Sheeple Drivers

reply to post by truthtothemasses


I am conscious of time and try to be punctual by giving myself enough extra time to not have to rush. Time is valuable but so is common courtesy. We each make a choice every time we drive whether or not to drive responsibly.

If I'm driving on the freeway I like to get there sooner rather than later. But I don't hog the passing lane just because I've got the cruise set at 73 mph and someone is coming up behind doing 80. I get over and let them pass. The horde of chasers too. Then I resume my cruise. More often than not other drivers get the hint and traffic flows. Until the next nut going 65 mph on cruise control in the passing lane refuses to get over.

City driving is chaotic and extra caution is necessary. People being impatient and discourteous are the cause of clogged roadways.

I'll never forget on 9/11 how courteous everyone was toward everyone else. It was the most amazing thing.

Originally posted by Hazelnut
Why are there so many bad drivers out there?

It seems that everywhere I go, I am confronted with people whose driving skills leave something to be desired. I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately and I’ve begun wondering why there are so many bad drivers out there sharing the roads with the rest of us. Here are some possible weak links in the bad driver equation...baddriverblog.com...

Sheeple. My definition of a Sheeple is any person who is content with ignorance as a way of life.

The Awake. My definition of an awake person is the opposite of a Sheeple.

How many Sheeple are there? How many are Awake? Can we identify the Awake from the Sheeple by comparing driving behaviors? Bear with me. It seems like way too many people behind the wheel "own the road" like it is their sovereign right or something. I wonder what is going through their minds.

What happened to courtesy and cooperation? Safety even? Why do we drive like madmen and women, insulting each other, cutting each other off, acting like we want to kill someone? Are our driver ego's really alter-ego's? And are our alter-ego's an extenstion of our online ego's?

I think I'm awake and a courteous driver. Some of my family and friends are terrible drivers. And they happen to be Sheeple.

Is there any correlation between the Awake, the Sheeple and the Horrible Drivers?

Theories:

1. 70% percent nasty drivers
2. 30% percent courteous drivers

Are the nasty drivers Sheeple or Awake?

How's that for conspiracy logic. Don't answer that, answer the other questions instead. I'm curious. What do you think?

To me I've always thought it had to do with personality type . Aggressive, arrogant people are more likely to drive like they are better than everyone else and drive like they own the road more.

People who only think about themselves are more likely to drive unaware of their surroundings.


The real question is why are a majority of bad drivers, women.

This is not a bash on women, as my mom is an excellent driver, so was my friends mom.

However, I have done my own personal track it in my head type of study where I note every time i see somebody driving poorly or an accident happens.

9/10 times it is either a young female driver or a 40-50 women driver.

I'm excluding old people because everyone ages differerntly and some are as good of drivers now as they were 30 years ago.


Me personally I'm a defensive driver. I never speed and have a clean record, but I'm def not a goody two shoes type of person. I just am a very aware person.

This comes from me playing sports and always being more aware than anyone I played with. I was the assist guy in B-ball seeing the whole of the game rather than just my personal view.

I'm also pretty good at viewing things from a different perspective so I think all of this combinds to allow me to just be more aware in whatever i am doing, but especially on the road.

reply to post by CityIndian


I don't drive a car.

Thought I had already said that?

This whole thread is a big part of why we left the rat race in favor of a place that has a maximum speed limit of 40 mph.

Agree with the OP and others that there seems to be an overall trend of worse driving. There are a couple of other variables that I think play into that. For one thing, when I was a wee sprout, there wasn't as much POWER under the hood, or rather, none of us could afford those kinda cars. Everything was metal too, not like these rediculous cars that don't even have bumpers anymore, but a fiberglass-reinforced plastic shell shaped like a bumper.

Other things: People traverse long distances..... and let's face it, if you have a two-hour commute one-way from or to your home, you either find a way to get into your happy place and flow with the other drivers (baaa baaaa) or you become an agressive turd who endangers everyone around you.

My personal pet peeves of other drivers: People who follow so close that you KNOW if you have to stop suddenly, they are going to be in you. What makes people do this? It's not like their forward slipstream is going to propell you faster. Another: Why, oh why, do people everywhere drive faster when it rains?

I almost ran over a child on a bicycle once. That straightened up my driving for life. It was CLOSE. NOTHING I was speeding toward could have ever been more important that that child's life.

Good thread

reply to post by argentus


Your close call was a wake up call wasn't it? I'm so glad no one got hurt. I've had close calls too, so I get it.

