[Cat]

So there I was, on a Friday, on my way home from work. Close to town and sitting at a red light, two cars back waiting for the light to change, when....my RAV gently rocks forward. I look in the rear-view mirror and there's this silver SUV thing behind me with the dude looking down. Is he sleeping, eating, texting, playing with... I pop on the hazards, slam in park, jump out, glance at my rear (his bumper is an inch from mine) bumper, walk up to the window he has open and he looks at me like he hasn't a clue. "Dude, do you know you just hit my car?" I ask. "I'm sorry he says", and just stares blankly at me. I roll my eyes and, "Dude you think you could back it up off my bully step?" lots of attitude in my voice. "Oh sure", he says. Imagine a loud scraping/rending noise from his front end. I go back to my RAV, pull over on a side road (as he drives away- wtf!) check'r out and not a smudge on the bumper. Bully step looks it's usual old slightly beat up self with flakes of silver paint on top...bully save me! Just barely, but I'll take it.

Anyone else have a "brain dead driver" experience to share? It's gettn' bad out there. :egad:

 

[Blogson]

Yeah, a guy rear-ended me at a stoplight. When I got out of my car and walked back to him his attitude was, why was I doing that, then when I said that he had hit my car he said that I must have reversed into him, but with my then-manual gearbox that would have been highly unlikely. My rear bumper cover had two small holes in it, corresponding to two projecting licence plate mounting screws on his front bumper. He ended up paying for the repairs to my bumper.

 

[Cat]

Yeah, a guy rear-ended me at a stoplight. When I got out of my car and walked back to him his attitude was, why was I doing that, then when I said that he had hit my car he said that I must have reversed into him, but with my then-manual gearbox that would have been highly unlikely. My rear bumper cover had two small holes in it, corresponding to two projecting licence plate mounting screws on his front bumper. He ended up paying for the repairs to my bumper.

Oh like anyone would reverse at a light. What a bone head...I mean brain dead driver. Glad it worked out!

 

[pico]

Yeah. The guy behind me bumped into me and I gently rolled into the RAV4 in front of me.
The RAV4 driver got out and with an attitude said, "Dude, do you know you just hit my car?"
I wrote down his license plate and called my buddy Guido.

Sleep well, Cat.
.

 

[Cat]

Yeah. The guy behind me bumped into me and I gently rolled into the RAV4 in front of me.
The RAV4 driver got out and with an attitude said, "Dude, do you know you just hit my car?"
I wrote down his license plate and called my buddy Guido.

Sleep well, Cat.
.

Ooo..sounds hot.:wink

 

[Blogson]

Oh like anyone would reverse at a light. What a bone head...I mean brain dead driver. Glad it worked out!

Thanks. It appears that thankfully your incident with a the brain-dead driver worked out OK for you as well.

 

[penderwheels]

Grandma in front of me at stoplight leaned over to buckle kids seatbelt. Bumped shift to reverse. Result: Trailer hitch thru my '85 Celica GTS grill. Dang!!!

 

[pico]

When I got out of the service in '68 I was anxious to renew my motorcycle license in Chicago.
I borrowed my brother's beautiful Triumph Bonneville and passed the driver's test.
On the way home through a notorious seven-corners intersection a fat-ass Cadillac
freaked out and locked up, and I plowed into his back end, wrecking my brother's bike.

All traffic stopped as I, bleeding from a number of places, righted the bike and kicked it back to life.

The guy behind me pulled up, rolled down his window and shouted, "Did ya see that?"
Duh. And this was before the internet distanced everyone from reality.

I have since made it up to my Bro. It took years!


'cuse me. Fifth beer. Going to bed.

 

[Mikey D.]

I borrowed my brother's beautiful Triumph Bonneville and passed the driver's test.

I have since made it up to my Bro. It took years!

'

Noooo!!! Not a Bonneville!!!! Damn!!!

Now that was a beautiful bike! ?

 

[Grumpy old man]

Noooo!!! Not a Bonneville!!!! Damn!!!

Now that was a beautiful bike! ?

Almost, but not quite as good as a Norton or Thruxton Vellocette >

 

[Blogson]

When I got out of the service in '68 I was anxious to renew my motorcycle license in Chicago.
I borrowed my brother's beautiful Triumph Bonneville and passed the driver's test.
On the way home through a notorious seven-corners intersection a fat-ass Cadillac
freaked out and locked up, and I plowed into his back end, wrecking my brother's bike.

All traffic stopped as I, bleeding from a number of places, righted the bike and kicked it back to life.

The guy behind me pulled up, rolled down his window and shouted, "Did ya see that?"
Duh. And this was before the internet distanced everyone from reality.

I have since made it up to my Bro. It took years!


