Is there such thing as being too cautious/too scared to drive? (car rental, red light)
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If people in my city were that logical, there'd be far less accidents here. I can't tell you how many jokers have made a right turn from the left-most lane, cutting off traffic to do so. Or make U-Turns over a double yellow in the middle of city rush hour because they changed their mind on their direction. Who does that? Honestly. (Then, when you get hit, some joker on C-D tells you it's your fault, even though the insurance companies didn't think it was and you were stopped when you got hit. lol)
Happens all the time on 495 and 95 here. The shining star today were the people who didn't want to merge at speed. If traffic is moving at 65, don't get mad when you can't get on the highway doing 45 - no one is going to drop 20 or 30mph to let you over unless you're a tractor trailer. And god forbid, there was one that kept slowing down! And don't even use the excuse "well I can't speed up that fast". The vast majority of cars can get up to 55 or 65 within the merge lane, minus the few lanes that simply aren't long enough, but those are few and far between. If my SUV with a V6 can do it without straining, so can your Corolla.
Happens all the time on 495 and 95 here. The shining star today were the people who didn't want to merge at speed. If traffic is moving at 65, don't get mad when you can't get on the highway doing 45 - no one is going to drop 20 or 30mph to let you over unless you're a tractor trailer. And god forbid, there was one that kept slowing down! And don't even use the excuse "well I can't speed up that fast". The vast majority of cars can get up to 55 or 65 within the merge lane, minus the few lanes that simply aren't long enough, but those are few and far between. If my SUV with a V6 can do it without straining, so can your Corolla.
That is frustrating. Adding to that, Pennsylvanians who come to a complete halt in the acceleration lane, despite having 1/4 mile of empty pavement ahead of them to safely merge!
I blame the PA turnpike and its ancient engineering.
That is frustrating. Adding to that, Pennsylvanians who come to a complete halt in the acceleration lane, despite having 1/4 mile of empty pavement ahead of them to safely merge!
I blame the PA turnpike and its ancient engineering.
You're far nicer than I am. I blame the PA drivers. Not all, but the majority are terrible. I guess with all those cows and tractors, they don't see other cars too often, so when they come to MD and see one, they don't know what to do.
To make matters worse, an insurance agent once told me to stay clear of PA drivers since such a high number of them are uninsured (so, if they hit you, you can guess the rest).
Happens all the time on 495 and 95 here. The shining star today were the people who didn't want to merge at speed. If traffic is moving at 65, don't get mad when you can't get on the highway doing 45 - no one is going to drop 20 or 30mph to let you over unless you're a tractor trailer. And god forbid, there was one that kept slowing down! And don't even use the excuse "well I can't speed up that fast". The vast majority of cars can get up to 55 or 65 within the merge lane, minus the few lanes that simply aren't long enough, but those are few and far between. If my SUV with a V6 can do it without straining, so can your Corolla.
I probably drive on the beltway about once a month, and then it's only to connect for an exit or two. I'm dearly thankful for that.
Oddly enough, I feel safer on the highway than on the city streets. Nearly all the times someone has hit me, I was sitting at a light, a stop sign, or parked in or near the city. So, as insane as the drivers are on the freeway, they're nothing compared to the crazies in town. Yikes. lol
Oddly enough, I feel safer on the highway than on the city streets. Nearly all the times someone has hit me, I was sitting at a light, a stop sign, or parked in or near the city. So, as insane as the drivers are on the freeway, they're nothing compared to the crazies in town. Yikes. lol
I agree with you, and statistically speaking, there's nowhere safer to drive than on a limited-access freeway.
I just hate the traffic and absence of alternate routes. I'm a typical American; I like options!
You're far nicer than I am. I blame the PA drivers. Not all, but the majority are terrible. I guess with all those cows and tractors, they don't see other cars too often, so when they come to MD and see one, they don't know what to do.
To make matters worse, an insurance agent once told me to stay clear of PA drivers since such a high number of them are uninsured (so, if they hit you, you can guess the rest).
I observe the same thing all the tiime.
Yes, we have our share of home-grown doofus drivers in NJ, but when I am on I-287 attempting to pass slower traffic, when there is a "clot" in the left lane that is impeding the flow of traffic, it is almost always a car with PA plates.
To return to the original question, I know a woman who was taught to drive--by her husband--about 8 months ago.
Unfortunately, her husband's method of instruction was to scream "NO" if she made a rookie mistake behind the wheel, and he would be absolutely brutal in his criticism of her driving while she was in the early learning stages.
The result is that, even though she is now a licensed driver, she is petrified of driving and is afraid to go onto a highway. She only drives on city streets, and usually for trips of 3 miles or less. In addition to this driving pattern spelling an early end to the car's engine from sludging, her driving is unlikely to improve because she does not get enough practice, and because her husband made her fearful.
The moral of the story is that driving should be taught by an unemotional, detached, professional driving instructor, rather than a family member.
That is frustrating. Adding to that, Pennsylvanians who come to a complete halt in the acceleration lane, despite having 1/4 mile of empty pavement ahead of them to safely merge!
I blame the PA turnpike and its ancient engineering.
I saw that today on 495 - two cars came to a complete halt in an acceleration lane that DIDN'T END! It continued to the next exit. They had about 1/3 of a mile to speed up and merge (or given that there was traffic, coast forward to squeeze in. It blocked up traffic on the exit ramp behind them something fierce. I often wonder how there are so many accidents on the interstates here when there's no traffic, then realize that no, there are people like that causing the traffic and normal people behind them that don't expect to come up on a stopped car when they're accelerating down a ramp. I've come up on a number of them getting onto HOV - the ramp I use is a turning flyover, and I can easily get up to highway speed as I'm coming around the bend. There's either a state trooper at the end of the bend (to catch people, you can't see him until it's too late and you can't get off) or people slowing down and stopping to try and merge. Speed UP and merge, it works much better!
If people in my city were that logical, there'd be far less accidents here. I can't tell you how many jokers have made a right turn from the left-most lane, cutting off traffic to do so. Or make U-Turns over a double yellow in the middle of city rush hour because they changed their mind on their direction. Who does that? Honestly. (Then, when you get hit, some joker on C-D tells you it's your fault, even though the insurance companies didn't think it was and you were stopped when you got hit. lol)
Oh yes, the U-turn over a double yellow -- I see that all the time in two places in DC, M Street in Georgetown (which is a suicide mission) and Constitution Avenue just after 15th Street. I also routinely see this practice in NYC, though not as clear-cut as DC with two specific areas of the U-turn, and not as prevalent as in DC. One of my relatives was hit by such a U-Turn driver in NYC, and the other driver could not fathom that what they had done was illegal, and that it caused the accident.
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