10 things we can all do...

[Mat M]

...to make our driving experience better. A light hearted approach to complaining about dumbasses on the roads.

As found on "The Best of Craigslist":

Yeah, you could ride transit or carpool or bike, but that's not gonna happen, so here are easy things you can actually do.

All of these fit a theme. Which is: It's not all about YOU out there. You are part of a collective. If everyone did these unselfish things, traffic would be much better:

1. Don't tailgate. When you tailgate, you have to tap your brakes at the slightest speed change. You tap for a second, the guy behind you taps for two, the guy behind him for four, and so forth. Ripple effect that equals slowdown.

2. Use onramps correctly. ACCELERATE! Get up to a speed that matches overall traffic, then merge seamlessly. Too many people here merge into 60 mph traffic at 40 mph. People hit their brakes, and again you get a ripple effect.

3. Honor the left lane. Move over when not overtaking cars. Yes, we've talked this one to death. Just do it.

4. Pick a lane and try to stick with it. Incessant lane changes for little real gain can cause slowdowns for much the same reason as the onramp example above. Think ahead: Will the lane you're in peter out soon, or turn into an exit-only lane? Get yourself in one that will see you through to your destination.

5. At stoplights, pay attention. If you're first in line waiting at a light, be sure you're pulled up far enough, as someone here already noted. Then PAY ATTENTION! Watch the light. When it changes, go! Driving is war, and you've got the point -- so stay alert! That goes for everyone in the back of the line too, but we have way too many people at the front who use stoplight time to apply makeup, read the paper, change the radio station or eat french fries off their car's floor.

6. Step on it. If traffic's going 60 in your lane, why aren't you keeping up with the guy ahead of you? Why do you feel the need to go 57? Again, you're part of a collective out there. Join in, please.

7. Don't go so fast you get pulled over. Because every time someone gets pulled over, it gums up traffic for the rest of us. People rubberneck and irrationally brake (like the trooper's gonna drop you to go after them), and the aforementioned ripple effect ensues. So drive briskly, but don't risk a ticket. If you're going over 70 in a 60 mph zone, you're risking it.

8. Look way down the road. I get on I-5 northbound everyday from Fairview at Mercer. Two lanes from Fairview are onramp only. Invariably someone is sitting in the middle, onramp-only lane who wants to go straight. And he just sits there, and people are stuck behind him. It happens at every signal, because the mope didn't READ THE SIGNS. Look ahead. Look far ahead. Look way past that big hurkin' SUV you're behind, if you can. The sooner you see signs and the sooner you see trouble, the sooner you can avoid messing up in a way that affects the rest of us.

9. Live the golden rule. Let people in. Wave when someone lets you in. I wish I had a buck for every time I've signaled to enter a gap in a lane, and the car that's far back in that lane guns it to try to keep me from moving over. No wait, I don't wish I had a buck, I wish I had his head on a pike. But you've gotta check that impulse too. Do unto others ... you know.

10. Devote yourself to the task. This is covered in many of the points above, but driving is not simply something you do to pass the time while listening to the radio. Driving is the all-consuming task at hand.

So DO it -- briskly, efficiently and competently. So that we can all get out of each other's way.

Thank you.

http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/sea/223353880.html

[Go240Zags]

Somehow I just knew this list had to be from someone from the Seattle area -- that's the one thing I've never missed since moving back to the eastern side of the state. Although drivers in Spokane can be worse when I visit there -- most haven't a clue about signaling before a lane change and most think they're Racer X. Always felt Cali drivers were more courteous than Wash. drivers about letting people in, knowing how to merge, etc. My favorite Seattle gripe is when you let someone in to your lane that failed to merge when they knew a mile back their lane was ending, then ten others who ignored the merge sign try to ram their way in front of you too. I don't mind taking turns, letting one in, then you go, then the next one in the correct lane lets one in and goes, etc. But when you're doing a favor letting this guy in who knew his lane was ending a mile back and then everyone wants in, that's too much (Damn cell-phone gabbing Beemer and SUV drivers usually). Some "Coastie" drivers can be just rude. Funny thing is many can't even drive in the rain even though they live with it more than without. And should it snow look out. Sorry, just whining. I love the Seattle area, the traffic, bad drivers and rain just get me down. Great place to visit....

