Even this morning, the jacka$$ in the lane next to me decides that the guy in front of him isn't going fast enough, and without even looking, starts moving, very fast into my lane!!!! I had to start honking, and I sped up to try to avoid him, and his stupid brand-new looking Chevy Cavalier or Cobalt. Finally he realized it, and pulled back onto his side of the highway, but we were moving at nearly 50 mph, so it could've been pretty bad. It really upset me, as "Lil' Vic" and me could have been hurt! This is Long Island rush hour, and what makes me mad is that even though he may have passed the guy ahead of him eventually, the guy in the chevy still ended up behind me at a stop light, waiting to turn left!

 

Just yesterday, i was turning on to Rt. 83 going south bound. This guy in a minivan, totally oblivious, blows the red light as I am about to turn onto the on ramp. I sensed something wasn't right so I slowed down to about 7 mph, and sure enough, he blows the red light. Thank god I was paying attention or it could'e been a 45 mph front end collision! I mean come on! I've got factory xenons, riding lights, and fog lights on! not quite the same as being cut off, but still get's me angry as to how some one could be so bad at driving

 

It happens to me all the time... people think my car's slow and
stupid looking like a clown car for kids bubbling down the road
like some fruit. it does make me tired sometimes.

This never happens when Im driving my other cars.

 

Obviously some varying opinions here as who is to blame.

I look at it this way, as some others have mentioned...if you're doing nothing other than minding your own business and someone decides they're bigger (SUV) so they deserve to cutoff the little guy (MINI), then there is no reason to fold under pressure and give in. Obviously if the situation would bring danger to another driver, it doesn't make sense to stand your ground for the sake of winning. By 'winning', this is what I meant.

Maybe if the people who continue to cut people off in their vehicles, regardless of what is being driven, are not just consistently bowed down to and let in, they will eventually get the idea and cool it, maybe not.

I happen to be a courteous driver, but a defensive one first and foremost. If someone is looking around, obviously lost, perhaps with out of state tags or some other indicator, that is a totally different situation and warrants a totally different response. On the other hand, the idiot who is out to cut people off and/or force people off the road just so they don't have to wait in line with everyone else is not going to get an inch of road from me. Period.

 

Amen to that!

 

Well its pretty obvious that some ppl here just are "not going to get an inch of road from me. Period."

How does that old saying go?

Everyone who drives slower than me are idiots!
Everyone who drivers faster than me are maniacs!

Unfortunately, your actions reflect on all other MINI drivers. Don't give anyone an inch and other drivers will think all MINI drivers as selfish or whatever.

Go ahead and "WIN" if you need to but have you ever seen Earl?

Usually, what goes around, comes around. Karma is cool.

"WIN" ... that is sooo .... funny

 

As this thread demonstrates, Driver's Education in America is shamefully poor. For such a prosperous & enlightened society, we are pretty deplorable drivers. We have poor road manners and no lane discipline. And each of us thinks it's the other guy/gal who needs to change their ways.

In contrast, I recently made a trip to a somewhat rural area in Mexico. The drivers there shared the road easily, much better than we would have done under similar circumstances. Vehicles of a wide variety of sizes and speeds all shared the same undivided highway with absolutely no drama.

I've seen the same thing in the Carribean. Drivers there use their horns to communicate many different things ranging from just saying hello, to informing others of their intent to pass, to warning children to pay attention. They don't seem to use their horns in anger at all.

We have a lot of room for improvement.

 

Ahh well it was a nice thread while it lasted

 

You're right, what comes around goes around...

That's why the idiots who are out to cut people off because 'they can' will have it coming to them one day. It seems as though you have me confused with one of them...don't forget, I'm not the one cutting people off here.

In my original post, I was describing the event in which the driver of the Avalanche was trying to force his way over into my lane (rather than just getting in line where there was an available spot).

By not letting someone cut me off, I don't believe I'm reflecting poorly on all MINI owners as you accuse me of. My Father-In-Law used to own an Avalanche, but just because another owner of the same vehicle tried to drive over the top of me, I don't feel it is a trait among ALL Avalanche drivers. That is stereotyping and assigning a label - I'm not going to do that.

Chow, we'll have to agree to disagree on this one , but no hard feelings on my part fellow motorer!

 

You still did not say whether the other driver was using his signal. Was he? If you are a courteous driver then you simply make way for the driver signalling his intentions. Its not about all this insecurity and inferiority on the road.

Because ill tell you....that If im going down the road and I need to make a lane change I will turn on my blinker, wait a few seconds and make the change. I cant tell you how many times a blinker seems to register as a challenge rather than a signal ....and some moron mashes into it just to close a gap.....There is no lower form of motorer than this.....and the only reason they were "cut-off" was because the idiot SPED-UP :impatient .....

