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DuncanK1 · 03-14-2015, 03:44 PM

...most days...

Any kind of patience and latitude is rewarded with someone taking the safe-zone in front of you...

rmkrum · 03-14-2015, 05:52 PM

Yeah, or you signal to change lanes, and the guy you were well ahead of accelerates massively so you can't change lanes in a reasonable manner.

Most of the time I just let them go their merry way. A couple times I have been very gratified to see them down the road on the shoulder getting 'remedial instruction' by way of a CHP ticket.

I drive defensively, I avoid being in a hurry, and allow for the other crazies around here--and there are plenty of them. You'll recognize me as the guy driving defensively in a 4x4 pickup truck...it sticks out like a sore thumb around here. Seems a 4x4 is an invitation to speed and change lanes a lot...

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Skater · 03-15-2015, 09:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Protagonist

By someone who passed me on the right, immediately after I made a right turn? Never in forty years, let alone three years.

I had the same reaction, but then I came up with a theory. It's just a theory, so who knows, but: The video driver is in the right lane at an intersection waiting to turn right. There's a shoulder next to him that's not marked as a lane (around here, those would quickly be repainted into turn lanes). The second driver pulls on to that shoulder, then turns right with him, then nearly sideswipes him.

I've had the reverse thing happen, all at one intersection near my workplace. I'll be in that right turn lane, and someone will turn right from the next lane over, which is straight only. (Can't be bothered to wait their turn like everyone else.) Of course, there's only one lane to turn into, so there's that to deal with. I'd be surprised if it's as few as three times in three years.

Similarly, I've been waiting to go straight, in the only 'straight' lane in an intersection at a traffic light, and someone will come up in the right turn lane, but go straight, then merge into my lane. I've had it a handful of times and have seen it happen to others, too. For those who think he's doing something to attract it, I'd love to hear an explanation on how I'm attracting that kind of behavior by sitting patiently at a red light.

In general, for those who think he is attracting it somehow, I see a lot of the same kinds of things every day, and much worse at least weekly. I could put together a 'greatest hits' package as long as this in one year, with examples that are far worse than most of what he showed. And I'm not doing anything to attract it, either - other than happening to be using the roads, too.

I visited northwest Indiana a couple years ago, and I was shocked by how sedately everyone drove. Then I realized they had a LOT of police around, both marked and unmarked cars. I wondered if there was a correlation. Enforcement here is so rare that I think people feel - rightly - that they can do whatever they want and get away with it. When I do see someone pulled over, I can't help but wonder exactly what they did - it'd have to be pretty egregious.

BoldAdventure · 03-15-2015, 10:26 AM

Being in tourist hot spot of Florida (Clearwater Beach) I have seen multiple times people pass on the shoulder, but never going around a turn. We are now in spring break season and the idiots have increased. I witnessed a car of young kids doing 70 in a 45mph zone last night and using the left shoulder to pass two vehicles.

Honestly, the thing that makes me most excited about going full time is getting away from the drivers in Pinellas County.

rmkrum · 03-15-2015, 12:02 PM

Used to live in Palm Beach county. Yep, I remember how the drivers are there from my youth. They haven't improved a bit!

Visited my mom down there during an AS trip a couple years ago. Darn glad I parked the Airstream out of state (Alabama son's house) and boarded the dogs. Lots of close calls just with the TV.

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andreasduess · 03-15-2015, 01:11 PM

If you don't want to shell out for a dedicated camera, and don't need the convenience of automatic on/off with ignition, there are dashcam apps available for both iOS and Android, using the phone's camera. I've got an old iPhone 4s I use for that purpose.

ROBERT CROSS · 03-15-2015, 06:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Protagonist

Please allow me to submit an alternate interpretation, to wit… The man who made that video needs a defensive driving course. No one can have that many near misses and still be entirely blameless in all of them. As the saying goes, "The one common denominator in all of these incidents is… him."

Granted, a lot of the idiots he filmed were off in the distance ahead of him or to the side and he had nothing to do with those. But those right in front of him didn't all need to be so close in front of him, if he had been paying more attention to his driving than to his dash-cam.

I especially noticed all the times he made a right turn, and someone cut him off on the right. That sort of thing doesn't just happen so often to the same guy; he must have done something to make it happen, even if he didn't realize it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by openroad118

I have to agree. The video maker is half responsible for the driving mistakes. His cursing and complaining to other drivers seems to result in the curses sent his way. He needs to mature a bit.

Yes, agree completely. A perfect example of offensive driving...and explain to me. How exactly does the dash cam improve your driving skills?

Bob

Mike91208 · 03-15-2015, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

...and explain to me. How exactly does the dash cam improve your driving skills?

Bob

x2!!

Protagonist · 03-15-2015, 08:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

How exactly does the dash cam improve your driving skills?

It can, if you use it the right way. Rather than using it for the entertainment value, think of it as an instant replay. Record your trip. Make a note of all the white-knuckle moments (ha, like you're ever going to forget them, video or no video). Later, in the comfort of your own Airstream, review the video to see what you could have done— if anything— to avoid the white-knuckle moments. Things like, "Oh, yeah, now I see. That lane was wide open, and if I had swerved over there instead…" After you get in the habit of looking for things like that in the video, you'll get better at looking for them in real time behind the wheel, too.

But if all you're doing is recording video and editing it to save just the most entertaining bits for posting to EwTube, that teaches you nothing.

slowmover · 03-16-2015, 03:28 AM

Other vehicles don't usually come out of nowhere. There are patterns, and those are mainly predictable. Same for pedestrians and children.

Road, load, conditions and weather.

Skater · 03-16-2015, 06:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Yes, agree completely. A perfect example of offensive driving...and explain to me. How exactly does the dash cam improve your driving skills?

Bob

I think I said this before, but just knowing my actions were being recorded would help make sure that I stay careful. Not that I drive recklessly now, of course, but it'd be like having the police (or worse, the internet, where everyone has hours to dissect events that took only a second to unfold) looking over my shoulder all the time.