Things Other Drivers Do to Make You Mad

When I owned my Dodge Ram a couple of years ago, I felt the pinch of the $2.50/gallon that was the going rate for gasoline. So, I learned to drive the speed limit and rarely, if ever, exceed that. Now that I drive a couple of smaller vehicles (the 2002 Prius and the 1997 Toyota Tacoma) it seems as if everyone feels they have the right to tailgate me when I'm in the right hand lane and not going over the speed limit. I hate to say it, but for that reason I miss the Ram. It may have achieved a best of 19 highway MPG, but no one tried to tailgate me when I was cruising at the speed limit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Apr 28 2007, 01:08 PM) [snapback]431714[/snapback]</div>

That does look very helpful in tolerating bad drivers, but it's so long, tell us what it means in a nutshell.

Mary

 

Mary[/b]

 

My other driver pet peeve is with folks who feel compelled to share their obnoxiously loud music with the world. You pull up to a redlight and guy-next- to-you's stereo is blaring so loudly that you can feel the vibration. Even rolling the window up doesn't silence it.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AuntBee @ Apr 29 2007, 12:15 AM) [snapback]431967[/snapback]</div>

I couldn't agree more!

One I haven't seen listed here yet and I've encounted twice is people using their laptops on the passenger seat while driving. Glancing more at the screen then the road in front of them. Cell phone use drives me nuts, but this took the cake, what could possibly motivate them to even try?

We really are chained to our technology! At least for us Prius owners its put to good and practical use!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(AuntBee @ Apr 29 2007, 12:15 AM) [snapback]431967[/snapback]</div>

i wouldn't even mind that so much if they would just fasten down their damned license plate... the buzz of the plate vibrating against the car makes me wanna climb up a wall...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Apr 28 2007, 06:56 PM) [snapback]431872[/snapback]</div>

I'll try, but it is so tough explaining that which is inherently unexplainable that I will cut to the salient point directly.

The word is 'wu wei'. It can be translated several ways, but I tend to think of it as 'active nonaction'.

Do not try to do, just do.
Do not actively try to solve your problems, let them solve themselves.
Be like water. Do not let yourself be injured by the rocks of life. Flow around them.

Imagine this:
Hold up a napkin in your weak hand. Now punch the napkin with your strong one. Can you
damage the napkin? Probably not.

But, why not?
The simple fact is this. The harder you attempt to struggle against your problems, the harder
your problems struggle against you. You see it all the time and all around you; you just might
not realize it. The next time you are struggling to accomplish a task, be mindful of how you
eventually accomplish it. Did simply increasing your brute force against it work well? Or did
you find an easier way? Did complicating the matter work well? Or did you find that a simpler
way transformed the job into light work?

400 years ago, Isaac Newton said that the force of one object A onto another object B is equal to and in the
opposite direction of the force of object B onto object A. Of course, the Taoists simply shrugged and
cooly mentioned the fact that they knew that 2000 years previously.

Now, why couldn't you damage the napkin? The napkin, being lightweight and fragile, was not
physically capable of exerting much force on you. Therefore, you were not able to exert much
force on it either. Not even enough to tear it.

How does this relate to driving?

You probably already practice the principles of wu wei in your Prius. Do you grin internally
whenever the car that blew past you 30 seconds ago gets caught by the same light that you do?
If so, you have internalized the principle for that particular situation. Both you and the other
car have arrived at the exact same point, but whereas the other driver swerved around you
and had to put on the brakes forcefully, you have gently rolled to a stop.
Both cars solved the same problem, the problem of how to get from one point to another.
But which one has done it better? You and your car of course!
While the other car has tested its suspension, engine, brakes, and the temper/patience of its
driver, you have calmly taken care of your sweet ride and are quite a bit calmer to boot.

What it boils down to is this.
Other people WILL do things that may bother you. That is a fact.
You can do one of two things:
You can struggle against them and try mightily to keep them from bothering you.
Or you can let them do as they wish, and in turn, it will no longer bother you.
The former is a battle that is lost before it is begun. The latter will fill you with peace
and remove your angst.

