Really bad and terrible drivers

[Bigblockyeti]

I don't know how y'all in a big class A do it. Navigating between arrogant (and often underpowered) semis, folks that simply aren't paying attention, those who seem intent on keeping you from being able to change lanes (I suspect more often than not this is pure ignorance than malice) and those who are impatient enough to pass immediately on the right as soon as they have inches to spare.

My big vehicle experience is mostly with a 2006 26' flatbed International 4300, ~200hp DT466E w/Eaton 6 speed manual. That I put maybe 40K miles on in a few years. Later was a cranked up Dodge 2500 Cummins pulling a 45' Featherlite @~ 25K GCW. That was down right scary pulling through Chicago where malice was likely present as there's no way that many people could be ignorant. Neither of these I would want to have to drive regularly anymore given the poor quality of drivers on the road today.

It seems every time I hit the highway people are getting worse and worse. Last Saturday I hit the road for the beach (in a minivan with ample power to not slow down on hills) at 4:28am and it was the most pleasurable drive I've had in a while due to the low traffic and abscence of a holes on the road. Coming home early today was better than expected but I did have one semi passing another (in a no trucks over 6 wheels in left lane zone) at 67mph in a 70 zone at +1mph over the slower semi. I can't understand why these drivers feel the law written and displayed specifically to them isn't something they need to adhere too, perhaps a minimum $1000 ticket along with better enforcement would help? Then an impatient Silverado 2500 driver passed me on the right on an onramp because the silver Highlander in the left lane was only going +3mph faster than me. The Silverado had handicap tags too, apparently their handicap is not driving recklessly?

I'm sure several of you have stories if not video of some truely terrible drivers completely ignorant of the danger they're putting others in because of their self entitlement.

 

[Rich W.]

I’ve come to realize that going slower than the flow of traffic can actually be beneficial rather than dangerous if done right. The fast, impatient, and/or reckless drivers (some obviously racing each other) seem to run in packs and they pass me rather quickly as I plod along around 60 or so in the slow lane. If I’ve irritated them I never know because by the time they realize they’re PO’d at me they are already a mile down the road - too far for me to see any birds flying. I do have to wait it out behind slower trucks from time to time waiting for a hole to open up in the traffic so I can get around and be on my way but I’m not in a hurry so I just roll with it. Literally.

One thing that does trouble me, and that I really watch out for, is people cutting across in front of me at literally the last second to make it to an exit (I’ve had to brake hard for them more than a few times), and people crossing a gore point (in either direction) in front of me, which has caused a couple sudden braking episodes. This is a troubling trend because once you are several hundred yards down an exit you are concentrating on the traffic in front of you and you’d think you no longer have to worry about folks still on the freeway. But I’ve been wrong about that a couple times. My strategy is to cover the brake and try to keep 4-6 seconds stopping distance, but in heavy traffic that is a challenge too.

Best thing for me is to avoid the heavy traffic periods around cities which I factor in to my trip planning. That and choosing a truck in front of me that is on a long leg going about my speed and just staying behind him for as many miles as possible keeping my preferred stopping distance. People recognize that we’re going the same speed and pass us both. And if its a little slower than I want to go and I start to get impatient, I just do the math and realize that the extra 3 or 4 miles per hour will only save me about a half hour in a 400-450 mile day, which is the most I try to accomplish these days. Also better on fuel that way.

So yeah there are a lot of crazy people and I use a dash cam just in case, but I’ve developed a strategy that pretty much makes me invisible, or at least not a factor, in the race to the next gas station that seems to take place on the freeways. I also often notice the same vehicles passing me two and sometimes three times in the same day since I don’t have to stop for fuel all day.

 

[Neemer]

Let me grab my grumpy old man hat before posting this.

