Self Righteous Drivers

[Glados]

(rant)

I am so sick and tired of the Facebook posts chastising people who live up north and do not like to drive in the snow or drive slower. The constant barrage of "buy a better car" "stay home" or "move south" is really p*****g me off. Not all of us can afford to move, buy a car, or miss work. Not everyone on the roads has been driving for 10 winters.

I have severe anxiety about driving after a bad winter weather accident. It took years to overcome and learn to drive and longer to be able to drive in winter weather. I take my time and drive safely but am usually a weepy mess after getting out of the car.

First off, how do these people expect a newer driver to get better without practice?

Second, It is usually these same people who are out causing the accidents by driving too fast/following too closely/passing where they should not etc.

Finally, Driving is primarily about getting to a destination safely. It is not a race to get there the fastest. These people think that the are the exception to the laws of physics until they wreck. "I'm better and more important than you because I [B]think[B] I can drive in the snow at any speed" has never stopped an accident.

I bet none of the people posting this crap would dare say it to someone's face.

[crashhelmet]

(rant)

Second, It is usually these same people who are out causing the accidents by driving too fast/following too closely/passing where they should not etc.

I have to slightly contest this statement. You are right, in most cases it is these people that cause accidents. However, timid or passive driving is just as dangerous as aggressive driving. That's why you will often see signs that says "Slow traffic, keep right." It's not to create a lane for speeders, but to keep the slower drivers off to the side and less of a risk. In many jurisdictions, driving too slow can result in a ticket for impeding traffic.

As for bad weather, people that are anxious driving will often times overcompensate if their car starts to slide and wreck. Their anxiety could be because they're not comfortable driving as it is, or maybe just in that weather. My girlfriend drives like a bat out of hell when the weather is great, but in inclement weather, she drives like a fraidy cat and fishtails all over the place.

[Glados]

That is not the situation that I refer to. I am referring to the people who still expect to go 60 MPH in a 40 MPH area (which they should not be doing anyway) and get angry when forced to slow down.

For clarification, the road that I take to work is full of hills and bends. It is residential and a speed limit of 35 with no passing allowed. Due to salt shortages in my area, it was not treated today. Every time I began to go over 30 MPH I would begin to slide. I drove 30 in a 35. I am not a timid, passive driver but a cautious one.

[siead_lietrathua]

sure you don't live in my area? some of the roads here are so crap when it snows you have to go 40(Kph) instead of the posted 60 cuz of the corners and hills and drifts that can be up to your bumper to dodge. (i dunno what that would be in mph)
every friggan time, people ride my ass till i get to my middle-of-nowhere street. i almost hope they hit me one of these days. i could use a new car.

[Greenday]

People drive like morons regardless of weather here. Last night it was torrential downpour but people still wanted to drive super fast. There was tons of flooding yesterday but people were flying around. Morons.

[BrenDAnn]

And those drivers are the ones that I wave at on my way by when they're sitting in the ditch after having passed me. It drives me crazy to no end to see people driving crazy on dangerously snowy/icy roads. What's so wrong with slowing down a bit and taking your time? As my mother always used to say, better to get there in one piece than not at all.

[wolfie]

I am so sick and tired of the Facebook posts chastising people who live up north and do not like to drive in the snow or drive slower. The constant barrage of "buy a better car" "stay home" or "move south" is really p*****g me off.

Those people deserve sarcastic answers. How about "Yeah, if I were in Georgia or North Carolina, I wouldn't have to worry about ice and snow on the roads", or "You mean if I had a Subaru like that one in the ditch, I wouldn't have problems in the snow?"

[sophie]

What about the ones that say "I have a 4 wheel drive that means I can drive on ice!" Nope you will slide like everyone else. Or my personal favorite "It's not dangerous to stop on train tracks, I'll see the train and move."

That's an actual quote by the way. I live among idiots.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

You can drive safely all you like.

However, if said slow driver is the idiot that decided he would go 5 MPH in the MIDDLE of two lanes on a four lane road, I'm going to get frustrated and angry.

Yes, I am someone who grew up in MA and I have been driving in winters for almost a decade now. I know the limits of my car and how to handle it if any of the wheels start to slide. I have never been in a wreck while watching people going faster and slower than I am going spin out all over the place and go into snow drifts or into other cars.

What makes a slow driver's time any more important than the person who feels they can drive at a moderately higher speed - while still remaining safe? Because by impeding traffic, slow driver is saying "Your time doesn't mean jack shit, you can wait."

It goes both ways.

