Rant: Idiot Drivers
 

So, here (or there) I am minding my own business heading back to my office after an appointment this morning. The roads are kind of wet from an early morning rain and there's a bit of a fog covering the ground. As I enter the highway, I notice a red GT-R in my rear view mirror. The GT-R is moving along at a relatively benign pace. Me? I'm doing about 65mph, keeping up with traffic as I leisurely pull into the middle lane to avoid cars exiting on the right; no abrupt or provocative moves.

The GT-R then slowly pulls up behind me, decreasing the space between us and follows me for a mile or so until the driver decides to aggressively blast by me on the right while weaving tightly through moderately moving traffic.

I don't take the bait.

Unfortunately, the GT-R takes the exit I need to take in order to get back to my office so I am forced to follow in the same direction. There is enough traffic on the highway that he/she couldn't get that far from me so I am, of course, the next car off the exit. I'm sure the GT-R thinks I am following to have some fun since the driver now decides to closely follow the minivan in front of them as if waiting to take off at the earliest opportunity...which he/she predictably does as soon as the highway opens up.

And then, only to improve the situation, comes the schmuck in the neon yellow (no, not Imola Yellow) B5 A4 1.8T who decides that the Porsche and Nissan must have been racing and he wants to join the fray. So, of course, the A4 driver decides to start tailing me, weaving back and forth as we all slowly move around a long sweeper before entering another highway.

As the road straightens and two lanes briefly open to my right, I stay put in my lane doing about 60mph just to wait and see what the dolt behind me is about to do. I'm hoping the A4 will take the bait from the GT-R and go away. Nope. He just sits there, weaving, riding my ass, getting closer and closer as if waiting to cause an accident. In the brief absence of traffic, I mash the pedal for a minute to lose him, slow down and move into a separate lane where he won't follow. Buh-bye.

The A4 then slows down as he passes to my left and tries to encourage me to race until he is ultimately side by side with the GT-R. The two drivers exchange waves and the GT-R takes the bait. Dolt #2 (or #1 perhaps). The two cars then make 3 lanes out of 2 and decide to weave their way ahead, cutting people off as they, thankfully, disappear from sight.

I'm sure I sound like an old man (I'm not) and I like to have fun as much as the next guy but what the hell? Can't a guy just drive to work in peace? :)

-Eric

I know what you mean. I'm all for driving fast, but I'd rather do it on a track than a public road.

I was just thinking about idiot drivers this morning as I drove to work. It's -2 degrees F here, and the roads are snowpacked and slippery. As I drove in on a 55 mph 4-lane road this morning, there was a guy in a Jeep Grand Cherokee riding my bumper. I was going about 45 mph, and this guy kept getting closer and closer. I was afraid he was going to hit me when I slowed to turn into my office parking lot. I slowed way down, and he never got the message. One day, he'll rear end somebody and he won't understand why it happened. I just hope it's not me...

Regardless of which side of the CT river you find yourself on the answer to your (rhetorical I presume) question is no. I am only surprised that there was no driver in a Toyota in your story.

I find that often the worst offenders are middle-aged men in new Mustangs.

When I was living in Santa Fe, as I was turning right, some idiot hit me at about 55 and spun me into the parking lot. He never even tried to slow down or change lanes. He also didn't have insurance and was driving a borrowed car. The only reason he stopped was because the front air dam on the Grand Prix was wedged under the front of his car. Yes, he was also a citizen of another country farther south... Sigh.

Have you guys tried brake checking drivers if they follow too closely? I have lol scares the crap out of them ha ha. Another idea, you can role do the whole reversal thing I know I am bad... play the game if you wish. Ride their butt. Usually I don't condone this however...

Woah! Not cool did you have engine damage? What car were you driving at the time? I will assume it was the 911.. :nono:

For me, I just usually turn on the rear fog light when I have a tailgater... works 90% of the time to get them off my tail. :)

David

I like that. Safe. Non offensive. Can't hurt to try.

Yep, that's what I do, too. It freaks them out sometimes. I don't want to cause an accident but I certainly don't want them hitting me and involving me in an accident either. I watched one guy waive his hands in the air in anger as he slammed on his brakes in response. The immediate expression on his face was priceless.

I tried that in this case, too, but the guy in the A4 just didn't care or notice.

-Eric

It was a very nice 1984 Toyota Supra. I'd recently found it in LA and driven it back. Really nice little car for almost anything. Great parts hauler. I thought the guy was far enough back but he never even slowed down!

The 911 is a recent addition to the family. I do wish I'd bought one a long time ago though. They're much more fun to drive.

I like the rear fog light idea.

The other one I've used on occasion, especially on the highway is the activate the headlight washers. They put out a huge amount of water/fluid and they will soak the windshield of the car behind you. I wasn't too keen on that one this morning though. I don't like to activate them when it's very cold, because they can get stuck in the up position.

What can happen:

http://autos.yahoo.com/news/eight-fe...r-pileup-.html

+1. I'll be adding that to the d!ckhead countermeasures!

Only in Japan :thumbsup: