This ADV lady was REALLY excited to see me today!

So I'm motoring along the Hutchinson Parkway a little north of the Bronx today. These are fairly small 4 lane highway deals that twist and turn a bit, so the speeds aren't too extreme. I'm minding my own business in the left lane and up in front is a slow driver. I check my right and there's an SUV there, check my mirror and there's a good 20 to 30 foot space between the SUV and the Infinity behind it. As soon as the SUV passes, i signal right and quickly pull into that space. The lady in the Infinity starts laying on the horn and gesturing frantically with a middle finger. I'm like "Huh, I didn't put any ADV stickers on my bike, she must be guessing that since my bike looks like a GS from the back, I'm an ADVer and she's "saluting" me" so I waved back all friendly like. I usually return the ADV salute with a wave. She decides to chase me for a bit, man, she must REALLY like my bike or just be so excited about a fellow ADV member sharing the road with her. MAYBE she's psyched because i prevented her from ramming into that SUV! Anyway, after a little bit of chasing, she decides to exit the highway and pulls up right along side me continuing to lay on the horn and flip me the bird as she exits the parkway. I blew her a kiss with an exaggerated hand toss and more waving, just for good measure, and continued on my way, happy that I could assist a fellow rider who happened to be stuck in her cage have a more enjoyable afternoon.

that was mighty thoughtful of you, bz.

ian

Don't you love the self righteous humans.

Last fall I had a guy in PA running 35 in a 55 , try to run me off the road, when I went to make a safe pass, on a twisty 2 lane, then he proceeded to weave and block the 3 other bikes from passing when opportunities arose. To top this he was a volunteer fireman!

I did not get a plate, but his truck had some unique features, so I wrote a letter to all of the fire departments and the county sheriff in the area.

I equated his actions to an arsonist, as he was indifferent to human life and property.

I don't know if it helped, but at least I tried, hopefully he will get a good A$$ chewing from the fire chief.

BubbaZanetti said:

So I'm motoring along the Hutchinson Parkway a little north of the Bronx today. These are fairly small 4 lane highway deals that twist and turn a bit, so the speeds aren't too extreme. I'm minding my own business in the left lane and up in front is a slow driver. I check my right and there's an SUV there, check my mirror and there's a good 20 to 30 foot space between the SUV and the Infinity behind it. As soon as the SUV passes, i signal right and quickly pull into that space. The lady in the Infinity starts laying on the horn and gesturing frantically with a middle finger. I'm like "Huh, I didn't put any ADV stickers on my bike, she must be guessing that since my bike looks like a GS from the back, I'm an ADVer and she's "saluting" me" so I waved back all friendly like. I usually return the ADV salute with a wave. She decides to chase me for a bit, man, she must REALLY like my bike or just be so excited about a fellow ADV member sharing the road with her. MAYBE she's psyched because i prevented her from ramming into that SUV! Anyway, after a little bit of chasing, she decides to exit the highway and pulls up right along side me continuing to lay on the horn and flip me the bird as she exits the parkway. I blew her a kiss with an exaggerated hand toss and more waving, just for good measure, and continued on my way, happy that I could assist a fellow rider who happened to be stuck in her cage have a more enjoyable afternoon.

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Well done lad, well done.

Sure you weren't in Seattle?
You just described my daily commute.

Only thing missing was her latt?® and cellphone.

The Hutch... A great ride when 'empty'.

Party at advladys place!

pffog said:

Don't you love the self righteous humans.

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I'm not sure what it is. Personally, the ONLY people I get mad at on the road are those who endanger everyone with their misplaced putzyness and lack of basic knowledge of essential road rules. A person doing 45 in the left lane, refusing to move, will always infuriate me more than just about anyone on the road, with the exception of drunk drivers. This is what I don't understand: people who take other driver's action personally. 99 percent of the time it's a mistake, a bad judgment call, why would you take that personally if it didn't result in an accident?

BZ: Ambassador for the sport.

