Okay, we MINI drivers are known to be more courteous behind the wheel than the average motorist. Most of us probably run across at least one discourteous driver every day. Sometimes, maybe a dozen in a day.

So what are your biggest pet peeves ? If you could eliminate any bad driving habits you see out there, what would they be ?

Here's my top 3:

1. Lazy Left Turns. People who are making left turns but don't move far enough left near the center line while waiting for oncoming traffic to pass. At places where other cars should easily be able to go around them, a line of traffic sits instead.

2. People who refuse to wait in traffic jams with us "common people". Their time is more valuable than ours so they feel they can drive on the shoulder and then cut in line ahead of the commoners.

3. At the gas station, those who go inside to shop while their gassed up car sits in front of the tanks. They come out with a bag of chips and a diet soda while you sit there waiting for them to move their car.

 

I've never noticed MINI drivers to be any more/less courteous than any other driver.

My peeves: 1) people who don't know how to merge into traffic
2) wide right turns
3) not using turn signals
4) driving waaaay below the posted speed
5) rolling through stop signs
6) talking on cell phone while driving
7) tailgating
8) cutting in front too soon after passing
9) running red lights
10) not yielding to pedestrians on crosswalks
11) road rage
12) there are lots more

 

1) Red light runners - their 2 seconds is NOT more valuable than my life!
2) Tailgaters - Um.... I just might need to brake buddy and I don't want you in my back seat.
3) Not using turn signals - they are there for a reason
4) Those that think they are more imporant than anyone else.... yes, the line cutters, the driving on the shoulder, and especially those that drive down the center turn lane for a mile to get to the left turn signal.... grrrrrr

I could have a whole list but I'll stop here..... and the make of the car never makes a difference in driver courtesy in my experience. Obliviots abound in every vehicle make and model.... it's an attitude of "I am more important than anyone else around me."

 

You'd hate me, I do #1 cause around here most drivers don't give a d*** about what the law says and have no problem dumping their civic, explorer or Mercedes into the gravel going aorund me and kicking gravel up at my car as the speed around, I make sure to sit far enough right if there isn't much pavement so if the decidde to go around, they'll be in the ditch. And I do feel to good to sit in traffic so I take a complex series of back roads and travel at off peak hours. However, time at the gas station is a nessacary evil, I only ever get gas and I spend as little time there as possible.

MINI drivers tend to be good at creating a gap in traffic and waving, plus they won't stop to turn at a green light when traffic is clear.

Pet peeves of mine.

Annoying
1) Tailgating (only hipocritical on this one when you dive to half the speed limit for no reson whatsoever)
2) Crwaling up my tailpipe when I'm going uphill at a stoplight (I drive stick, it can be extremely tempting to rest my hot tips on that plastic bumper behind me heehee)
3) Those who will do 10-15-20 under when there is a doudble yellow then jump up to 10 over when I'm allowed to pass.

Deadly
4) DUIs who have no regard for the lives of the drivers around them and are wholly unpredicatable. Ohh and I do get plate #s and notify the authorities. I value my life.
5) Those who ignore lane lines all together, I'm talking about those who decide to play chicken on the freeway, its an increasingly common trend. And agian I value my life.
6) Those who try to get me to race; take it to the track or go home, better yet visit the county jail and get your car crushed.

Those are the biggies; I could go on and on but I've learned not to allow the other to bother me, these however drive me nuts.

 

There are alot of pet peeves I have. I am often not a "courteous" driver but that is only because there are so many horrible drivers on the road (we can argue about being hipocritical later...):

1) SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT (good knight, if everyone followed this it would make life so much easier...) It doesn't matter if your going 10 over or not, if you are not actively passing others don't be in the far left lane.
2) Unalert drivers (basically cause most other problems)
3) "digital drivers" (ones that think the gas/brake pedals are on/off switches)
4) tailgating
5) #1-4 causes traffic back ups because everyone (except me of course) is following too close when the person in front of them brakes (because they weren't paying attention) and causes the person behind them to brake (once again being "digital", overbrakes) and a nice little chain reaction occurs until 1 mile back traffic is stopped....

Those are some of my main pet peeves. If you want to go below the speed limit that is fine but do it safely. Honestly, if you are going 5-10mph under in the far left lane, you are a hazard to others. NOW you could say everyone should be going slower and that may be true with the pathetic driving skills american's habe but in reality thats not going to happen. So instead, I suggest the few "slow" drivers to stay to the right and out of the way of all the crazy skill-less speeders. Now those mainly pertain to the interstate as I feel like that is the where the worst habits appear.

