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Protip: When you volunteer to drive, dont be a douche

7K views 60 replies 29 participants last post by  tigre 
#1 ·
Finally got my first day of the season in and got to ride my new stick... Ive been riding for about 9 years and just bought my second board since I started. go me! :)

The ride from NYC to VT is about 4 hours but the real fun started on the way home. I sat in the back seat both directions but halfway back I notice that my friend is texting back and forth. Naturally I said, "Hey, its making me nervous that you're texting and driving. Do you mind putting the phone down till we get home?"

When your friend is telling you that youre driving like a 13 year old girl dont reply with this: "Dude, it's a four hour drive, what do you expect me to do?"
or "Im kind of insulted that you think that I would have an accident. I'm a better driver then that."

Some back and forth later I realized I was arguing with a child so I just made sure my seatbelt worked and tried not act like a back seat bitch... it was bad enough that he was doing that but yelling and stressing out the driver wouldnt help. He made his decision to not give a fuck about anyone within a 50' radius and I either had to get out (and hitchhike my ass out of CT) or hope for the best.

I dont care if he rolls up in a limo with a hot tub in the back, I will never get into a car with that cock gobbling douche nozzle who cares more about his phone than his friends or anyone else.

This rant is brought to you by the letters T, X, T and the number 8.

Would you have gotten out? stolen his phone out of his hand? Should I have just shaved my vagina and not said anything?
 
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#3 ·
I get uncomfortable when people text and drive... I get it if it's one text but if you gotta have a whole convo then call them up!

I would have given the driver some shit as well and tried to get the others on my side... maybe pulled up some horrible, traumatizing pictures of texting-while-driving accident victims to show the driver.
 
#4 ·
I would much rather converse with my friends or kids in the car that are with me.

If I must text I have had the passenger read me the text and enter my reply. this works well, especially when it's me and the kids and I have to answer mom
 
#6 ·
In local news just this week, some twit was playing with her ipod while driving (same idea as texting) and drove right off the road and ran over some guy. He's in the hospital in critical condition with multiple injuries. Her car is totalled.

I don't care how good you think you are -- all the other idiots who've had accidents thought they were just as good.
 
#7 ·
Here is a tip for you for the next time you want to bum a ride, sack up:

Sorry dude, but I took Greyhound one time about 5 years ago and it will be the last time.

They fucked up every part of my journey, multiple broken buses, lost luggage (broken bus can't open luggage compartment?), took 12 hours to complete a 2.5 hour journey by car, missed a flight and got nothing but attitude from Greyhound.

Yea I was just waiting for someone to mention this shithole company so I could spew about it, I forget how pissed I am at it until it comes up....

 
#9 ·
I'm not going to lie, I'm guilty. I don't see how texting/talking/eating while driving is so complicated and confounding to the general public. I mean they are bad habits and all but it's just not that hard to pay attention to the road.

Drugs don't make people stupid, people are stupid.
Devices don't make people bad drivers, they are bad drivers.

I'm prepared to get flamed.
Have a good day.
 
#11 ·
:D

I don't doubt there are drivers who are capable of doing all of those things while driving, and still being safer than most drivers. There are drivers who can drive 50% over the speed limit and are still safer than most. I know because I'm one of them :D

But you don't make the laws for those people. You make the laws for the ones who can't handle two things at once. And the problem is EVERYONE thinks they're a member of the first group, not the second.

Let's face it, all laws discriminate against the people for whom those laws aren't necessary. But all laws are made for the clubheads who can't handle a three-dimensional universe filled with more than 4 things.
 
#16 ·
Earlier this summer I was on my way to a mountain biking meet up. I was texting and negligently drove through a 4-way stop. I almost hit some granny and she shot me the finger. I deserved it. I was so fortunate nothing happened but I no longer text and drive. I use to think after doing it all these years, I was a pro. I was stupid and arrogant. If it's that important, what's so hard about pulling over for a minute to be done with it?
 
