The Annual "I hate the crazy driver's around here" Thread

[dismayed]

Alright so here we go. What gets on your nerves about people's driving habits in OKC?

My personal pet peeve: Folks on the highways who never look in their rear-view mirror and never get over for faster traffic.

Even worse: People who ride people's butts because they aren't going as fast as they would like, but then refuse to get over themselves for others.

My personal highway architecture pet peeve: on-ramp merge lanes that are about 10 feet long.

[Karried]

People who can't use a signal. How hard is that?

To let someone behind you or next to you know your intentions? I know if more people signaled, we would have less accidents.

People speeding through a school zone. Can you be in that much of hurry to endanger the life of a child? What could be that important?

Drivers that risk everyone's life in an effort to cut in front of others when two lanes turn to one.

Tailgaters

Drivers who don't know how to merge onto a freeway.

People who won't yield out of the Fast lane

[SpectralMourning]

Yesterday I almost hit an old lady who started pulling out of the left turn lane in the middle of oncoming traffic. That was kind of scary...

[aintaokie]

Excessive speeders, I don't mean 65 or 70 mph in a 60 mph zone. I mean those idiots who drive 80+ on the I240, Broadway Ext., etc. during rush hour traffic weaving in and out of traffic. Those always seem to be the one's you hear about on the news who were "ejected" from the vehicle and thrown 100 ft.

[windowphobe]

I saw one of these today, much to my displeasure: she got almost to the end of the on-ramp, and then stopped. What the hell is the point of having 178 horsepower (Kia Optima V6) if you're not going to use it?

[dismayed]

Haha. Yes all of these get to me too.

[Keith]

People who can't use a signal. How hard is that?

To let someone behind you or next to you know your intentions? I know if more people signaled, we would have less accidents.

People speeding through a school zone. Can you be in that much of hurry to endanger the life of a child? What could be that important?

Drivers that risk everyone's life in an effort to cut in front of others when two lanes turn to one.

Tailgaters

Drivers who don't know how to merge onto a freeway.

People who won't yield out of the Fast lane

All of the above, plus.........

Motorists who try to talk on their cell phones and drive at the same time. Many motorists have proved that it can't be done safely. Chances are, the motorist that is going slow in the fast lane is either too old to be driving, or they are talking on their cell phone.

Motorists who know that they will need to move over to the next lane, but wait until the last minute to move over (causing everyone to slam on their breaks). This is very prevalant(sp?) in construction zones. They will never cut in front of me, because I will not let them. I waited, so they can wait too.

Motorists that do not allow enough time for their vehicles to warm up on a cold morning, and then pull in front of you doing 15 MPH......and motorists that do not scrape the frost off their windows all the way. They scrape just enough to barely see out their windshield.

Question: Why are so many on ramps in OKC uphill....and short?
It makes it difficult for many motorists to get their vehicles up to highway speed when the on ramp is short and uphill.

Old people that ar very short, and can't see over the steering wheel (these are the ones driving r e a l s l ow).

I further believe that motorists who are caught speeding in a school zone should pay a double fine.

[Ginkasa]

My personal pet peeve: Folks on the highways who never look in their rear-view mirror and never get over for faster traffic.

Generally when I'm on the highway I'm not going to be in the left lane unless I'm passing someone. However, it does happen so that I'm passing a bunch of people and somebody going faster than me comes up behind. Now, I'm still passing people, so I don't think I'm "slower traffic," but I'm not going the fastest. Would you say I should get over? Just curious.

Anyway, I really hate people who try speed through yellow lights, but end up really running the red. Sometimes I wish I were a cop just so I can catch those people...

[dismayed]

Hmmm. Well if you're in fact passing people than personally I think that's fine. Unless you are like passing 239874239781 cars and taking a half hour to do it.

I think passing is fine. It's really the people that just park it in the left lane and never look back that get to me.

[Scooter B]

On the highways the left lane is the passing lane not the fast lane.

Pass and move right, pass and move right. Here is a tip – look to your right on the highway. If there is a space two to three car lengths immediately to your right then turn on your right turn signal, double check you blind spot (by turning your head) and move right…..I’m sensing a pattern here…..

