My top 5 pet peeves of the moment (1 Viewer)

[MarkHastings]

Oh, my bad...must be a Florida thing. I've never heard of such at thing anywhere around here.

Although, I'm not sure about your area, but around here, they're so tough, they won't even allow you to use a gas station as a way of avoiding a red light. I'm not sure if it's an actual law, but they can nab ya for it around here.

 

[Alfonso_M]

this is illegal in Florida, I think the ticket will read ‘illegal turn’ a moving violation, here in Miami more and more people are doing this, sometimes hardly hitting the brakes as they reach the intersection.

Traffic Pet peeve?

Drivers that refuse to turn left even though the light is green and there is no traffic, they sit on the left turn only lane waiting for the next cycle for the ‘left turn arrow’ signal, I believe this is illegal, as you are supposed to move out of the travel lane when the light is green.

 

[MarkHastings]

In keeping with the traffic pet peeves...

1) When people are doing the speed limit, they see a cop on the side of the road, and slam on the brakes!

or even worse,

2) When they see a cop on the other side of the highway and they SLAM on their brakes.

or just people who slam on their brakes for no good reason!!!

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Did I ever tell you about the time the SEARS TV salesman explained that plasma-TV "plasma gas" was exhausted much like automobile gas and the TV had to be "filled up" every year?

Anyway: My 5 peeves (driving related, cause that seems to be popular)

1. People who bypass the sidealk and walk in the middle road.

2. Crappy cars that aspire to be Fast&Furious, but the lazy/cheap owners leave all the aftermarket 'body-kits" primer grey.

3. If you must drive 10mph below the limit, please pull to the side when there are 5+ cars behind you in close queue.

4. Flashing your brights at an intersection means "You go first" not "I'm going now".

5. Turn signals, just use them when required and my driving-induced stress level will approach that of REM sleep.

 

[MarkHastings]

Oooo! That reminds me:

SUV drivers that assume the S stands for Sportscar!

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

There is a reason for having an off-set for pedestrian cross-walk signals, namely clearing the intersection so that cars can make turns through it, including right turns on red. If the pedestrian signals were exactly sync'd to the road signs either nobody would ever be able to make a turn because there were people in the cross-walk or nobody would be able to enter the cross-walk because cars would be turning through it all the time.

I agree about the cell phones - especially in the supermarket. I'm old enough to remember when people were smart enough to operate a shopping cart without getting instructions from the tower like a passenger trying to land a jumbo jet after the crew all gets sick after eating the fish.

Also people who only come out of their comas when they are on top of the exit/side street/mall/business park entrance they need, and then either jam on their brakes and come to a dead stop in traffic or (I love this one) cut across three or four lanes of traffic first and then stop dead in traffic because a good half of these morons never have any idea which side of the road their target is on.

Next - because I hit this on the way home every day - the ones who stay in a "turn only" lane after passing several signs to that effect and then act surprised when they find the lane does not allow them to continue going straight - and then stop in traffic waiting for an opening to get back in the through lane. While I sit behind them waiting to make the turn.

The common thread in most of these is simple - remember that there are other people in the world, show a minimum of courtesy and pay attention to your surroundings. Don't make your problem everybody's problem. I have inadvertently ended up in a "turn only" lane or two myself in unfamiliar areas, and have no trouble making the turn, making a u-turn when possible and retracing my steps.

Finally bozos who stop wherever they happen to be when the light turns read. I see this one everyday, too. There are two left turn lanes at a very busy intersection on my route to work. Invariably there is some yutz sitting two car lengths behind the first car in one or both lanes. This backs up the turning traffic behind the line into the driving lanes, or forces people who need to make a turn to go straight and then come back. Close it up, moron. There are cars behind you. Instead tha attitude is "Oh, I can't continue on because that light ahead of me is red. Might as well stop where I am and wait. It isn't like there are other human beings sharing the road with me."

Well, I feel better!

Regards,

Joe

 

[Carl Miller]

Bryan, in my office at work, many people actually get on the elevator before letting the other people get off. Unquestionably my biggest daily pet peeve.

Jason, as a smoker, I'd gladly put out my cigarette for you if you asked me to do so. Inside, outside, wherever...I can sympathize with you being in Europe. As a smoker, my time spent in France for work years ago exposed me to a level of public smoking that even I thought was unbearable.

Having said that, I'd just as soon you didn't wish death upon me. I'm quite sure you, like nearly everyone else in this world, do something that isn't good for your health, or is potentially hazardous to others, or degrades the quality of life of another person, and I don't wish death upon you for any of that which you may do.

 

[wiggles]

You've hit my top peeves.

I hate it when someone doesn't maintain (loses) speed going up a hill.

I hate it when people slow down before an exit on the interstate in a 70mph zone when the exit is 1/2 mile long and straight.

And last, I hate it when your sitting at an intersection with 2 left or right turning lanes and your on the outside lane. The light goes green to turn, and the car on your inside decides to make use of your lane before the turn is complete. And to make it worse, they know they are cutting into your lane cause they suddenly realize they need to turn into the gas station / mcdonalds / what-not, at the corner of the intersection.

 

[Regulus]

Going through a Gas Station or Bank for the purpose of avoiding a signal IS Illegal IF that is all you are doing.:frowning: HOWEVER, if you STOP TO DO A TRANSACTION you are not breaking the law. That's why I'll buy $1.00 worth of Gas or Deposit $1.00. IMO If you can make a transaction and be able to exit before the signal changes THE SIGNAL IS TIMED TOO LONG!

Big Oil LOVES Bad Traffic Signals.