Flame away!

 

Love this description... digital drivers.... I'll have to remember that!

 

Too bad driving isn't regulated. Thats what we need, there are people who can drive and others that cannot. There needs to be a test that shows where and what you can drive. I am talking to you, old people and stupid teenage girls.

1. People who drive in the fast lane super slow. I don't understand how they don't look in their back mirror.
2. No blinkers. Were they an option on your car? If you have them use them!
3. Cell phones/friends in the car. Attentiveness is a must. When I sit through three rounds (red green) of a traffic signal, thats when its gone too far!
4. Tailgators. Its fun if you get to a stop light or stop sign with a manual tranny and start to roll back...
5. Blatently disobeying the speed limit. I don't mind speeding, but within a certain range. Going 10 over, thats alright. Going 50 over, not so good.
6. On-ramp slowness. Maybe its just me, or maybe its because people drive crappy cars in Detroit, but its getting to be dangerous. I've had more than my share of getting on the freeway going around...30.
This is just a small share of the anger I face most of the day. I can understand why Detroit is number 3 on "The Most Angry Cities"

Remember, in the amount of time I made this list, I could have been working.

Medic

 

Most of the real expensive cars have them as an option that most owners do not order.

Mine.....

-On country roads not keeping it between the lines

-When making a right turn not being unable to keep the tires between the white and yellow paint. Driving requires skill.....why are they so lazy.

-My big one.....I drive one speed and that is usually faster than everyone else. When I pass in my pick-up truck more often than not drivers speed up and stay right at my right rear wheel. WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS!!! IT IS MY BLIND SPOT!!! Or they see me coming and then speed up....keeping me out in the fast lane, the lane I do not want to be in if I do not have to. Just wake up and let me get down the road.

But if your really talking about courtesies than the simple task helping other motorist (ie. merging, letting over, ext) and saying thank you with a wave. Next time you take a road trip watch the big rigs, they are ALWAYS helping each other out and they say thank you all the time with the CB or flashing of head lights and rear red lights. Try this....next time a big rig is passing you and they put the signal on to come back over just flash your high beams with long bursts two or three times(day time only....night, turn you lights to park the same way). This let them know their 60'+ is clear of you and it is safe to get over. Once in front of you they should turn on and off their red lights, turn on the four ways ,or show some kind of thanks (not all the time becasue they are not looking for this coming from cars..most will say thank you)

I am done.

 

In regards to number one..........around here it is illegal to use the shoulder to pass a stopped car. They passed that law to stop people from getting hit by the guy that decides to make a left turn and believes he has only a single lane to worry about.

But i agree with all of the rest.....

 

People who get all indignant when they cut me off, and I lay on the horn. I had a lady literally STOP in the middle of the street the other day after I honked at her when she cut across 2 lanes of traffic, cutting me off in the process (had I not slammed on the brakes, I would have nailed her). She just sat there, screaming at me out the passenger window. I wonder if she was high or something.

 

If passing a car that is making a left turn required driving on a "shoulder", one that has loose stones or is at all dangerous to drive on, I would agree with you. But many of the roads around here are wide and even the shoulders are wide and made of the same surface as the roads. Not in the slightest way dangerous to yourself or others. I've seen State Troopers passing cars this way... when the left-turning cars move over enough.

 

Here's my list in no particular order.

- People that continue to turn left after the left turn signal has changed to red.
- People that stop half way into the intersection, sometimes sticking out so far that you have to swerve to avoid hitting them.
- People that refuse to let you merge or out of a driveway.
- People that just blatantly run stop lights.
- Tailgaters.
- Weavers (drivers that constantly weave in and out of lanes trying to get ahead of everyone).
- People that change lanes right in front of you without signaling, even though I'm so close the signal probably wouldn't have made much difference.
- Shoulder riders (mentioned earlier) that try to bypass stopped traffic by driving on the shoulder or median. Also, when there is a sign like "right lane closed in 1000 feet" drive up the right lane to get ahead of everyone instead of trying to blend in the left lane like everyone else.
- People that drive like they own the roads and everyone else needs to get out of their way.
- Distracted driving. This includes cell phones and a lot of other things. I have seen people reading with a paper or book on the steering wheel while going 65 down the toll way.

I think the only thing we can do about most of these is just try to stay out of their way.

 

Mine is plain and simple.

USE YOUR DAMN TURN SIGNALS!