Taoism is both a philosopy and a religion with its own scriptures (Tao Te Ching, among them), its own symbols(Taijitu), and its own rituals (Tai Chi, anyone?).

You can see Taoism all around you.

Star Wars?
"Luke, use the force" easily becomes "Luke, tap into the Tao".

The Matrix?
"There is no spoon"
"Stop trying to hit me, and hit me!"

A bolt you are tightening stops turning. Do you keep cranking down on it, or do you back off
and put a soft touch on it.

Your ring won't come off your finger? Do you pull it harder? Ouch!

In virtually all martial arts flicks, the ultimate winner of the fight is the one who appears
to be doing the less work. 'Hero' by is just about the most Taoist movie I have ever seen!


I do not really adhere to any particular religion or philosphy at all, but I can vouch for one thing.

Every time I have attempted to incorporate a particular principle of Taoism in my day-to-day affairs, something has improved tremendously.

Trying wu wei while battling Dallas traffic was simply an experiment. A wildly successful experiment.

I now drive with a smile on my face. I arrive at my destination in a calm, cool state of mind. My Prius loves the way I treat her.

Let the world be crazy. I'm practicing keeping my distance.

 

In general, I'm annoyed by needless haste and by selfishness on the road. Both of these add up to a big "I have no regard for human life -- mine, yours, or your kids'."

It's insanity. No reasonable, responsible person who considered the choice carefully (ie, "I'm maneuvering a hunk of metal that weighs a ton and can go a mile a minute.. and hey, the faster I go, the higher the v squared in KE = 1/2 MV2 increases... so the faster I go, the more likely I am to murder someone") would not choose to speed unless it really were an emergency in which every second might count. It's a perfect illustration of the self-absorption and lack of regard for human life that many people in this country choose, each day.

And don't get me started about Egyptian driving. One of my good friends once travelled to Egypt, and -- bear in mind, this is an exceptionally tolerant person, I would say, even by Priuschat standards -- his reaction was that drivers there had absolutely no regard for human life. He as much as said that people will speed and honk their way past flaming wreckage and bleeding people waving for help.

 

These days I'm all about keeping my distance, but a few situations
make that more difficult. Timing is everything, and accounting for
a certain level of random, nondeterministic behavior around me.
.
I do, however, frequently run with a laptop in the seat next to me.
Reading relevant parameters off the CANbus and telling me more about
what's going on up front, so it's all in the name of Science!
.
_H*

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Masnyd @ Apr 28 2007, 05:19 PM) [snapback]431878[/snapback]</div>

Speaking of annoying things. I vote for excessively large fonts being used indiscriminately while posting on PriusChat.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(patrickindallas @ Apr 29 2007, 06:49 AM) [snapback]432051[/snapback]</div>

Ah, the Tao of Yoda. "There is no try. Do or do not."

Sometimes, collective insanity seems the only rational explanation for humanity. Keep your distance, and your wits, but don't go so far away that you forget you're part of it.

 

People on two lane in one-direction roads who drive slower then the posted speed limit next to each other completely blocking the entire highway. You are cruising along with cruise control set and you get behind two people driving next to each other very slowly like doing this somehow makes them feel safer. Traffic is completely bunched up behind them and neither one moves out of the way. I am talking about a posted speed limit of 55 or 65 and they are both going 15mph or more below this speed limit usually they will be going 35mph. highways are supposed to go faster than surface roads so people can get to work or whatever in a reasonable amount of time.

 

Interesting topic - I've actually had a lot of drivers annoy me lately, mostly all for the same reasons.

They are jackasses! That's it - not sure how to describe it otherwise

Here's some examples. I'm in an underground parking garage in Boston a few weeks ago. People park all over the place - even in spots that really aren't spots. So I'm in this section and there is a space on the right. Cars are parked along the left, pretty much making this a one lane section. I swing left so I can back in and as I'm backing in, this woman comes around the corner and pulls right up to me and gives me this look like I'm doing something wrong or shouldn't be in her way or something. I really just couldn't understand it.

