Types of people I wish would die in a fire

[I AM MOBIUS]

I got along fine, but it has to be said that US drivers are some of the worst drivers in the western world. The only place I've driven overseas with worse drivers was in Greece.

In Greece (Crete, particularly, as in Rhodes they were fine), they are suicidal nutters - in the US it's because of too many comaed out braindead morons on the streets.

[Sava]

This is a thread about petty grievances. I have a lot of petty grievances.

Key word "petty".

[I AM MOBIUS]

Like gfs watching crap TV and then ignoring it for noisy YouTube vids

[N35t0r]

Ugh. Drivers. Also, pedestrians. Luckily, cyclist are generally too afraid for their lives to misbehave much while on the road here, and downtown (where there are more of them) the mayor has embarked on a bikelane building craze (much to the annoyance of drivers) so they are not much of a problem.

[Dr Strangelove]

I will add these periodically as they come to me. Here are some driving related ones.


People who stop beyond the line at an intersection and block the crosswalk.

People who text or talk on the phone while driving.

People who leave more than half a car length of distance while stopped at a light. The more distance, the more they need to suffer in the fire.

People who are first in the left turn lane but take forever to get going.

People who don't pay attention when the left turn light goes green... regardless of position.

People who come from the right side (going perpendicular, right to left) as I approach an intersection in the left lane without anyone behind me, and then proceed to turn going my direction in the right lane without waiting the extra goddamn half second for me to pass.

Slow people in the left lane on the expressway who don't get the **** over when I come up on them fast. GET OVER MOTHER****ER

Anyone who tailgates me. Ever.

Everyone who drives a Hummer... any model.

People who go straight from the right turn lane at this one intersection by my gym.

People who don't move up in order to allow me or other drivers enough space to squeeze by when making a right turn.

(I have so many more... just for driving)

Here are some shopping related ones:

People who go down the aisle going the wrong way with their cart (it's like driving, stick to the right side).

People who block the aisle with their cart.

People who try to play chicken with me when they are going the wrong way down an aisle with their cart.

People (families) who have more than one shopping cart.

People who aren't mindful of their children in public and let them run wild. I understand kids can misbehave. If they do, discipline them for ****'s sake.

People who leave their cart in an inconvenient spot while they go off to get something else.

People who don't put the little divider after their stuff when they unload their groceries at the cashier.

People who violate my personal space in some way... whether it be with their cart or bodies. My minimum acceptable distance (while not in a crowd) is the equivalent of roughly the radius of my body without arms out.

Anyone who still writes checks.

People who walk side by side down aisles and take up more than half of the aisle.

Anyone who talks on a cell phone in public and doesn't make the call brief.

I had no idea we had so much in common Sava, though I'd like to point out that the writing checks thing is sometimes unavoidable. Almost the only time I use checks now is when I pay by mail. I'm not driving 30 miles to pay my county taxes, but the internet service our county government uses for web-based payments charges usurious fees.

[rah]

Worst drivers, I'd have to say Egypt. The taxi driver actually said that the traffic lights were just a suggestion and not mandatory. He also said he was one point away from a license suspension but it was ok since he wasn't planning on hitting any pedestrians that day which from his rambling seemed to be the way to score points.

[I AM MOBIUS]

Egypt was awesome!

I was only talking about countries I've actually driven in - there is no way on earth I would have driven in Egypt!

Though I did want one of those taxi rear-view mirrors!

[Sava]

I had no idea we had so much in common Sava, though I'd like to point out that the writing checks thing is sometimes unavoidable. Almost the only time I use checks now is when I pay by mail. I'm not driving 30 miles to pay my county taxes, but the internet service our county government uses for web-based payments charges usurious fees.

Yes. Checks in those circumstances isn't a problem for me. I was referring more to people using them at the store.

also @ having so much in common

[Sava]

Worst drivers, I'd have to say Egypt. The taxi driver actually said that the traffic lights were just a suggestion and not mandatory. He also said he was one point away from a license suspension but it was ok since he wasn't planning on hitting any pedestrians that day which from his rambling seemed to be the way to score points.

[I AM MOBIUS]

With respect to just how bad American drivers are, compared to say UK drivers:

Road fatalities per 100k population

UK: 3.5

USA: 11.6

[I AM MOBIUS]

Or, to put it into context:

USA: 11.6

Egypt: 13.2

You guys are almost as bad as the Egyptians

[Sava]

With respect to just how bad American drivers are, compared to say UK drivers:

Road fatalities per 100k population

UK: 3.5

USA: 11.6

Deceptive. Americans drive more in terms of distance. When put into a proper context... fatalities per billion vehicles-km...

UK: 4.3

USA: 7.6

We're still worse... but not by a factor of 3x-4x

Brazil... 55.9

[N35t0r]

I'd gather you'd also have to factor in distance driven per person as well, but of course that leads to the obvious question that, if the increased car deaths are due to the increased time spent driving, whay the hell do they not take actions to reduce the total amount driven?

[Sava]

I'd gather you'd also have to factor in distance driven per person as well, but of course that leads to the obvious question that, if the increased car deaths are due to the increased time spent driving, whay the hell do they not take actions to reduce the total amount driven?

pro-tip: USA is a much larger country, geographically, with much more suburban sprawl... leading to longer commute times and distances

[N35t0r]

Ugh. Don't talk about it. I thought we drove bad, but when I was in Rio, I was amazed that I didn't see an accident every 5 minutes on the commute...