There are times when circumstances beyond my control of my schedule that require me to drive 80 or so to not get fired for being late or for not arriving at the hospital for an emergency call back, procedure etc. Worse yet it could endanger a patients life. If you are not a licensed law enforcement officer please do not attempt to enforce the speed limits by obstruction of traffic.

For some bizarre inexplicable reason there are a ton of drivers who will see me coming up fast in the side or rear view mirror and decide two to three seconds before I pass that now is the time they should initiate a two minute process of passing one or two cars ahead of them...WTF are they thinking? I have been watching them for a mile or and the passing lane has been vacant but the desire to initiate a passing lane change does not trigger until I am 20 feet from passing them at 80 MPH......

1. This is not a race you idiot and I am responding to a medical emergency.
2. Even a redneck NASCAR driver with an IQ of 30 knows that drafting only works if you are BEHIND the faster car and not in front of it.
3. I have literally had to pass people on the shoulder of the left passing lane because they felt entitled to hold up traffic if they were driving within 5 miles an hour of the speed limit.
4. Why do drivers in Edmond on I-35 launch their vehicles like a cruise missile off the entrance ramp to get their spot in the passing lane only drop to 20 miles an hour below the speed limit like they are racing to get into line to buy front row tickets to the hottest show in town?
5. Piloting a land yacht with cruise control (Cadillac, Lincoln, Buick or luxury SUV) doest not buy you an exemption from the passing lane rule.

The other biggie for me is people who can not figure out how to turn left at a four way stop sign so check yourself here before assuming you are doing it correctly.

Left hand turns at stop signs

1. After safety the next priority is getting everyone through in an efficient, organized and predictable manner. If you screw this up you screw it up for everyone behind you, in front of you, on your right and on your left. Just because you are in a mindless lackadaisical mood does not give you the right to wave others through ahead of their turn in the name "friendliness" unless you have the consent of everyone else waiting in line and trust me you don't.

2. Left hand turners ALWAYS yield the right of way to those leaving the stop sign at the same time that are going straight. Always use your turn signal so we know what the hell you think you are going to do.

3. When in doubt the next car/drivers turn is dictated by the timing of arriving at the starting block of the stop sign not the length of time you have spent in line.

Example
You are stuck in traffic and were 20 cars back before arriving at the stop sign and you plan to turn left. Another car opposite you and going straight just arrived at the stop sign at the same time but since they are going against traffic they did not have to wait in stop and go traffic for five minutes like you did.

Who has the right of way?

The car going straight always has the right of way and the left hand turn always yields. This is not rocket science people. Heck you don't even have to be literate or be able to add single digits to get this one. This brings us to the next important point;

4. Just because you are paying attention when turning left and yielding to the car opposite you not turning left does not mean you sit there waiting idle for that car to disappear from your rear view mirror to creep forward. Both cars should leave the line at the same time but if you are turning left you leave a little slower and when the oncoming car has cleared your path you are already halfway into the intersection and ready to begin the left turn with a little momentum behind you so the next group of anxious commuters can leave a little earlier.

If you wait for the other car to completely clear the intersection before taking your foot off the brake and then start thinking about moving that foot in the near vicinity of the gas pedal you have missed your turn and the driver behind you is looking for a hand gun, cross bow or battering ram to get you to wake up and drive. Not only did you miss your turn but you just made every car behind you inline miss one turn as well. This will not make you popular and could shorten your life span considerably.

5. DO NOT, DO NOT, DO NOT ever wave someone who should be yielding to your right of way to go ahead of you out of turn. You may get a nice but delusional fuzzy thinking you are "paying it forward" but once the car that you waved out of turn has crossed the intersection the cars on your immediate right and left are going to begin crossing the intersection just as you start to pull forward after patting yourself on the back. The cars in line behind you however are now aiming for your back and have no delusions about warm fuzzies running amok inside them.

You have a responsibility to get this right to all the cars behind you, ahead of you and on either side. If you should have passengers along for the ride you have a responsibility to not drag them into road rage crossfire because of your blatant stupidity and ignorance.

If after reading this several times and you are still confused about proper four way stop right of way etiquette; please turn over your keys and sell your car.

[Keith]

There are times when circumstances beyond my control of my schedule that require me to drive 80 or so to not get fired for being late or for not arriving at the hospital for an emergency call back, procedure etc. Worse yet it could endanger a patients life. If you are not a licensed law enforcement officer please do not attempt to enforce the speed limits by obstruction of traffic.

For some bizarre inexplicable reason there are a ton of drivers who will see me coming up fast in the side or rear view mirror and decide two to three seconds before I pass that now is the time they should initiate a two minute process of passing one or two cars ahead of them...WTF are they thinking? I have been watching them for a mile or and the passing lane has been vacant but the desire to initiate a passing lane change does not trigger until I am 20 feet from passing them at 80 MPH......

1. This is not a race you idiot and I am responding to a medical emergency.

On your race to an emergency, do you use emergency lights? Siren? Is your vehicle marked as an emergency vehicle? Whether you are a law enforcement officer or not, if you do not have emergency equipment on your vehicle, then you have no right to drive over 60 (the posted speed limit). If you are driving 80 MPH, and on your way to an emergency, then you better have some flashing lights and a siren on, or I will not pull over for you. If you are driving fast in the "passing" lane, and have no lights, siren, or markings on your vehicle, then I will assume that you are another one of those direspectful, idiotic, drivers, who thinks he owns the road.

Now, if you run with your 4 way flashers on and your bright lights, then I will possibly move over. There are many, many, vehicles that travel 80-90 MPH everyday on the highway, so if you have no emergency lights or siren on your vehicle, then I am assuming you are one of them.

Plus, unless you are a professional Nascar driver, you are endangering the lives of other motorists when you drive that fast. One blowout or one quick lane change, could make you lose control and cause a major accident.

[mranderson]

I just thought of one inspired by another thread. Plus here are a coiuple more.

Drivers who insist on driving down May, the Northwest Expressway and the I-240 parallel (SW 74) going 30 miles per hour or less when the speed limit is between 40 and 50.

Lane "sliders." Those are people who will not plan ahead and slide across multiple lanes.

Those people who do not know what an acceleration ramp is. They either crawl at 30 instead of accelerating to freeway speed for a smooth transition and merge, or the stop at the end of the ramp. (I call them stoppers) Thank God we do not have many stoppers left anymore. I remember the days when it was VERY common. When I was in Pittsburgh, it reminded me of those days. Stoppers at almost every ramp.

In short, Oklahoma City has among the worst drivers in the nation. They are slow, rude, inconsiderate, and scared.

[fromdust]

people that get onto the highway doing 40. arrghh.. i want to rip their eyes out. oh, and probably my fav. chech it out.. lets say you are driving down nw xpresswy and you see a car on a side street up in the distance and what do they do? they wait until you are like 20 ft away and then they decide to pull out. dont you just want to hit them?
thought of another one. lets continue to use the exspressway. you are driving along during one of the rare occasions its not jammed packed. all the lanes are clear and one of those people on the side streets pulls out in front of you even though there is no one in the other lanes they choose yours to pull into!!!!

[dismayed]

You know, I've driven in most of the big and medium-sized cities in the country, and sadly I agree. We have an odd combination of totally selfish and inconsiderate drivers, paired up with the overly-cautious and clueless. I mean it's got to be bad when you think the people in LA drive better.

I'm not sure how to change that. Public Service Announcements? Better driver's ed courses?

[CMSturgeon]

I agree about the worst drivers. I wish I knew what made them suck so I could stop it. I think if we stopped enabling those last minute people, they would stop doing what they do. It takes me an hour at 5 O'clock to get from I-44 & May to Moore just because of those people who wait until the last minute to get over so they dont have to exit on 6th street to go downtown when there were about a million signs telling them the far right lane was exit only.

Driving in Texas and Nebraska is so much more fun than here, unfortunately Oklahoma's poor driving has snuck its way across the Kansas border. Everyimt I go to Texas EVERYTIME i can make the joke on the return trip home of "doh, we must be back in Oklahoma," because there will be someone in the fast lane, I swear, almost as soon as you cross the dang state line.