BubbaZanetti said:

So I'm motoring along the Hutchinson Parkway a little north of the Bronx today. These are fairly small 4 lane highway deals that twist and turn a bit, so the speeds aren't too extreme. I'm minding my own business in the left lane and up in front is a slow driver. I check my right and there's an SUV there, check my mirror and there's a good 20 to 30 foot space between the SUV and the Infinity behind it. As soon as the SUV passes, i signal right and quickly pull into that space. The lady in the Infinity starts laying on the horn and gesturing frantically with a middle finger. I'm like "Huh, I didn't put any ADV stickers on my bike, she must be guessing that since my bike looks like a GS from the back, I'm an ADVer and she's "saluting" me" so I waved back all friendly like. I usually return the ADV salute with a wave. She decides to chase me for a bit, man, she must REALLY like my bike or just be so excited about a fellow ADV member sharing the road with her. MAYBE she's psyched because i prevented her from ramming into that SUV! Anyway, after a little bit of chasing, she decides to exit the highway and pulls up right along side me continuing to lay on the horn and flip me the bird as she exits the parkway. I blew her a kiss with an exaggerated hand toss and more waving, just for good measure, and continued on my way, happy that I could assist a fellow rider who happened to be stuck in her cage have a more enjoyable afternoon.

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Find her mom.

Tell her.

I was once discussing poor driving habits with a co-worker and he asked if I remembered the dumbest guy from high school. I answered yes. He replied, 'he has his license!' Enough said.

Some peoples attitude seems to be...'anyone driving slower than me is a jerk, anyone driving faster is an a$$hole.'

pffog said:

Don't you love the self righteous humans.

Last fall I had a guy in PA running 35 in a 55 , try to run me off the road, when I went to make a safe pass, on a twisty 2 lane, then he proceeded to weave and block the 3 other bikes from passing when opportunities arose. To top this he was a volunteer fireman!

I did not get a plate, but his truck had some unique features, so I wrote a letter to all of the fire departments and the county sheriff in the area.

I equated his actions to an arsonist, as he was indifferent to human life and property.

I don't know if it helped, but at least I tried, hopefully he will get a good A$$ chewing from the fire chief.

Click to expand...

I had a very similar experience while traveling on a two lane road, but the other driver (a guy) had two small children in his truck. Recognizing that the guy was a pure loon, I backed off. However, a lady behind me, finally passed me and the loon, but only after careening off the berm/ditch of the left-hand lane. The loon, with the kids in the car, drifted the whole way into the left hand lane, to force the passing vehicle into the berm/ditch.

I later discovered that the loon was a faculty member at a local university!!

BZ, you're all confused.
That's NY love!

A friend of mine told me of a road rage incident in Oklahoma where a woman driving a van deliberately swerved into the side of another vehicle causing it to crash, killing a toddler. It is my understanding that the homicidal, manical driver later turned herself in to the local law enforcement authorities. What I find the most disturbing about this particulair incident is the child involved, couldn't the raging driver see the child? And if so, she apparently was in such a "blind rage" it did not matter. These incidents may be understood when studied but so what? Unless stringent measures are taken (whatever that means), it will not improve. Drivers are getting more aggressive and intentionally murderous over time. As traffic expands it can only get worse in most locations.

JD

It can be summed up w/ one word.

Inattentive.

One example. Two scenarios:

Four lane road, two each way.
Traffic light is red and 13-14 cars are sitting in the right lane.
I motor up in the left lane up to the stop line and as if I ran over a switch,
half the cars behind me jump out in front of each other to get in the 'shorter' line.
Drivers are lulled into a trance by the creature comforts in the car.
Nice stereo/DVD players, leather seats, sound deadened cockpit etc.

I see it on the highways too.
Same thing as above only in a moving pile of cars.
You make a move to go around it and some are snapped out of a day dream and begin to speed up.
Some see it as a personal affront that you are actually passing them and will over take you again until the next pile of cars.

That is when I 'lose' them.

I noticed this increasing over the years as cars became more and more 'luxurious' and with cellphones and GPS as an added distraction.

I find myself commuting now on the road less traveled.
Allowing myself some extra time to get to work less frazzled.
Or just getting to work, period.

jamesdunn said:

What I find the most disturbing about this particulair incident is the child involved, couldn't the raging driver see the child?

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She probably could not see into the other vehicle because of dark tinted windows. A dark tint gives drivers a level of anonymity that makes many think they can do whatever they want. It also makes the victims invisible. The most aggressive drivers I see seem to have the dark windows.

jamesdunn said:

Unless stringent measures are taken (whatever that means), it will not improve. Drivers are getting more aggressive and intentionally murderous over time. As traffic expands it can only get worse in most locations.
JD

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Stringent measures means enforcement. Not tickets for five over the limit but the stuff that matters. Tailgating, running red lights, and failure to vacate the left lane when others want to pass.

