Gas...BRAKE

"Bad Idea Hat" (taoistlumberjack) 01/15/2014 at 10:27 • Filed to: None

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The most frustrating of drivers' quirks. This is the person who, for some unknown reason, can not let their car coast.

My morning commute today was...busy. I think that's a good word. It wasn't bumper-to-bumper, stop to look at the guy changing his tire traffic jam, but it was crowded and moving fast. I can deal with that, I just know I need to give people some distance. I'm in the right lane, cruising along, when suddenly the person in front of me slams on their brakes. Of course I'm ready, because with how packed the roads were and how fast we were traveling, something's bound to begin slowing things down. Except it was a short braking, and then they were speeding up again...and braking...and speeding up...and braking.

I'd love to be a fly on that wheel well, watching those brake pads go buh-bye by the second.

This morning was just mildly amusing. I just moved into the middle lane from the slow lane, and bypassed the problem. A few weeks ago, it wasn't. I try to stick to the middle lane in one section of my commute, as there are a series of exits with unpredictable traffic (and driver behavior, but that's anther thing), and so I'm happy to just let people use the right lane to prepare to exit, or to fully merge. I'm usually going fast enough to pass people in the right lane(s) anyways, so I'm good. Cruising along in the middle lane, happy that I got out of work on time and thus able to be home before the 3:30 crowd hit the streets, I notice the car in front of me completely slam on their brakes.

Now, say you're looking ahead of you, noticing the comparatively empty freeway, and you then see someone slam on their brakes. Your first thought is "EMERGENCY." Which was mine, until the person then accelerated. And braked. And accelerated. Ad nausea.

They couldn't maintain a goddamn speed. "Fuck you, brakes, I'm doing this my way!" I hear the person in front of me say, in my head. I'm starting to notice that these people also have some variant of the dent of shame on their car (I wish I remember who coined that; out yourself, Opponaut!).

Does this bug anyone else? Or am I just too easily annoyed?

Since this is TL;DR, have a cookie.

Textured Soy Protein > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 10:31

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You know what's almost as bad? People who I like to call, persistent accelerators.

They're the people who don't accelerate away from a stop particularly quickly, but they never let off the gas until the next red light/stop sign/turn and end up eventually doing 15+ over the limit.

cazzyodo > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 10:33

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I had this thought the other day, actually. I don't normally drive in rush hour traffic but I was heading somewhere that required some highway hopping. I just left it in second and cruised along in the middle lane (to avoid a similar exit filled hell you highlighted in your post). Plenty of room between me and the guy in front of me who would catch up to the person in front of him and come to a complete stop. I went about two miles in second at about 2000 rpms the entire time. Easy peasy.

The first time he slammed on his brakes caught me off-guard a bit cuz he had just merged into the space I left ahead of me. After that, smooth sailing.

Casper > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 10:35

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People like that drive me crazy. It's because no one taught them how to drive properly and they "came up with their own way"... which is what you are witnessing. It's only made worse by them all having automatic vehicles.

The other type of road going idiot that bothers me are left foot brakers who don't know how to do it correctly. Just the other morning I watched one drive all the way down the freeway with his brake lights on. Because modern cars are not designed for left foot braking, he has no where to rest his foot... the obvious answer must be on the brake pedal like a troglodyte. Now the rest of traffic gets to follow this moron with no idea when or where he is going to brake, while also looking at extremely bright LED brake lights for 20 miles in the dark and fog.

Bad Idea Hat > Textured Soy Protein 01/15/2014 at 10:38

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I see that all the time too. They're only annoying if they're behind you, and at that point it can be interesting to see their reaction.

These are the people who are going to pull a gun on someone.

Bad Idea Hat > cazzyodo 01/15/2014 at 10:40

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Have you noticed a spate of people merging and slamming on their brakes? That's another little weird thing I've noticed, that a lot of drivers lately have been getting over with little room, and hitting the brakes. I'm not sure if it a lack of spatial orientation, or a little bit of road rage.

Bad Idea Hat > Casper 01/15/2014 at 10:42

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I love people like this. My dad said that him and I should open a brake shop that caters to left-footers. My favorite all time was watching some guy accelerate in his fart-o-can civic up a fairly steep hill, brakes on the whole way.

I drive an automatic, and I can't even fathom how to pull that off without wrecking.

BKRM3 > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 10:44

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People who do that have never driven a car with a manual transmission.

...Or they have an irrational hatred of dead dinosaurs, or they hold stock in a brake components manufacturer.

More than likely, they're just totally clueless.

cazzyodo > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 10:45

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I see all sorts of random crap lately. The thing that has stood out the most is how close people have been pulling to the rear of my car (and everyone else's) during stops. If they can get that close I don't see how their depth perception and visual awareness fail during traffic situations.

HammerheadFistpunch > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 11:29

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!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

rabidpenguin > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 12:26

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Coasting is a lost art, much like driving a manual. People would get much better gas mileage if they learned this trick. Just to play devil's advocate, I was never explicitly taught this in driver's ed or permit hours, so people may assume they should be on the gas or the brake.

D > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 12:36

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it's poor man's hyrdaulics

NaturallyAspirated > Bad Idea Hat 01/15/2014 at 19:37

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I agree with you, this sort of driving irritates me too, and I see it all the time here in SoCal. If I'm behind the person doing this, I like to leave a LOT of following distance and try to "even out" their clueless pedal stomping with smooth driving and coasting.

What's terrifying is being in front of one of these idiots in traffic. When you can see the headlights speeding toward your rear bumper, then dip abruptly as their hard braking causes massive nosedive about a foot from my rear bumper. Then again, the next time you have to slow down. And again. Each time raising my pulse just a little bit, until I'm ready to get out of my car and ask them to please knock it off before I have a heart attack.