY GREENER AND IT'S NOT GOING TO FLASH ANY F'ING FASTER! WE ALL WANT TO TURN, NOT JUST YOU YOU INCONSIDERATE, MENTALLY LAZY A-HOLES!!!!

When I read this, my mind delivered it in the "I am Canadian" Joe Canadian fashion.

[evilcougar]

Originally Posted by Traditional_Ale

Why cant we just invent a Star Trek style transporter? London for work, Paris for lunch, Calgary for camping!

I wonder this everytime i climb the steps in the saddledome to my seats...