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#1 2008-08-25 8:39 am
- bratboy
- attorney-at-law
- Royal Wombat
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2003-01-19
- Posts: 30572
Aggressive, reckless drivers
I am getting so effing sick of people who drive like they have a death wish simply to get wherever they're going two minutes faster. I couldn't even get out of the parking lot of my complex this morning without seeing one individual fly by me going about 40 mph (in a parking lot!) and have some other smurf on my ass within about an inch of my bumper pulling out behind me onto the road.
My car was recently totaled by someone flying down the road in rush hour traffic (on his cell phone) who swerved into the lane I was in without realizing that traffic was backed up and at a stop. Last week I nearly hit (in my new car) someone who was swerving in and out of lanes on the highway who spun out in front of me after narrowly avoiding clipping the back of the car in front of him that had 'unexpectedly' (for someone two inches away from him) hit his breaks.
I'm tempted to take a pay cut so that I can go back to prosecuting in traffic court! There was a story last night about how our state legislature is considering letting drivers (voluntarily) put some sort of device in their vehicle that would allow their insurance company see how often, how far (and possibly how fast and how safely) their customers are driving...and set rates accordingly. Sign me up, I'm all about it. Hell, I hope that improvements in technology will soon allow reckless drivers to be punished much more consistently for their behavior.
"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."
--Paul Krugman
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#2 2008-08-25 5:24 pm
- WhirlinGraphics
- •^-•-
- From: Central Indiana
- Registered: 2001-06-24
- Posts: 770
- Website
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
I'm a courier, and drive approximately 200 miles a day around the Indianapolis metro area. I see some (and occasionally involved in) crazy and stupid smurf every day. It is absolutely amazing what people do to try and shave 30 seconds off of their commute (usually to no avail). Speeders are not the problem in my eyes, it's cell phones and red light runners.
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#3 2008-08-25 5:37 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Its really a weird frame of mind I think. People will speed and drive aggressively to get ahead of you, and guess what? At the next light they are all of a foot or two ahead of your bumper. Hope it was worth it!
How can a person still have any hopes
who is addicted to what's superficial,
who grubs with greedy hand for treasures
and then is happy to discover earthworms! - Goethe
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#4 2008-08-25 5:51 pm
- Ice Cream Man
- With QP technology
- From: Mesa, AZ
- Registered: 2002-04-17
- Posts: 1299
- Website
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Ever drive in Phoenix?
Part of the inhumanity of the computer is that, once it is competently programmed and working smoothly, it is completely honest. -- Isaac Asimov
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#5 2008-08-25 5:59 pm
- bratboy
- attorney-at-law
- Royal Wombat
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2003-01-19
- Posts: 30572
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
WhirlinGraphics wrote:
Speeders are not the problem in my eyes, it's cell phones and red light runners.
It depends on the situation. It drives me crazy to see people speeding through parking lots, parking garages, and residential areas. If those who were speeding didn't impact the safety of others around them it might not be so bad.
"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."
--Paul Krugman
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#6 2008-08-25 8:42 pm
- Jdude
- Surfing on waterboarders
- From: Home is where the war is
- Registered: 2003-02-03
- Posts: 2169
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Yes, I have a jeep.
Yes, I intentionally pulled out in front of you.
Yes, I caused you to swerve off the road into the ditch.
Yes, I even smiled and waved.
Oh wait. What is this? Red means stop and green means go. You would have been at fault. Look on top of that pole. Someone has your picture.
I can tell you are attracted to me, but I will pass. Putting your cell phone where I think it should go will only make one of us happy.
Sincerely, Jdude
The problem I have with discussing freedom is that people have been conditioned to expect "of me to tell you what to do" to follow it... inevitably they notice I don't ever get to that part, and they feel like I am trying to trick them.
Sometimes before replying to a topic, I think to myself: I am just so original!
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#7 2008-08-26 7:58 am
- Daddyo
- hoochie coochie man
- From: the last juke joint
- Registered: 2004-01-24
- Posts: 1577
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Mi wife was side swiped and run off the road last week by a large truck doing about 85. The truck never slowed down or stopped. It was 5:30 PM with lots of witnesses , no one stopped or called the police..(insert profanity here).
Last edited by Daddyo (2008-08-26 7:59 am)
"You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate, bright and clean and a nice looking guy." -Joe Biden
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#8 2008-08-26 8:00 am
- bratboy
- attorney-at-law
- Royal Wombat
- From: Austin, Texas
- Registered: 2003-01-19
- Posts: 30572
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
When I got hit thankfully someone stopped and immediately called the police (the guy who hit me was already on the phone so he wasn't available to do so). She then stayed and gave a statement to the police, which was quite helpful in keeping the other driver and his insurance company honest.
"One thing we've learned is there's a difference between being disappointed and having madmen in authority."
--Paul Krugman
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#9 2008-08-26 8:23 am
- test
- Member
- From: Collingwood, Ont., CANADA
- Registered: 2002-12-13
- Posts: 5039
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
StaticAge wrote:
Its really a weird frame of mind I think. People will speed and drive aggressively to get ahead of you, and guess what? At the next light they are all of a foot or two ahead of your bumper. Hope it was worth it!
smurf, that's highway driving in these parts. I can't believe the crazy-ass smurf people do in town.
Patience is a virtue of the weak for it makes them stand still long enough for the strong to crush them with ease.
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#10 2008-08-26 9:49 am
- Pithecanthropus
- Roast Master
- From: St. Cloud, MN
- Registered: 2002-12-30
- Posts: 3638
- Website
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
That's why I drive backroads.
Grandfatherly advice: You can drink 'em pretty, but you can't drink 'em smart.
