Are you in a hurry?

I've lived all over the states, Texas, Idaho, Washington, California, and now Michigan. While most people know of the kind of jerks that have a driver's license in California, I have not found a clearer example of idiocy than Michigan drivers.

The speed limit is 70. Higher than the national average of 65. The flow of traffic is Michigan is around 77-80, O.K., I'll give you that. Cops usually don't bother people for 10 over cause everyone does it anyway. I'm a good driver, I've logged many years and hundreds of thousands of miles behind the wheel with only one speeding ticket (Don't screw around in OHIO by the way.....THEY DON"T PLAY!!), and one small accident due to me not paying attention.

Why Oh Why then, must you be in such a freakin hurry? I am doing 80, I am flowing with the cars in front of me nicely, passing smoothly past drivers cruising at 55-70. I am having a good day, until I see your Massive SUV or your Mercedes with Plasma lights with the brights on exactly 6 FEET FROM MY REAR BUMPER!!. I flip the mirror up, you move to the left or right to catch one of your highbeams directly into my side mirror, I move over a little to get it out of my face, you follow.

I am starting to get pissed now, with you riding my butt, and flashing your lights at me when I'm already speeding myself! How important are you that you need to go 15-25 miles over the speed limit? Are you Michael Andretti? Is this nascar? What kind of self-important ass are you that you have to follow me so close at such an unsafe speed?

I am now completely pissed off, and now I will refuse to get out of your way due to your lack of courtesy and your self-importance. We pass a semi to which you find a gap on the right and promptly gun your engine, cut off the semi and fly around me on the right, almost clipping my front fender as you intentionally cut me off...........................................Just to get in front of me an hit the brakes.

Why? BECAUSE THE 5 CARS IN FRONT OF ME ARE GOING THE SAME SPEED! You follow them for about 5 miles until you subsequently do the same to them. All the while I'm secretly hoping a speedtrap is set up to catch you once you find that open stretch you are seeking.

This isn't the autobahn, speed limits are there for public safety, not to hinder your personal schedule. If you are running late for work, a soccer game, the bar, whatever..............LEAVE EARLIER!!

I am so sick of people flying down the road going 20 over or more like they own the place. Just because you pay taxes for road care doesn't give you the right to impose your own rules on it.

I beg for a cop, alas, there isn't one. How I wish you would get a flat at 95mph.

living in NW Ohio, I see quite a few Michigan drivers.

They are the worst.

For the ones that do not insist on driving 10-15 over the speed limit, why must you drive in the left lane all the time? There is usually plenty of room to get in front of a car to the right and let the faster moving vehicles go by, but nooooo, just sit there like a bump on a log.

Same here....

Driving down the highway, going about 80 mph....and people are flying by me. And I'm slowing down people behind me? How fast do they want me to go?

King,

Your definately not alone! I've lost count on how many have 'befriended my arse' so many times. I saw a bumper sticker that was pretty funny though, "If you're that close to me, you better have a ring in your pocket."

People. Always in a rush to go nowhere.

I gave up on recipricating the 'finger salute' to them long ago. They're not worth the powder to blow to hell, and they're not worth me having a heart attack over. Funeral processions would probably drive them buggy eh?

If worse gets to worse, I just slow down and pull over to let them pass. There's now 1 less idiot crawling my backside. Why? Well if I had to make a sudden stop myself, and our cars collided...well..you get the point. I know that I would be in the right, and buddy-boy behind me would hear it from the cops and insurrance companies.

Any way to curb peoples's attitudes about tail-gating? Probably not. We all know the score concerning the rules of the road. Some people just choose impatience over courtesy.

One time, I was driving on a 2 lane country road, there was no one around for miles. I'm doing the speed limit; enjoying the sunny afternoon. Something caught my eye - I looked in my rear-view mirror and holy mOLY! The car was right on my arse! Came out of nowhere. I stuck to my guns and kept the legal limit; to which really ticked off the person behind me. As I said, there was noone else around for miles except for our 2 cars, and do you think the nutbar would just simply pass me. NOPE. I have patience, but after 5-10 mins of his horn-blaring, I had to pull over and let him pass. Then as he passed, I recieved his strongest cursings and finger digit treatments I had in awhile. What a jerk.

I drove for about 20-30 kms more and as luck or karma, or what ever you want to call it..would have it, I smiled a wee bit as I passed a nice little fender bender job. No one was hurt thank goodness, but there was buddy boy standing by his car looking all sullen. No cursings and no finger salutes now.

Aint life grand?

[edit on 20-7-2007 by TheDuckster]

It sucks when people drive that way, but it's all over the world.

Now if you come to Hong Kong the people walk that way! They don't look where they're going and if your on a collision course they put their eyes down, pretend they haven't seen you and move straight on.

I'm nearly 6ft and a little over 200 pounds. Normally I just get outta the way, but sometimes I just stand stock still.

It's interesting to say the least.