This way I don't have to guess what bonehead manuever you are going to try next, you can just tell me. Also if you are able to use your turn signal that means most likely you are not on the cell phone because most people can't use the signal and steer with just one hand or at the very least they are attentive enough to have used the signal and looked even if they are on the phone.

 

I see tailgating a lot on thie thread. I think we are more aware of how close someone is to our bonnet because we don't have 4 feet of trunk between our rear window and the car behind us!

I object to people who get into the center (and supposedly shared) left turn lane too early. As I am teaching my son to drive I have become more aware of this...they either pass us in this lane while he is signalling to get into it, or (with opposing traffic) get into the lane way before their left turn, blocking us from making ours.

 

Failure to keep right...my biggest pet peeve...

 

So you're at a stop light in the left turn lane. The car ahead of you doesn't go when the light turns green. You know it's a long wait until the next time it's green, but do you honk or just keep waiting?

In my experience, if I give a brief honk, the time it takes for them to look up, then into their mirror to give me a dirty look, and look forward is long enough for the light to be yellow, so they can make the turn, while I sit there fuming stuck waiting for the next signal.

 

Me... I think a car horn can display a lot of different emotions, dependent upon the length the driver lays on it. A quick, short honk is a courteous way of letting that person know he/she can go. I see nothing wrong with it and I really don't think it should warrant a nasty glare in the mirror. If you were to lay on the horn for a full second or two, then you're over-doing it.

 

Here in Ohio, it's acceptible to do a quick "beep beep" after two full seconds and usually, the person waves an "I'm sorry" and goes, and all is well.

 

Here's mine:

1. Left lane cruisers
2. Talking while on phone
3. People who cut off trucks
4. People who are merging who think they have the right of way
5. Drivers who ignore yield signs
6. See #4 - people who always give way to people merging onto freeway, tying up all the car behind him/her
7. Stupid people. For instance, someone decides at the last second that they shouldn't turn right, so they try to get back into the regular flow of traffic. Then see #6. Someone trying to be nice starts flashing lights and motioning the driver to get back into traffic, but doesn't.
8. Overly passive drivers. It's not good to be overly aggressive, but overly passive can be bad, too.
9. When a lane is closed ahead, and everyone is getting over, there's always the @$$holes who think they are more important and try to blow past everyone. I just block the left lane. Screw 'em. Unless they have flashing lights of some sort, I'm not moving.
10. People in tanks making a wide right turn into your lane, and give you a dirty look
11. People who think lane markers are merely a suggestion.

 

We have a new problem creeping up in my area. Some of the intersections have gotten redlight cameras, and some have ones specifically pointed to nail people doing the "piggyback" left turn after the light is red (though some do it on a green after they lose the advance green arrow).

What they do now is they stop at the red light, but they watch the signal for the traffic going parallel. When that light turns yellow, they creep forward, then suddenly gun it in anticipation of the green, trying to turn left in front of you before you can go. So here you are at a light, your light turns green, and you go, only to have to slam on the brakes and saw at the wheel to avoid this idiot who runs the tail end of his red light.

It gets even more dangerous if he has more than one lane to cross, and someone in the right lane makes a right and blocks his path, forcing him to stop in front of traffic. That's when you get an accordion back through the line of traffic and people get rear-ended.

 

Ah, yes...add this to my list, too

 

Aside from all the usual common pet peaves here are some of mine:

-Drivers who make me brake unnecessarily. Those who brake in front of you and then move over to a turning lane or those who don't bother using a center turning lane at all. Of course there are exceptions.

-Oncoming drivers in a turning lane waiting to turn in front of you and are half way in your lane with their wheels turned already.

-People who think they can turn quicker in front of me before I get past the intersection at a red to green stop light transition. (There seems to be an epidemic of this in the Boston area)

-People who speed diagonally across grocery parking lots for the shortest way to the exit.

-People who cut corners when turning at intersections.

-People that do not know how to merge into traffic (on ramps or yield signs)

So many more but all I can think of right now.

 

Drivers who jockey for position and change lanes while everyone else is coming to a stop at a red light.

Drivers who don't look. I watched a motorcyclist almost get sideswiped last week because another driver didn't look to his left before changing lanes.
Drivers who honk at you furiously and pass you on the shoulder because you obey the yield signs.

 

It's the polite dolts that let them in, that torque me off...I've been flipped off more times than not by the idiots that skirt around the traffic and expect/demand to be let into the traffic flow when their lane ends...not in my world, ya moron!

 

HAHAHAHA - These are great!

13. Brake riders.
14. Those who leave the turn signal on...for miles...