Yes, I've seen people go rip-shit through a blizzard and I pull off to the side to let them go by. I do not want someone like that behind me, because they WILL ram my ass when they can't stop they SUPER-AWRSOME-4-WHEEL-DRIVEEEEEEEE vehicle. They can go wreck somewhere ahead of me.

However, if I know I can safely go at 25 mph, I am going to get really annoyed at being throttled to 5mph because the person in front of me won't at least show me the courtesy of letting me get by so they can putter along to their heart's content and I can get home after an 8-hour shift wrangling 80+ dogs in the very blizzard that I am now driving home in.

[Rageaholic]

Oh I hate the assholes who tailgate right behind you when you're going the speed limit. I also had this one idiot pull out in front of me on an icy road. How I managed to avoid a collision, I don't know.

I'm also sick of icy roads, but that's for another rant.

[HYHYBT]

Would this be a good place to add Northerners and others who insult people in the South for not handling snow and ice well? We m average one noticeable snowfall per winter, often melted off the roads by the same afternoon. There is no sane way to expect most people to have their vehicles stocked with snow tires, chains, all-wheel drive, sandbags, or any of the other things y'all use up there to deal with this. Nor do we own snow shovels. I've never even seen one in a store. Nor would most of us, even if we had such things, have any reasonable way of getting and maintaining enough experience to use them effectively. It doesn't mean we're idiots.

What about the ones that say "I have a 4 wheel drive that means I can drive on ice!" Nope you will slide like everyone else. Or my personal favorite "It's not dangerous to stop on train tracks, I'll see the train and move."

That's an actual quote by the way. I live among idiots.

Funny. In the town where I live, there are crossings marked so you not only can, but legally have to, stop on the tracks. Never a problem; the trains move slowly, and only come through two or three times a day, usually at night.

Except this week. No trains at all Wednesday or Thursday; I could tell because this morning there was still ice/snow where the wheel flanges would have pushed it out. Which is a good thing, because yesterday was the first time I'd ever seen someone get stuck on the tracks. He'd pulled right up to the rails at a crossing with a stoplight, rather than hanging back before the arms. Where he should have been, the ice had melted. Where he was, it hadn't

[patiokitty]

There can be lots of arguments made for learning to drive in snowy/icy conditions, especially if you live in areas that have those conditions every winter. Where I live, for example, it's just not winter if we don't get several dumps of snow. But every year people seem to forget how to drive in it.

What really gets me though are the people who REFUSE to learn to drive in it, even if it means they can't leave the house for days or expect somebody else to come get them. Yes, I get that it can be scary - it's not exactly my favourite driving condition and I deal with anxiety (and road rage, hence part of why I don't currently have a vehicle), but if I have to get somewhere I figure out a safe way to go about it. Such as making sure I have proper tires for the road conditions, that my breaks are working correctly, and leaving early so that I can drive slower than I would on a good day.

I've got a friend who actually scares me when she drives. As in on a good day she cannot stay in her lane, and constantly cuts people off. But when she gets called on it she gets pissed off and calls the other person 'self-righteous' blah blah blah. I just won't get into any vehicle she is driving, rather than calling attention to her scary driving 'skills'.

Or another friend who refuses to drive if there is snow coming down. She calls it 'blowing snow' and will call out of work instead of driving in it. Mind you, she is also the sort of person who won't wait until her windows are defogged before pulling out of her parking spot and heading into traffic.

It's one thing when people are being dangerous in their driving practices, but another thing entirely when they are just trying to be careful. Oh, and I have notices that a lot of folks who end up in ditches or snowbanks are people that have 4x4 vehicles and figure they can still drive like idiots. Having 4x4 doesn't mean a whole lot in wintery conditions unless you know how to actually use that option to your advantage, as I know from experience. Damn I miss that truck...

[mikoyan29]

What about the ones that say "I have a 4 wheel drive that means I can drive on ice!" Nope you will slide like everyone else. Or my personal favorite "It's not dangerous to stop on train tracks, I'll see the train and move."

That's an actual quote by the way. I live among idiots.

A woman in my neck of the woods stopped on the train tracks. Her daughter ended up in the hospital and her car ended up totaled. She's lucky she didn't get totaled. And this is the second accident like this in a year, so now the city wants to look at the crossing gates.

As for four wheel drive and ice....no traction is no traction. You hit the right spot of ice and you're on the side of the road like everyone else. In fact, you're probably more likely because you have the "I have four wheel drive" mentality.

As for me, I like to go the speed where I feel safe and in inclement weather that is usually below the speed limit.

[BrenDAnn]

I've said it before. I'll say it again. Four wheel drive does NOT mean four wheel stop. 'Tis a shame more idiots don't realize that!

[HYHYBT]

I know what you mean, but all cars have four-wheel stop