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#11 2008-08-26 9:58 am
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator
- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 9912
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
You have to do defensive driving, and the best defense is a good offense. Get an M1A1 Abrams tank. Very good for those days when the traffic is bumper to bumper. You have excellent cross-country, and cross-vehicle trafficability. 
"There were places in the world commemorating those times when wizards hadn't been quite as clever [as to refrain from doing magic when you knew how easy it was], and on many of them the grass would never grow again." Terry Prachett
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#12 2008-08-26 10:08 am
- macnuke
- just a plano guy
- Moderator
- From: North Dallas 40
- Registered: 2004-05-16
- Posts: 6628
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
I prefer the more classic vehicle.
Sherman, Panzer or Tiger 
" ...But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say, "Stay the course." Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America, not the damned Titanic. I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!
Lee Iacocca
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#13 2008-08-26 10:53 am
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
If you are going with that era's tanks, Panzerkampfwagen IIL "Luchs" FTW.
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#14 2008-08-26 11:11 am
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Driving home from work this morning, i was caught off guard by a lane splitter. I was doing a little over 70. He was doing 75+. He scared the crap outta me. He's lucky i didn't accidentally swerve.
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#15 2008-08-26 12:52 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
People speeding on the freeway are usually not a problem (unless they are weaving through traffic). People speeding in town traffic are major smurfs.
...having nothing in them of the feelings or principles of '76, now look to a single and splendid government of an aristocracy, founded on banking institutions and moneyed incorporations under the guise and cloak of their favored branches of manufactures, commerce and navigation, riding and ruling over the plundered ploughman and beggared yeomanry. -- TJ
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#16 2008-08-26 1:00 pm
- test
- Member
- From: Collingwood, Ont., CANADA
- Registered: 2002-12-13
- Posts: 5039
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
The speeding wouldn't be so bad if they would stay off the sidewalks. Or at least not speed down the sidewalks in reverse. Or at least do it sober once in a while. I know they're in a hurry to get to the grow-op but it is a school zone around here, after all.
Patience is a virtue of the weak for it makes them stand still long enough for the strong to crush them with ease.
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#17 2008-08-26 1:25 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
Ice Cream Man wrote:
Ever drive in Phoenix?
Everyday. Everyone drives like a dick out here. Definitely have to drive defensively if you plan on making it anywhere alive. Not to mention when it rains out here, seems most phoenix drivers like to loose all hope of driving sensibly.
Last edited by dhack21 (2008-08-26 1:40 pm)
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#18 2008-08-26 1:33 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
justine wrote:
Driving home from work this morning, i was caught off guard by a lane splitter. I was doing a little over 70. He was doing 75+. He scared the crap outta me. He's lucky i didn't accidentally swerve.
From my understanding splitting lanes is only legal in California.. Its not legal out here.
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#19 2008-08-26 1:50 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
dhack21 wrote:
justine wrote:
Driving home from work this morning, i was caught off guard by a lane splitter. I was doing a little over 70. He was doing 75+. He scared the crap outta me. He's lucky i didn't accidentally swerve.
From my understanding splitting lanes is only legal in California.. Its not legal out here.
It's not legal in fast moving traffic.
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#21 2008-08-26 2:06 pm
- sturner
- Royal High Poobah
- Moderator
- From: Carrollton, TX USA
- Registered: 2000-01-31
- Posts: 9912
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
you are soooo bad.
"There were places in the world commemorating those times when wizards hadn't been quite as clever [as to refrain from doing magic when you knew how easy it was], and on many of them the grass would never grow again." Terry Prachett
There are 3 types of people, those who can count and those who can't.
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#22 2008-08-26 6:46 pm
- WhirlinGraphics
- •^-•-
- From: Central Indiana
- Registered: 2001-06-24
- Posts: 770
- Website
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
bratboy wrote:
WhirlinGraphics wrote:
Speeders are not the problem in my eyes, it's cell phones and red light runners.
It depends on the situation. It drives me crazy to see people speeding through parking lots, parking garages, and residential areas. If those who were speeding didn't impact the safety of others around them it might not be so bad.
Yeah, sorry, I wasn't commenting on your specific situation. I was thinking about more of what I run into on the interstates. I agree that people who think it is ok to do 50 in a 30 really piss me off as well. There is a spot where a roundabout is followed a block later by a stop light. It is a 30mph zone and I have to make a left hand turn half way in between. Many people are doing 40 or 50 coming off the roundabout. I will cross in front of them very slowly hoping they will hit the back of my big white van one day.
• 15.4" MacBook Pro, 2.16GHz C2D, 3GB RAM, 160GB HD,
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#23 2008-08-26 7:16 pm
- Tallgeese
- Arugula-eating Elitist
- From: Fake America
- Registered: 2000-10-17
- Posts: 30646
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
sturner wrote:
You have to do defensive driving, and the best defense is a good offense. Get an M1A1 Abrams tank. Very good for those days when the traffic is bumper to bumper. You have excellent cross-country, and cross-vehicle trafficability.
Pfff... let me know when you get a REALLY tough tank - like my 1984 Buick!
He can even take his son with him into the shower, where the boy cannot help but notice that Dad has a penis
- Dr. James Dobson, on "preventing" homosexuality
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#24 2008-08-26 9:21 pm
- zoees
- Member
- From: Maryland
- Registered: 2001-08-14
- Posts: 2561
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
What/who determines "the speed limit"? And how?
One of the saddest lessons of history is this: If we've been bamboozled long enough, we tend to reject any evidence of the bamboozle. It is simply too painful to acknowledge even to ourselves that we've been so credulous. -Carl Sagan
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#25 2008-08-26 10:22 pm
Re: Aggressive, reckless drivers
zoees wrote:
What/who determines "the speed limit"? And how?
The police set it such that they maximize their profits.
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