The road is a place that we all have to share .....What do you care who gets infront of you as long as they are going faster than you! They aren't in your way

 

Planeguy, sorry I didn't respond to that.

No, he was not using his blinker. It was one of those 'lurching' stomp the gas/steering movements that came across as "I'm coming over whether you like it or not".

It reminds me of one of the skits at the beginning of a Seinfeld episode where he was talking about elderly drivers in a retirement community in Florida or something, it went something like, 'when they need to pull out of the driveway, they don't bother looking, they just put it in reverse and yell "I'm coming out" out of the window'.

Blinkers are courteous, this guy was far from that in more than one way!

 

listen, we are all saying that people are NOT signaling, and cutting over without either pay attention, or not caring because we drive small, "slow" cars. that is why we are saying we were "cut off". Let's try to keep this civil, we are all on the same side here.

 

KC, in no way am I defending the other guy. Those are the guys that just refuse to get in light and decide to cut off the people in the front of the line. Happens all the time and they are just lazy and rude.

All I was saying was to be courteous to others and it will come around to you someday. I don't see any "win win" situation in here, and hence the laugh, because there is nothing to win.

Absolutely no hard feelings to ANY MINI MOTORER

 

Well, sounds like we're pretty much on the same page, dittos!

 

Well, I've been driving "for a living" for 25 years and I'm still waiting for that "someday".

 

Be warned don't make follish posts here about how it doesn't happen, I encoutnered every possible destracted driver, tourist, cell phone talker, tail-gater, that loved to sit behind trucks dumping rocks possible today. EVIL KARMA

 

Dude .... it happens. Karma is cool. Don't mess with Karma

Of course, your mileage may vary depending upon how close you are to the big city.

 

I am usually pretty good at deflecting road rage...I crank up the radio and sing along...now to the person in front of me who can't read lips in reverse...God only knows what they think I am calling them.

But today on my way to work, I knew I was going to get the red light. This particular light is lengthy, so no sense in hurrying up to get it. I slowed down and even stopped to let drivers in the "suicide" lane cross over...no problem. light is still red...A woman in the SUV behind me, sticks her head out the window and starts to curse at me...she called me everything but a "working white woman and a child of God."

So, I politely used a figure to signal to her that "she was #1". When the cross traffic was cleared, I proceeded forward, and by the time I got to it, the light was still red! That woman got herself worked into a foam over hurrying up to get a red light.

Then I saw her do something that dumbfounded me: she took her cell phone out of her purse and made a call...she was leaning forward and looked like she was reading my plate...could she have really been calling in a complaint?

I hoped she was...but no immediate results. It turned out she was in a hurry to get to the Wendy's drive thru (?) ...talk about people who get cranky without their (coffee). Mick

 

Don't know who she could have been calling to complain to or what law there was against it .

I had a similar occurance. Leaving work the road is packed & 4 lane. Traffic was stopped & backed up about a mile from the redlight & I stopped just short of a cross street to let a guy pull in front of me well ooopsie friggin doo & pardon me the guy behind me wanted to turn there & because I was nice & let someone pull in front of me he had to wait to turn. He started yelling :impatient beeping :impatient & telling me I was #1 :impatient Unbenounced to the ahole, I could have actually pulled up about 2 feet & given him just enough room for his turn but since he had such a killer tude I opted to crank up my tunes & jam out til traffic started moving (falalalala )

 

Yep youre right on then, no blinky....no spacy Then its really just a courtsey issue

This issue kinda reminds me of that Seinfeld episode where George and some other guys were both halfway into a parking space. ...George was backing in when some other guy tried to pull in front first. It deeply divides the neighborhood, even the two cops couldn't agree who had rights to the space..... Great episode, but I cant remember how it ended.

 

So you rip on my statement and then about 12 posts later agree with it?

99% of the time I will let people in but for those 1% of people who believe it's ok to muscle their way into a lane, speed up the shoulder to get ahead or just plain fail to get in the correct lane because they think they have the right to drive like *******s then they ain't coming in, indicator or not. That my friend is their bad karma coming back to bite them in the ****.

 

My coworkers and I have a term for this - "mefirstitude"

Basically it describes an attitude in which a person must get their way, either at the expense of or in total ignorance of the people around them. It is selfishness and a lack of respect for others made manifest.

Apart from the roadways, a great place to witness mefirstitude is at the airport, the way people jockey for position to be the first on a plane, and for what?

 

Mick....throw her in the clink!

 

That's a good one. Or....if it's a gal it could be referred to as msfirstitude or a guy is mrfirstitude

 

wow, that's something I've never thought of before Kinda like how when your sentenced to death, and they swab your arm before injecting you with lethal poison. Pointless, yet common practice.