AHHH sick of elderly/tourist drivers here!

Oh the irony.

One day your going to be old as well and won't be able to see over the dashboard.

Buhaha

But, it can be annoying especially in a 45 zone and their going 10 mph.



Just imagine what kids say about your driving when you get over the hill.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I hope one day when you are old you have a mis hap like this and they catch you and take you for all you are worth.

Give the old bag a break lest they not give you one.

As for tourists.... It is very easy to be horrible in a new place. some people it takes a lot of time for them to get around in their own city much less in a strange place.

Learn to live with it or move out of a place full of the elderly and tourists.

I hated gang bangers so instead of whining about it I moved out of where there was a large concentration of them.

It really is not that hard.

Here in Sudbury Ontario Canada, (I gave the whole location in case you want to look it up, beautiful area)
our local Regional Police Chief announced the introduction of a hot line to report unsafe driving by seniors. He wanted people to call in with the license number and an officer in an unmarked car would visit the senior at home and talk to the senior. They could not take the license or charge them with anything, just visit to see if the senior is having any problems which may affect his/her driving.
This caused major outrage and the line was cancelled within 24 hours. I thought they may form a mob and attack the police station with torches and pitch forks.
This made the CBC National news.
A week later and they are still discussing it on local news.
Chiefs latest announcement is for people to call "Crime Stoppers" on any unsafe driver so no-one feels singled out.

As an ex policeman who has seen more than his share of idiots on the road, i think drivers should have to do a refresher every ten years or so.

Every age has it's rubbish drivers. I live in a village where there is a large college, and the students round here drive like maniacs. I almost got hit by one last summer, he came speeding round a corner so fast he was nearly up on two wheels and he almost lost it..and i was in the middle of the road crossing with my bike.

I just threw my bike down right in the middle of the road so he had no choice but to stop......and he met the other side to CX.

Seriously though, elderly, youngsters, people who have driven for a few years and think they are expert drivers. Very few would pass the test again if they took it again five years on.

CX.

There everywhere out here too. They cause traffic cause they don't drive the speed limit. A few of them have killed a few people. Also, a few years ago 2 young children on their bikes got ran over by one of them.

I gotta neighbor across the street that drove right through his garage door. The guy should not be behind the wheel.

Too bad the greedy Department of motor vehicles doesn't want to lose all those annual registration fee's. Obviously their greed is more important than public safety. ~$heopleNation

reply to post by mblahnikluver


Living in Arizona, USA, I sympathize. On the downside, you too will be a slow, blind and confused driver soon, if you're lucky.

That said, don't worry because they'll all be dead soon, anyway.

reply to post by mblahnikluver

Sorry but the reality is Stupid People grow up and age to be even Stupider Old People, worse, these are the people who voted in all the Presidents and Congress that have made such a mess of this country...opps, I forgot, it was this generation that voted in Obama twice so, looks like stupid people are everywhere, of every age.

Bad drivers, you betcha! I know what it is like for sure. I live in Louisiana and read an article recently that Louisiana has the worst record in the entire country relevant to bad drivers. We won that distinction, hands down. I wish I could remember where/link about it...was either done by car insurance companies or some national study but I believe it. DO NOT ever come to Louisiana if you value your life on the road. Seriously. And, it's not just old folks to blame here. All ages apply. Between cell phone yappin and speeding...the interstate here, we usually drive around the speed limit, usually a little faster at times, but folks here act like the highway is the autobahn from overseas...they drive at break-neck sppeds, cross over lanes, have garbage fly outta their pickumup trucks, comin right at ya. We lived in NY and Phillie area and know what maniac driving is like but folks here take the prize. Don't wanna move tho. We moved to Wyoming for a while, near Yellowstone,...talk about tourist idiots.

Hubby and I are 2 old farts but cool, I guess. Never had a wreck/ticket..drive Hemi Challengers or Mustangs. We watch out for pedestrians. No cell phone talking. Never cross over lanes or ride the breaks. A few Q-tips are cool but I gotta agree, many are a nuisance. We had a woman actually shoot at a car here, for taking her space. Yikes.

reply to post by mblahnikluver
I am glad your ok ...but your location on your bio says Mars. Im not a Blue Hair but I am a snowbird, was just in Nevada this last weekend on a vaca, and there were a lot of Blue Hairs everywhere. Try following one walking.

I hear you on the Disney traffic, I live in Kissimmee so my nightmare is 192 and I4. The smaller road I live on has so many accidents I just can't understand how they even happen. When there is a busy road, you either floor it and merge on when there is an opening, or you wait five minutes and play it safe. It isn't that hard.

I'm a pretty aggressive driver compared to every one else, I've crossed the intersection when the people behind me just started moving, going 0-60 to get into to traffic is also something that happens many times per day. One thing that is different though, is that when I make a mistake and miss a turn or something I don't slam on the brakes and yank the car over five lanes I keep going and pull a U turn or turn somewhere where it is safe and won't inconvenience all of the other traffic.

I had several close calls last year in the same week, I finally said F it and vowed to stop diligently avoiding accidents when it was other people's fault, I got rear ended on the I4-408 east off ramp the next day. It seems like every week though I almost get merged into because someone wasn't looking. I only need someone to drop something on my roof, and hit my drivers side rear wheel until I have all brand new paint on my 13 year old car.

Something my friend does when someone is going so slow in the fast lane for no reason he will get in front of them and then drive even slower until they change lanes. I can't bring my self to do this because I'd rather just get up to 70 and blow by them than drive 35 for 10 minutes.

I am going to buy a police siren box because they have an "air horn" button that sounds like the horns from an ambulance. It is extremely loud and disconcerting and I know I would have a blast using that thing. I'm also pretty sure it is legal to have strobe lights for the white headlights, so something like that ought to freak them into changing lanes. If you have the money and the space, consider a train horn.

Although I am an aggressive driver, I'm not one of those kids in a Honda civic, they are just as bad if not worse than old people. These guys see the whole road as being their lane, weaving like crazy in traffic. A few times I've almost had them rear end me when I see them making 5 illegal lane changes and hit the brakes.

I also hate the people that drift in the lanes during the double left turns and such. There is a line on the ground, if I can see it then you can too. Times like this is when I wish my horn wasn't so dinky.

In the non tourist areas I've never had a problem. I usually take the side road that is parallel to I4, it starts basically at the Disney Marketplace and you can take it all the way to the Mall of Millennia, there is no turn off for 528 though, check google maps for it. A lot of people complain about I4 traffic but honestly I never really experience it, but this is what driving "offensively" (proactively might be a better term) does, if you drive on the defense you never change lanes, never take opportunities to avoid traffic ahead, and get stuck behind slow people.

This is most evident when driving West on I4, you know the exits for the turnpike and 528? The funny thing here is that the fast lane is almost always going 10 mph, everyone knows this is a choke point so I guess they say "let's get into the fast lane and avoid all of that merging traffic". I don't know about you all, but I'm in the far right lane where it is smooth sailing all the way through. Either way both lanes come to a full stop because of all the merging and exiting, but in this case the right lane has a universal/I drive exit just up the road (a dedicated fourth lane) where the fast lane has the same exit but it is shared. Then just up the road where 528 merges onto I4 the same thing happens. From the 528 exit (under the I4 bridge) to the 528 merge point, there is no one in this right lane. Everyone went left to avoid "traffic" thus causing more traffic. Also, no one realizes that there is a 4th lane opening up at the merge point, and even the people merging onto I4 cut it left into the middle lanes. So the smart thing to do here is to stay in the right lane and then the far right lane. You can pass everybody and have smooth sailing all the way to the Disney exit.

My commute from 408 to Disney marketplace has never been more than let's just say 20 minutes in the two months that I've done this, this is at 2pm on a Saturday too. Sticking to the fast lane only nearly doubles this number.

But please, everyone here remember to actually look before you change lanes and adjust your side mirrors so that they see your blind spots, NOT just the same area straight back that your rear view sees, I hate this.

That was my traffic rant.

