Ya know what really grinds my gears?

[Gioguy21]

First, let met start off by saying this is a story about my lovely monday afternoon, on the way to the gym. I'm a very good driver, and have literally been pulled over but one time, over 2 months ago. (i'm 25, been in one accident at the age of 17 that was not my fault, but was rearended) Now, i'm not one for fighting, starting arguments in bars (beer muscles) or the type to purposefully start sh*% with anyone. My experience yesterday on the way to Best Buy for new headphones before going to the gym was flat out one of the most ridiculous and unwarranted confrontations that i have ever come across. Here's how it happened:

I was pulling off the exit to turn into the Rockaway mall in NJ (name is irrelevant as most of you if any of you have been there), and at the end of the ramp it bears right into 3 lanes, left, right, and straight. before you get to the split, you are merged onto an access road, then proceed to the 3 way. As i was pulling off, i looked back to make sure no one was coming even though i was going to be making a right turn (the ramp lane turns into the right turning lane). from NO where a guy (mid 40's) in a white volvo station wagon with two girls in the backseat under the age of 5 comes barreling behind me, horn blaring and finger waiving. i raise my hand, (not a finger) as to apologize because clearly i didn't see him and didn't realize he was going mach 1 to turn right. as i pulled into the mall, i got in the left hand lane at a light to go another mile around the mall circle to best buy. the gentleman (loose term) is behind me, following me. i get to best buy and he's no longer behind me, as i wait for a parking spot, turn signal on, he comes whipping around the row of cars infront of mine, slams on the brakes and gets out. with his middle finger out yet again, he's now cursing me, telling me, "how dare you almost hit my car, then you come in MY mall and drive like an a&^hole?, who the hell are you, what's your name?...etc."....i obviously didn't get out of my car as this person CLEARLY wasn't in a rational state of mind. i said from my car, "listen man, i didn't see you, i waived to say sorry, what do you want from me?" he replied, "i want you to get outta your car and face me like you should..." which i then proceeded to say, "sir, your kids need a father, it's about time you grow up..." and then backed my car up, and went to the gym sans headphones.


How would you have handled a situation like this? I've never been so insulted or so furious that someone would to have the audacity to do something like that, let alone with two kids in the car...

"and THAT ladies and gentleman is what really grinds my gears...back to you Tom and Diane"

/rant

[MiniBlueDragon]

Hats off to you for handling that situation as you did.

Something I need to work on is my 'road rage' when others upset me while driving. I really don't think in your situation I'd have thought rationally about it; I'd have been out of the car and probably ended up the worse-off in a fist fight through not thinking. You'd think at age 33 I'd have grown out of letting testosterone rule my head hey? :(

[Kieran123]

I hate people who rage on the road.....

But Calgary has some of the worst drivers I have ever seen. No one indicates and if they do, they think it means 'MOVE I AM COMING OVER'..... and they all forget how to drive in Winter, even though it occurs the same time every year.

[limoric]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

I hate people who rage on the road.....

But Calgary has some of the worst drivers I have ever seen. No one indicates and if they do, they think it means 'MOVE I AM COMING OVER'..... and they all forget how to drive in Winter, even though it occurs the same time every year.

I agree with Calgary, Edmonton is a close second and has actually been voted #1 in the past. I was on a business trip in downtown Calgary once and with all the one ways, I got confused while looking for my hotel; I was driving the wrong way. I noticed pretty quickly and made a U-turn without incident; just to see that the pack of cars heading my way was lead by a cop car. Suffice to say, she followed me for a few blocks and then pulled me over. She said, "you're not in trouble, I just wanted to inform you that we have a real bad road rage problem in the city and you need to be more observant; can I escort you to your hotel". It's pretty bad when the cops pull over the out of towners to make a friendly warning. In most of Alberta, merging means speeding up so that the guy trying to merge in cannot and if he manages to get in ahead of you, tailgate while flipping the bird (even in a blizzard)

I've been in Vancouver now for 3 years and I'm still in awe of all the drivers who go out of their way to let you in...it's unbelievable.

