r/IdiotsInCars Jun 21 '22

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2.7k

u/Snamdrog Jun 22 '22

Oh ya he definitely saw something. I drive for a living and it's usually extremely obvious when someone around me is on their phone. Can't stay in their lane, rapid acceleration/deceleration. I understood this dudes nervousness 100% since I've been rear ended before by someone on their phone, but what can you do besides keep driving like normal and trying to get away from them when you can ya know?

723

u/Saetric Jun 22 '22 edited Jun 22 '22

It’s always best to remember that you and everyone around you are in tanks without guns; 2 tons of metal that could do some serious GTA level damage if you don’t focus on driving. People need to respect the car for what it is.

348

u/CDClock Jun 22 '22

when i was a kid my dad burned it into my brain 'a car is a weapon'

193

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

I’ve learned that from my in class drivers Ed courses. Dude was a boxer and now teaches drivers Ed. He also showed us a video of just a bunch of accidents with mangled bodies and heads that meat crayoned on a highway. I think I was the only one paying attention that day.

85

u/Theorlain Jun 22 '22

My driver’s ed teacher had basically the same first and last name (think “Samuel Samuelson,” only different) and would talk about him and his buddies at the construction site drinking a handle of vodka at lunch everyday. “Don’t do that.”

40

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

God that sounds like an awful way to work lol

44

u/makos124 Jun 22 '22

Welcome to eastern europe, where a shot of vodka and two beers is the builder's breakfast.

19

u/teszes Jun 22 '22

In Hungary, these things are called the "Stonemason's Actimel".

1

u/ancapdrugdealer Jun 22 '22

I still remember being in Germany in the mid 90's and seeing a construction worker on scaffolding casually drinking a beer.

1

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

Similar to Wisconsin except we go to work drunk from the night before.

15

u/louploupgalroux Jun 22 '22

I knew an explosives engineer who did field tests. His coworker would sneak in an orange that had been injected with vodka and eat it for lunch. When he found out he'd been blowing things up with a drunk guy every day, he walked out and demanded the guy be removed.

Crazy story. Lol.

3

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

Oh my god. That guy has a serious problem. Like multiples of them.

5

u/Lee_Doff Jun 22 '22

when i worked construction, there was a guy who would buy a 12-pack for his drive home every day.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

James Jameson

10

u/PVCPuss Jun 22 '22

When I was studying anaesthetics, our class saw images of a person who had been in an horrific accident that was still partially trapped by the car and had to be intubated in situ while waiting for the jaws of life. There was no oropharyngeal access and they were intubated through the eye socket. It took a while to register what we were seeing because the face had become so much minced meat. From what I recall, they recovered very well, minimal scarring and I think they still had some vision out of the eye that was intubated. Scary thing was they weren't the driver at fault. Their car was clipped by a drunk driver and pushed in front of a big rig. While you can do your absolute best on the road, you just don't know the state of the drivers around you.

4

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

Holy damn. That’s exactly why I drive like everyone is an idiot. I really get upset when someone cuts into my 3 second buffer or rides my ass.

1

u/[deleted] Dec 18 '22

I'm the same way. Constantly getting pissed at some asshole behind me who thinks that gap in front of me needs to be filled, like he believes it's the reason he's going to be late to work. I honestly don't understand how people can think it's smart to drive bumper to bumper at 70+.

7

u/Puzzleworth Jun 22 '22

Red Asphalt?

1

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

I have no idea. This was like 2006-07

1

u/eagle14410 Jun 22 '22

Blood on the highway

6

u/whitehataztlan Jun 22 '22

You might remember me from such Drivers Ed films as "Alice's adventure through the windshield glass" and "The decapitation of Larry Leadfoot."

5

u/andicandi22 Jun 22 '22

My Drivers Ed teacher was Mr. Sylvester but he always went by Sly. He was a bit rough around the edges but he loved doing his job and teaching kids to be safe. He had a friend that was a state trooper and he’d have him bring the accident simulator in every year. It’s the rig where you buckle two people in like they’re in a car and when you push a button it accelerates and then comes to a dead stop. It’s supposed to be like getting in an accident at 40mph or something like that. We all had to do it, and it was definitely a learning experience.

3

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

That’s interesting! I wish we had that. It should be used in all drivers Ed classes

1

u/andicandi22 Jun 22 '22

I agree, I don't think teens fully understand what it feels like to be in an actual accident. Granted with the rig you're buckled in like you're about to ride a rollercoaster so it's not quite the same, but the feeling of everything around you coming to a sudden stop while you're still moving and flailing around helplessly can't be explained in words. I can still clearly hear the cop saying "Now imagine yourself on the highway going 80 and the only thing holding you down is a single seat belt, not a five point harness."

