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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
 Posted - 06/07/2003 : 18:03:34
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You see so many stupid and/or ignorant drivers, talking on cellular phones, putting on makeup, snuggling up (tailgating) to drivers in front of them -- you name it, they're doing it. Obviously, they never studied Physics 101 or they flunked the course if they did. They have their little magic tokens and good-luck charms swinging around their rear-view mirrors. I drove a wide berth around one lady today who was drinking pop (I think), eating, talking on her cellphone, fixing her hair, putting on makeup, looking under the dashboard -- you name it, she was doing all of these things practically simultaneously. I did not hang around to become her crash mate.
I do not what gets into people when they get behind the wheel. They force the rest of us to use extreme defensive driving habits. In my case, if the idiot is behind me, I leave his/her/its reaction time PLUS my reaction time IN FRONT OF ME, plus a little more for safety's sake. You see these chain accidents all of the time. If drivers took care to make certain that they had room to stop, then they would not likely be involved in an accident with other drivers. However, these stupid drivers always will find a way to force an accident, if given the chance.
I think they all believe that they are immune (firmly holding their good-luck tokens) from having accidents. Perhaps it is mere stupidity or ignorance which makes them dangerous on the road.
ljbrs F=ma.
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"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2003 : 18:29:34 [Permalink]
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I hear ya, brother!
As an ex-trucker (0 accidents and only overweight tickets in 1,000,000+ miles, and I'm more than a little proud of it), I've seen it all. I don't even get upset at it any more. I figure that the Law of Evolution will take care of the matter, and I just hope that these fuckwits don't take too many others with them, especally me. And I drive and ride my motorcycle accordingly, as should we all.
Oh, the stories I could tell! You'd be bored for hours!
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Cold in here
New Member
Canada
48 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2003 : 20:45:47 [Permalink]
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| And don't forget those lovely drunk drivers. We all love those creeps. Suicide is one thing, murder is another.... support MADD and end this bullshit. |
Toronto is the capital of Canada, and I live in a giant igloo. Blubber anyone? |
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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
Posted - 06/09/2003 : 21:18:58 [Permalink]
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quote:
And don't forget those lovely drunk drivers. We all love those creeps. Suicide is one thing, murder is another.... support MADD and end this bullshit.
No, no! Drive drunk and face the on-coming traffic with comfidence!
And some burned-out driver will, sooner or later, tattoo Kenworth or Peterbilt all over your ass, thereby vastly improving the gene pool.
I hear ya, Cold. They've given me more than a few adrenlin rushes.
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist!
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
Posted - 06/10/2003 : 00:06:56 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by ljbrs
You see so many stupid and/or ignorant drivers, talking on cellular phones, putting on makeup, snuggling up (tailgating) to drivers in front of them -- you name it, they're doing it
I do not what gets into people when they get behind the wheel
ljbrs F=ma.
LOL, you must live in Los Angeles!
That's the 2nd best way to see 'it all', as opposed to being a truck driver like Filthy.
Another pet peeve of mine , many times done while driving, is those morons who blast their radios so loud you can hear them a mile away. That's a big danger also, not to mention the highth of rudness. The cops do give tickets for that but it seems that for every 1,000 people doing it there is only one policeman. |
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Computer Org
Skeptic Friend
392 Posts |
Posted - 06/24/2003 : 07:32:59 [Permalink]
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This, ljbrs, is the most wonderful new-topic post that I've ever read! BRAVO! (Or should that have been in blood-red?)
I disagree, however, with your use of the word "accident". In airplanes, they call it "pilot error". In the USAF they might court-martial you. Why are civilian car-drivers allowed to (essentially) murder someone and only get a fine and some points off of their driver's license?
I offer the following thought, ljbrs: If a soldier can't handle his or her weapon safely, the Army takes it away and assigns them a shovel or a typewriter. Hmmmmm. 
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Do thou amend thy face, and I'll amend my life. --Falstaff |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/20/2003 : 18:41:32 [Permalink]
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Folks:
Sorry about coming back to this. However, I have found something which has worked against tailgaters almost 100% of the time. What I do is put up my right hand and (with my index finger and my middle finger) count 1 and 2 and jerk backwards several times with my thumb. Then I count 1 and 2 (again with my index finger and my middle finger) and point forwards with my whole hand. Then I make a LARGE "IQ" in the air (with the finger swiftly sweeping around to cross the tail in the "Q") and I then point to my brain and point forward again. So far, all but one of the idiots has backed off. The letters "IQ" are very, very large so that they cannot be mistaken. Sometimes I have to point forward to let them know that they cannot win their way. I always leave the additional room in front of me that they fail to leave behind me.