[jmortensen]

Somehow I just knew this list had to be from someone from the Seattle area -- that's the one thing I've never missed since moving back to the eastern side of the state. Although drivers in Spokane can be worse when I visit there -- most haven't a clue about signaling before a lane change and most think they're Racer X. Always felt Cali drivers were more courteous than Wash. drivers about letting people in, knowing how to merge, etc. My favorite Seattle gripe is when you let someone in to your lane that failed to merge when they knew a mile back their lane was ending, then ten others who ignored the merge sign try to ram their way in front of you too. I don't mind taking turns, letting one in, then you go, then the next one in the correct lane lets one in and goes, etc. But when you're doing a favor letting this guy in who knew his lane was ending a mile back and then everyone wants in, that's too much (Damn cell-phone gabbing Beemer and SUV drivers usually). Some "Coastie" drivers can be just rude. Funny thing is many can't even drive in the rain even though they live with it more than without. And should it snow look out. Sorry, just whining. I love the Seattle area, the traffic, bad drivers and rain just get me down. Great place to visit....

[rant]The thing that had me utterly astounded when I moved to Seattle is the intersection with a left arrow that goes away. I cannot tell you how many times I've had some idiot in front of me who won't turn without the green arrow. I'm not talking about intersections with a green, yellow, and red arrow, I'm talking about the ones where the green arrow just turns off, then you're SUPPOSED to treat it like a regular intersection. I was laughing while telling my wife the first time that happened to me, and it had just happened to her the day before.

Other than that people don't know how to keep traffic moving out here. You could have the same number of cars on the road in CA and be doing 70 mph, here its 30 or less. The traffic is way more annoying here because if you've lived somewhere else you look at it and you KNOW the cars should be moving faster. They just aren't.[/rant]

[Mat M]

I agree! I have heard the term "Zipper Theory" for the most efficient merges.

#s 1 thru 4 are the big nerve hitters in Sacramento, at least for me.

[beandip]

As long as were venting . My pet peeve is the damn cell phones , people on cells are such a hazard . I cannot imagine what is so darn important that it cannot wait until you are at your destination. I turn mine off when I am on the Freeway. Also as been mentioned before tailgating . Finely they are giving tickets for it here in Portland . Gary

[Walter Moore]

I guess every region has its own issues.

The drivers that set me off the most are the left lane bandits. You know, they park in the left lane with their cruse control set to 2 MPH below the speed limit.

It isn't quite as bad in Indiana, but there must be something in the water in Ohio. I used to have to spend about half my time in Akron. I would drive over on Sunday night and come home on Friday afternoon. This is the absolute truth, one Sunday evening on I-71 northbound I actually got mad, pulled into the right lane, and passed 25 cars before I had to pull back into the left lane to get around a truck. Traffic was bumper to bumper in the left lane going about 60 in a 65 zone. Except for the odd truck here or there, the right lane was empty.

I am so glad that I quit that job...

[Pete84]

Oddly, traffic can go to fast in my experiance. Insane I know, but I don't like to risk an 85 in 65 zone, and sure as heck don't like getting stuck between a long line of semi's. I've experianced this in southern Oregon and northern California I-5, as well as on I-505. And there are cops out there in goodly numbers, I'm not much of a fan of russian ticket roulette.

[agemeansnothing]

My half sister's step dad is the worst driver in the world, he eats, talks on his phone, reads his mail, and drives at the same time................

[gogriz91]

Everytime I drive, I wonder why there isn't a basic competency test determining whether or not someone is smart enough to drive. There's a test on recognizing signs etc, but not one determining plain stupidity.

[moonpup]

Houston just has too many "Borat's" on the road! :sick:

[george71z]

All of my daily travels are on secondary roads, not highways. I gotta agree with Beandip about the damn phones. People should be shot. One of my favorite gripes are the people that stop 3 to 4 car lengths back at a stoplight, and then cree-e-e-e-ep up to the car in front. Damn automatic trannies. They would learn to drive if they all had a clutch.

[twsutt]

Hey moonpup, don't forget out illegal friends from South of the border flying around on the Houston highways without insurance, much less a green card!