Worst drivers in which vehicle?

[travelover]

Mini rant

All this wonderful snow in Michigan has gotten me pondering on how to spot a potentially dangerous driver on the highway. I've come to the conclusion that there are basically two main types of culprits: Aggressive and clueless.

In the aggressive driver class, the truly scary are generally young men in 4x4 pickups and middle aged men (and women) in luxury SUVs. I think the former are juiced on testosterone and the latter are stressed out and trying to squeeze a few extra seconds from their commute. The luxury part seems to stem from an extra sense of entitlement, but maybe I'm just projecting that part. Both are convinced that a 4x4 really does stop faster in snow or ice than a car and if it doesn't, they will not be the ones to die.

The second group are older and/or preoccupied with other issues. Typical vehicle is a full size American van or (around here) a Crown Victoria, either being 10 or more years old. At the risk of being politically incorrect, a handicapped license plate can be a red flag. This groups tends to pull out very slowly and also make slooooooooow right turns. Left turn signal is permanently flashing.

A subgroup of the clueless is the mom on the phone in a minivan or crossover SUV. Usually I can spot these because they have trouble staying centered in their lane.

 

[ziggy29]

I've often found that the bigger and "safer" a vehicle is supposed to be, the more likely it is that someone will drive it with a little less caution. In that sense, it can be a false sense of security.

 

[deepc]

The latest we have around here are the driving while texting drones.

They drive down the road with their fingertips on the wheel texting away with their thumbs. One particularly loathsome female example yesterday in a red VW Beetle with excessive bling nearly ran down my bicycle/trailer. After all, my rig is only ten feet long. When I told her (not so politely) to put the phone away she told me to, "Mind your own business."

I think a common theme among all the errant drivers will be an out of proportion sense of entitlement; i.e. those laws/necessity for concentration/things don't apply to ME.

 

[73ss454]

To me women are the worst drivers in any vehicle. I've had 4 accidents in my life all caused by the opposite sex. Going through stop lights, stop signs, illegal turns. Very annoying!

 

[FinanceDude]

To me women are the worst drivers in any vehicle. I've had 4 accidents in my life all caused by the opposite sex. Going through stop lights, stop signs, illegal turns. Very annoying!

I agree. My famous quote I say all the time that gets DW upset:

"Women don't get INTO accidents, they CAUSE them"......

I came up with that at a cookout 10 years ago and DW still brings it up a few times a year..........

 

[ziggy29]

To me women are the worst drivers in any vehicle. I've had 4 accidents in my life all caused by the opposite sex. Going through stop lights, stop signs, illegal turns. Very annoying!

Uh-oh.

 

[hankster]

The tailgaters (sp?) are the ones I fear most in our area. Usually a large pickup or SUV. "No, I don't want to pass you. I want to bully you into going MY speed." I often pull over and let them by just to remove the danger of a rear end collision. If I can't pull over, I gradually slow down until they become disgusted enough to pass me.

I also love the "left lane clueless" drivers who doodle along in the fast lane side by side with someone and oblivious to the fact there are 27 freakin' vehicles backed up behind them that don't want to go 43 mph in a 55 mph zone.

 

[ziggy29]

The tailgaters (sp?) are the ones I fear most in our area. Usually a large pickup or SUV. "No, I don't want to pass you. I want to bully you into going MY speed." I often pull over and let them by just to remove the danger of a rear end collision. If I can't pull over, I gradually slow down until they become disgusted enough to pass me.

When gas was $4 a gallon, there was a lot less of this. I could drive 60-65 in a 70 zone and almost never get passed.

Now that gas is [-]$1.40[/-] [-]$1.60[/-] [-]$1.80[/-] $2 per gallon or so, lead feet are back. Now I can do 70-75 on the same roads and get passed all the time.

 

[hankster]

Uh-oh.