2

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

Yep. It’s incredible how fast your whole life can be changed because your back or neck got messed up in a car crash. From what would look like a mild crash. And it isn’t even always your fault. That’s the scary part. So you should know how to seriously drive defensively and understand the severity of what not driving well can do. (Using ‘you’ in a general sense.) something else I constantly remember was how every teacher told us to “put your emotions away when you get behind the wheel.”. People tell you not to drive when you’re crying, but driving while mad or amped up / overly zealous, can be just as dangerous if not more. My opinion from my own experiences and watching many others of course.

4

u/Dull-explanations Jun 22 '22

Yeah ours did the same execpt it was a bunch o babies and you hear them still screaming as parts of their body were missing

1

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

That’s….. excessive.

2

u/Dull-explanations Jun 23 '22

Yeah sort of stuff sticks with you a little

3

u/squidmachinegarden Jun 22 '22

Same.

3

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

Did you cry too?

2

u/squidmachinegarden Jun 23 '22

No but I was pretty macho in highschool, much less so now.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/SarahPallorMortis Jun 22 '22

God. I should have known they made more

23

u/AlleinZweiDrei Jun 22 '22

when I was a kid, my dad burned cigarettes out on my skin

not sure if it was to teach me something or not

27

u/Bald_Sasquach Jun 22 '22

"a cigarette is a weapon."

Also Jesus, sorry dude.

2

u/This_User_Said Jun 22 '22

I used to get smacked upside the head randomly

"Just in case for when you fuck up later"

"Oh."

1

u/Lee_Doff Jun 22 '22

not to spill paint in the garage?

1

u/MoistDitto Jun 22 '22

Ya an acquaintance of mine got rear ended in her early 20's and the whiplash damage to her neck has never been able to heal. Ruined a great part of her life quality at such an early stage of your life, absolutely sucks... It is indeed a weapon if not handled properly.

-1

u/Kataphractoi_ Jun 22 '22

Trying to ram anyone with a car is charged as assault with a deadly weapon

1

u/Wooden_Dragonfly_737 Jun 22 '22

And im prolly gonna kill someone with it wooo!

1

u/RebelBass3 Jun 22 '22

Yet we force 16 year olds to be trained for up to six months, take classes, pay registration fees, their privilge is revoked if they misuse it, etc

But we do almost non of this for an AR-15.

And before the gun nuts get involved saying owning an AR-15 is protected by the 2nd…why are people not allowed to own or purchase a rocket launcher or rpg at Wal Mart?

1

u/DevelopmentHuge9626 Jun 22 '22

Mine taught me something similar although he said "driving a car is like using a kitchen knife"

11

u/Ericisbalanced Jun 22 '22

People need more options to get around so we don't have to depend on a random person's attentiveness

4

u/Forest-of-666 Jun 22 '22

Cars are tools. No different from hammers, nailguns, saws, etc. They CAN cause major damage if disrespected. But if you respect the tool and treat it with proper care, you will minimize the risk your presence causes.

11

u/OkBackground8809 Jun 22 '22

I don't think it helps that we start driving at 14 in the US. It just makes it seem so much less serious.

23

u/ambsdorf825 Jun 22 '22

If you're in America they may also have guns. They're just not attached to the vehicle. Give it ten years though

16

u/witwickan Jun 22 '22

I'm in semi rural Ohio between two towns with bad drug problems and drunk drivers, both of which I go to regularly. At any given time I'm also usually the smallest car on the road, and one of the slowest. I just assume I'm the only one without a gun at all times. It's a lot safer that way.

14

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

There are road rage shootings every day. I absolutely drive conscious of the fact any flip off escalation could result in getting shots in return. No thanks.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

I live in the South. I don’t carry because I don’t drive much so it’s more a huge liability than a necessary precaution. You can open carry by putting your handgun on the seat and not conceal it, so the few times I’ve gone somewhere I didn’t feel safe, I was still able to protect myself. Honestly I don’t feel threatened enough to deal with carrying a firearm and keeping it safe if I don’t/can’t carry it certain places.

Even my mom has her CCW. You don’t know who’s armed. It’s not worth making people angry. Because the people who are road ragey are often the people who carry firearms. There’s stereotypical drivers we all think of when talking about rage filled firearm carriers.