As for the jackass with the 2 young girls...that's a tough one. I would like to think that I would have acted as intelligently as Gioguy as I have 2 young daughters also, but I don't know, I probably would have thrown a gut punch and told him that if he doesn't go back to his girls it'll get worse. Living in Alberta and dealing with the idiots, I think everyone has a little road rage in them.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by limoric

I agree with Calgary, Edmonton is a close second and has actually been voted #1 in the past. I was on a business trip in downtown Calgary once and with all the one ways, I got confused while looking for my hotel; I was driving the wrong way. I noticed pretty quickly and made a U-turn without incident; just to see that the pack of cars heading my way was lead by a cop car. Suffice to say, she followed me for a few blocks and then pulled me over. She said, "you're not in trouble, I just wanted to inform you that we have a real bad road rage problem in the city and you need to be more observant; can I escort you to your hotel". It's pretty bad when the cops pull over the out of towners to make a friendly warning. In most of Alberta, merging means speeding up so that the guy trying to merge in cannot and if he manages to get in ahead of you, tailgate while flipping the bird (even in a blizzard)

I've been in Vancouver now for 3 years and I'm still in awe of all the drivers who go out of their way to let you in...it's unbelievable.

As for the jackass with the 2 young girls...that's a tough one. I would like to think that I would have acted as intelligently as Gioguy as I have 2 young daughters also, but I don't know, I probably would have thrown a gut punch and told him that if he doesn't go back to his girls it'll get worse. Living in Alberta and dealing with the idiots, I think everyone has a little road rage in them.

This is also severely lacking in Calgary...NO ONE lets anyone in...I make a point of it and sometimes let 4 or 5 cars through to make up for the other rude pricks!

I avoid downtown at all costs....the design of the roads is a nightmare!

[moparman426]

Originally Posted by Kieran123

This is also severely lacking in Calgary...NO ONE lets anyone in..

It's not just Calgary, it seems to be a whole western Canada thing.  Well Sask and Alta anyway.  Around here when approaching a fourway stop, if you come to a complete stop at the intersection, which I always do, pretty much everyone else thinks it's a signal that you are yielding to them to proceed though (turning left, no less) without stopping, even though they were at least 10 to 15 feet from even being at the intersection.  I just shake my head.  I even had someone behind me screaming obscenities because I came to a complete stop when they were expecting a coast-through like all the traffic ahead of me and almost rear-ended my truck.  Ever watch Canada's or America's Worst Driver?  This town is full of candidates, all over 50.  Not that I never make any mistakes on the road, but at least I still remember my defensive driving classes from high school...twenty years ago.  Anyway, drivers that assume they have the right-of-way all the time is what really grinds my gears.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by moparman426

It's not just Calgary, it seems to be a whole western Canada thing.  Well Sask and Alta anyway.  Around here when approaching a fourway stop, if you come to a complete stop at the intersection, which I always do, pretty much everyone else thinks it's a signal that you are yielding to them to proceed though (turning left, no less) without stopping, even though they were at least 10 to 15 feet from even being at the intersection.  I just shake my head.  I even had someone behind me screaming obscenities because I came to a complete stop when they were expecting a coast-through like all the traffic ahead of me and almost rear-ended my truck.  Ever watch Canada's or America's Worst Driver?  This town is full of candidates, all over 50.  Not that I never make any mistakes on the road, but at least I still remember my defensive driving classes from high school...twenty years ago.  Anyway, drivers that assume they have the right-of-way all the time is what really grinds my gears.

I've had many discussions with my wife on driving safety (how do you think those went?). Anyway, I taught her to be aware of the Red Deer right hand turn (turning right from the left lane), the Edmonton left hand turn (mirror image of the Red Deer right), the Deerfoot and Yellowhead merge (people don't realize that you actually are required to allow the vehicle merging into traffic - if they have a yield it's another story). And we've discussed her habit of stopping at yield signs because she doesn't shoulder check early enough. One of these days she's gonna get rear ended out into oncoming traffic.

Edmonton and Calgary driving is really bad because the growth has exceeded the planning. It doesn't help that people drive for an hour at 130 kph then enter the city, hit gridlock then lose their minds.

[WUTiger]

It can be a person who has a lousy job with a terrible boss, and they just got abused again that day. Or, it can be a woman or a man with an abusive spouse/signif other. Such people go off on strangers because they can't | won't go off on the real culprit.

Don't forget the guy who likes to show off in front of the wife and/or kids by going after strangers.

And we won't ever talk about rude drama queens of the country club set. That's another thread entirely.

[Kieran123]

Originally Posted by moparman426

It's not just Calgary, it seems to be a whole western Canada thing.  Well Sask and Alta anyway.  Around here when approaching a fourway stop, if you come to a complete stop at the intersection, which I always do, pretty much everyone else thinks it's a signal that you are yielding to them to proceed though (turning left, no less) without stopping, even though they were at least 10 to 15 feet from even being at the intersection.  I just shake my head.  I even had someone behind me screaming obscenities because I came to a complete stop when they were expecting a coast-through like all the traffic ahead of me and almost rear-ended my truck.  Ever watch Canada's or America's Worst Driver?  This town is full of candidates, all over 50.  Not that I never make any mistakes on the road, but at least I still remember my defensive driving classes from high school...twenty years ago.  Anyway, drivers that assume they have the right-of-way all the time is what really grinds my gears.