'cuse me. Fifth beer. Going to bed.

Wow! Good that you survived that encounter! I've had a few close calls like that but thankfully no crashes so far! Your brother probably was ready to execute revenge upon you for what happened to the Bonneville! :surprise

 

[mlrav]

So there I was, on a Friday, on my way home from work. Close to town and sitting at a red light, two cars back waiting for the light to change, when....my RAV gently rocks forward. I look in the rear-view mirror and there's this silver SUV thing behind me with the dude looking down. Is he sleeping, eating, texting, playing with... I pop on the hazards, slam in park, jump out, glance at my rear (his bumper is an inch from mine) bumper, walk up to the window he has open and he looks at me like he hasn't a clue. "Dude, do you know you just hit my car?" I ask. "I'm sorry he says", and just stares blankly at me. I roll my eyes and, "Dude you think you could back it up off my bully step?" lots of attitude in my voice. "Oh sure", he says. Imagine a loud scraping/rending noise from his front end. I go back to my RAV, pull over on a side road (as he drives away- wtf!) check'r out and not a smudge on the bumper. Bully step looks it's usual old slightly beat up self with flakes of silver paint on top...bully save me! Just barely, but I'll take it.
Anyone else have a "brain dead driver" experience to share? It's gettn' bad out there. :egad:

Man, have you opened up a can of worms in talking about brain-dead drivers. Fortunately I've not had a collision experience with my RAV. Yet. I did have one with my Tundra. I felt a bump while waiting to exit a parking lot. I got out and saw that the woman behind me had slammed into the Tundra. Too bad for her. My hitch ball punched a rather large hole in her license plate and front bumper. No damage to the truck. I'm going to get a tow hitch for the RAV and leave the ball on it...or maybe a pointed spear, grenade, dog poo?

But the zombie driver phenomenon extents beyond avoidable accidents. Just look at the many morons who, not having a clue how to drive in the first place, are distracted by their i-thingies. They can't maintain a constant speed on the road, hunker down in the left lane, drift out of whatever lane they happen to be in, etc. :wall

Some time ago I complained to Veliksam about Florida drivers. He said it was a matter of people no longer adhering to road etiquette. I agreed. Since then I've noticed the same stupid road behavior up and down the entire East Coast. That even includes Jersey where I've thought we were good drivers. (New Yorkers are some of the worst. If they don't have an intersection with a traffic light they are lost. Drive on an interstate? Fuggedaboudit!)

One solution I've considered is adopting EU and Scandinavian countries' license tests. Pick your country; any one will do. It would mean that very many Americans would end up walking, especially since we don't have any good public transportation. But, hey, the roads would be used by people who actually know how to operate a vehicle and, therefore, be safer.

But that's impractical. So, my current solution is to use the RAV's considerable power and agility to go around them; get past the unconscious, dazed packs they seem to form. That means that I often drive in the unoccupied right lane. I hate it; passing on the right is dangerous. But what else is one to do? And, aside from aging maladies, I won't even consider riding my bike any more. It's simply chaos on the roads. Sorry for the long post. But you've touched a nerve, in my case a very raw nerve. I welcome any suggestions as to how to cope with this insanity.

Drive fast and be safe,
mlrav

 

[pico]

Wow! Good that you survived that encounter! I've had a few close calls like that but thankfully no crashes so far! Your brother probably was ready to execute revenge upon you for what happened to the Bonneville! :surprise

My brother is so cool. We went out right away shopping for replacement parts. He brought the bike into his basement for the winter and chopped it. I helped him haul it out to the street. He kicked it to life, rode around the corner and crashed! OOPS! The oil line slipped off, lubricating his rear tire. I felt sooo bad for the big guy, so I bought us two cases of beer to shake it off.

 

[pico]

One solution I've considered is adopting EU and Scandinavian countries' license tests.

On Chicago's North Shore area there were the dreaded big-ass Cadillacs where all you could see inside was a puff of blue hair and little hands on the wheel. And they drove like they couldn't see over the hood - because they couldn't. I think they navigated by looking at the skyline full of spendy high-rises.

My buddy proposed a special drivers test for them. Put them in an under ground garage, the kind with big cement pillars, fill their Cadillac with gas, a brick on the accelerator. Pass them if they managed to find their way out in one piece.

And, aside from aging maladies, I won't even consider riding my bike any more.

Aw, don't say that. I ride a bike all the time. Funny, but I rode motorcycle for over thirty years with no significant accidents. Quit that when I got kinda old, then crashed my bicycle big time, ended up in Intensive Care at the Mayo clinic. That was five years ago, and I'm just about recovered.

Gotta go for a bike ride now to catch the end of the Bears-Packers game at the pub.