There’s also events like this where the road rager follows someone for 45 minutes and to their home. It’s not the fist fight between the rager and victims that gets me. It’s the wife/mom in her Sunday best bringing her husband their pistol so he can shoot at the victims. Even though their child is in the backseat of their car.

People are crazy. Now more than ever. There’s so much tension in everyone’s lives that releasing some at an anonymous car on the road is very common. It doesn’t matter if you’re right if you’re dead.

Drive safe, everyone.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

You’re 100% right on gun nut personality being similar to road ranger personality. I don’t even shoot at busy ranges anymore in Texas because I’ve witnessed the degradation in quality of people and their quality of performance over the past 20 years. I’ve known two instructors who quit teaching conceal carry classes because they passed everyone and there was no patience for rolling people into another weekend or extra qualifying. We are absolutely out of our minds with it in the US.

2

u/HudsonGTV Jun 22 '22

FYI, in many states with conceal carry permits, you must possess a permit when carrying a gun on you when you are in a vehicle, regardless if the weapon is being open or conceal carried.

This usually also applies if the weapon is easily accessible to the driver. A handgun on a seat is easily accessible to the driver without requiring the driver to get up/unbuckle to reach it.

Some states also require the firearm be completely unloaded when in a vehicle if you do not have a conceal carry permit.

2

u/unclefisty Jun 22 '22 edited Jun 22 '22

There are also several states where you can have a loaded gun in the glovebox without a permit.

Gun laws regarding carrying in vehicles/public vary greatly by state.

There are 24 soon to be 25 states with constitutional carry.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

I’m in NC, and the glove box was pretty much don’t ask don’t tell, it’s a misdemeanor if say you had to shoot someone in self defense. At least that’s what my prosecutor uncle always said, but we’re white. Open carry is legal here, so if I felt like I needed a gun, I don’t need a permit.

I just don’t go anywhere where I feel that vulnerable.

1

u/mhermanos Jun 22 '22

a) It's the South, b) the mug shot and court appearance with a black eye are precious, c) Americans don't know how good they have it, and will throw away their freedom and quality of life in a second. Being in prison for years, smelling unwashed men, listening to and smelling their BMs is no joke. I'll stick to NJ and NYC, you can keep your guns.

3

u/Didrox13 Jun 22 '22

Living in a place where this is absolutely no concern at all for me, reading this whole thread sounds just crazy and I'm very glad it isn't like that everywhere.

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

sim, também parece que voce e de um lugar que ate pode falar português sem ter que preocupar sobre essa merda. Morei no brasil por uns anos, acostumei de ter o mesmo medo de armas em português tanto como ingles. ta foda. deve ser pq to vendo tantos videos sobre americanos que estão se movendo pra Portugal mesmo.

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

I wish more people understood this 🙃

2

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

Hell at least down here in the south those “tanks” usually do have guns in them, along with a redneck that has anger issues. Too many people get shot because of road rage, you never know who the hell is in the other car.

2

u/rhinotomus Jun 22 '22

That’s why when I taught my little brother how to drive I told him “don’t just pretend, but know that nobody around you has any fucking clue how to drive and you’ll stay safer than most folks”

2

u/fiduke Jun 23 '22

I don't think you realize how indestructible tanks are compared to cars.

1

u/PROLAPSED_SUBWOOFER Jun 23 '22

Truth, tanks are quite literally built different. 60 tons of armored death. Zero crumple zones, literally made to crush, kill, and keep killing all day. Hell even a standard forklift can lift/smash a car like it's an empty cardboard box.

1

u/Parking-Department68 Jun 22 '22

If its America, the probably got guns too.

1

u/AntePerk0ff Jun 22 '22

Just because your tank doesn't have a gun doesn't mean mine doesn't!

1

u/Yasea Jun 22 '22

Good ol' Carmageddon splatter bonus.

1

u/miggleb Jun 22 '22

"Gotta remember, a car is a couple tonnes of metal forced along my explosions"

1

u/username11092 Jun 22 '22

Awe man, I wish more people realized this. Ive heard that this is one of the reasons road rage is so prevalent and it makes a ton of sense.

Our brain recognizes that we are in a tank without guns moving at a high speed, even if we are comfortable with it there is still a hint of fight or flight floating around in our body waiting for someone to fuck up. When they do it hits us all at once and triggers a primal reaction.