I know what you are talking about as I live in Mesa, Arizona which we here believe is the snowbird capital! They come here in their RV's towing their cars, drive 40 MPH in the fast lanes!
They are out at the crack of dawn and since they are in no hurry they could care less others are trying to make their way to work!
Forget trying to go to a restaurant at 5:00!
I was in a small post office (Desert Center) and there usually nobody in there in the summertime but it was winter and I stopped in and there was a line of about 20 people (obviously snowbirds) the one behind me was talking to the one in front of me (Minnesota and Canada) and they were talking about how stupid we had so few windows at this PO, I listened for awhile finally I couldn't take it anymore and said "We have absolutely no problems here in the East Valley until you snowbirds show up and then it's nothing but problems!" You could hear a pin drop until a few older people in the front who were locals said I was right and started telling their stories! It shut those 2 up real quick!
I don't blame someone from wanting to get out of the snow and ice and come here to spend the winter but when I hear a Canadian bitch'in about how 'OUR' provisions for them is unacceptable I feel like kicking their butts back to Canada!
One guy (snowbird) was telling me how much money they bring into the restaurants and I told him I was a semiconductor engineer and the doubling of our area during the winter months didn't help my industry!
I have to tell a story then I will stop ranting: A friend of mine (he was originally from Sweden but moved here and married a local girl) his wife told me she was working on a claim for some snowbirds that was getting on the US-60 expressway about 2:00 AM and he said he was doing about 25 MPH (apparently not knowing the ramp is to gain speed to merge into the 65 MPH traffic!) anyway they were driving an old HUGE Caddy and this old pickup truck came up behind them with his lights off and rammed the back!! They were going so slow they weren't injured but the car was heavily damaged, it was so old the insurance company (that my friends wife worked for) said it was totalled as it was too old to repair so when asked what it was worth they told them about $250!! He yelled about how it was a Caddy and how much they paid for it (about 30 years ago!). She showed him the paperwork and he stormed out mad, so sometimes their is positive MoJo!! LOL!

people ought to be tested to renew their licence every 10 years or so. I know people who still have valid drivers licenses who have been rendered virtually blind due to medical complications.

reply to post by mblahnikluver

It's like that here only they are stopping to look at the beach or river or friggin Ron John's Surf Shop.

LOL~The best beach towel(s) I ever bought were from Ron Johns Surf Shop..solid white with the logo embroidery. I loved those.. I live not to far from the Blue Ridge Mts area and whenever I get to the beach we go to the Carolina beaches.. haven't been to Fl. in yrs. but I love our beaches too.

When people come in from out of state it is not possible for them to automatically know the driving habits of the area they are visiting or driving through.. and there are local habits.

Be mindful of one another.

OP~I am sorry about your incident and hope you are ok. It's true that some folks should turn in their drivers license, though it's often going to fall on their (adult children) or someone who sees this bad driving to do something about it.

Perhaps she is senile and her family/friends haven't noticed. There was an incident on I-85(SC) few years ago with an old lady that somehow was in the wrong lane and going 5mph (70mph area). A highway patrol guy was jogging beside her car attempting to assist her for something like 2 miles. Very scary and several times she and her helper were nearly wiped out by oncoming traffic. She believed that she was on a small road going to visit her deceased sister. They revoked her license on the spot and called a relative to retrieve her and the car. Her family didn't know her mind/driving had deteriorated that badly.

Honestly I think that a full drivers test should be administered every 5 years or so to be a refresher. It is inconvenient but, in South Carolina the drivers are at times frightening even in low density areas.

Greetings ATS

Last weekend i was driving on the Freeway in my country , in my country we dont have the keep your lane rule and we can only pass other vehicles on the left lane , i usually drive 10 km above the speed limit on the freeway , so im am passing cars like a boss.

Them all off the sudden this phat BMW came out of nowhere , and hugged my car while i was driving 130 KM , he was driving one meter behind me , if i would brake just a little bit he would ram me off the road..

So i turned on my alarm lights to warn him to back off , i looked in my mirror and saw this elderly couple , the male driver raised his middle finger.

When i saw this something snapped... i took my foot of the gas , and stopped my car , yes in the middle of the Freeway , all traffic came to a halt , i got out of my car , walked to my trunk and got out a iron baseball bat i keep in my car for protection.