 

[Cat]

When I got out of the service in '68 I was anxious to renew my motorcycle license in Chicago.
I borrowed my brother's beautiful Triumph Bonneville and passed the driver's test.
On the way home through a notorious seven-corners intersection a fat-ass Cadillac
freaked out and locked up, and I plowed into his back end, wrecking my brother's bike.

All traffic stopped as I, bleeding from a number of places, righted the bike and kicked it back to life.

The guy behind me pulled up, rolled down his window and shouted, "Did ya see that?"
Duh. And this was before the internet distanced everyone from reality.

I have since made it up to my Bro. It took years!


'cuse me. Fifth beer. Going to bed.

That's a hard one to get past (if you can) and it's the kind of crap I try to get my kids to understand. Watch out for "stupid" (ooops brain dead) that screws it up for everyone else.

 

[Mikey D.]

Just remember - "you can't fix stupid."

 

[Cat]

Grandma in front of me at stoplight leaned over to buckle kids seatbelt. Bumped shift to reverse. Result: Trailer hitch thru my '85 Celica GTS grill. Dang!!!

That stinks... !

 

[Cat]

Man, have you opened up a can of worms in talking about brain-dead drivers. Fortunately I've not had a collision experience with my RAV. Yet. I did have one with my Tundra. I felt a bump while waiting to exit a parking lot. I got out and saw that the woman behind me had slammed into the Tundra. Too bad for her. My hitch ball punched a rather large hole in her license plate and front bumper. No damage to the truck. I'm going to get a tow hitch for the RAV and leave the ball on it...or maybe a pointed spear, grenade, dog poo?

But the zombie driver phenomenon extents beyond avoidable accidents. Just look at the many morons who, not having a clue how to drive in the first place, are distracted by their i-thingies. They can't maintain a constant speed on the road, hunker down in the left lane, drift out of whatever lane they happen to be in, etc. :wall

Some time ago I complained to Veliksam about Florida drivers. He said it was a matter of people no longer adhering to road etiquette. I agreed. Since then I've noticed the same stupid road behavior up and down the entire East Coast. That even includes Jersey where I've thought we were good drivers. (New Yorkers are some of the worst. If they don't have an intersection with a traffic light they are lost. Drive on an interstate? Fuggedaboudit!)

One solution I've considered is adopting EU and Scandinavian countries' license tests. Pick your country; any one will do. It would mean that very many Americans would end up walking, especially since we don't have any good public transportation. But, hey, the roads would be used by people who actually know how to operate a vehicle and, therefore, be safer.

But that's impractical. So, my current solution is to use the RAV's considerable power and agility to go around them; get past the unconscious, dazed packs they seem to form. That means that I often drive in the unoccupied right lane. I hate it; passing on the right is dangerous. But what else is one to do? And, aside from aging maladies, I won't even consider riding my bike any more. It's simply chaos on the roads. Sorry for the long post. But you've touched a nerve, in my case a very raw nerve. I welcome any suggestions as to how to cope with this insanity.

Drive fast and be safe,
mlrav

Yeah, it's hard enough to get them through the darned light when green. Scary at the highway speeds. Can't tell ya how many times I've heard folks beeping the horns (or the reverse-other brain dead just waiting for them to go) just to get folks to go. Like the pointed spear idea. I need to find someone with a welder and have them weld something like metal teeth to the bully step. It's a bit low for the SUVs and way too low for the big trucks. This is actually the second time my RAV has been hit. First time Hubby was at a stop light at the bottom of a hill and just happened to watch another SUV coming down the hill towards him. Woman behind the wheel was looking down! Yup, she hit my RAV ...$400 some for her Ins to fix. Ironic thing was he was driving my youngest to driving school !!

 

[mlrav]

Yeah, it's hard enough to get them through the darned light when green. Scary at the highway speeds. Can't tell ya how many times I've heard folks beeping the horns (or the reverse-other brain dead just waiting for them to go) just to get folks to go. Like the pointed spear idea. I need to find someone with a welder and have them weld something like metal teeth to the bully step. It's a bit low for the SUVs and way too low for the big trucks. This is actually the second time my RAV has been hit. First time Hubby was at a stop light at the bottom of a hill and just happened to watch another SUV coming down the hill towards him. Woman behind the wheel was looking down! Yup, she hit my RAV ...$400 some for her Ins to fix. Ironic thing was he was driving my youngest to driving school !!

Welded metal teeth. Yeah. I like that. >

 

[1000MPH]

I was rear ended by a school bus while I was sitting at a red light. The 20 something driver got out and came to my door which I had just managed to open. She said "This is my first day on the job."
I said "this is your last day on the job".