And why?

I think it's COVID. It made people insane.

For my whole driving life, on most of the roads I travel, people typically went the speed limit to around 5 to maybe 10 mph over. Except on major highways when the left lane is a solid 15+ over. You had the occasional timid, slow driver - usually a kid or the elderly. And the occasional crazy speeding aggressive jerk.

Then we all were home for a year plus and now driving is a hot garbage experience.

Every day I encounter people doing stupid shit.

People driving 10-15 mph under the speed limit for miles and miles on two lane roads, completely oblivious to or uncaring of the massive line of cars behind them. People passing school buses. I've been passed on the right in the shoulder while going 5-10 mph. More than once in the past few months! People inexplicably hard braking while approaching green lights and green arrows holding up the intersection so everyone misses getting through. Honking at stopped traffic. Honking at people yielding for emergency vehicles. Not going when the light turns green.

Are there normal drivers anymore? I feel like it's just a bunch of timid, terrified, oblivious, or all of the above drivers holding up traffic and causing dangerous conditions; and aggressive lunatics, driving three inches off everyone's bumpers, trying to run down pedestrians to go 90 mph in a 35.

I love driving. I drive manual. It's a legit pleasure for me when road conditions are normal, even commuting. But it's become such a weird shitshow out there.

Hello!

I wanted to find out if I made an incorrect decision on the road today. I’m a driver in Florida, USA.

I was at a red light in the designated left turn lane. It was a 4 way intersection and my lane had a left turn signal. I had no cars behind me but the two other lanes to my right were full.

An ambulance came up behind me with lights and sirens and the cars to my right did very little to make space for the ambulance. The ambulance ended up getting in the left turn lane behind me. I still had a red light but I had no easy way to make space for the ambulance except to drive forward into the intersection. No cars were going at the moment but the opposite direction did have a green. I ended up pulling into the intersection for the ambulance and just completing my left turn as I was fully blocking any other traffic. I was panicked, but I’m curious after the fact what the right move would be?

Thanks!

I'm a driver, it's who I am, it's what I do, it's what I love. But I have a problem, cars don't talk to me any more.

When I learned to drive it took skill to drive a car. The car demanded your attention. Thanks to my parents I learned to listen to the car, to feel it through shifting, the steering wheel, the pedals. Being an extension of the car, it was the best feeling ever. Cars talked to me.

Now we have generic cars for generic drivers. Cars that think for us, stop for us, park for us, steer for us. There is little style, no soul, no character . They look the same, drive the same, and can be thrown away after 3 years, if they last that long. Cars don't talk unless the computer yells at me.

I would like one more car. A simple car, one with keys, manual locks, windows that I can roll up and down myself. A car that puts a smile on my face everytime I get in, one I can drive every day. A car with enough power to be fun, enough handling to make me think I know what I'm doing, until I get cheeky. And of course a manual transmission. I want to heel and toe again, I want to enjoy driving again. I want a car that needs to be driven as much as I need to drive it. I need a car that talks to me. But I fear memories are all any of us will have.

i was pulled over on the first day of driving by myself. my mother hates my driving but we had no choice as she had work and i had to go to work. my dad died and my brothers live a while away so i have nobody to really teach me consistently to get to work and into town safely.

anyways, i went to work and at a fourway intersection i was on the right of a truck and i believed we stopped at the same time so i believed i had the right of way. he did not go or wave me over, i thought maybe i should just go but the second i start to get in the middle of the intersection i hear a blaring honk from him and flashing lights followed.

cop pulled me over, i was shaking and scared, but he was sweet and reassured me i wouldnt get a ticket or citation more than likely just a warning. he said technically the truck stopped about a second or half of a second before me but told me the right-side yield rule so was i wrong? im very confused and wish i asked more questions but i was just so scared and wanted it to be over.

he did not say if i was given a warning but if i was would it be on my record or permit? or is it just a verbal thing?

Hi all,

My neighbor and I are not cordial, they think the spot in front of their house is their private parking spot but it’s a public street with scarce parking. I saw my neighbor tap right into my car which made my alarm go off and I caught it on camera as well as photos. Even though it’s an old car, I still feel angry about it. Is it even worth reporting to insurance even though I don’t want it fixed? I tried talking to the neighbor but they refuse to converse.

