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KTPhil 
Samba Member
Joined: April 06, 2006
Posts: 34021
Location: Conejo Valley, CA
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 Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 4:19 pm Post subject: Re: 3 close calls in 3 hours. Caution there maybe F bombs here |
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| Erik G wrote: |
| Cali_Army_Guy wrote: |
There are bad drivers everywhere, but CA is the worst. |
I disagree, because Houston. People do not use their turn signals, as it is a sign of weakness to show others what you are planning. Instead, you just do what you want because otherwise, someone will see your turn signal and speed up to block you  |
This is common in California. Most here are not bad drivers due to lack of skills (I saw that in the Midwest a lot), but rather because they are needlessly competitive. That drives them to more aggression and less cooperation than most other areas. Once you know this, they are fairly predictable, and if you adjust your expectations (expect the asshole move, for example), you will be safe.
It is the random unpredictable loon that is most dangerous even to the wary!
Last edited by KTPhil on Mon Sep 12, 2016 8:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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67rustavenger
Samba Member
Joined: February 24, 2015
Posts: 9772
Location: Oregon
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| Posted: Mon Sep 12, 2016 5:47 pm Post subject: Re: 3 close calls in 3 hours. Caution there maybe F bombs here |
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| KTPhil wrote: |
| Erik G wrote: |
| Cali_Army_Guy wrote: |
There are bad drivers everywhere, but CA is the worst. |
I disagree, because Houston. People do not use their turn signals, as it is a sign of weakness to show others what you are planning. Instead, you just do what you want because otherwise, someone will see your turn signal and speed up to block you |
This is common California. Most here are not bad drivers due to lack of skills (I saw that in the Midwest a lot), but rather because they are needlessly competitive. That drives them to more aggression and less cooperation than most other areas. Once you know this, they are fairly predictable, and if you adjust your expectations (expect the asshole move, for example), you will be safe.
It is the random unpredictable loon that is most dangerous even to the wary! |
And that's how I almost lost my Pontiac two times when in the L.A. basin about 4 years ago.
Once on a transition from the 110 north to the 105 west, a driver changed lanes in the middle of the helix. I entered that helix at well over 75 mph and damn near hit the wall when the Mercedes driver changed lanes unexpectedly. The messed up part of the lane change is it was unnecessary as there was no traffic ahead of the Mercedes.
The next close loss was when a Pacifica made a 90* right across the double double yellow of the HOV lane on the 105 west in Compton. I jammed on the brakes so hard that the ABS was protesting loudly. :2gunfire: Needless to say I gave those two guys a very fast chase. Had I had my pistol with me at the time I might have used it when I caught them. I never knew a Pacifica could do 120+.
Now you may think I was driving like an asshole. But everyone in that area drives 85+ on those highways.
Be safe.
_________________
I have learned over the years.
Cheap parts are gonna disappoint you.
Buy Once, Cry Once!
There's never enough time to do it right the first time. But there's always enough time to do it thrice.
GFY's Xevin and VW_Jimbo! |
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twigman
Samba Member
Joined: September 22, 2011
Posts: 47
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| Posted: Sat Sep 17, 2016 8:54 am Post subject: Re: 3 close calls in 3 hours. Caution there maybe F bombs here |
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| In that photo.....I wonder if the guy on the bikes text got sent before impact? |
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Floating VW
Samba Member
Joined: April 28, 2015
Posts: 1597
Location: The South Zone
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| Posted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:15 am Post subject: Re: 3 close calls in 3 hours. Caution there maybe F bombs here |
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It's all a question of perspective. For example, I used to complain about bad drivers and poorly maintained roads in the US, and then I went to live in Brasil for a few years. That was when I realized I had no concept of what a bad driver or a poorly maintained road truly is. To give you an idea, imagine driving in a city where everyone on the road is 15 years-old AND there are no police patrolling the streets (i.e. everyone knows there will be ZERO punishment for violating the traffic rules). And then add the fact that the infrastructure was designed by people who thought it would be a good idea to make the left turn-lane the farthest lane to the right, meaning that to make a left-hand turn at an intersection, you first have to get into the right-hand lane, and then pray to God that everyone stops when your special traffic light turns green and you turn left in front of four lanes of on-coming traffic. This is what driving in Brasil is like. I read in the newspaper once, I think it was back in 2006, that a little over 34,000 people had died in traffic accidents on the federal interstates that year alone in Brasil, and that's not including the deaths that occurred on city and state roads.
On the bright side, I noticed that on rainy days the drivers would go out of their way to avoid mud puddles in the streets, which I assumed was because they didn't want to splash pedestrians on the sidewalk. When I asked them about this, however, they said oh, hell no, they couldn't give two shits about pedestrians. They avoided the puddles because usually that meant there was a pot-hole under the water big enough to rip a tire off its rim!
So now when I'm in the States, even the "idiots" behind the wheel fill me with nothing but peace and tranquility.
_________________
"It's time you started treating people as individuals, rather than mathematically predictable members of an aggregate set, regardless of how well that works." |
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