comes up fast behind me as I decelerated up to a red light. He pulled up within a couple feet of my back bumper, and when we got to the point where the turning lane started, he darted out to the left, pulled up next to me and yelled "You drive like a f****ng old man!" I laughed because he then stopped at the same light that I was slowing down for. Why are some people in such a hurry to get to a red light? Never mind, I know...
The road I live on.. when you turn onto the main road (state highway on one side, country on the other) there is a light about a block down. Inevitably it goes red as I pull out.. so I rarely accelerate past 25mph till it turns green (by the time I get to it) and then I go. It is amazing how many people have completel and total meltdowns that I did not accelrate to 50mph to stop a block later (and no, I am not holding up traffic that was already doing 50mph)
I watch people fly through a gas station lot by me every morning. The lot has very uneven paving probably a little gravel underneath. They avoid the light where there is no right on red. I laugh when I catch up with them at the next light. Either way, I'd suggest everyone don't yell at other drivers in this neighborhood...
"You drive like a f****ng old man!"
Get that from time to time, turnin' 55 y/o next week. Not that it's really an 'old' thing... just smarter than yur punk ass.
But I did just put a tune on the S197. 
fasted58 wrote: "You drive like a f****ng old man!" Get that from time to time, turnin' 55 y/o next week. Not that it's really an 'old' thing... just smarter than yur punk ass.
Exactly. That's why I laughed at him, and probably because I used to be like him.
BTW, I just turned 53 two days ago. But like you said, its not my age that makes me drive, uh, normal.
I love (read: hate) how much of the population doesn't understand that if you arrive at a light that's just turned green rolling at 10mph, that's way smoother and faster than already being there at 0mph when it goes green...
Same goes for timing stopped vehicles or other obstructions which will be gone or rolling in a moment.
fasted58 wrote: "You drive like a f****ng old man!" Get that from time to time, turnin' 55 y/o next week. Not that it's really an 'old' thing... just smarter than yur punk ass. But I did just put a tune on the S197.
That's funny, I'm the same age and I've never had anyone tell me I drive like that.
bravenrace wrote:fasted58 wrote: "You drive like a f****ng old man!" Get that from time to time, turnin' 55 y/o next week. Not that it's really an 'old' thing... just smarter than yur punk ass.Exactly. That's why I laughed at him, and probably because I used to be like him.
Hell, I'd take it as a compliment. Some of the fastest guys I know are old men.
fasted58 wrote: "You drive like a f****ng old man!" Get that from time to time, turnin' 55 y/o next week. Not that it's really an 'old' thing... just smarter than yur punk ass. But I did just put a tune on the S197.
yeah, I get that occasionally ... shoot, I am old ... I usually look at them and shrug ... then if I feel like berkeleying with them, I ask them if they want to come with me to the track and find out just how old I really am .... haven't gotten any takers yet 
ransom wrote: I love (read: hate) how much of the population doesn't understand that if you arrive at a light that's just turned green rolling at 10mph, that's *way* smoother and faster than already being there at 0mph when it goes green...
This. I get a huge kick out of doing this to people, when there are multiple lanes at a light. I start coasting/slowing down as soon as I see a light is red. It'll annoy the young dumbass behind me in his clapped out rice burner, who darts to the left and floors it. Then jams on his brakes to stop at the red light. Meanwhile, I just coast and usually time it fairly well so it turns green shortly before I get there. Ease into the gas, and I blow by the dork, who's sitting there. I don't honk, or even look, I just cruise. That's usually followed by hearing a screaming engine as the kid just has to race by me again. Fun stuff. It's even more fun now with my Leaf. I can turn on more aggressive regen braking, so I start to slow as soon as I lift off the gas.
I call them 2 light drag racers. I have a stretch of 6 lights that you can cruise through with ease at 40 mph. Invariably, someone will be in a hurry and try a higher speed and gets caught at every other light. It is kinda fun when we both take off from the first light and I pass him at the second light because he had to stop. Other driver seems to get a little miffed so he nails it again and catches up with me as I cruise past the 3rd light only to stop at the 4th...where I pass him again still doing my 40 mph.
A truely upset speed demon can pass me again before the 5th light but you really need to be flying. Sometimes they get stopped by the 5th, sometimes they go through with me and beat me to the 6th where...Yup, they have another red light. I have seen people just losing it at the 6th light, screaming, pounding on the steering wheel and I just smile as I cruise by, legally and calmly.