I've also had someone jump out from a side street right in front of me and when I stopped pretty close to them (no other choice since they jumped out suddenly), they gave me a dirty look and flipped me the bird.

There have been plenty of other instances too... I've come to accept what I've always believed. MOST (not all mind you) people are just jerks. Unfortunately, they also breed, so the cycle is just going to continue.

 

1. Signalling as they actually make the turn instead of signalling "I am signalling my intention that I about to begin to turn" - sometimes even braking before signalling
2. Getting in the left lane for a turn miles before the turn, staying there at 2 miles below the speed limit, oblivious of traffic behind you
3. Getting on the highway and going straight into the middle lane - and staying there for hundreds of miles, oblivious to traffic behind them
4. Getting to a 4-way stop but not recognising that you have to actually look to see who was already present there, to know when to go
5. Not yielding to existing motorists when entering a highway
6. Motorists already on the highway trying to yield, like braking, to allow other motorists to enter the highway - causing people behind them to brake in accordian fashion
7. Slowing down to a crawl whenever there's a cop or an accident - anything with a flashing light - usually slowing traffic down for miles behind
8. In rush hour traffic, accellerating and braking hard, instead of looking down the road ahead and setting an appropriate speed
9. Not keeping to a set speed on the highway - doing 70 one minute, 65 the next, then 75
10. Accellerating as I try to pass you and manouver back into that lane
11. Beliving that you "own" the 30 or so feet in front of you vehicle
12. Stopping in a merge lane instead of...merging (again - usually without signalling)
13. Speeding up then braking hard between lights - i.e. not actually looking down the road at the signal
14. Riding up my nice person then maybe passing me, only to find me coast alongside you at the next stop/signal
15. Giving me the finger when I beep my horn at you for jumping the light - when I already have the green and you're still going - cutting across me
...I could go on

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(1x1 @ May 5 2007, 08:45 PM) [snapback]436207[/snapback]</div>

Jeez.

Why don't you just walk?

 

Most of 1x1's list is covered here and here, and the more people start
to realize [if ever] that they *do* own the 30, no, more like 100 feet
of road ahead of them, the better off we'll all be. But the prior
observation about the proportion of rude jerks also holds, so I guess
it's hopeless.
.
_H*

 

Always an interesting topic... Do bad drivers realize they are bad drivers?

I agree with a lot of the aforementioned peeves, but one that really gets me is when cops don't enforce laws.
This past weekend, I was at an intersection with a HUGE No U-Turn sign. There was a cop heading southbound and I was heading northbound. Left hand turn signal turns green and two vehicles make an illegal U-Turn right in front of the cop. The cop does NOTHING.

I really don't understand how life works.

 

On another note, I've been a bad driver. A guy in a 2G Explorer sped around me and raced to get to the next light as I gently accelerated. When I caught up to him, I rolled down my window and shouted at him, in anger, "50 miles per gallon!" and turned the corner.

Now I've been the bad driver

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ozyran @ Apr 28 2007, 04:19 PM) [snapback]431818[/snapback]</div>

I have to congratulate you for the Ram to Prius switch!

Said it before, but too many drivers are into this silly notion that you must be top dog, and that means be the biggest.

The only way to put more sense on the highways is for more people to do what you did!

 

Some butthang in a contractor van latched onto my six yesterday
after completely screwing up the "zipper thing" at a merge, like
I had done something horribly wrong by giving the car ahead a little
distance as we were all coming back up to speed. He hung there
despite several polite attempts to ask him to back off -- flashers,
etc and even a *hand* out the window trying to wave him away. He
stuck there until an opportunity came to pass [this is a 2-lane road
with a PSL of 50] and then did so with a great show of full-bore,
exhaust hissing loudly testosterone-burning. And of course lightin'
up the red stuff right behind the next car, like all that got him
anywhere.
.
Unfortunately the number listed on his van turned out to be
disconnected...
.
_H*