TheSamba.com :: View topic - The official real anecdotal automobile stereotype thread

Tue Oct 16, 2018 8:47 am

Jon Schmid wrote: Gurn Blanston wrote: I find southern California drivers to be pretty decent, overall. They get on the freeway, they drive 80 mph where traffic will bear it, and they generally drive in the center of their own lane.

Except for the "Roads" Scholars who insist on merging from onramps at 45 MPH when traffic (was) flowing 65+ MPH.

I've seen that a lot in multiple states but it's definitely bad in AZ.
I see it pretty much anytime I go anywhere on the freeways.
It's mostly me on the on-ramp on someone's ass thinking or saying "We are getting on the freeway now, step on the pedal!"

Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:45 am

Gurn Blanston wrote: Disagreeing with you is not a "personal attack". Grow up.

Part of being a grown up is the ability to debate without making personal attacks. You should try it some time.

This is a thread about personal experiences. I posted mine. But you couldn't resist bringing up an old tussle and falsely claiming that "once again, Phil is just plain wrong."

Sort of like your posting of beer reviews in another asking for personal beer preferences. See, another part of growing up is realizing that there is a diversity of taste and experience in people. There is no right or wrong in posting one's preferences and experiences.

Citing professional ratings does not add to that discussion, it only points to an insecure need for others to agree with you.

Gurn Blanston wrote:
That's a chronic problem in Hawaii. It is a major cause of traffic jams AND motor vehicle collisions. That's why it's an arrestable criminal offense in Hawaii, punishable by up to 30 days in jail:

They stop, wave you out, and if you fall for it, you may get T-boned by a car in the other lane, blocked from your view by the "good samaritan" and all the traffic they've stopped behind them. They'll bring traffic to a halt on a major thoroughfare, holding up hundreds of other cars, just to let one out, often resulting in a collision.

About 6-8 cars were held up, not "hundreds." And looking a short distance down the road, it was obvious we all were going to be held up at the next stop light anyway, so in fact no one was "held up" any longer than if they had not let me in. And as I posted, there was no "other lane."

Citing laws and situations other than the one I described proves only that you won't let facts get in the way of a good senseless argument for argument's sake.

Thanks for making yourself clear. Now we all know.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 9:47 am

EverettB wrote: Jon Schmid wrote: Gurn Blanston wrote: I find southern California drivers to be pretty decent, overall. They get on the freeway, they drive 80 mph where traffic will bear it, and they generally drive in the center of their own lane.

Except for the "Roads" Scholars who insist on merging from onramps at 45 MPH when traffic (was) flowing 65+ MPH.

I've seen that a lot in multiple states but it's definitely bad in AZ.
I see it pretty much anytime I go anywhere on the freeways.
It's mostly me on the on-ramp on someone's ass thinking or saying "We are getting on the freeway now, step on the pedal!"

HA! This is especially relevant too those of us in our older, generally underpowered VWs, where we need every foot of the onramp to gain enough speed to merge safely! More powerful cars can lag at 35 most of the way, then floor it to get to 65 in just a few seconds when they finally "wake up and smell the coffee." But this leaves us still huffing and puffing at 45 when we merge, cause unsafe merging.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 10:12 am

KTPhil wrote:
One example: On Kauai I had been waiting to turn right from a business driveway onto a busy 2-lane (1 each direction), and approaching traffic came to a halt just short of me. I looked around nervously, expecting there was a pedestrian or emergency vehicle I hadn't noticed, so I hesitated for safety. The driver waived to me. She was just letting me into traffic, having seen me waiting for a long while for an opening. How thoughtful! It delayed people only a moment, and I returned the favor soon after.

Mahalo to those who drive with the aloha spirit!

As a Canadian, I have a problem with polite drivers. There's a phrase: "Be predictable, not polite."
Polite Canadians stopping in the flow of traffic to let non-right of way cars into traffic. Now I'm not talking about bumper-to-bumper traffic, where you just have to pause long enough to let someone in. And I'm not talking about slow neighbourhoods with a 30kmh limit.
I'm talking highway speeds, where someone will fully stop to be polite and let people in. Or making a 2 way stop into a 4way stop. That's just dangerous. "Be predictable, not polite".

Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:07 pm

One of the towns near me changed the rules such that no matter what street you are on you must always yield right of way at all intersections to vehicles coming from the right. What a farce. I see people yielding to vehicles that are 30m back from a junction and going slow. Everyone stops and looks at each other to see who is going to go first. The confusion is legendary. Then you add the pedestrian crossings into the mix at the intersections and it's a whole pile of bollox. I have decided to follow my own rules of 'who dares wins' at most of those intersections. Thankfully I don't go to that shithole often and thankfully there's a bypass around it. Unfortunately, the bypass is riddled with 'blitzers' - speed cameras - and the speed limit changes more often than a womans mind. I got blitzed doing 84kmh in a 70 zone. I still haven't got that ticket - I'm hoping it's cos they got a bad photo that might not stand up in court - I had a big turkey sandwich jammed in my mouth at the time, so half my face was bulging with lettuce, turkey, rye bread and some sort of dressing dribbling out the side.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:20 pm

We are in Germany now, its very confusing sometimes, pedestrians seem to have the most right of way , followed by bicycles, then autos. The bicycle riders can be some real entitled assclowns, and want you to move for them, no way this yankee does that. Other than that, the whole autobahn experience is pretty cool, we are able to get places in pretty good time, people move over to the right lane generally. Typical American drivers would die en mass.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 12:52 pm

[email protected] wrote: We are in Germany now, its very confusing sometimes, pedestrians seem to have the most right of way , followed by bicycles, then autos. The bicycle riders can be some real entitled assclowns, and want you to move for them, no way this yankee does that. Other than that, the whole autobahn experience is pretty cool, we are able to get places in pretty good time, people move over to the right lane generally. Typical American drivers would die en mass.

Cyclists have become a real point of contention in car-obsessed L.A.

There have been recent cases of drivers intentionally hitting cyclists. I understand the frustration of drivers, but there is no excuse for that.

But cyclists have some pretty bad behavior, too. They ride side-by-side when there isn't width for that, then blame the drivers who cut it close. A quick warning honk is met with a finger. But sorry, given the choice between me hitting a car head-on or striking a cyclist, physics wins out and I avoid the header at all costs. Usually I can slow down but sometimes the cyclist juts out at the last minute and it's an ugly choice. So far no collisions but it's been close sometimes. And on PCH you get a posse of 20-30 cyclists that take up all lanes for miles. It's not legal, but no cop can ticket 20 cyclists and they know it.

The latest gas added to the fire is the insane concept of what is euphemistically called "road diets." This dangerous and lame idea converts one lane of a multiple-lane boulevard into a bike lane. The added traffic, coupled with the driver's mentality of "have to go fast to make up for this unnecessary slowing" have meant more collisions, not less. Grrrrrrr.

Okay, end of cyclist rant. I ride, but I stay off locales where these conflicts arise. Life's too short and precious for a crusade about this.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:15 pm

Jon Schmid wrote: Gurn Blanston wrote: I find southern California drivers to be pretty decent, overall. They get on the freeway, they drive 80 mph where traffic will bear it, and they generally drive in the center of their own lane.

Except for the "Roads" Scholars who insist on merging from onramps at 45 MPH when traffic (was) flowing 65+ MPH.

I haven't seen that one, but then I've never lived (and will never live) in the PRK.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:22 pm

Bob Loblaw wrote: KTPhil wrote:
One example: On Kauai I had been waiting to turn right from a business driveway onto a busy 2-lane (1 each direction), and approaching traffic came to a halt just short of me. I looked around nervously, expecting there was a pedestrian or emergency vehicle I hadn't noticed, so I hesitated for safety. The driver waived to me. She was just letting me into traffic, having seen me waiting for a long while for an opening. How thoughtful!

As a Canadian, I have a problem with polite drivers. There's a phrase: "Be predictable, not polite."
Polite Canadians stopping in the flow of traffic to let non-right of way cars into traffic. Now I'm not talking about bumper-to-bumper traffic, where you just have to pause long enough to let someone in. And I'm not talking about slow neighbourhoods with a 30kmh limit.
I'm talking highway speeds, where someone will fully stop to be polite and let people in. Or making a 2 way stop into a 4way stop. That's just dangerous. "Be predictable, not polite".

