Dear Incompetent Motorists...

[areias]

............a drunk driver.

I'll take the drunker driver anyday, as long as he's not running red lights or tail gaiting. They actually say that being on a cell phone when your driving is worse than drinking and driving.

[Laura's Babies]

Ever noticed that some days, it looks like EVERYONE is out to hit YOU?

I use to date a guy that tailgated and would look at ME to talk while tailgating driving at 70mph... I can't tell you how many times he scared me so bad that I actually HIT him. When we would go on a trip and someone would ask how our trip was... I would answer "I kept a headach the whole way from inhaling everyones tail pipe fumes.."

I use to ask him what he thought he was doing... "You can controll how YOU drive but you can not controll everyone else, yet you are assuming you CAN!

I was so gald when we broke up! He had a beeper (in those days) and his son would beep him 50 times a day... going down the highway, tailgating and the beeper goes off... he about wrecked everytime because he had to immediately see who was beeping him.. grrrrrrrrrr!

Their life is ALL ABOUT THEM! Their lives! Where THEY need to be! What THEY want! Without regard to the rest of us or our safety.

[Daisy and Delilah]

Well said areias!! Here here!! Everytime I leave the house in the car I'm shocked at the poor driving we are forced to be a victim of. It's about time somebody brought this up. Thank you!! It's so sad that some of us try to drive correctly and the roads are filled with morons that couldn't care less about how bad their driving skills(or lack there of)are.

Just curious....do all states have the mail in thing like we do here in Florida? Personally, I think it's time they hauled in about 85% of the drivers we have down here for re-testing. Most of them must not have ever picked up the driver's manual before testing. They just faked it and now they get their license renewed via mail or the internet.

I have many pet peeves on the road but one of the biggest; lack of the use of turn signals!! Why bother having them if you don't even use them?? or...use them improperly.

Anyway, I love this thread. Thanks for bringing attention to this very sore subject. I hope you do get it published!!

[mike001]

Great post, love it. So true, been there and I also get frustrated at these drivers. Especially those huge semis that take up half your side of the road when taking a sharp curve.

[joycenalex]

now that there is snow and ice on many cars, PLEASE take the extra five minutes to CLEAN OFF your taillights, and ALL of the front window, sidewindows and back window. i swear it won't take more then that. if you only scrape a dinnerplate sized hole, you won't see anyone else. thank you for listening...maybe

[davidpizzica]

In Pennsylvania you can be pulled over for not having ALL of the snow pushed off of your car. the extra snow will blow off and blind the car behind you.

[Pam]

Someone here in NJ was cut badly when a huge piece of ice flew off the top of the van in front of her and broke this woman's windshield. She was treated at a hospital for lacerations of the face. The person in the van never even stopped.

[DrKym]

Arieas, I lived in Ft Lauderdale from 83-92, I firmly believed then that after rush hour,
all ppl exiting the freeway alive should be bestowed with
I Survived I-95 buttons to be displayed proudly. I have lived in nearly every state in the nation, and the 2 worst for rude and just plain bad driving is Fla and Arizona (although Illinois is CLOSE)

Nice letter btw, enjoy the sun and the oranges!

Kym

[Pam]

I'll take the drunker driver anyday, as long as he's not running red lights or tail gaiting. They actually say that being on a cell phone when your driving is worse than drinking and driving.

Not me! I was behind a drunk driver one night and it was terrifying. I watched him weave into everyone else's lanes for a couple of miles. Thankfully it was late and there were no cars on the road. I was afraid to even pass him. At one point he totally coasted over into the two oncoming lanes (I am imagining that he nodded off) and wound up on the opposite shoulder. Thank God no one was coming. That's when I finally passed him and said a prayer that he would somehow sleep it off on the side of the road.

What seems to happen to me so often is that I will be coming down the road and someone decides to dart out into the intersection right in front of me. They have literally a quarter of a mile or so to pull out but they wait until I am almost at the intersection and then decide it's time. After I pass I always look into my rear view mirror to see who is behind me and most of the time there is no one. Why couldn't they just wait for me to pass? It's not like there was a stream of traffic behind me that they had to get ahead of.

[wombat2u2004]

Nope, not me. I hate the drunks.
Had a mate who's 17 year old daughter was killed by a drunk one morning on her way to work. She'd only had her licence for a week, and she was a good careful kid. She stopped at a red light and this guy hit her from behind. When the police came, the drunk was so inebriated he couldn't even stand up. Such a waste of life.
Wombat

I'll take the drunker driver anyday, as long as he's not running red lights or tail gaiting. They actually say that being on a cell phone when your driving is worse than drinking and driving.

[Riptide]

I vote you turn on your tail lights to make him think you're breaking.

[critter crazy]

Break Checks must be done on a regular basis around here!

[CathyBogart]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

[Cataholic]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

Again, who are the 'people'? I didn't know motorcyclist (responsible, careful drivers of motorcycles) were seen as causes of accidents, like the argument that cell users are. I do think motorcyclists have inherent problems on the roads, irrespective of the types of drivers they may think they are. The fact is that they do not have a shell of steel, metal, hard plastic surrounding the bodies, so, when they take a hit, it is usually sigficant.

Like everything in life, there is a risk. To ride a motorcycle, better make sure you have proper insurance on the bike, the rider, adequate physical protection, and a guardian angel. People just don't see motorcycles, they see cars/trucks.

I would rather take a bus. I gave up riding bikes on the road, and running along roads without sidewalks, for similar reasons. Too darn risky.

[sparks19]

...and people think motorcyclists are the ones with a problem.

I didn't realize we had to be so specific but I have heard people (forgive me for not listing all their names and stats lol ) say how dangerous motorcycles are. Well sure they are but it's not because they drive like idiots (although some do) most of the time a motorcycle accident is caused by a car.

I actually witnessed an accident when I was just a little girl. it was horrifying. A car decided to speed up and cut a motorcyclist off, the guy on the cycle had to swerve to avoid hitting the car and he wiped out. he was all kinds of hurt. the car didnt even stop.

I also had a friend who's father rode a motor cycle and he got cut off by a car. Once the car was in front of him it slammed on it's brakes. He was too close to stop safely so he tried to just bail out and dump the motorcycle. he had on all the appropriate gear so he figured he wouldn't get hurt as badly as if he slammed into the car and flew over it. unfortunately, he was so close to the car that the motorcycle bounced off the back end of the car and landed on my friends father. it broke his neck instantly and he died.

I am deathly afraid of motorcycles. I won't ride on one and I get nervous when there is one near us in the car. i get so scared that something is going to happen and I will have to relive that awful day all over again. My brother rode a motorcycle for years and always tried to get me to take a ride with him. I never did. Luckily he mainly stuck to back roads that weren't very busy and he rode in a "gang" LOL just a group of friends that would get together on weekends and just go for a nice ride. Thankfully he was one of the lucky ones and he decided to stop riding after a friend of his was killed in an accident. he has 3 1/2 children and it wasn't worth the risk anymore and losing his friend only made it all too real.

I just don't understand the absentmindedness that people are suddenly struck by when they get behind the wheel of a vehicle. do they not realize they are driving a machine capable of major destruction and death?