One time I saw someone get theirs. I work alot in Detroit, and you better be a nascar driver to move in that traffic. I was in the fast lane of a four lane west bound out of town right in the middle of rush hour. We're doing 80, going along at a good cut when a 5 series beamer blew by us at least a buck +. He passed me on the right, and was weaving in and out of traffic so fast it looked like those little slot cars as a kid. He passed me fast enough it actually blew my car over a foot from the wind he was pushing.


I was cursing his butt for a mile or so wishing he would get a cop, sure enough, 10 miles down the road, mister man is against the car in handcuffs.

I pleasantly honked the horn as I drove by.

Here is another observation I've noticed......

Why do these jerks feel it necessary to ride your butt on a two lane or a freeway, with an open lane to pass when they can just go around? They can pass, but they don't??!!

Or how about when they are in such a hurry to pass you that when they do, they just get in front of you and slow down to about 3 mph slower than you were driving?

The biggest bonehead move I see is when someone is riding the hammer lane at the speed limit or 5 under, and when you have followed them for about 10 miles and they won't move, when you go to pass THEM on the right, they SPEED UP!

Michigan drivers are notorious for this!!!
After you're forced to hit the brakes for fear of hitting the slower car in the slow lane, they drop back to their speed again!

Now this may be fine if you're doing 10 over and your doing it to the jerk that wants to do 95, but if you're going under or exactly the limit, then plz move.

You annoy me!!

When I was learning to drive in San Diego in the 80's, the cops would grab you if you were tailgating. I got a ticket for doing that. What happened? They just don't seem to bother anymore.

And the worst offenders are always SUVs. I think those things ought to be outlawed for the average driver. I think you should have to pass a special test to have one, complete with a psychological evaluation and an analysis of your driving history, and the licensing for it ought to be about ten times more expensive than it is now.

I've heard drivers in Florida are actually the worst, according to my fellow Californian who moved there a while back. She's an Angelino, so if the traffic in Miami scared her, it must have been brutal.

I'm not a featherfoot on the pedal by any means, but I'm not reckless either. A favorite trick of people here is to poke along at the speed limit in the passing lane, and when you go to pass them, they speed up to trap you behind a guy in the next lane and then drive off laughing at you.

Exactly, that is what I was saying.

Probably one of the greatest things to experience is when you are cruising along at your 10 over whatever, and that Speedy-McSpeederson comes along weaving in and out of traffic, hitting the brakes in front of you, speedin up, slowing down, and when you get off the exit, you find he pulls up to the stoplight right next to you, no faster than when he started, just with less fuel.

With all the price hikes in gas now, who can afford to drive that fast?

Is there anyone who lives in Florida that could explain what it's like down there, I've heard that the good old dangly is the #1 place for jerk drivers and old timers.

One other thing that irks me to no end. Trucks being abused by civilian drivers (non-CDL). My father was a truck driver for over 30 years. I hear so many people complain about trucks being in the way, they're slow, etc. etc.

When you are pulling 80,000+ pounds, do you think you're gonna do 0-70 in four seconds? No.

They don't stop on a dime either.

I hear what you guys are saying and have experienced the same thing. I am visiting my sister in Denver and I have never seen such horrid driving. I see them speed down the road going way over the speed limit putting on their make-up or talking on cell phones and putting on make-up. There are accidents every 2 seconds, I have never seen so many car accidents. There are pieces of car parts scattered all over the road. It's quite bizarre.

Ok, here is another question I'm pondering.

When the weather changes from sunny and bright to slightly rainy or a sprinkle of snow, when did these morons forget to drive?

I live in MICHIGAN. You'd think that people would be used to rain and snow by now. But noooooo, every winter, the first snow, (you know, the 1" that doesn't even stick) I count many cars in the ditch for driving too fast for conditions.

"My SUV is big, I can go anywhere in this, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!"

Are you kidding?

Last year alone, when we got about an inch of snow, I counted 32 vehicles in the center median of the freeway from Lansing, MI to Grand Rapids, MI.

For those of you who live here, that is about a 45 min. drive.
I hate these people.

There are jerks everywhere. I thought Wisconsin was bad and Michigan sounds about the same. I try to be a courteous driver and always watch out for the other guy, but by the same token it also ticks me off when some stubborn little jerk decides he has to do 60 in a 65 zone and stay in the left lane the whole time. Arrrggg! That just drives me insane!! Move over if you want to go that slow.

I had another thought today that I felt needed to be mentioned.

Why are radar detectors illegal, yet still legal to sell?

It's like buying cookies, and your a diabetic.

Cops are setting speed traps up everwhere, and I've seen some good ones! However, people are getting away with reckless driving because they get a warning that they are about to be caught, slow down 20mph, then after they are about a mile past, jump back up to almost 100.

How can these companies legally sell these freaking things that they know people buy so they can put other people's lives in danger?

It's illegal in I think all but 2 states to have it in your car, but people get away with it, and it's legal to sell????