14 yrs old - head on in a volkswagon
15 yrs old - roll over in a honda coupe
16 yrs old - head on in another compact
28 yrs old - broadside with a school bus
34 yrs old - rear ended in a traffic jam (8 months pregnant)

I was the passenger in all of the above accidents except the last one. The only one in which I sustained no injury was the roll over. It would be a fate worse than death to cause someone else injury or death while driving.

reply to post by Hazelnut

I understand what you mean. We all make mistakes and sometimes while driving, but you're talking about the people who don't use blinkers, cut people off, use the merging lane or bus stops to get ahead in traffic etc...from the blatantly inconsiderate to the obviously offensive.

Getting on the freeway awhile back, I had George Lucas pull a jersey slide on me...no blinker or anything and I know for a fact that he was fully aware of the fact that he was doing it because one of his storage lots is right down the street.
Generally, I thought I knew the guy and wouldn't expect him to pull something like that to save a couple of seconds, but he did. Why he did would be anyone's guess.

Also remember that many or most behavior is learned, so the more people that drive like this, the more we can expect to see dimply through diffusion of responsibility.

Certain types of people will see this pattern and revolt in the other direction...like me, for example. I still obey the traffic signals on deserted roads, use my blinker while merging on an empty freeway etc.
Maybe it has something to do with that one night I rolled a stop sign and got caught by a cleverly hidden officer and maybe it has something to do with my disgust in having to deal with discourteous drivers on a daily basis...I like to think it's a little of both.

Give me a bumper mounted rocket launcher and the legal right to volley at people who don't use their blinkers when they should and I just might pull the trigger.

reply to post by Hazelnut


Some people are just A** holes. You don't need to be behind the wheel for that to become clear. Yesterday I was driving and went around a corner, saw this young couple waiting to cross the road so I stop my car and then they turn look at me and start swearing to let them cross. Such stupidity....car is stopped..I flagged you to cross...a duh.

Might also depend on how one was was raised, there view on society and such.

These bad drivers are just as guilty as if they are driving drunk!
The accident results are the same, aren't they?
Life changing events for entire generations of families!
Yet we put up with this stupidness that is indeed, a serious threat to society.
I also drive trucks and see alot of stupid/distracted people that
have no business even being behind the wheel.
The perfect example? Merge signs!
We actually need a sign to tell us how to do that!
Probably happened because some dimwit didn't know what merge means
and crashed into someone else! Now everyone has to pay.
This shallow mentality and irresponsible behavior is why we are doomed
as a species. We are only as good as our weakest link.
How bout this lucky dipstick!
www.ktvb.com...
The article is hard to read though!
Others are very lucky too, he didn't run over them!
His reaction? Dont mess with cell phones when driving!duh!
(and you wonder why I picked this name?)



[edit on 23-5-2009 by dodadoom]

Your thread title sums it up brilliantly, so i don't know why people find it derogatory.

I think most people find that getting a license is a right, but it should be earned. Driving a tonne of metal at speed is not trivial. There are some right muppets on the road.

For future reference, if someone tail-gates you, take control by slowing down when they can't overtake and speed up when they can; you'll drive them nuts

My dislikes:

1) Drivers who are haunched over the steering wheel with their face about three inches from the windscreen. Shows a complete lack of confidence and they won't be able to move their arms quickly enough to prevent an accident.

2) Using mobile phones

3) Lane hoggers. Best method to get the buggers out the way is to flash your headlights from distance as you approach (not when you're 3ft from their bumper). They will see it in their mirror and think you're police.

4) People who pull out of junctions and move off at a snails pace.

Finally, i think every one should spend 2 weeks on a motorbike as part of their driving education. They'll soon realise the importance of equality on the road and how important it is to check blind spots for ANY manoeuvre.

p.s. i was a taxi driver and consider myself an advanced driver, but i'm a bloke so i would say that

reply to post by PrisonerOfSociety


What about those drivers that lean the seat all the way, back, and sit so down low they can't see over the wheel? but they do it because it looks cool and is "thug"

I agree with your comments and think that drivers should get retested at a certain age or have a surprise test to make sure they know what the hell they are doing.

reply to post by PrisonerOfSociety


Correct, the 'best' multi-taskers are the worst drivers!

The worst I've seen are texting on their mobile phones while the vehicle is moving!!! Sadly, it's not one time occurence, I found it's quite common. I know few cabby drivers with a rusty cab who intentionally cut and brake in front of such drivers and let them pay the damage!

Of course, a cop comes by, and cops tend to be biased against mobile phone users while driving, even if it's not their fault.. great thing! That'll teach them a lesson because someday they may not be lucky, or worse, their potential victim(s) by not paying attention to driving.