Why do people just ignore road rules?

[loc978]

I've got a somewhat unpopular opinion as to why here... we don't train most of our drivers well in the US. Having trained for and acquired several military licenses, a German passenger car license and US commercial licenses, I feel confident in saying state C-class licenses in the US should be abolished. It's not enough training and that training doesn't even attempt to impart respect for other drivers... or a modicum of vehicle control. A few generations ago it wasn't a big deal (at least where I live), because we had a car culture that required extensive training from a young age by parental figures... and our population was much more sparse.

I say the minimum requirements to drive anywhere in the US now should be a combination of B-class commercial, B-class racing, and a motorcycle endorsement. No one should be allowed out on the road until they know how to control their vehicle in an emergency, and know what it's like to drive everything else they'll encounter out on the road (example of relevant knowledge: a truck with an 18,000lb load. Braking distance from 55mph. Can't say how many times some ignoramus has cut me off and slammed on the brakes in a passenger car when I'm driving one of those). Put that in one license and regulate it federally, please.

I still want to travel to Finland just to get a license there...

As for pedestrians and cyclists... the cause is our horrible, toxic, "me first" culture. I don't have a fix for that... or at least not one that doesn't start with some sort of apocalypse.

 

[Imat]

It's the lack of turn-signal that gets me every time. Everything would be so much easier if I knew you were going to turn illegally and threaten my very existence, rather than surprising me with a left turn from a right-turn only lane.

 

[x EvilErmine x]

Because people are bastards and irresponsible cunts. No seriously. There is something strange that happens to people when they got out onto the road. It's like they become someone else completely, and that person is a prize winning gimp. It's only an elite few that can resist it and maintain it seems.

I've seen pedestrians with the suicidal tendencies to walk out into oncoming traffic like they just don't give a fuck, I've seen cyclists run red lights and get nearly flattened by trucks then turn on the driver of the truck after he had to slam on to stop in time. I've seen drivers who have been doing at least 100 mph...on a road outside a primary school as the children were finishing for the day. I've seen spectacular crashes, I've been in spectacular crashes.

People are just crazy sometimes.

 

[nvzboy]

In belgium we have this problem of people thinking they are in the tour de france when they ride a bike. They think wearing a spandex gives them the right to ignore the dedicated strips for cycling and drive on the road. I try telling them whenever I ride to the busstop that they are endangering themselves and others but they only give me remarks on how I'm not a "real cyclist" and a "nosy kid". You're not in some tour de whatever country, you are in traffic damnit!

As when I'm driving a car I tend to be the only person keeping to the speed limmit. It's really frustrating to see these people get to their work faster and not get caught for it. My efforts to obey the law are not rewarded and those who break it are not punished. I guess some people just think the laws only apply those first months when you try to get past exams, as soon as that is over out the window those good habbits go.

 

[Scow2]

rules don't apply to me i have common sense.
<----- 15 years on the road and not a single accident. i routinely speed and run red lights and KNOW i will never have an accident that is my fault because i know what i am doing.
the rest of you are morons get off my fucking road!

If you ever have a single car accident (examples = damage from a pot hole; black ice in bad weather causes you to hit the curb/ guard rail) - that is automatically at-fault according to insurance companies. Also, the above described behaviour will eventually lead to an accident - its only a matter of time.

So unless you're joking, you really need to rethink the way you drive. At present, you sound like a menace.

There are few places I've seen where speeding is actually a problem - most roads and circumstances and traffic can handle 10-20 MPH over the listed limit without danger, and even more during light-traffic times. And for redlights - I hope he's not the type to blow through them, but "Pink Lighting" (Going through just as a light turns red) is often unavoidable (Some yellow lights aren't long enough for an approaching driver to recognize and slow down for), and at least in the U.S, there's a 'clear the intersection' delay between one side turning red and the other green. Or, when there's absolutely nobody for miles around on a 'dead' road.

 

[Jamieson 90]

You want to see bad driving? Then drive in Manchester (UK) especially around the Cheetham Hill area; it's like everyone's got their own rules.

 

[Ratties]

Well most people live in their own bubble. It doesn't have room for anybody else. Literally goes like this. Look at you as not being them. Got no reason to care about the safety of others. Rest of us can live in the bubble and follow the rules of the road.

 

[Atmos Duality]

When I see a pedestrian actually paying attention to road rules I'm seriously amazed. It's like spotting a unicorn.

Amen.

With rare, extreme exception, there are three activities that I see pedestrians doing during high traffic hours.
1) Texting
2) Talking
3) Headphones

What I don't see:
1) Eye contact between pedestrian and driver
2) People using crosswalks (except at intersections with stop lights; then shit gets worse)

I remember someone in my physics lab calling them "iZombies". It fits.

 

[Ravinoff]

Because the laws are generally stupid and completely out of touch with common sense. They're mostly focused on two things: police revenue and letting government be lazy with infrastructure.

Take for example speed limits, there's utterly no reason to have a posted limit anywhere. Safe driving speed is entirely dependent on the conditions at the time. Here, the posted limit for the two-lane highway across most of the province is 100km/h. Doing that in the evening in the summer, or during a snowstorm, though? Suicidal. But on a clear day with a dry road and light traffic, I could easily see bumping that up to 140 or so. And don't even get me started on the speed traps where the limit drops for no real reason and the local cops like to hang around.

As for cyclists? Learn it. Respect it. Follow it. [http://i.imgur.com/ATuXZ6Q.jpg]

 

[lechat]

rules don't apply to me i have common sense.
<----- 15 years on the road and not a single accident. i routinely speed and run red lights and KNOW i will never have an accident that is my fault because i know what i am doing.
the rest of you are morons get off my fucking road!

If you ever have a single car accident (examples = damage from a pot hole; black ice in bad weather causes you to hit the curb/ guard rail) - that is automatically at-fault according to insurance companies. Also, the above described behaviour will eventually lead to an accident - its only a matter of time.

So unless you're joking, you really need to rethink the way you drive. At present, you sound like a menace.

There are few places I've seen where speeding is actually a problem - most roads and circumstances and traffic can handle 10-20 MPH over the listed limit without danger, and even more during light-traffic times. And for redlights - I hope he's not the type to blow through them, but "Pink Lighting" (Going through just as a light turns red) is often unavoidable (Some yellow lights aren't long enough for an approaching driver to recognize and slow down for), and at least in the U.S, there's a 'clear the intersection' delay between one side turning red and the other green. Or, when there's absolutely nobody for miles around on a 'dead' road.

nope dead serious
if i pull up to a set of lights and there is noone to be seen for miles then why should i sit there for 5 minuets waiting for a computer to say it is safe to go?
same with speeding. if i do the actual speed limit on the way to and from work there will be maybe 2% of the cars on the road that wont blow past me like i'm standing still. 10% over the speed limit is the unofficial speed limit in australia but on certain roads i can not see why i can't do 30% over the limit and put noone but myself at risk.