Do you have a friend who is a bad driver?

"ImmoralMinority" (araimondo) 04/03/2019 at 19:51 • Filed to: None

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I have a friend who is a bad driver. I hate the way this person drives, especially in low speed scenarios like parking lots.  I try to offer to drive and make excuses why we should take my car. I love my friend, but my God, the driving.

Tapas > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 19:54

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Yes, it is me.

I’m an average driver. So on ba d days, my driving sucks.

lone_liberal > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:00

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Both my father-in-law and mother-in-law are terrible. My FIL can’t seem to stick to a certain speed and his following distances are all over the place. My MIL gets flustered and confused in even moderate traffic and causes heart stopping moments . Luckily the instances where I have to ride with either  of them are few and far between.

Jayvincent > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:02

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Trust me, we -all- have a co worker, friend  or relative like that.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:04

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Yes. Within friends it was an unspoken agreement that you didn’t ride in his car if you wanted to live. Generally just too fast for conditions. Mix that with some inattentiveness and late braking and I’m surprised he hasn’t killed anyone. Fortunately, he now lives somewhere with robust public transit and isn’t driving. 

facw > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:04

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Not really (this may be a sign I should have more friends). Granted a good number of them live in NYC and don’t have cars (at least one of them doesn’t even have a license) , so may be terrible without me getting the chance to see. One friend doesn’t like driving, but I’ve never felt terrified when she drives. Of course it’s possible there’s a sucker rule situation, and not being able to identify a bad driver means I’m the bad driver.

wafflesnfalafel > Jayvincent 04/03/2019 at 20:06

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yeah... my boss...

Spanfeller is a twat > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:07

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A friend of mine is a horrible driver: he drives within an inch of his life everyday, parks like an assholes, and generally drives like a bafoon. I'm worried that he might drive my car some day because I'm going to have to say no

My ex was horrible in parking lots (but is a better driver than me in the city), she once crashed into a col umn infront of me as she was parking and I burst into laughter.

smobgirl > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:17

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I have an older running friend who is a terrible driver in general, but also a suspected alcoholic. He very politely offered to drive me a few times after my last back surgery and I had to make up a lot of excuses why I didn’t actually need the help that I needed (just from someone safer). I’m talking cutting across 3 lanes of highway at 80+ miles an hour to catch an exit  while being in his late 70s, visually impaired and possibly drunk. 

Highlander-Datsuns are Forever > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:20

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My best friend is a fucking captain at southwest airlines, and is not a very good car driver. I will always make him ride shot gun so I can drive. He did grow up in montana so he is good about not skidding the plane off the end of the runway when it is icy.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:21

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I have a few friends that are objectively “good” at driving in the sense that they dont hit things while going 100+ mph. But it’s the weaving through lanes and tailgating that always gets to me. I consider that bad driving really but then again it seems to be standard in LA anyways. The low speed junk never frightens me because at least only so much can go wrong there. 

jimz > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:22

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way back when, I used to get irritated when I’d drive and my mom would be gripping the door pull all white-knuckle, and stomping the imaginary brake pedal on the passenger side.

since then I’ve been a passenger with enough people where I was the one wishing I had a brake pedal on my side.  I don’t know how they don’t get into a wreck at least once a month. 

TheRealBicycleBuck > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:29

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My cousin is the only one I won’t ride with. He can’t keep his foot steady, so it’s too much gas, not enough gas, too much gas, not enough gas.... I don’t noremally get motion sickness, but he’s made me want to puke. 

merged-5876237249235911857-hrw8uc > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 20:31

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My boss is the worst driver I know.  And we all let him know it.  We won’t let anyone ride with him.  I rode with him once and on the way back I told him he was not driving, and to give me the keys.  That was over 5 years ago now.  Terrifying doesn’t even come close.  Some people should just take a cab or the bus.

smobgirl > jimz 04/03/2019 at 20:41

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My mom STILL slams her foot into the floor to brake when I’m driving. She’s a terrible driver who leaves much less space than I do and has totaled many cars over the years, so I just interpret it as projection and ignore her.

Future Heap Owner > facw 04/03/2019 at 21:21

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I was wondering this myself. 

Just Jeepin' > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 21:30

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I know there was a Counters teer on this topic o n FP last year  but I can’t find it. Some funny and terrifying stories.

Alfalfa > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 21:30

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Can’t have friends that are bad drivers without any friends.

Urambo Tauro > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 21:42

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Do f amily members count?

One of the first times one of my sisters drove me somewhere, was on a semi-slippery winter day. She backed out into the road and after shifting into drive, I noticed that she wasn’t modulating the accelerator at all to get the car moving . She wasn’t flooring it , but she was leaving it entire ly up to the traction control system to get the car moving. I had no idea that she had allowed herself to become to dependent on it.

ITA97, now with more Jag @ opposite-lock.com > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 21:56

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Yes. One of my lawyer friends is the worst driver I’ve ever seen. In terms of ADHD, he is “L ook! Sq uirrel! ” personified. We let him drive to a dead animal night one time ( dinner, drinks and debauchery at one of the two best places one can get dead animals in Southern NM/far west Texas).