Of course, sooner or later I am going to meet a madman or madwoman who will drive right into me, ruining my theory completely, "in one fell swoop" (William Shakespeare).
However, I am very surprised that it works. Perhaps people do not know that tailgating is an extremely unintelligent thing to do.
I have been doing this for a week (not counting the days of the blackout) and it has worked extremely well almost every time with a few drivers who leave just a little more space (at which time I add to the space in front of me). Even when it has not worked completely, the driver tailgating me does back off somewhat.
Incidentally, I never get tailgated other than in heavy traffic when I am stuck in traffic and cannot go faster or move out of the way.
I am going to continue to do this, because I do want people to be kind to the people in front of them and have some human consideration for the lives of others.
I must see what happens before I become overconfident with the results. Crossing fingers...
Whee!   |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
| Edited by - ljbrs on 08/20/2003 18:46:34 |
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Bill Burke
New Member
13 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2003 : 08:56:54 [Permalink]
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The stupidity, or often innocent inattention, of tailgaters happens to annoy me in the extreme, and I have been rear-ended by them several times. May the Great Pumpkin forgive me that I was once one of them!
When I was younger I used to enjoy touching the brake pedal and watching them abruptly fall back in fear I suppose, but I have given that up in favor of more mature voodoo curses. www.voodoodolls.com
If I can't immediately pull over and get out of their, however, I still resort to putting on the emergency flashers.
I have vowed never to ride again as a passenger with a certain family member who is a serial if not dedicated and proud member of that brotherhood. When, on my last such adventure, I pointed out to him the inherent dangers, he defended the practice by pointing out - disdainfully yet -that if he left room ahead of him, someone would cut in and he'd have to ease back and this would go on ad infintum (with his presumably never ever getting to Point B).
I offered him some quick calculations that showed he would only lose about 400 yrads in a ten-mile trip but he would have none of it. Disdainfully again. Dante, please find a suitable niche for this guy in your Puratorio. Thanks.
This is the very same guy who doesn't fasten his seat belt on the grounds that if he thought he were going to be in an accident he wouldn't go on the trip to wherever.
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Gorgo
SFN Die Hard
USA
5310 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2003 : 09:08:33 [Permalink]
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What's with joggers and pedestrians thinking that because they walk on the left side of the road, that means I'm not going to hit them? How many do I have to kill to make my point?
Does George Bush jog on major highways? Anyone have that mapped out? |
I know the rent is in arrears
The dog has not been fed in years
It's even worse than it appears
But it's alright-
Jerry Garcia
Robert Hunter
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walt fristoe
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2003 : 10:03:58 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Bill Burke
if he left room ahead of him, someone would cut in and he'd have to ease back and this would go on ad infintum (with his presumably never ever getting to Point B).
Hey Bill, this guy's name wouldn't happen to be Zeno, would it?  |
"If God chose George Bus of all the people in the world, how good could God be?"
Bill Maher |
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Bill Burke
New Member
13 Posts |
Posted - 09/02/2003 : 11:22:43 [Permalink]
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| Sorry Walt, that went over my head, unless you mean the paradox of never arriving at Point B because of being able to go only halfway there at a time. Was that it? If so, I've forgoten it was one of Zenos, was it? |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 09/13/2003 : 11:27:58 [Permalink]
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Almost everybody who attempts to tailgate me (being forced to stay with traffic, because I am unable to FLY) backs off when I use the I.Q. gesturing maneuver. When the idiots do not, I simply leave THEIR reaction time in addition to MY reaction time in front of me.. I do not need to resort to this often. I drive an hour (plus) each way (to and from work).
You actually do not need to do any gesturing. You can simply leave a lot of room in front of you, and the stupids will go around you and leave you in peace.
There is an additional kind of driver whose cell-phone gabbiness forces me to resort to the same as above (although I do no signaling). I simply leave a lot more than my reaction time plus their reaction time in front of me to prevent an accident.
Because of my lengthy commutes to and from work, I have had to pay a lot of attention to this.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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