New Observational study on CVFSDS

Coronavirus Fugue State Driving Syndrome

It’s a well-known fact that taken as a whole humans are complete morons. But for the purposes of this study that fact needs to be set aside to concentrate on a sub group of human morons.

I’ve driven quite a bit during the lockdown. Taking groceries to elderly people and riding some to the grocery store because they’re bored to death and want to bitch. (be normal old folks )

One thing I’ve noticed starting a few weeks ago is that it’s almost like many drivers on the road have forgotten how to drive. They’ve done 180° turn on the regular road rage triggers .

Back in the day I roadraged all the time. But that’s been quite a while . Normally now I just take it in stride and try to be as courteous as possible.

But recently that has become harder and harder everyday. Not because of aggressive driving. But because of *stupid driving.

*Used as a noun not a adjective.

There’s many things in life I can tolerate. Such as aggression , rudeness, bias, uninformed ignorance and pointless positions. I don’t like any of them but they in no way irritate me as much as *Stupid.

I’ve asked several friends about these new CVFSDS symptoms in real life and almost immediately they agree sometimes before I can finish the sentence.

People driving slow for no apparent reason, confusion when making turns after a light changes, stopping for no reason whatsoever, completely missing whole cycles of the traffic light and driving agonizingly slow. The list goes on and on.

Those things have and will happen daily regardless outside factors. But CVFSDS is the only real area where I have noticed exponential growth.

After asking friends with a few exceptions I realized it just wasn’t me that had observed this behavior. There were many more .

Observational studies require all input available. So I want to table this issue at ATS.

In your towns and cities has this new category of *stupid opened up for any of you since the lockdown?

Edit:

I almost forgot.

Grrrrrr!

On HELL yes!!!!

No idea why, but more and more occurrences.
People turning left from the left lane, although there is a dedicated left turn lane.

People pulling out into traffic.
Right. In. Front. Of. You. Like you have to hit the brakes.

a reply to: Fallingdown

I've witnessed this too. It's worse than it was before the lock down.

People driving 35 in a 55, and then speeding up to 55 when the speed limit reduces to 45.

Not taking openings when turning left when they are many openings.

Sitting through green lights.

Even parking has become worse. I see many more instances of people taking up two parking spots now.

Absolutely!

Sydney, Australia here... and it's like every day is Sunday Driver day!

Was sitting at a red light next to another car the other day, for at least a minute or so... and they foot down to metal, through the light as if it had turned green... WTF! THE LIGHT WAS STILL RED!

A motorcycle coming fast along a cross street (their right of way) was inches from a t-boning incident, swerving to just miss the back of the offending vehicle!

Crazy!

That's the worst I've had, but multiple incidents, every time I go out to drive... which is once or twice a week.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Yup it doesn’t seem to be your ordinary run of the mill stupid stuff they’re doing.

A buddy of mine summed it up nicely the other day.

He called it Mr. Magoo syndrome .

a reply to: Fallingdown

Today on my way to the post office I was slowing down for a stop light (in middle lane) and the person in the car in the left/turning lane waits until I get right up on them and then whips into my lane from a stop with no signal or warning causing me to have to slam my brakes (thank goodness I was slowing down). There was nobody in the right/turning lane and they could have moved over to that lane at any time but no, they waited until finally a bucket truck was coming and without signal or warning whipped in front of them causing the bucket truck to have to slam their brakes and jump up on the curb.

On the way home after making a few more stops I'm on a 2 lane road. The car in front of me keeps weaving into the on-coming lane every single time a vehicle gets near them, like halfway into the on-coming lane. Multiple vehicles had to hit brakes and eat grass and it's a wonder nobody ended up in the ditch!

I'm beginning to wonder if some of these people are trying to wreck on purpose!

I've been caught behind the 5 to 10mph under the speed limit folks a lot lately. About an hour ago I had 35 minutes to get to the auto parts store for a parts exchange before they closed. I drove 65-70 on the surface roads and 90 on the freeway to make the store, not a cop in sight luckly. Normally I never (I repeat NEVER) exceed the speed limit, this time I said the hell with it.

There haven't been any cops round here until about the last two or three weeks. Most cops I've seen had people pulled over or were in obvious speed trap spots. I think maybe there is less cops and less traffic around here, so people have been driving however they feel like. It has made me somewhat less careful at times until I got back to work and have had to drive everyday.

a reply to: GeauxHomeYoureDrunk

I was in a right turn lane the other day. The lane immediately to my left which is a straight only lane and was real busy so I couldn’t get over .

The car in front of me who was going all of 20 miles an hour below the speed limit .(45 mph zone) I could see him through the back glass and he wasn’t looking for an address. He was hunched all over the wheel . Finally he puts the turn signal on and starts to turn into Superamerica . About halfway in on the turn apron he stopped completely blocking the right turn lane .