I HATE THAT. No one comes to a complete stop, and you;re right, if you do, they think they're allowed to go instead of stop.....

4 way stops are stupid anyway...but people need to learn that Stop actually means....STOP.

I was in Banff a couple weekends back and came to a 4 way stop and was the only car at the actual intersection, I stopped, then went, but a car approaching on the right figured he would just have a quick glance either way and keep going......the intersection was pure ice, but he managed to stop....JUST.

I also love when you;re at a stop sign and because no one indicates, you sit their waiting to turn into the lane....then they go and turn down your lane WITHOUT indicating....so you miss your chance to go.

[limoric]

Well I'm actually in Edmonton for the week and I'm terrified for my life. Driving down the Yellowhead (3 lane freeway) today on the way to see a client. Was approaching 142nd St from the east, semi truck (tractor trailer for you Americans) was on my left; just as I hit the intersection, a pickup is turning left and is surprised to see me crossing the intersection (semi blocked his view). I slam the breaks and I'm sliding through the intersection; he's giving me the finger as he goes by and I just miss T-boning him. I'm like WTF!!!, I had a green light, how is it my problem that you didn't see me?? I'm guessing that it was a preemptive strike; you know, giving my the finger because he figured he's be getting the finger. I shake my head.

Same day a semi truck on a service road in an industrial area decides he's going to pull away from the curb as I'm at his side. another semi truck is coming towards me. I look at the guy from my passenger window and he's laughing his head off (like the trucker in Thelma and Louise). He forces me to turn left into the exit lane of a parking of get hit my the oncoming traffic. As soon as I turn in there's a semi pulling 3 trailers coming out of the yard; he looks at me like, "what the hell are you doing there" he's nice enough to let me back up and get back onto the service road.

Yesterday I'm driving down the Anthony Henday (very long 3 lane ring highway which goes around the city. The ditch and meridian is riddled with flipped over trucks and there's still cars passing me going about 140 (85 MPH). The roads are covered in black ice, it's -25C (minus a million Fahrenheit) and wind blowing the snow across the road.

If Canada didn't have gun control, Edmonton's freeways would put the Santa Monica Freeway shootings to shame...

Man I can't wait to get back to Vancouver...hopefully in one piece.

[sean_miller]

If you're headed North on Anthony Henday (toward St Albert) DO NOT DRIVE IN THE RIGHT LANE. It ends. I don't mean it merges into the left lane. I mean it just ends without warning. It reminds me of a scene from Rat Race (you shoulda bought a squirrel!).

Originally Posted by limoric

Well I'm actually in Edmonton for the week and I'm terrified for my life. Driving down the Yellowhead (3 lane freeway) today on the way to see a client. Was approaching 142nd St from the east, semi truck (tractor trailer for you Americans) was on my left; just as I hit the intersection, a pickup is turning left and is surprised to see me crossing the intersection (semi blocked his view). I slam the breaks and I'm sliding through the intersection; he's giving me the finger as he goes by and I just miss T-boning him. I'm like WTF!!!, I had a green light, how is it my problem that you didn't see me?? I'm guessing that it was a preemptive strike; you know, giving my the finger because he figured he's be getting the finger. I shake my head.

Same day a semi truck on a service road in an industrial area decides he's going to pull away from the curb as I'm at his side. another semi truck is coming towards me. I look at the guy from my passenger window and he's laughing his head off (like the trucker in Thelma and Louise). He forces me to turn left into the exit lane of a parking of get hit my the oncoming traffic. As soon as I turn in there's a semi pulling 3 trailers coming out of the yard; he looks at me like, "what the hell are you doing there" he's nice enough to let me back up and get back onto the service road.

Yesterday I'm driving down the Anthony Henday (very long 3 lane ring highway which goes around the city. The ditch and meridian is riddled with flipped over trucks and there's still cars passing me going about 140 (85 MPH). The roads are covered in black ice, it's -25C (minus a million Fahrenheit) and wind blowing the snow across the road.

If Canada didn't have gun control, Edmonton's freeways would put the Santa Monica Freeway shootings to shame...

Man I can't wait to get back to Vancouver...hopefully in one piece.