32232 said:

...failure to vacate the left lane when others want to pass.

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That's the big one out here in Seattle.
They take it a step further and speed up when you go around them.

As for tailgaters... Carry a squirt gun w/ oil in it.
One squirt over your shoulder is usually enough.
One pass w/ their wiper blades and they are pulling off to clean the windshield.

(no. i don't do it in traffic situations)

I think higher standards for the trainers of drivers in North America would help. I cannot speak for every place but it seems that the minimum standard for operating a driving school in Alberta is to have a driver's license and a business license. Many of the driving schools don't teach good driving skills or etiquette. Rather, they concentrate solely on the minimal skills that will get the student to pass the provincial road test and that's it.

I was following a student driver the other day and to be honest, I was getting very annoyed. Somewhere along the line, stopping 1 1/2 to 2 car lengths back from the stop line at an intersection or the car in front of you has come into vogue at lower end driving schools. And slowing down 10 - 15 kph when approaching every intersection just baffles the mind. I guess looking far enough down the road to SEE the potential hazards has been replaced with "if I'm going slow enough, I don't have to look any more than 5 feet in front of my bumper".

If the driving schools taught proper skills, we wouldn't have such crappy drivers on the road.

32232 said:

She probably could not see into the other vehicle because of dark tinted windows. A dark tint gives drivers a level of anonymity that makes many think they can do whatever they want. It also makes the victims invisible. The most aggressive drivers I see seem to have the dark windows.

Stringent measures means enforcement. Not tickets for five over the limit but the stuff that matters. Tailgating, running red lights, and failure to vacate the left lane when others want to pass.

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Very good points.

Even without total anonymity, people are worse behind the wheel, phone etc. due to the social disconnect. In business, I have always noticed people who are jerks on the phone are always much nicer in person. And since a lot of people on the road today are going one place of virtual reality and social disconnect (work using computer, phone) to another such place (home with 900 channels, xbox etc), with or without similar similar antisocial stimuli enroute, the dehumanization of fellow drivers in the minds eye is complete. Dehumanization breeds cruelty.

Ah, yes, law enforcement. If we measure traffc law enforcement as a revenue generating business, it is most cost effective to sit on the side of the road with a speed measuring device. And that is in fact what we largely get. Policing the right of way violations, which actually cause accidents (as opposed to most forms of speeding) requires actual, active patrolling. This just does not seem to happen. The LEO mentality, at least around here, is almost entirely speed enforcement oriented. I have watched people do cutoff no signal lane changes, 25 foot gaps at 65, etc right in front of them, and they do absolutely nothing.

If it were up to me, I would force traffic LEO's to write tickets in proportion to what are the primary causes of accidents. I think six right-of-way tickets for each speeding ticket would be a good starting point. As soon as the driver rumor mill broadcast and responded to this sort of enforcement, we might begin to see better driving out there.

Also, permanent seizure and auction or destruction of vehicles operated by those with no license and/or insurance would remove another large, hazardous, and growing element from the roads.

Do you really think a driver instructors input will stick with someone who's been driving 30 years plus?
If anything either retest every five years or enforce the hell out of standing laws.

Take Personal responsibility.
I can't blame my High School drivers ed teacher from 1974.

Example:
One DUI = BIG Fine. (We all screw up)
2nd Dui = Suspension.
3rd DUI = Revocation.

Driving w/ revoked privilege = Jail.

Period.

GrafikFeat said:

Do you really think a driver instructors input will stick with someone who's been driving 30 years plus?

Take Personal responsibility.
I can't blame my High School drivers ed teacher from 1974.

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The problem is people these days don't consider driving a potentially lethal task that demands their undivided attention. I do. I still remember the things my driver ed. teacher said: always use your signals, if you think the road is empty they may prevent an accident with the person you don't see; your signals go on just before you start braking so others can see what you are going to do, etc.

The recent case in the US where a dump truck rear ended a bunch of motorcyclists stopped at a light is a case in point. Perfect driving conditions and the truck driver said he was messing with paperwork so three are dead and more maimed.

Distracted driving should be a serious offence with penalties that are a real deterrent.
Distracted driving causing injury should be a serious offence with penalties that reflect assault with a multi-ton weapon.
Distracted driving causing death should be a serious offence with penalties that are equivalent to criminal negligence causing death, because that's what it is.