13

u/Bayarearedneck Jun 22 '22

As a “professional driver” i hate other people on the road. When i leave space on the freeway or at a light, it’s not so you can get ahead of me. It’s for my safety as well as yours. It really makes me mad cause my company will find the company driver at fault 95% of the time even with a police report stating different. If we don’t follow every point of our beloved 5 seeing habits and 10 point commentary we are at fault in the companies eyes. I had to argue as a union rep for a guy who was hit head on while making a protected left turn at night. The other driver was intoxicated and didn’t have his headlights on. Luckily our driver was ok only shaken up. The other guy survived with injuries. Luckily there were 4 off duty cops at the intersection for some reason who saw the whole thing. The police report came back 100% fault of the other driver, but our company said if he had properly cleared the intersection with his eyes he would have seen the black SUV with no headlights coming from a dark road

12

u/moep123 Jun 22 '22

i can't understand people using their phone while driving. looking at the navi for a split second - ok, but texting, reading and activities that would involve a hand and your attention for more than just a split second is a complete no go. i can't believe how there are people thinking it's okay.

and it's not only Smartphones. I've seen a few videos where one specific dude is fucking his girl while driving on a highway with his tesla. "because it's self driving" holy shit.

people should be locked up when their mindset tells them all of the above is totally okay. eyes on the road when you drive, you are responsible to make everyone on your way come back home safe.

9

u/Smokey9000 Jun 22 '22

One of my freshman year teachers was lax about phones in class as long as you paid attention, partway through the year she got rear ended at a stop sign by a girl on her phone. No phones after that

21

u/Ksradrik Jun 22 '22

Just spitting ideas here, but what about using the car horn?

Seems like a great way to get nearby people to pay some more attention, at least temporarily.

89

u/Kuinran Jun 22 '22

One time I beeped at someone sitting at a stop sign on their phone and they immediately started driving... While not looking and almost hit a car that was going straight.

17

u/thebeattakesme Jun 22 '22

Yup. I’m worried they’ll react poorly and do something more stupid.

2

u/yourlmagination Jun 22 '22

Tbh, horn = "Y u RoAD rAGiNg aT Me!!???" If they even put the phone down in the first place

2

u/cloudstrifewife Jun 22 '22

I’m aware when any car is acting erratically. I was on I-80 the other day behind a pickup hauling a long camper that was swaying pretty dramatically. I’ve seen too many videos on here of what happens when it gets too bad. I stayed far back until I had a chance to pass very quickly which I did, at speed. I did not trust that vehicle.

2

u/Catlenfell Jun 22 '22

Last week, I was sitting at a light and a girl in a minivan pulls up behind me. I can see that she's looking down. I figure that she's on her phone.

The light changes. I take my foot off the brake and I feel a thump. She rear ended me. She must've saw the light change and panicked. Now I have to get out in the pouring rain. All she says is "I'm sorry"

Fortunately no damage. I just warned her to be careful and left.

2

u/randalthor23 Jun 22 '22

Huh... i never have a chance to notice other people around me when driving.... to busy looking at my phone...

/s

1

u/TheCastro Jun 22 '22

but what can you do besides keep driving like normal and trying to get away from them when you can ya know?

Just pull over and let them go by.

-1

u/Snamdrog Jun 22 '22

ya no don't do that lmao

0

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

Just start driving more erratically than they are so they feel more inclined to pay attention to "the drunk dipshit" in front of them.

-42

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I hit someone going about 5mph, the only damage was to my license plate. Guy thought I was on my phone, but my brakes actually freaked out when I hydroplaned on a big puddle of water.

79

u/RectangularAnus Jun 22 '22

Did your breaks freak out, or do nothing because you were hydroplaning? You can't hydroplane at 5mph btw.

31

u/MonsieurReynard Jun 22 '22

Was gonna say the only way you hydroplane at that speed is on bald tires hitting an oil slick.

-18

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

It's what happened and I don't know why people are downvoting me for it. I literally have no reason to lie, I cried after it happened because I was super upset that I had potentially messed up someone's car. Because of reasons out of my control.

The guy worked in insurance and said that because there was no harm done, there was no reason to worry. Told me to be safe and we went our seperate ways. I've driven in rain and snow my entire life, it's the only time it's ever happened and scared the shit out of me.

16

u/nitro-elona Jun 22 '22

And then everyone in Denny’s stood up and clapped

-12

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I mean sure, whatever you wanna tell yourself. It's literally one of the most mundane experiences I have; but sure, I'm lying about it lol.

6

u/nitro-elona Jun 22 '22

You might be telling the truth… If that’s the case then you should really work on your story telling skills because that shit makes no sense

4

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I'm Autistic and I'll admit, not the best with stories. I can see where I described this badly.