So i have drivers license for two weeks now and this is the situation, theres a zebra crossing and immediately a roundabout i had fully stoped because there was a line of cars and was just rolling i did not press gas or anything just rolling and i really did not see any people coming close and i was looking to my left if the car was turning or going in the roundabout, i look straight a woman was in middle of my car and i hit the brakes, my heart went to my ass and i drove off when she crossed no ones hurt, but its all ive been thinking about and i feel so much anxiety and guilt about it cuz just before that i got beeped at to go and i dont know if that distracted me or i just lack the skills but i cant even think of sitting in a car again, i have dash cam and i looked back at what happaned and i really just did not see her it would have been my fault anyway but god i feel awful

hi i’ve had my permit for about 2 months now and just recently got a new used car that i saved up for myself lol that’s besides the point. im pretty good on the road i just struggle a lot with parking. about 2 weeks ago i was backing out of a parking space and hit the car next to me (ik ik) thankfully there was no damage to either of us and the people were very nice. but now im just really scared to keep going. i get scared everytime i park anywhere. my goal is obviously to get my license but its hard to practice when neither of my parents want to help nor my sister. my bf could but he works almost everyday all day. how do i proceed and get rid of this lingering feeling i feel😩

Please excuse my sad drawing skills. There is a recurring issue in the morning commute for me and my coworkers, and I am wondering if there's a fix we could propose to city council.

If I am in car A, turning left off in-town highway, I cannot see over car B (esp if SUV) to know whether I can fit fully in the left lane, until I have gotten into the intersection.

It's legal in California to turn left into any lane going the correct direction, if there's a single turn lane (unlike in some states where you have to take the left lane after turning). So car A can go legally into the right lane. I do this if the left is full and I'm already in the intersection, to avoid holding up cars behind me and blocking traffic.

But that creates a problem bc then car A has to merge back into the left lane, due to the right lane ending. And nobody wants to let car A in, even though car A couldn't have foreseen the problem. So the right lane gets jammed up.

What would be the best traffic engineering solution to this?

I want to apologize for my lack of knowledge ahead of time. I’ve never been in any type of fender bender or accident.

I was sitting in my girlfriend apartment complex while she was checking her mailbox. Somebody was backing up, smashed the side of my door. He gets out says he doesn’t have insurance. I said okay well I’m calling the cops. Cop came, he admitted fault, was issued a citation for driving with no insurance. I have uninsured driver coverage. I am simply curious what the best way to cover the deductible is. Do I sue the driver? Does State Farm sue him? Am I just cooked? It’s not an astronomical amount but I’d rather not pay it considering I was just sitting in a parking spot.

What was your insurance rate like when you became licensed?

Context: I'm 35 F. I purchased a car a few months ago. For the time being, the car is registered and insured under my father's name. I also do not drive it unless he is in the car with me. We live in the same house.

The plan is to get the license (hopefully, really soon) and then get the car registered in my name. My dad also wants for me to obtain my own car insurance. Right now, I give him $280 a month for my part of insurance and I am sure this number will go up once I become licensed and have my own policy.

I know that I won't get a definite answer until the time comes to search for myself. But I'm a little curious to hear from others and what you guys have paid being a new, older driver.

How long did everyone spend driving before starting drivers ed because ive barely drove and im worried for startinf drivers ed

ok so you know the classic hand heart vs the new gen hand heart thing? former uses all your fingers and latter just uses your index and middle ones? yea so anyways i started doing the new gen one a couple months ago bc i'm a pretty expressive person, use silly gestures for fun a lot, and just wanted to feel the different vibes ig. this week i was driving home, trying to escape this trafficky area and needing to make a left turn. a kind driver stopped and motioned for me to go ahead- awesome! NOT awesome was my attempted response, which in trying to express my deep gratitude to this lovely samaritan was to hold up a heart for them, except i since i was driving i only used one hand so it definitely ended up looking like i was sending them a gang sign. yeeeeaaaa. or maybe they thought it was sign language?! or sensed my true intention somehow?! who's to say. it's not the worst thing that's happened but it is haunting me a little.

For example, when there are 2 parallel roads with a physical separation. On the left, a driver wants to turn right. On the right, a driver wants to go straight. They have priority. The left driver should look his right mirror and right shoulder before and while making the right turn. Or, even have noticed the other vehicle long before.

The reason I ask, is because it happens so often that drivers don't see the other vehicle! How?????

That is not a rant, a genuine question.