Then he sat there for 20 or 30 seconds with horns blaring behind us . He put his car in reverse for a couple feet. Stopped again then without warning whipped into a U-turn vaulting The curb with even more horns blaring . . My light was pretty long way so I watched him in the side rearview mirror. His light turned green and he just sat there.

I let a guy in from a Toyota dealership next to the super America. He looked at me and mouthed WOW while shaking his head .,

It was almost as bizarre as the time I met a lady with three peacocks in the car with her . SMH

Today the interstate ramp was shut down and police were pointing people to the right . About two blocks up there’s a stop sign where is a do not enter one-way sign directly ahead .

People were being detoured from the interstate had a choice of turning right or left . With the do not enter sign clearly visible the one-way street was still packed and there were at least 20 cars on it heading in the wrong direction .

It was a tight fit and I noticed one guy had his driver side window down. So I stopped and matter-of-factly told him the street was a one-way . He looked over at me with a weird face like he was on peyote and battery acid . Then he told me the police pointed him this way .

I thought to myself dumb ass he didn’t tell you to go up a one way street .

I couldn’t help to realize that everyone else on that street going the wrong way had the same thought .

Cows follow a matriarch when they travel . To bad the’s lost befuddled fools couldn’t find a carbeparked (groan)

a reply to: Fallingdown

Perhaps with more brains buzzing from staring at wide and small screens and an unlimited amount of information being spoonfed down people's throats, a daily excursion still seems to be at a higher frequency than it used to be.

Hense the rise in slow-mindedness, thinking like an crazy fast computer but acting like a calculator. Zombie Apocolypse.

Critical point will be when a person leaves the house, gets in the car, and floors it into the garage of the house across the street just because they feel a state of overload and cannot control it.

Be safe out there.

I used to be a "white van man" driving around london and the south of England. I was chilled and rarely suffered road rage. I used to enjoy traffic jams just to watch others frustration and feel glad I was in control of not being in control.

a reply to: Fallingdown

Is this a new symptom of Covid-19? Along with loss of taste & smell we now have loss of driving ability!

a reply to: nerbot

We’re getting technical cool !

Maybe the fear the media is provoking touches on our natural instinct to freeze, flee or fight . The periaqueductal gray matter of the brain dictates our reaction to how we respond to pain and fear for a few examples .

Freezing enters our mind out of fear for a couple reasons . One is to pause briefly and address the question of fight or flight . It is also a natural response to avoid being discovered . Movement is the easiest way to be noticed especially in the peripheral vision of our nemesis who in this instance are the normal people occupying the road. This would certainly explain sitting through green lights and stopping in the middle of the road for no apparent reason .

Maybe normal programming of impending death from Covid 19, motor vehicle fatalities, being shot in a movie theater/church or developing cancer from a soda pop while eating mercury contaminated fish in a salad made with salmonella laced Mexican lettuce . Is just too much cheery news from the media which makes us overwhelmed with apprehension .

That could cause the processing of our vehicular operation skills to enter a “Gray Area “ ( I had to tie that in somewhere lol) rendering us with the decision processing ability of a squirrel caught in traffic .

Sounds reasonable to me .

a reply to: new_here

It appears so.

With the exception of those that normally drive on the wrong side of the road . (Left)

That’s self inflicted . Lol 😇

originally posted by: Fallingdown
a reply to: DontTreadOnMe
He called it Mr. Magoo syndrome .

Rotflmao!!!

I said those exact words to myself just yesterday when I was behind someone that just couldn't seem to make up their mind if they wanted to go, or turn, or stop, or what... I mean, I actually pulled up beside them and rolled down my window to see if they needed help, but it was just some lady, not on a phone, not reading a book (yes, I've seen that too), but just... being, as you said, *Stupid.

There have been many more of the ones I hate the most - they drive 55 in the left lane on the freeway (65mph speed limit that everyone ignores and goes at least 75 or 80) - speeds up when you can pass them on the right, slows down again when they come upon more cars in the second lane... I swear, one day, I'm gonna fulfill a fantasy of mine and install a rocket launcher in my car...

a reply to: tanstaafl

While this thread is tongue-in-cheek . I’m dead serious about the way people have been driving . I read an article that said Uber has cut 3000 jobs since the beginning of the lockdown .

Fewer people riding Uber must add up to more people driving in a stupor. (Groan)

a reply to: Fallingdown

Nothing has changed on my route, other than less cars. There's a stretch of US 20 (Lake St in the Chicago area) in Addison with speed limits varying from 30-45 mph. The top speed, regardless of how light traffic is, seems to be 27mph. This hasn't changed.

The rest of my route is the same as it ever was, save for more often seeing someone zip by at 20-30 mph over the speed limit than before.

There are rarely any cops driving the roads, though it seemed like Monday they were posted up (yet ignoring even egregious speeders) all over the place.

a reply to: dogstar23

It’s nice to hear that at least one part of the country has some sense left.

I believe you’re the first though.

That says something on its own .