The trip started off with a stop at the gas station (because he is incapable of having a car with gas in it) for road beers. While he doing whatever it was he was doing inside the store, we opened the hood and checked the oil just for grins. We then showed him a magic trick where we cleaned the dipstick, put it back in and then pulled it out again clean and dry. We made him go back in and buy a couple of quarts of oil.

The back seat of his car at that moment (2008ish Subaru Legacy) was like an archeological dig of receipts, casefiles and clothes. One could dress them selves in formal attire on the louder side of thing s for a couple of weeks out his car.

Then there was the driving itself for 50 miles of interstate and two- lane roads through the desert. Speed was constantly variable anywhere between 50 and 90mph. Lane/shoulder/median usuage was also constantly variable. There was also an off course excursion on flat, straight piece of road for no explicable reason. All of the sudden things were a shakin’ and a bangin’ as we drove through the desert.... “What the fuck?! The road is over there...”

That was the first and last time w e let him drive for dead animal night. Cor respondingly, he has a magical ability to take nice cars and make them not very nice cars in the course of about six months.

glemon > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 22:37

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There was an IT consultant I worked with in the early a ughts, smart, capable, got in her car with her once. She lived about 30 miles from where we worked and commuted every day, I couldn’t figure out how she was still alive.

This was distracted driving before everybody had smart phones. She pulled into traffic—then sort of looked around to see if anyone was coming, same with lane changes. If she needed to turn there was no forethought, here is my turn, charge across two lanes to get there. All the time talking about work and not spending much time looking at the road.

I guess if you are paying somebody big bucks to oversee a project you want them focused on the project, but you don't necessarily want to get in a car with them.

Kiltedpadre > ImmoralMinority 04/03/2019 at 22:49

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My mother in law; I rode with her once for three miles and NEVER will again.

She is losing her peripheral vision and has trouble turning her head to the left. She just turns on her signal and hopes there’s an opening.

V8VespaStoppie > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 03:32

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Oh yeah! Says his car is bad luck but he has some type of tunnel vision with zero defensive driving skills. He was driving next to a SUV who didnt check her mirrors merged a nd slowly pushed us into a curb and smashed in his fender and door. Said he didnt notice anything until she made contact.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > jimz 04/04/2019 at 07:24

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I don’t feel this is an accurate indicator of the quality of someone’s driving, but rather that they drive significantly different from you and that you would prefer to have control. Been on both sides of the imaginary braking, and also of the imaginary gas.

IMO when it starts to get to the point where you’re having trouble restraining yourself from sitting on their lap and taking the wheel, you’re probably with a bad driver

Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 07:25

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There are many people I only ride with once.

I’m not beyond telling my friends they probably shouldn’t be on the road.

Why you say that?

BECAUSE YOU ARE A FUCKING DANGER TO EVERYONE AROUND YOU!!!!!!!

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 07:27

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I have a grandfather who should have given it up a decade ago... that count?

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Spanfeller is a twat 04/04/2019 at 07:28

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The easy answer is never let ANYONE drive your car, then they can’t take it personally.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 04/04/2019 at 07:33

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Counterpoint: Low speed asswipes scattered through lanes they shouldn’t be in are the root cause of high speed weaver asswipes . I don’t like either of them.

Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer > wafflesnfalafel 04/04/2019 at 07:37

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^ Yeah... Particularly, mine doesn’t do well in snow. Ridden with him a couple times, it freaks him out. Which leads to all kinds of erratic moves. The entire time I was either on the imaginary brake, imaginary gas or trying to will a steering wheel to appear out of the airbag.

i86hotdogs > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 08:12

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My sister. She was so bad, she was kicked off our family’s insurance because she was highhandedly driving up our premium. Our insurance card even said “Drivers excluded: ________” She once tapped the bumper of an ambulance in congested, but moving, Chicago traffic. I don’t think the EMT noticed, because they didn’t pull over. She one time drove into oncoming an lane to drive around a driver waiting to turn left.

CaptDale - is secretly British > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 12:12

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Yes... so many that cars are just an “appliance”. Makes for bad driving

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer 04/04/2019 at 13:31

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Agreed, both are bad for sure! Honestly the low speed asswipes are more dangerous in that scenario. If everyone legitmately kept to the right, speeds could be way higher safely. I see it all the time with 4-5 lanes on a lot of freeways in LA. There will be people doing 60 in the left most lane and meanwhile people going 80+ in the other lanes. If it was a nice speed gradient across lanes, the left lane could easily do 100+ when there arent merges around. 

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Tapas 04/04/2019 at 18:22

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Acknowledging you’re an average driver makes you better than most average drivers.

xc90v8/I4 :( > ImmoralMinority 04/04/2019 at 21:44

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YES!

I have a friend I do several sports with. He’s had several accidents and tickets for example because he didn’t clear his windows from snow. But I live between the Squash/Tennis/whatever place and his place... so it makes sense that he drives.

I now deliberatly not come from home but from the opposite direction so I can use my own car and live a bit longer.

I also have another friend that is such a good driver (safe, comfortable  and quick) that I’m annoyed so I don’t ride with him either.

Tapas > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 04/04/2019 at 21:48

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Thanks! :)