Uh-oh indeed! This thread should be interesting to check out in a little while

 

[growing_older]

I've been in several accidents, all caused by the other driver, all but one were male, so inconclusive on the gender issue. I did once see a woman drive right off the side of the freeway into a ditch because she was trying to read a map while driving. (She didn't want my help, she had AAA on speed dial)

In my experience the worst drivers are those with Saab and BMW cars that seem to think rules don't apply to them, or perhaps they are dreaming of being at a race track. Routinely run red lights, squeeze into too small of spaces, drive on shoulders to pass, do 60 mph in 25 zone, and often are on the phone while doing it.

Little old ladies driving 15 mph in a huge box of iron don't bother me so much. They are probably going about as fast as they can, they are easy to avoid - being almost a stationary object - and they are getting out of the house to do something. Good for them.

 

[calmloki]

In the name of safety: left lane is for higher speed vehicles - if you are in the left lane and a rig is closing on you, pull into the righthand lane. Do not play "speedlimit is 55 & i'm reliving my glory days as a hall monitor". It's not safe to impede the flow of traffic or compete on the road.

 

[ziggy29]

In the name of safety: left lane is for higher speed vehicles - if you are in the left lane and a rig is closing on you, pull into the righthand lane. Do not play "speedlimit is 55 & i'm reliving my glory days as a hall monitor". It's not safe to impede the flow of traffic or compete on the road.

This is correct.

In most states (maybe all?), "slower traffic keep right" and "keep right except to pass" are LAWS just like the speed limit. So those traffic vigilantes dutifully doing the speed limit in the left lane to prevent people from speeding are breaking the law every bit as much as people who are speeding. And the irony is that they think they are just trying to enforce the laws while they break 'em.

Leave enforcement to the police.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

In Florida, it was the older drivers. They seem to think, I am retired; the rules don't apply to me anymore.

In Houston, according to the then chief of police, it was 'Asians' (Vietnamese, buy the accident reports in the paper).

In Vancouver, BC, it is clearly the 'South Asian' (Indian) kids. But there are so many bad drivers there, it is hard to tell. Bumper tag is an Olympic event there.

In Seattle for a while, it was the rich kids of Hong Kong people who were left on their own with a Mercedes. Today, it is anyone with a steering wheel in his/her hands.

In Calgary, it is me. I am the only driver in the city who obeys the speed limits. (I do not want to meet a policeman in a foreign country in a business capacity. No way do I want to show up on the radar. In a manner of speaking.) Everybody else seems to have trouble driving in the snow, though. These Calgarians seem to have as much trouble driving in the snow as the Cajuns of Baton Rouge. Go figure. (By the way, I hug the right lane and I still get honks. Stuff it turkeys. No dents and no tickets up here yet.)

 

[bbbamI]

To me women are the worst drivers in any vehicle. I've had 4 accidents in my life all caused by the opposite sex. Going through stop lights, stop signs, illegal turns. Very annoying!

I agree. My famous quote I say all the time that gets DW upset:

"Women don't get INTO accidents, they CAUSE them"......

I came up with that at a cookout 10 years ago and DW still brings it up a few times a year..........

Oh what lovely comments. Come on over to my house any time and share more ideas about women with me. I'll be sure to bake some "special" cookies for your enjoyment....

...................

 

[aaronc879]

Most of the over aggressive drivers are men and most of the clueless drivers are women. Not sure which are worse. Try to avoid all of them.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

aaronc879,

That is exactly what I do. I drive to work before 6 AM and back after 6 PM. The lighter traffic at that time makes it easier to go around the SUVs and pick-ups upside-down in the middle of the roads.

 

[FinanceDude]

Oh what lovely comments. Come on over to my house any time and share more ideas about women with me. I'll be sure to bake some "special" cookies for your enjoyment....

...................

I have been in 3 accidents:

1)I was driving a U-Haul truck because I was moving apartments, sitting at a stop light, and a young lass rear ended me. Turns out she and her boyfriend were fighting in her Jeep, and she forgot to watch the road.

2)I was hit on the passenger door by a woman in an SUV who forgot that red meant stop. The cop told me I was 10% at fault because I failed to avoid her........