Yup. There are already laws on the books that govern the movement of traffic- we don't need people just "making up" their own way of "helping", especially when what they're doing is dangerous, stupid, illegal, and usually causes traffic to back up even more.

The same idiots often use the excuse "I didn't see anyone coming" for causing a traffic collision which they caused by not using their turn signals. Just obey the law. The law says to use your turn signals to signal your intentions before you turn or change lanes- it doesn't say that you only have to signal if you see someone else.

Reminds me of the old joke about the guy who was a passenger in a car driven by someone else, and every time they came upon a red light, the driver punched it and blew the light. Finally, they came upon a green light, and the driver slammed on the brakes and came to a complete stop. The passenger asked the driver what the hell he was doing, and the driver responded "My brother might be coming the other way."

Tue Oct 16, 2018 1:38 pm

[email protected] wrote: We are in Germany now...the whole autobahn experience is pretty cool, we are able to get places in pretty good time, people move over to the right lane generally. Typical American drivers would die en mass.

No shit. Light-years of difference between German lane discipline and American lack of lane discipline.

We really enjoyed the Autobahns while in Germany, although I think most Americans who have never done it, have kind of a false perception of what it's actually like.

I think most Americans have this mental picture that everyone drives fast cars in Germany, and that everyone just gets on the Autobahns and drives fast everywhere.

In reality of course, most Autobahns not only have speed limits and speed cameras, but the speed limits change so often, that many of the speed signs are electronic. And there is no "grace" when it comes to the speed limits- if you're over, you're getting a speeding citation in the mail.

And even the ones that are unrestricted (I love that sign), are often clogged with traffic and/or have construction going on.

Then there are the economics of it- gasoline is the equivalent of six bucks a gallon there. That's why most Germans drive tiny diesel stick-shift econoboxes, and why many of them don't drive faster even when they're allowed to.

We were there for several weeks before we finally came upon an unrestricted section of Autobahn with no construction and little traffic, to repeatedly max out my wife's new European Delivery BMW Track Pack car against it's 155 mph (250 kph) speed limiter.

Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:04 pm

Gurn Blanston wrote: No shit. Light-years of difference between German lane discipline and American lack of lane discipline.

What "lane discipline"? At least in California, drivers just mosey across all lanes of traffic into the fast lane, even if they are well under the limit. It's as though they feel "entitled" (as Californians do in all aspects of life...) to that fast lane as a status symbol, based on their image of themselves or their expensive cars. And my fellow Prius drivers tend to be the worst in this respect, hypermiling in the fast lane. Save the planet on your own goddam time, mate!

Gurn Blanston wrote: In reality of course, most Autobahns not only have speed limits and speed cameras, but the speed limits change so often, that many of the speed signs are electronic. And there is no "grace" when it comes to the speed limits- if you're over, you're getting a speeding citation in the mail.

One feature of my Mercedes that is "blocked" in the USA is the speed control function that is tied to the front camera that reads speed limit signs and adjusts the cruise control accordingly on the fly. Clearly this is convenient if not vital on those roads you describe, but apparently the signage in the USA is not consistent enough for this to work reliably, so it is disabled here. Too bad!

Tue Oct 16, 2018 2:17 pm

KTPhil wrote: One feature of my Mercedes that is "blocked" in the USA is the speed control function that is tied to the front camera that reads speed limit signs and adjusts the cruise control accordingly on the fly. Clearly this is convenient if not vital on those roads you describe, but apparently the signage in the USA is not consistent enough for this to work reliably, so it is disabled here. Too bad!

Interesting. I hadn't heard of that one, but the headlights in BMWs have some absolutely amazing functions, that are disabled for the U.S. market.

Using an onboard camera to feed input to the computer than operates the robotized headlights, it can track multiple vehicles, traveling in multiple directions, even on curved roads, and allow you to leave your high beam headlights on without blinding any of them:

Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:02 pm

[email protected] wrote: We are in Germany now, its very confusing sometimes, pedestrians seem to have the most right of way , followed by bicycles, then autos. The bicycle riders can be some real entitled assclowns, and want you to move for them, no way this yankee does that. Other than that, the whole autobahn experience is pretty cool, we are able to get places in pretty good time, people move over to the right lane generally. Typical American drivers would die en mass.

Have you yet had the scary experience of belting along at 120 deciding to overtake, check the mirror, nothing in view behind, indicate, mirror again, still nothing behind, move out begin to overtake and have a car suddenly appear on your ass? Some of these guys are going twice as fast as you. The fastest I got up to was 230kmh at which point mere curves become hairpins and you begin to think about the last time you checked your tyre tread :shock:

Tue Oct 16, 2018 3:17 pm

Volks Wagen wrote: Have you yet had the scary experience of belting along at 120 deciding to overtake, check the mirror, nothing in view behind, indicate, mirror again, still nothing behind, move out begin to overtake and have a car suddenly appear on your ass? Some of these guys are going twice as fast as you. The fastest I got up to was 230kmh at which point mere curves become hairpins and you begin to think about the last time you checked your tyre tread :shock:

While using the left lane to pass someone at about 125 mph, we once saw a black BMW 3-series in our rear view mirror. We completed our pass and moved out of his way before he ever got close to us. I had to chuckle when it went past- I was expecting it to be an M3, but it was actually a turbo-diesel station wagon, completely maxxed-out at about 130 mph.

There was nothing scary about anything we did on the Autobahns. I think it's just a paradigm issue- most Americans just aren't used to driving over 150 mph for extended periods of time, so it's outside of their comfort zone. In our case, I think that our background in motorsports made us more comfortable doing it- my wife and I have both been a whole heck of a lot faster than 155 before...

Wed Oct 06, 2021 8:21 pm

This thread really delivered.

I still stand 100% by the original premise of the thread, but I'm willing to add a corollary. Shitbox hatchbacks of all kinds are routine offenders similar to the general foibles of the Toyota tribe. Bro-dozers, especially Ford and Dodge trucks are aggressive and needlessly risky drivers. I give wide berth to the vehicles with lots of political stickers (doesn't matter their ideology), as they tend to be erratic and act like a Toyota driver on either ludes or speed.

Thu Oct 07, 2021 2:35 am

Universally, the pickup truck with a huge American flag amd the racist dog whistle flag seem to be drive like the losing rear orfice that reflect the owner/ driver, across the States drive regularly….MA NJ CT PA OH NY MD

Thu Oct 07, 2021 7:55 am

=D> =D> =D>

Thu Oct 07, 2021 8:19 am

Abscate wrote: Universally, the pickup truck with a huge American flag amd the racist dog whistle flag seem to be drive like the losing rear orfice that reflect the owner/ driver, across the States drive regularly….MA NJ CT PA OH NY MD

yet to see that here in CT or the parts of MA, RI and NY that i go to. local guy here with flags in his truck is a vietnam veteran who raises money for vets and helps them out.

our local DD lets him set up to collect donations. i got to chatting with him. hook arm and peg leg this son of a bitch is the real deal.

all the money he raises goes directly to other vets...no organization involved that sucks money off the top. he helps other vets with whatever they need...from rides to home repairs, helps homeless vets etc.

he was in the paper a bunch of years back 20' up a ladder with a bundle of shingles on each shoulder helping a navy family.....with 1 arm and 1 leg.

i'm more worried about the SJW with the purple hair that has no clue what gender they are. typically driving a hyundai toyota and the occasional subaru.

Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:20 am

Abscate wrote: Universally, the pickup truck with a huge American flag amd the racist dog whistle flag seem to be drive like the losing rear orfice that reflect the owner/ driver, across the States drive regularly….MA NJ CT PA OH NY MD

Yup, WA too. Nuff said.

Thu Oct 07, 2021 9:23 am

Unfortunately the posers spoil the reputation for those true patriots that give back. Both are around here. Not too hard to tell them apart quickly. The real deal just quietly goes about doing good. The posers make a lot of noise and just want to be watched.