#18 ·
I raced at speeds double the speed on the roads and dodged cars flipping and catching on fire next to me........while taking my eyes of the track to watch the flags and times I was running. You really think driving 30 and sending "K" to someone is a task that will render me dead? If that's the case there shouldn't be passenger seats in cars, radios, cup holders, or mirrors. All of those take your focus off the road.

Think before you speak.
 
#20 ·
The laws are pointless because they are virtually unenforceable. In the state of Washington, we have had laws banning non hands free cell phone use and texting for several years. No one follows the law! I see people jabbering away all over. I see them in traffic next to police cars doing it. The cops have more important things to do than deal with it.

People are shitting themselves over texting meanwhile they are fucking around with their Tomtom to get step by step directions to the mall. I cannot count the number of times each week I see people watching a fucking movie while driving. Then there are the book readers and the women doing their hair and makeup in traffic.
I actually saw a woman pull over to fix her makeup here in Tacoma... Granted she cut me off to get over LOL
 
#21 · (Edited)
Hell, for 4 years I was a territory rep. 80% of my day was spent behind a wheel. I'd eat, text, email, browse the web, and all kinds of shit behind the wheel. I had to unless I wanted to pull 12 hour days everyday waiting until I got home to get all my admin done. I perfected driving with my knees during those years. :laugh:

Oh, and I should add that I've never been in a wreck on the road and have only had one ticket in the last decade and that one got dismissed after I damn near physically fought an assistant DA in Aurora. Fuck that town.
 
#22 ·
It's a bit of the 90/10 rule at work. 90% of ppl can barely drive while they're driving. I don't doubt a pro/amateur driver can handle multitasking while driving but they're 10%.

I dont doubt a pilot feels like driving is the easiest thing in the world by comparison either. Shit, if ppl got half the training behind the wheel that a single Engine pilot has to take, the roads would be a heck of a lot safer. We'd prob get a bunch of Ernest hemingways behind the wheel.

I think we can agree on two things:

You should have a good reason to take your eyes off the road or just minimize doing it.

Fuck greyhound. It's a bad neighborhood on wheels.
 
#32 ·
I moved out here in May and completely agree with you. Though I have to say drivers in CO in general are much worse than what I was used to in Pittsburgh. My daily commute downtown (10 miles each way) usually involves some type of evasive maneuver to prevent a potential accident.
 
#25 ·
Oh my god! I thought this was an Oregon thing. I have gotten to the point that just the sight of a fucking Subaru pisses me off. I have never seen so many HORRIBLE drivers attracted to a single make of vehicle in all of my life!
They think the awd makes them awesome drivers.
 
#26 ·
Because my passengers may not be comfortable with these habits, I do in fact abstain from any of these potentially distracting behaviors with passengers in my vehicle. In the plane of course, I have to do the things I need to but I also try to fly like a professional so that even though they are in a small Cessna, it feels like a smooth airline flight (well, as smooth as a light plane can be in weather). I want people to feel safe when I am driving and flying, so I try to use professional habits that put people at ease...:thumbsup:
See, that's a good attitude! :)

I've been thinking about what you said about how busy it is in the cockpit compared to a car. I bet you'd shit a brick if the skies were as busy as a road though. Not every cessna has a proximity warning device but you know whats around you within about 1/2 - 1 mile radius. I'm not dumb enough to say that pilots dont need fast reflexes but generally speaking, crazy traffic conditions dont really happen once you get off the runway.

Once you're up, you have the time to actually read a map/look at little numbers on an altimeter/join the mile-high club/whatever. I think wierd shit happens more often on the road and you have to be more reactive then a pilot mid-flight. I'm not saying piloting is -easy-, just demanding in diff ways. If I was going to make analogy (and I -really- hate analogies) I would say its like dicking around on a phone while approaching a landing.

Could you imagine a blue angel pilot in the middle of an airshow?