Am I wrong for enjoying their angst?
Bruce
I was driving along in my BMW 525i wagon the other day on the way to work on a local highway. I was, as always, looking as far as possible up the road, and effortlessly moving through traffic like shark through schools of fish, averaging 70-ish.
A kid - obviously driving about 25' in front of his car - eventually manages to work his way up to me, where I manage to stymie his progress the same exact way I use lapped traffic on competitors on the track. He's darting back and forth, but isn't reading traffic more than a couple seconds ahead, maximum, so he keeps arriving at closing doors.
I pull into the added merge lane for my exit and speed up.
He takes the bait and follows.
I set up my entrance and have a clear shot from the turn in to apex. It's decreasing radius, but well within what I can scrub off w/ the front tires and a little throttle to get it to rotate.
I enter the corner almost uncomfortably hot. I only ever press myself this hard on track if I'm trying to maintain lead in the last couple laps of a race that matters.
He's not paying attention to his speed or position - only that he's finally behind someone who's not holding him up. And this boring black station wagon isn't giving any indication that it's being driven hard.
I brush the brakes to hit a makeable entry speed, turn in and pin the throttle. I hit my apex and open the wheel to track out. Tires are protesting and it feels a little loose, but I've got plenty of cushion, though there's not much runoff here...
I'm scanning my mirrors looking for a dust cloud...
Finally he appears all the way out on the shoulder - he kept it out of the Armco, but just barely.
I love being a racer in a boring old station wagon.
egnorant wrote: Am I wrong for enjoying their angst? Bruce
Nope.
ransom wrote: I love (read: hate) how much of the population doesn't understand that if you arrive at a light that's just turned green rolling at 10mph, that's *way* smoother and faster than already being there at 0mph when it goes green... Same goes for timing stopped vehicles or other obstructions which *will* be gone or rolling in a moment.
that's pretty much intuitive driving a manual
Ian F wrote:egnorant wrote: Am I wrong for enjoying their angst? BruceNope.
When the subject has created their own mess, I'm a big fan of the German word, Schadenfreude.
My dd is slow enough in its current state that i literally cannot avoiding pissing off someone or other on any given drive (i should really fix it..). But generally when people start screwing with me over it i try as best as i can to make them regret it by trolling them on the road. The car cant accelerate very well but it will still do 110 and im a lot better at moving through traffic than some people. So anyone who was pissed about my slow driving and had to let me know about it will usually have me riding their ass until they exit. They can get away with acceleration but unless they want to KEEP doing massively illegal speeds i always end up back on their tail in a short time or just passing them on momentum because i read the traffic better.
That's actually my main driving peeve. It's not people who obviously dont know what the berkeley they are doing, which there are plenty of. It's the people that act like you are slowing them down and then don't even speed. I love going fast and i'm not bothered by other people doing it safely, but people who are impatient without speeding have defective personalities and i shamelessly troll them on the roads for my own amusement. Im not even saying that's a good thing, but i sure as heck dont feel bad about it.
I like lights that are timed for speed. Theres a bunch in st pete. Loved it until the odiot speeders made a roadblock. My wife yells at how slow i am. But I can always get there faster than her....
great original post and some great and accurate comments here....as much as I love to drive fast, I see no sense in speeding up to get to the next red light. If I see a green light off in the distance, I of course start planning on it becoming red. This means I will coast so as to ensure that I don't have to use the brakes; most people are pretty stupid so they have no idea and fly by so that they have to slam on theirs. The converse of this is I can't stand when the light turns green and the idiots in front of me just sit there and wait for a few seconds before they go. Pisses me off but, I live in Kentucky so what can I say, this kind of dumb stuff happens all the time.