I walked calmly to this BMW , when i got their i asked them to turn down the window , they refused , he said we can talk through the glass.
So i said to him if you are gonna Denie my existence or if you think i am merely collateral damage we are gonna have a real problem , the only way you are getting past me now is over my corpse , i told him if he would drive normal and thought about other people's safety on the road we would have no problem , but instead you only made it worse while i tried to warn you , he then told me he was in a hurry yada yada , yeah yeah like that gives you the right to put yourself above others and put ME in danger.

I see this a lot in my country , Elderly people driving big cars , who dont give a @$%# about any one else.

Even though my European Country has a good infrastructure and Driving Schooling , the people drive like mindless zombies , and in lots of situations with traffic coming from multiple directions they just freeze and panic.

I love Driving though , on my work i occasionally have to park trailers and trucks infront of Docking bays , because it is private property i dont need a truck licence , my boss told me how the controls work and threw me in the deep after one hour , but i quickly learned my self how to drive and park trucks and trailers using the mirrors only , now i park them in a straight line on the first attempt.

TheGreazel

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I feel your pain! I live in Orlando and I've been driving these tourist ridden roads daily for the last 29years. The one pet leave I have is people that aren't sure where they want to turn will slow to a crawl, then Change lanes 4 times and then decide they need to make a U-Turn in the middle of the road. Here's a novel idea: If your not sure where to tun, pull over and figure it out so you aren't affecting everyone else on the road. Also, if you pass an exit, DO NOT stop and backup to go re-catch the exit, go to the next exit, turn around and come back. Then again, this would mean you'd have to think of others before yourself which I know people hate to do in the world today.

When you have a 'Safe Driver' designation on your license after driving the roads around here for 5+ years you Definitely earned it!

If your anger doesn't give you a heart attack at an early age, you may live long enough to get old too.
I surmise that you will be even more thoughtfulessl and uncaring as the woman you bitch about.

As a very old person, I also admit that many of us should not be allowed to drive. Simply allowing them to make their own decisions is not enough. People connected to their lives: family, friends, medical and mental health folks and others are doing a public service when they try to induce the elderly to give up their car keys when the time becomes evident.

As a rule, from my many decades of driving (327s, four-onthe-floor Chevys and Vettes), I can tell you that the most dangerous people are the younger ones, that think nothing of cutting you off, cutting in and out of traffic flow and just plain speeding and disobeying the laws. The older folks may be pokey and slow and irritate you unmercifully--so you think--but they are not the problem. The general problem is the personal atitude of the younger driver that feels a personal entitlement to operate as they wish. That is worse than the usually gentle- minded older person.

Lived in Ft. Lauderdale, know exactly where you are coming from.

It's pretty common in any urban area as they attract people from all over. I've done quite a few road trips in my day and I still have to say hands down that Dallas is the absolute worst.

Between the two groups, I don't mind the maniacs so much because they are easy to predict when you see them coming, just keep doing what you're doing and they will whiz by since that's all they want. The OTHER group on the other hand, as you have rightfully pointed out, often have NO IDEA what the # they are doing, are totally unpredictable, and therefore much more dangerous.

They need to make another HOV lane, except it would be Highly Old instead.

reply to post by mblahnikluver


I'm telling you, old people are going to become a real problem for you younger folks. They can be rude, stubborn, living in their own world, completely disrespectful of others, just like this woman who felt no responsibility to you. She indicated she was sorry and for her that was sufficient. This population is going to start aging fast, and the oldsters are going to be real problem in a number of ways. They are going to suck up huge amounts of health care dollars. They are going to clog up the daily activity through their impatience and obstinacy. I personally am seeing an end to the senior discount as many businesses won't want them in the place.

How do you deal with them? That's the question. I have a plan but I can't discuss it on this forum because it involves a non mentionable substance. I say this substance should be included with their Social Security check. Get em kicked back relaxed, out of the way. They won't have as much pain. Won't go to the doctor so much. Be more creative and may actually contribute something. Any way they are going to be a problem and I think this a cheap way to deal with it.