 

[LewB]

My observation on the 'No Turn On Red' signs. They seem to only be placed at intersections where there are oncoming left turn lanes that are controlled by a signal light (green arrow). People who get the green arrow from those lanes then make their turn into the lane you are going towards by making your right turn. My guess is that they don't want you making the right on red because you will most likely just look to your left before making your turn, while someone else is heading to your intended lane from a lane directly facing you, you may not look in that direction before proceeding with your right turn.

 

[MikeH1]

Agreed Bryan.

My biggest pet peeve while driving though is slightly different and it involves only 1 lane. That asshole that just pulled out in front of me from the neighborhood strip mall causing me to have to hit the binders and then when I look in the rearview mirror and notice not a car for as far as the eye can see .... I just snap.

Also, people that drive Hummers. It's usually not practical at all for them except to stroke their precious ego. One day the next time I pull up beside one I'm going to let the occupants know what I think.

 

[MarkHastings]

Yeah, I won't argue that. But I think just as it is illegal to cut through a gas station (to avoid a light) so should the U (or Omega) turn be as well. IMHO, it's the same thing - both things are dangerous to the other 'patient' drivers on the road.

Again, Impatience is what causes accidents - and accidents cause the most oil consumption. Don't blame the oil companies or the lights, blame the ones who are causing the accidents that cause the towns to put up the "No turn on red" signs (due to the many accidents)

 

[LewB]

Wanna get rid of the lights, then install round-abouts. Somehow I don't see it happening in the U.S.

 

[Philip Hamm]

I absolutely hate it whenever any customer service from any company (gas company, electric, insurance, cable or sattelite, etc.) asks for my account number. Who gives a crap what my damn account number is and why do I need it? Just ask me my name and maybe phone number. You can look it up using that, there's absolutely NO NEED AT ALL for me to memorize or have written down some arbitrary identifying number which your system needs and BTW means ABSOLTELY NOTHING to me.

People who cheat on the HOV lanes.

 

[MarkHastings]

Don't they ask the account number so they make it a little harder for people to fraud someone else? I know a lot of peoples phone numbers, so it would be REAL easy for me to make changes (or cancellations) to their phone, cable, or other service when I get pissed off at them.

 

[Don Giro]

WOW! I seemed to have touched a nerve in a lot of people with my "Right on Red" peeve!

I'm talking strictly from a pedestrian point of view. If MY light is green while I'm about to cross at an intersection, MY green light takes preference to the driver on my left's red light. I should never hear "Right on RED, muthaf**ka, RIGHT on RED!" like I'VE done something wrong. Like I said in my previous post, all these clown heard in Drivers' Ed or retained from their Drivers' Manual was "I can make a right turn on red," not the part about the conditions which must be present in order to proceed. I think the ability to make a right turn on red is an otherwise great idea, especially in the wee hours. Life's too short to have to wait at a light when there's no one around for miles, but when I'm crossing at the green, I have the right to cross the street without my mother being brought into the discussion. These are the same people who'd never THINK to allow a pedestrian to cross in front of them at a signal-free intersection in a blinding rainstorm.

Back to the subject of cell phones. If you're on line at the bank/DMV/McDonald's/wherever, and you're called to the counter, HANG UP THE F**KING PHONE! Don't make the clerk at the counter (and the people behind you) wait longer than they should have to. Don't wave the "just a sec" finger at the clerk asking for your order while you "finish up" your oh-so-important call. And don't turn away or avert your eyes and pretend the clerk isn't there and continue to gab, either, because you're nowhere near as important as YOU think you are. I actually saw one clown turn his back on a bank teller because she was "interrupting" his call. She eventually opened the next window and took the next customer. He got off the phone quick! I was already at another window and started laughing at the guy (and pointed at him to insure he knew he was the ****** of ridicule).



This sentence pretty much sums up the solution to every pet peeve I have.

 

[MarkHastings]

Since they have these "No Shirt - No Service" signs, why not put up a "On Cell Phone - No Service" sign

 

[Philip Hamm]

But when you don't have your account number they always 100% of the time can get your information based on easily remembered (stolen) stuff like your zip code, name, phone number, etc. So there goes your theory.

 

[Philip Hamm]

But a green traffic light DOES NOT take preference over a "Don't Walk" pedestrian signal. If there are both traffic signals and pedestrian signals and they do not agree, it is FOR A REASON. Mayby there's a turning lane somewhere that you're unaware of. Near where I work there's a green light with a delayed pedestrian crossing. It's a busy "T" intersection, the northbound lane gets a green light about a minute before the opposing traffic gets one. This allows the people making a left to go westbound in their cars to make the left unencumbered by people making a right from the southbound lane (people also go straight here). Pedestrians see a green light and a "don't walk" signal while the left turners are supposed to be going. What usually happens is pedestrians just ignore the don't walk and BOTTLE UP TRAFFIC. The left turners can only get one car or so through befiore they have to stop for pedestrians when the intersection was designed for 5-10 or more cars to make a left through the light.

Pedestrians ignoring that particular signal is one of my pet peeves.

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

UGH! I hate, hate, HATE rotaries (roundabouts). NYSDOT in their infinite wisdom has decided to replace every T intersection it seems to come across with a rotary. Exit 12 on the Northway has five rotaries that piggyback into each other. They don't save time because every other driver gets intimidated and stops even when there's no other traffic coming around the rotary. Driving in the rotary itself is so attention-consuming that most driver's also don't have the spare headspace to look for the right Route # sign to get off at. Give me a stop light any day of the week.