"Yeah, I'm flying a 10 tonne machine 3 inches away from another 10 tonne machine at 500 mph... wait what? Why does my wife want me to pick up a gallon of milk from the..."

fiery crash ensues
 
#27 ·
I gotta agree with you here. It's just not that difficult. If people find the idea of this so difficult, they ought to try single pilot IFR shooting an instrument approach down to minimums in crowded airspace; been there, do that! You're flying the airplane to precise standards of speed, decent, course and altidue all the while reading your approach plate, talking to ATC, working the NAV radios and going through landing checklist all while fighting wind, rain and turbulence!

Texting, talking on phone, eating, etc while driving is child's play by comparison. It's really more about how, where and when you do your multitasking. I'm actually composing this post while at work driving a semi hauling fuel...LOL
haha thats funny as hell! I always wondered if you got bored driving a semi, so you just posted on here.

I bummed a ride down with this kid the other day, and he was tail gating the absolute fuck out of the car in front of him, and it was night time and still icy, and he would just ride up on him and slam the brakes and repeat. Honestly pissed me the hell off, but i held my tongue because if he is willing to let me bum a ride down i'm not going to tell him how to drive mom's honda pilot.

I always tell myslelf not to text while actually driving, it's just not worth it to crash and fuck everything up over a text, but honestly its not that freaking hard. I have had more close calls being distracted by shiny things on the side of the road than looking at a phone.

as far as the plane thing goes thought, you can look at the controls on a plane without a child running in front of you, or the plane in front of you slamming on its brakes, a lot less chance to actually crash into something because you aren't looking than texting in a car.
 
#28 ·
lol if you dont like how someone else drives, take your own fucking car or volunteer to drive. i drive every weekend to the mountain and ill be damned if someone in the backseat who can take a nap and put their feet up is going to tell me what to do while im driving.
 
#29 ·
Hate tailgating... absolutely hate it. Truly the worst driving habit, especially in volume traffic. As someone that commutes into NYC I would guess that 85%, possibly more of the traffic I deal with is the result of the accordion effect... not to mention fender benders because of the assholes that tailgate. I had a semi-road rage incident last week coming home when some dbag insisted on sliding in to my following distance to advance a single car length.

I am guilty of sneaking in an email, text or look once in a while and i use a mount for my phone since I also use it as a GPS. I could do it all day if other people weren't so terrible at driving. Its mostly out of fear of others that I try not to make a habit of it.

If only people knew how to drive... Paying attention, maintaining a proper following distance, gentle breaking, smooth acceleration and staying right except to pass could eliminate so much of the traffic i deal with.
 
#30 · (Edited)
How do you all feel about technology that allows cars to be self driven? A few companies are experimenting with this technology now. In theory, it would allow cars to drive within a few inches of each other since distance would be monitored by computers and electronics rather than by humans with variable reaction times. You would eliminate the accordion effect. You would be able to text, read, eat, take a nap, or do whatever you want while the car drives itself.

Regarding distraction while driving, has anyone else read Traffic by Tom Vanderbilt? It's a pretty interesting read. One of the discussions regards the amount of information a driver has to deal with on a typical drive down a city street. Between traffic signs, business signs, other vehicles, traffic lights, speed control devices, etc. the average number of decisions that a driver has to make was something in the hundreds within a very short distance. An experienced driver knows how to sift through the information to consciously deal with the most important information (such as a car approaching from 90°) while letting the subconscious deal with the less important information (such as a yellow traffic sign that says "deer" or something like that). A new driver, such as a teenager, still needs to process consciously much more information than an older, experienced driver.

Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us): Tom Vanderbilt: 9780307277190: Amazon.com: Books



Check out this video of a car parking itself in a parking garage. Of course it's not practical to implement right now, but I think it's pretty amazing that a car can do this on its own.

CES 2013: Audi Piloted Parking - YouTube
 
#36 ·
I kicked some texting bitches mirror off last summer after she almost ran me over on my bike. I ride 90% of the year and I don't take kindly to it.
"We" as in my friends also find it fun to ride up on talkers and texters in groups and politely yell at them to put there phone away. We know and are completley aware that its harassment and have no intention of hurting anyone But its funny how fast someone will end thier convo when there is a group of ugly, bearded chopper riders staring at them.
 
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