Every time I look in my rearview mirror...

leesonic

Captured on security camera...
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Every time I look in my rearview mirror... I see people doing things other than looking where they are going. What's worse is, I see them doing this as they are slowing down. Just supposing they mis-judge the distance, and then hit you. I'm not even talking about using a cellphone, although that's a big percentage of it. You see looking down, then looking up, then looking down again. You see people turning around to see what their kid is up to in the back. Or rummaging around in the center console looking for something. Probably 99.99% of these cars are automatic. What happens if (when?) their foot slips off the brake, and they roll right into you? Come on people, is it really too much to concentrate on the road ahead, and the car in front of you?

Lee.
 
I see exactly what you are describing all the time. It scares the shit out of me. My 30 year old daughter is guilty of this behavior and won't listen to a word I say about it. She has already had one rear ender which was her fault.
 
Yup, I have been rear ended twice ... about in the same place on the highway (Bay bridge in SF). My car was totaled in the second one. I see the cell phone stuff all the time. What could be so important, I'll never know.
 
It's at crisis proportions. They need to start impounding cars for not paying full attention. Our society is addicted to cell phones. No amount of lecturing will help. Until they are inconvenienced by having to call for a ride to go get their car from impound, they will NEVER learn.
 
They won't even learn once they've removed themselves from the gene pool.
 
MY '06 Mustang got totaled by a ditz in a cute ute who blasted it in the rear at a yield sign. Her first words when she got out : "I'm a good driver, really..."

On my bike, and even in my car, I tend to keep my head on a swivel and will change lanes to avoid being in front of someone who's not looking.

And it isn't just the young ones - I've seen plenty of gray haired folks burried in phones, too.

Maybe we should get rid of no-fault. Everyone's attitude these days is who cares if I get into an accident? insurance will cover it and nobody's going to sue me anyway..."
 
I see part of the problem being people's attitude towards driving. Many just do not recognize it as a serious separate and distinct task. They just consider time behind the wheel 'dead time' and attempt to fill it with anything and everything -except- driving. Phone calls, chatting with friends or kids, hell even reading books (I've seen it several times) Everything else is a priority and the driving comes in a distant second..... and it shows.
 
The more the sensation of motion is removed from the cabin the greater the false sense of safety is. No noise or vibration and safety aids create the condition, along with the ever decreasing attention span of many people.

While they can be beneficial, people get killed in vehicles with air bags, front and side impact protection and anti lock brakes all the time.

I used to drive a truck around the Seattle/Tacoma/Everett area daily and many times looked down and saw drivers with plates or bowls of food in their laps or work notebooks on the steering wheel. Contractors were especially keen on working the books and phone behind the wheel.
Arroagant, inconsiderate otherwise possibly nice people.
 
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Automakers are going to enable them to pay even less attention in the future with all their warning shit an wi-fi.

Agreed. Which reminds me of another pet peeve.

Texting while driving is bad, correct?

Then how in the hell do they justify installing touch screens in cars to operate heat, stereo, etc.? It's exactly the same as texting in that it forces you to take your eyes off the road.
 
even reading books
Seen that too. I can't even do an audiobook because I find I'm not paying attention to it. I put on music, but most of the time I couldn't tell you what the last song played was.

Also can't say I'm a fan of the big screens that are the interface to everything. My mother's Equinox has one, and it doesn't even dim at night. You have this glowing box in the middle of the dash that really messes with your night vision.

Any time I drive a long distance, I get out of the car tired. Even though I haven't done any physical work, just having to be highly aware of the world around me for hours at a time becomes a drain.
 
During the warmer months I yell at people who have their windows down if they are playing with their phones. Not mean, just telling them to put the phone away. Some people smile, others get pissed. It embarrasses whoever is riding with me. I can deal with it.
Initially it was just kids doing it. Now it's mostly soccer-mom types. They're in the fast lane of the highway slowing down to 20 MPH under the limit, then standing on the gas when finished.
 
I read an article from 1965, right when Rolls-Royce was about to introduce the Silver Shadow, the head engineer, Harry Grylls, intoned to the interviewer that if a car was following you too closely, & you applied your brakes, "God has ordained that he WILL Hit you..." Of course, he likely said that in a lovely upper-class Brit accent, so I suppose if you get ploughed into by some bloke piloting a Roller it won't hurt so bad. Seriously, the worst bunch I see are youngish Grrls loaded up in Hondas, Toyotas & Nissans. They almost NEVER seemingly, are paying attention to what they are doing, they're always way too busy checking out wh's in the cars in front of 'em, behind, who just passed 'em, ANYTHING/ everything but what they oughta be paying attention to. Boys are almost as bad, maybe MARGINALLY better, only because they have a slightly better propensity to be interested in cars, & hopefully are more aware of what a car is capable of. But, honestly, if I see a carload of young kids of either gender pass at a light, I'll generally wait a few other cars get behind B4 I'll pull out, just for Shitz 'n' Giggles sake.... (Grin)
 
During my 15 years in SoCal I got rear-ended twice, both times on "the" 210 (Left-coasters, unlike Northeastern and Widwestern folk, insist on imposing, um, wll, the definite article immediately before the freeway N... never, as do we folks to the east, using the "I" (ie, for "interstate"), and BOTH resulting in "hit 'n' runs". I chased both times but traffic and the (additional idocies of still others @ the freeway in question) conspired against me. About all I do know is H&R #1 was a White Van (speaker vendor?) and H&R #2, which resulted in less damage, "looked" like a young feller, maybe in his 20s, driving something not much larger than the Honda Accord (read: my car) he rammed. Don' know if cell phones, idle conversation, drunkeness, or whatever was (ahem) behind each incident and never will know.
 
^^^ This did not happen to me EVEN ONE TIME in 20+ years of driving in/around/through Chicago nor over the last ~ 5 years in France.
 
Gadget how much traffic in those long distance situations?

Depends but usually when I'm on the road for a bunch of hours in one go its on interstates during daylight hours, so there are always cars around. Whenever I'm forced to drive in/around a city its worse though.
 
I drove a city bus for 31 years, and watched everywhere, while I was driving. In that time, I got rear-ended at least once a year, and most of the time, I watched, in my rear-view mirror, as it happened. More than once, I was stopped, in a bus stop, at the curb, and watched, as some yahoo came zipping up to overtake me, playing Larry Lanechanger, and made his last change INTO my lane, way too close to stop. Twice, I was fully parked, brake set, in neutral, 4-ways on, and I had time to get out of the seat, before I heard the tires, and felt the thump.

Stupid people are taking over the planet. (No natural predators, except themselves)
 
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