High Sierra Topix

My wife rolls between B and C - no fingers but plenty of cursing and arm flailing. You'd never know it just by talking to her...

Sounds like my wife.

In my experience when someone "cuts me off" I almost NEVER had to tap my brakes. If when someone puts on their turn signal to change lanes and you speed up you will have to tap youre brakes quite often. In 50 years of driving I have never said to myself or anyone else "he cut me off". Tell me John: approximently how many times did someone "cut you off" and you had to tap your brakes.

I do not think I fall into any of the categories. Call me a wimpy driver. I am probably the driver that all you "C" and "D" drivers hate. I am not aggressive at all, and very hesitant to change lanes, and horrible in traffic. Often I just miss my exit because I am not aggressive enough to get over to the right lane in time. What upsets me is when someone is rude and yells at me or gives the finger when I do not understand at all what I have done wrong.

I'm a D'er. The real key is knowing how the traffic moves and picking the right time to travel. When going from Petaluma to Roseville, I've been stuck for 4-6hrs to do that; It's not ok. One time it was a motorcycle who split lanes and didn't really do that well. Other time, Caltrans picked prime time to block lane 1 to trim the Oleander The best solution in a crowd is to pull in behind a semi in lane 3 or 4 and enjoy the ride. They are smooth and steady.

I tend to not target driving during the vampire hours (12am - 3am.) Johnny and I were on our way to waterfowl hunt North on I-5 and got to Arbuckle. There were suddenly cones and flares for a detour at 3:20am. So, we do the detour and get back on the freeway to find 8 of those bright lights around the crash site. There were 50 firefighters on scene. One car decided to probably bump the back of a Semi, and then careen over the center divide (no barrier; read ditch.) 6 dead.

Another thing I find interesting when I'm cruising at speed limit on I-80 towards woodland, I'll look over at lane 1 and you see the blue glow from the cell phone they're looking at in their lap. Some of those nights coming home from woodland, the traffic is moving at 70-80 mph. The dodge keeps up well.

I flag people through 4 way stops if I think they are in a hurry. And yes, I have mellowed. I don't honk my horn; I tend to flash the high beams first to see if they're even paying attention that they need to move over a lane. If that doesn't work, It's lane 2 and kick in the turbo boost.

My final pet peeve; If you can't drive at night, don't!!

I'm a B+

The Golden Rule of Driving; I try and drive in a way that I would want others to drive. It seems so simple. Yet, in my town it's impossible to drive to the grocery store and not see multiple incidents of drivers acting in ways that I know would upset them if someone else were to act towards them.

When did turn signals become optional? I must have missed that memo.

Clive Owen is a C++ driver (NSFW for language):

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I'm usually A-B, but there is one situation that I go an almost ballistic C:
Highway 50 eastbound turns 2 lane with passing lanes from Ice House Rd to So Lake Tahoe, with a running speed limit of 55 MPH. Almost every time I drive that stretch there is a driver going about 40-45, probably 'cause it's a very curvy road paralleling the American river. But then in the double lane passing section, they'll jump up to 60-65, hanging in the left lane. So I have to hammer it to 70-75, on the right, so I can get by them before they slow back to 40-45 again. I'll flash my brights, honk, yell and generally be an A-hole. Not the best thing for me to do for sure, but I just want to get home, and these inconsiderate jokers make it take much much longer than it should.

Oh yeah, I tend to go really C when someone pulls an unsignalled lane change through an intersection, cutting me off....

TahoeJeff wrote:I'm usually A-B, but there is one situation that I go an almost ballistic C:
Highway 50 eastbound turns 2 lane with passing lanes from Ice House Rd to So Lake Tahoe, with a running speed limit of 55 MPH. Almost every time I drive that stretch there is a driver going about 40-45, probably 'cause it's a very curvy road paralleling the American river. But then in the double lane passing section, they'll jump up to 60-65, hanging in the left lane. So I have to hammer it to 70-75, on the right, so I can get by them before they slow back to 40-45 again. I'll flash my brights, honk, yell and generally be an A-hole. Not the best thing for me to do for sure, but I just want to get home, and these inconsiderate jokers make it take much much longer than it should.

The best part about 50 coming home in the dark W-bound is to find someone at your speed who is willing to take the deer on the grill for you.

Mostly B, but closer to A when my wife is in the car with me. She gets peeved at rude drivers if she is driving, but if I'm driving while she's in the car and someone does something rude, I'm not allowed to get upset with them. She gets upset with me if I get upset at a rude driver. The thing that bothers me most is people going 30 mph faster than everyone else and veering from lane to lane like a halfback through a field of defenders in order to pass every car on the freeway. Feel free to kill yourself, but endangering everyone around you isn't cool.

As I get older, I am becoming slower and much more defensive. My reaction times are not as fast and I've seen way too many mangled vehicles in which no one could possibly have survived. I want lotsa time with grandkids before I go out.

Mostly B

Things that either piss me off or are annoying:
1. Traveling slower than speed limit when road conditions and visibility are great on two lane road then speeding up when we get to passing lane (TJ already mentioned this).
2. On a freeway I have cruise control set at 5 mph over the speed limit but have to slow down in fast lane because of the traffic ahead and someone passes me on the right and then cuts in front of me.
3. It is about 20 miles from bend to Mount bachelor, the road is white (for you californians that means snow covered) and traffic is flowing at 45-50 well spaced out but a solid line of cars ahead and some dude always has to pass. Figure it out! How much time can they gain in 20 miles? 15 miles? 10 miles. Every snowy day someone doesn't even make it up to Bachelor because their need to get there a little faster is greater than their skill or judgement.
4. People paying attention to their cell phone. Sometimes they just kill themselves. About 5 blocks from my house they killed a kid in a bike lane.