Cruising along in the slow lane at a MPH or two below the speed limit opens up a whole new world in that you can see how the general public really drives. If I was restricted to driving along the eastern seaboard, I would sell my rig and do something else. I really do not enjoy driving I-95, I-81, I-85, or I-75 anymore. And I won’t even address heading north into or around that DC mess. It’s discouraging to say the least.

 

[Kevin D Pem]

You didn't hit the topic yet! Due to restrictions on travel when pulling a oversized load, avoiding rush hour is not always an option (did you guess I'm a DIYer?). In places like San Diego, where lanes come and go, and you must stay on the route on your permit! Changing lanes is nessisary!

However 55, the legal speed, has you needing to change lanes with the people (I have my own choice of names), flying around both sides of you!

So I developed my own strategy for lane changes!!!
First and foremost prepare your plan!
Memorize the lane you must be in for safe travels!
Get in those lanes as soon as they become avaliable!
And when the "people" won't let you change lanes to make your turn! Act like you are having trouble keeping your rig under control! I do this by swerving just enough to make the "people" behind me afraid to pass!

It amazes me to see when someone fears for their life, how considerate they become!!!

 

[Wemustrv]

I have figured out that driving through the big cities can be a bit challenging. I just get in a mind set that it may take some time and there will be those Other drivers out there and just adjust my brain and go on. What does get me steamed up is anyone who decides to cut me off for no reason. You know the ones there is traffic around and no ramp or need they just do it. I am at or over 70' long and I do not stop quickly. I now travel with my Garmin 890 RV GPS dash cam running in case of one folks causes an issue. Happy Trails to You!

 

[jbh]

The best ways to avoid horrible, crazy drivers is to avoid Interstates and avoid large cities.

 

[team bradfield]

Over the years it does appear to be worse, people don't follow common sense rules, guess they were raised without a Daddy to teach them the rules of the road. I get by with being prepared to be amazed at the idiots out there, as @Rich W. mentioned the worst are the drivers that cut in front of you at an exit, my Bus goes into "prepare to die" mode and brakes hard, not fun

 

[GypsyR]

Most of my peeves are demonstrated on the five lane state highway that is my commute to work.
Firstly, left lane campers. One time I was in a fully marked police cruiser (not mine) tailing a Honda in the left lane. I was so tempted to hit the lights. I watched them steadily and apparently nervously eyeing me in their rearview. At the point we were both passed on the right by a big yellow school bus full of kids I gave up and went around the idiot. No idea what the obsession is with slow drivers and the left lanes. I've even thought up bumper stickers:
"South Carolina Slow Lane" with an arrow pointing left.
Or an arrow pointing left that says "NOT the slow lane".
Haven't done it because I assume the people doing this probably can't read anyway. Like the signs already on this road that say "Slower traffic keep right."

Second is exit fiends. Since I drive this road all the time and have for many years, I'm well aware that sometimes we get surprise speed traps. So while I'm not a slow driver, I don't fly. (They already got me at 20 over once.) So though I'm not going really fast, I'm not loitering either. In the right lane. So there's a sort of exit that's heavily traveled on this road. I can't count how many times someone's come around me just in time to brake to make that exit. Forcing me to stand on MY brakes for no other good reason. We're talking tenths of seconds they might have gained by not just hanging behind me. Someone did it this morning.

Kind of puts me in between a rock and a hard place. These people braking right in front of me annoy the heck out of me yet I don't go fast enough to feel I need to be in the left lane. After preaching about other people loitering in that lane. Sometimes I take the scenic route home just to avoid the left lane idiocy.

 

[Rich W.]

This is why I try not to use the far right lane when traversing cities and I’m pretty sure its why the truckers don’t either. There are times when I end up in the far right lane where there are exits and when I do I’m really on my guard for this because it is common and dangerous. Its also how I found out that while the ABS works fine on the coach, my jeep brakes lock up under hard braking (M&G air brake system, jeep key off) creating a lot of noise and smoke.

 

[Amartinrolly]

The number of terrible drivers seems to increase every year. No wonder costs for everything keep going up.