On the road woes
By Mark Glover - mglover at sacbee.com
Published 12:00 am PST Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Story appeared in BUSINESS section, Page G2
This month we asked...
Q: They're out there: chronic speeders, tailgaters and people who
straddle the painted parking lot lines in their oh-so-important cars.
What form of bad behind-the-wheel behavior offends you the most, and
why?
I find two behaviors to be the most offensive and can't decide which
is worse. Too many times when I am driving in the slow lane on the
highway, I will see cars approaching and passing me on the right. That
area is reserved, in part, for cars to pull over with a flat tire.
It's not a personal passing lane. And although cell phones can
distract drivers, I am more concerned about motorcyclists who believe
the white lines represent their personal lanes. Where are all the safe
motorcyclists? I believe they are placing their lives in jeopardy when
they whip through traffic riding the lines, instead of staying on
either side of them.
- Linda Lohman, Sacramento
I'm one of those drivers on other drivers' hate lists, simply because
I do not exceed the speed limit. I stay as far to the right as
possible, but that's not enough for most other drivers and I am
consistently tailgated, passed unsafely and given evil looks and
gestures. I doubt that 10 percent of the drivers on Sacramento's
streets and highways even know what the speed limits are, let alone
other rules such as how to execute a legal right turn on red. I'm
proud of my clean driving record and the basic training I had in
school, which emphasized respect for the traffic laws in the interests
of safety and facilitating traffic movement. Sadly, obeying the law
comes with harassment. But I am getting 48 miles per gallon of gas, so
that is some comfort.
- Sherry Liddick, Sloughhouse
Some drivers seem to have no concept of safely merging into traffic on
expressways. Rather than entering at highway speed, they come into the
stream of traffic at 40-or-so miles per hour, gradually coming up to
the speed of surrounding, faster-moving traffic. Drivers already
moving at highway speed must slow drastically to avoid hitting them,
and all traffic behind those drivers must also slow down. You would
think that these drivers would figure out that it's less dangerous to
merge at or near the same speed as those already on the highway. -
Joel David Pate, Rocklin
I am most annoyed by people who use pulling over for an emergency
vehicle - such as an ambulance, fire engine or police car with sirens
running - as an opportunity to improve their position in traffic. Some
don't even attempt to pull over, as required by law. This is not only
dangerous for everyone involved, but aggravating. Everyone should pull
over, then re-enter traffic in an orderly fashion. When cars behind me
try to speed past me when re-entering traffic, I often run the hazard
of almost pulling out into them, as do other cars. Very tacky. - Cean
Burgeson, West Sacramento
My biggest complaint regarding driver behavior is tailgaters. I
commute about 24 miles per day and see a rear-end accident almost
daily. I prefer to drive the posted speed limit but encounter one or
two cars daily tailgating me ... I have tried tapping the brakes, but
this just makes things worse. One instance occurred in a residential
area, where the speed limit was posted at 40 mph. After tapping my
brakes, the offending driver drove around me at a high speed, veered
onto the sidewalk, swept back onto the road and then directed a finger
gesture toward me. Does anyone remember the three-second rule for
following another vehicle? - Steve Cooksey, Roseville
I would say that the most annoying drivers are those who refuse to let
you enter a crowded street from a parking lot and those who refuse to
let you move over into another lane even though you have your turn
signal on. These people are so rude, and allowing me to merge only
takes a second or two. - Mary E. Godfrey, Sacramento
When I'm driving on a freeway, typically Interstate 5 in the San
Joaquin Valley, I routinely come up behind slower traffic in the right
lane. In the left lane, it's common to find a sizable line of cars
moving faster, but still slower than I wish to travel. So, I take my
place at the rear of the line in the left lane. Inevitably, some
people who must think they are extremely important will pass the left-
lane lineup on the right until they are right behind the slow vehicle,
and then they will do their best to cut into the left lane. Would
these people cut into line at a movie theater or a bank? Why do they
do it on the highway? The only way to prevent these impatient drivers
from cutting in is to hold your position dangerously close to the
vehicle in front of you. - Joe Ossmann, Carmichael
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