3)My last accident, I was stopped at a stop light. For unexplained reasons, the car in front of me started backing up. I had left about 10 feet of space, but that was quickly used up and the car kept moving toward me until it hit me about 5 mph. Luckily there was noone behind me. A woman got out of the car and asked me if we could just exchange info and have my insurance company send her a bill. She didnt want to report another accident because she would be uninsurable. I agreed (probably not smart). She started talking on her cell phone as she pulled away in her shiny new Lexus........

Maybe I just have bad luck........

 

[73ss454]

Nope, it's not bad luck.

 

[Khan]

Many years I drove an MG. It was in the back 5 different times in several different states. The cars were always Cadillacs.

Drivers were black and white, male and female.

 

[calmloki]

Yep. It's all dem women's fault. Got T-boned in an intersection by a young man who blew through the light while thinking about the fine time he had just had....

 

[Moemg]

You want to see awful drivers move to Florida . There are more people driving here who should not have licenses . You have the seniors who hit the two for one martinis and then drive , you have the young punks who speed and then you have the tourists in their rental cars who do not have a clue where they are going and lastly you have the Qtips ( little old ladies ) clutching the steering wheel and peering through their cataracts. So move over Michigan , Florida has you beat for bad drivers .

 

[SC]

I went out for a motorcycle ride yesterday. In two hours of rural riding on mostly empty roads, I was tailgated VERY closely on three occasions by hyper-aggressive drivers: one pickup truck, one econo-box, and one sedan. Yeah, I was just out for a Sunday cruise, but in all cases I was between the speed limit and 5 over the limit. Two of them came within just a few feet as I slowed down to turn right and get out of their way (the econo-box crossed over the double yellow line, passing me and one other car, going about 70 in a 45 MPH zone, with a curve and a hill just ahead).

It's not hard to correlate some kinds of driving with certain types of vehicles, like the person who thinks they're entitled to everything (and drives like the laws don't apply to them) is more likely to drive an expensive "high status" car. But it seems like the hyper-aggressive drivers come in all types of cars.. except, maybe, minivans with wood grain panels?

On gender: I've been hit by one of each. I do see more men driving aggressively, and more women driving distracted, but I find it best to assume they're all nuts and act accordingly.

 

[haha]

The second group are older and/or preoccupied with other issues. Typical vehicle is a full size American van or (around here) a Crown Victoria, either being 10 or more years old. At the risk of being politically incorrect, a handicapped license plate can be a red flag. This groups tends to pull out very slowly and also make slooooooooow right turns. Left turn signal is permanently flashing.

A subgroup of the clueless is the mom on the phone in a minivan or crossover SUV. Usually I can spot these because they have trouble staying centered in their lane.

You are really accurate here. A sub-group of older dangerous drivers are afternoon drinkers, and last but not least, old men who have heart attacks or strokes while driving.

I had a place in an area with a lot of retirees, and over the years I had to dodge two cars coming into my lane because the driver was dead or unconscious.

It might be part of NW culture, but there are also an awful lot of older drunks on the road in rural or retirement/vacation areas.

ha

 

[Poundkey]

According to my son who travels constantly it's anyone in a minivan.

What's the most dangerous road hazard you've experienced?


Without a second thought, it's minivans. Over the years I've been convinced that minivan owners/drivers are mentally off from the rest of the population. They can often be found driving 20 - 30 mph under or over the speed limit, and they just don't seem to understand basic traffic rules and courtesy. I'd like to see a special lane built for minivans so that they can annoy each other.
If one of my family members procured a minivan, I would seek professional counseling for that person.

Road Trip Rip - FAQs

 

[ziggy29]

Without a second thought, it's minivans. Over the years I've been convinced that minivan owners/drivers are mentally off from the rest of the population. They can often be found driving 20 - 30 mph under or over the speed limit, and they just don't seem to understand basic traffic rules and courtesy. I'd like to see a special lane built for minivans so that they can annoy each other.

I suspect that given the target market for minivans, the drivers are more likely to be distracted by children in the vehicle, and perhaps more likely to be on a cell phone. But I could be wrong.