In regards to people being rude, that is why I absolutely love driving in Dallas, it's an adrenaline rush, lol. I think the true problem is, people are too nice here. In Dallas people only care about what they're doing, they will not let you over most of the time, especially if you wait until the last minute. I freaking love that. I love that I would have to cut someone off if I was irresponsible. And people don't get offended there if you dont let them over.

My friend Sam is American and lived in the Phillipines a few years and that is where he learned to drive and got his license. I went to lunch w/ him one day and thought I was going to die. He said it's constant acceleration and brake slamming there and if there is something blocking traffic people drive on the sidewalks.

Reading what all you old timers have to say makes me laugh... Were you not young once? Did you not ever want to drive over 80mph at least once in your life? If I got to drive a ZO6 sometime you can bet my butt would be going over 80mph. Those are the people that piss me off. The people in the fast cars that go 50mph everywhere. And like someone else said, they slam on their brakes instead of accelerating like their precious baby was built to do.

When I worked at a Chevy dealership and sat in a ZO6 and got to press the gas and feel the engine roar, I was already having dreams about topping it out, even though I'd be too afraid too.

IN CONCLUSION: Doesn't anyone remember when they wanted to speed too? Maybe it's just because I'm 19 and haven't yet rid myself of those urges. But I know if you're a guy and were once a teenager, lol, you were probably worse than me.

[mranderson]

"I agree about the worst drivers. I wish I knew what made them suck so I could stop it."

Part of what makes Oklahoma City drivers suck is the fact we no longer have drivers ed in High Schools. It should be mandatory. Another thing is the lack of courtesy which is not only in driving, but in general. Oklahoma City has become a bastian for rude people. The other thing is something we have had for a long time. A combination of scared people and people that do not know some traffic laws. Such as yielding to traffic merging onto a freeway.

The part about no drivers ed? Blame the liebral's pal... Bill Clinton.

[PUGalicious]

The part about no drivers ed? Blame the liebral's pal... Bill Clinton.

Who do we blame for your bad spelling?

And why does Bill Clinton get the blame on driver's ed?

[CMSturgeon]

I graduated in 2005 and had drivers ed. So it wasn't Bill Clinton's fault.

[Keith]

What does Bill Clinton have to do with this thread?

I had driver's ed back in 1978......at Moore High School. I made a D in history, so I couldn't tell you who was president back then.

[mranderson]

I graduated in 2005 and had drivers ed. So it wasn't Bill Clinton's fault.

Then you must not have graduated in the Oklahoma City area. In fact, everywhere I have traveled, I have yet to see a Drivers ed class being held in High Schools.

I still say it was Clinton. He steals from the hard working american and gives to his bum friends and the illegals. And that includes most of the programs that were in place when I was in school... Including drievrs ed.

[bandnerd]

I had driver's ed...during the summer, at my high school, taught by one of the school's coaches.

I paid for it, too. It wasn't expensive. But I took it at the school. This was 1995.

[PUGalicious]

I still say it was Clinton. He steals from the hard working american and gives to his bum friends and the illegals. And that includes most of the programs that were in place when I was in school... Including drievrs ed.

Just because you say it doesn't make it true. Methinks thou speakest from thy backside.

He steals from the hard working american and gives to his bum friends...

Ummmmm, I think you're thinking of the wrong president... but that's a discussion for another thread.

[Tim]

Ummm, yeah...I have a son in college and two in high school. All three of them were required to take drivers ed. Whatever, back to topic! As I ride a bicycle most everywhere, everybody in a car is a hazard! My question is why do they get so angry at us?

[mranderson]

Ummm, yeah...I have a son in college and two in high school. All three of them were required to take drivers ed. Whatever, back to topic! As I ride a bicycle most everywhere, everybody in a car is a hazard! My question is why do they get so angry at us?

They must have to use a private driving school then. I have not seen a drivers ed car from a high school in years. If they DO use a high school car, then post a picture of it with the car marked that it is a high school and not a private driving school.

[aintaokie]

My daughter took her drivers ed last summer (2006) at Moore High School. If I remember correctly, we paid about $150 for the course. The school had several cars that they used for the student drivers. Some of the instructors were teacher/coaches and retired military personnel. When I took drivers ed back in the 1970's it was free, and was part of a Physical Ed class that I received credit for. That was down in Texass.