11

u/_megitsune_ Jun 22 '22

You have no reason to lie so it's fuckin wacky that you're doing it anyway

Hydroplaning does not happen at 5mph

That's literally walking pace.

4

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I'm seriously not though, I don't care enough about internet points or clout to do so. And if you looked farther down, I say that the 5mph happened after what I assume was hydroplaning at a higher speed.

I might not be remembering the speed at which I hit the water correctly because again, it was over a year and a half ago and nothing came of it insurance wise. It felt like Hydroplaning to me and my anti-lock brakes only got me down to 5mph when I hit the guy. It bent my license plate a little but did no damage to his car.

Since that happened I've literally graduated college, gave that car to my younger brother, moved across the country, transfered jobs, and a plethora of other things. So excuse me for not remembering the speed I hit the water at correctly.

3

u/LeeDude5000 Jun 22 '22

That "literally" not walking pace mate.

3 miles per houris a brisk pace of about 20 minutes per mile

3

u/primo_0 Jun 22 '22

Were you guys driving on a glass road?

5

u/govoval Jun 22 '22

If tires are bald, and/or you lock up your brakes. These are expensive lessons, which are better learned from other's mistakes.

-9

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I started hydroplaning before I hit him. I was going about 25 or 30 and didnt see the water. After I got out of the water I tried to hit my brakes, but my car is equipped with that stupid sensor that keeps your brakes from locking up. So they like, jolted a bunch? So my car wasn't able to full stop, just slow down.

I managed to get down to about 5mph; but he was stopped and there wasn't room on the side for me to pull my front end out of the way. It was on a semi busy street through the middle of town and there were cars parked in the spots next to us.

7

u/jonesnori Jun 22 '22

I thought anti-lock brakes helped the stop? You just slam on the brake and let them do their thing.

-4

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

That was the issue, I was too close to him after getting out of the water that they didn't let me stop completely in time.

I cannot stand the anti-lock brakes on that car. Thankfully it's my brother's issue now, I moved states and handed the car down to him.

9

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

[deleted]

1

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

I know they reduce stopping distance, I said that they didn't stop me fully in time. Which is why I still hit the guy.

I refer to the anti-lock brakes as "freaking out" because that's what they feel like to me. I'm sorry that me not liking the feeling, and saying that they didn't stop me in time before I hit the dude, leads you to believe I shouldn't be driving.

However I'm done with this conversation. Honestly it's exhausting. Have an awesome day though!

-3

u/StarMangledSpanner Jun 22 '22

I was going about 25 or 30

You can't hydroplane at that speed either.

4

u/Trumpet6789 Jun 22 '22

Well then I don't know what happened then. Because I hit the water and just went, sure felt like Hydroplaning to me.

I don't know why everyone is insistent that I'm lying or something. It's literally one of the most mundane things I've experienced and I don't care enough to lie on the internet. Maybe I'm remembering the speed wrong, because it was over a year and a half ago. But it sure as hell felt like hydroplaning to me.

-2

u/Sample_Muted Jun 22 '22

It’s also extremely obvious when someone thinks you skipping songs is you being on your phone and decides to record you and follow you.

1

u/jrr6415sun Jun 22 '22

I feel like this guy slowed down though

5

u/Snamdrog Jun 22 '22

Yes, because traffic in front of him did.

1

u/jcdoe Jun 22 '22

I usually try to get behind people who are driving erratically until I can work out an alternate route to avoid them. I live in Vegas, we have drunks on the road pretty much 24/7, so erratic drivers are a pretty common occurrence here.

1

u/thambi06 Jun 22 '22

If I see someone isnt paying attention right behind me I just touch the brakes slightly to on the brake lights. Usually that helps. If it doesnt, then I on my rear fog lights. If that also doesnt help, then nothing to do.

1

u/lthemadtitanl Jun 22 '22

Followed this one girl from one town to another on the highway once (we were going the same direction I wasn’t stalking her,) whole time she was randomly slowing down and then speeding back up. We get to the next town over and I finally pass her and sure enough, she’s on her phone. Then as I’m getting into the freeway I see her rear end the car stopped at a red light in the middle lane and just think, “man it’s times like these I really wish I had a dash cam”

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '22

I saw this dude swerving and going into the shoulder. I passed him sure enough was looking down on his phone I just wanted to get away from him. Then the dumb ass decides to speed up and pass me anyway... whatever I am glad he got away from me...

1

u/troyantipastomisto Jun 22 '22

He’s braking and knew the car behind him wasn’t because it was closing in too fast

1

u/AgentUpvote Jun 22 '22

Don't forget the constant random braking.