Datsun1500 wrote: One of my favorites was just Yesterday. I'm in the fast lane doing 72 in a 55, about 5 lengths behind a cop car. Young kid in a civic about a foot off of my bumper, can't see around me, flashing his lights, throwing his hands up, etc. I passed the car in the middle lane then got over. He guns it, looks at me and gives me the finger, not noticing that I have sped up enough to get him about 3 feet behind the cop as he is still looking at me. I point at the cop, he looks ahead as he is tailgating the cop, who then put his lights on..... Last I saw he was pulling into the emergency lane
Wish that happened more often.
bravenrace wrote:Datsun1500 wrote: One of my favorites was just Yesterday. I'm in the fast lane doing 72 in a 55, about 5 lengths behind a cop car. Young kid in a civic about a foot off of my bumper, can't see around me, flashing his lights, throwing his hands up, etc. I passed the car in the middle lane then got over. He guns it, looks at me and gives me the finger, not noticing that I have sped up enough to get him about 3 feet behind the cop as he is still looking at me. I point at the cop, he looks ahead as he is tailgating the cop, who then put his lights on..... Last I saw he was pulling into the emergency laneWish that happened more often.
This happens from time to time to me. At a known speed trap on I71 near Cincinnati, I had a similar thing happen once. I was driving faster than a car that would tailgate me each time I came upon a slower car. I mean, its like the guy only was able to see my rear bumper and that I was intentionally holding him up. So it happened for the last time right before the speed trap. At just the right time I pulled over to the next lane and and geared it down instead of using the brakes so he wouldn't see my brake lights. It worked like a charm and he got what he deserved.
plance1 wrote: great original post and some great and accurate comments here....as much as I love to drive fast, I see no sense in speeding up to get to the next red light. If I see a green light off in the distance, I of course start planning on it becoming red. This means I will coast so as to ensure that I don't have to use the brakes; most people are pretty stupid so they have no idea and fly by so that they have to slam on theirs. The converse of this is I can't stand when the light turns green and the idiots in front of me just sit there and wait for a few seconds before they go. Pisses me off but, I live in Kentucky so what can I say, this kind of dumb stuff happens all the time.
I always thought a green light means speed up so you can make it before it turns yellow....
Ever need to come to a stop for a moment but can't because traffic is nothing but a string of green lights?
Frustrating.
Almost as bad as being stuck behind someone who takes three blocks to get up to 35 when you can't physically accelerate that slowly. Accelerate, coast in neutral, accelerate, coast in neutral, accelerate, coast in neutral...
I can't fathom how anybody can be that laid back.
Hey, I just turned 50. All you slow grey hairs (or no hair as the case may be), get the berkeley out of my way!!!!!!
egnorant wrote: I call them 2 light drag racers. I have a stretch of 6 lights that you can cruise through with ease at 40 mph. Invariably, someone will be in a hurry and try a higher speed and gets caught at every other light. It is kinda fun when we both take off from the first light and I pass him at the second light because he had to stop. Other driver seems to get a little miffed so he nails it again and catches up with me as I cruise past the 3rd light only to stop at the 4th...where I pass him again still doing my 40 mph. A truely upset speed demon can pass me again before the 5th light but you really need to be flying. Sometimes they get stopped by the 5th, sometimes they go through with me and beat me to the 6th where...Yup, they have another red light. I have seen people just losing it at the 6th light, screaming, pounding on the steering wheel and I just smile as I cruise by, legally and calmly. Am I wrong for enjoying their angst? Bruce
Portland is almost all timed traffic lights, so I do the same all the time. If you pay attention to traffic, you rarely need to use the brakes, especially in the electric cars, and you can get through much easier if you don't do the full throttle-full brake routine. Just imagine doing the same routine and beating the stop light racers in this (my current daily driver):
The people who think I'm going too damn slow are the same ones who get pissed off when my dorkmobile blasts past them at the light. For those types, getting beat at the lights is already frustrating, and I get a real kick out of shaming people with my dorkmobile. It's actually pretty quick from 20-50 anyway, but I rarely need to exercise that potential.
Bryce
I'm usually the one passing a 1/4 mile of slow moving 10 cars of sheeple doing 20-25 in a 35-40 road b/c there is a red light up there. There are already people lined up at the light so doing a given speed waiting for it to turn green is a non-starter. You will need to stop regardless.
The difference between me following the slow moving sheeple and passing them at a safe speed is the difference between whether I get stuck at another red light b/c I'm 1/4 mile back and crawling or catch it when it does finally change green. Passing them at a higher but safe rate of speed means I don't get stuck a a SECOND red light.
Timing of the lights and maintaining a certain speed is irrelevant on this busy-ish road as there are too many slow moving cars.
I wish people would just move over for Chrissakes...
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