Erratic driver is scary.

[notalwaysright]

Okay, it was a while ago I was on a fairly busy street. A person (couldn't see male or female) pulls out from a driveway. This is a residential and commercial mixed area. The person starts going very slow, about 15 under the speed limit. Then they run a red light, only to be stopped at the next, so I am still behind him/her. Now the person goes over the speed limit. About half the time they are completely in the bike lane, only inches from the sidewalk.

An ambulance with sirens comes up, and we all dutifully pull over. The bad driver pulls over, but goes all the way up onto the sidewalk, really far. At the time I was just thinking terrible driver, but maybe it warranted a call to the cops, or is that an overreaction? In hindsight, the way he/she drifted around the lane, alternatively speeded, then crawled along, and the inability to simply pull over, said drunk.

[Seanette]

I'd have assumed dangerously drunk or otherwise chemically impaired, or having a medical crisis, and called them in.

[EvilEmpryss]

I actually followed an impaired driver while on the phone with the police. Told them his license number, street and direction he was traveling, and followed him right to a parking spot in a public place, had video of his erratic driving and photos of the driver inside and getting out of the parked car. I waited an hour after the cops promised they'd send someone so I could give them the video -- they never showed.

It's a depressing response.

[raudf]

It may even have been the world's worst student driver. One of those with a parent/teacher who screams their bloody heads off, making the student so nervous that every mistake that could be made has been.

Or mental impairment, like my late MIL. She drove so erratically simply because she forgot what she was doing while she was driving. Not that she was a great driver by any means before. In Hot Springs, it's nearly impossible to get a judge that will pull a license for an elderly person unless they kill someone with their driving. To quote one judge, "I'd hate to remove their sense of freedom.." Umm, dude, the lady suffered from dementia. The DR wanted her license revoked.

Fortunately, she scared herself so badly that she never drove again. How? Was it hitting a rock garden with the car? No. Was it hitting a telephone pole with a car? No. She got lost, in the "wrong side of town."

[Catwoman2965]

I was out quite late last Saturday night, and drove home just before 2 am. I'm never out that late, and there was still quite a bit of traffic. While I was totally sober, I kept thinking and wondering how many others were not! Then I got paranoid, and whenever someone got near me (3 lane road) I'd chagne lanes. Safely of course. Made it home fine, but on the other side, saw a shiny red car pulled over, with two cars with pretty flashing lights. Betting they weren't sober!

[An Haddock]

Somewhat related... I remember driving up one of the main roads in town a couple of years ago. Along the road every hundred feet or so were those big town-sized planters made of concrete they put flowers, etc. into. They're about 4 feet in diameter at the top, a little smaller towards the bottom and about 3 - 4 feet high.

There was one right in front of a favorite eatery of mine. And I say "was" because it was shattered in about twenty pieces with dirt and plants all over the sidewalk. There was a car halfway on the sidewalk that had obviously just plowed into it.

I had to continue on my way but a couple of days later I talked to the owner when I stopped in for dinner. The girl driving the car was high on *something* and was driving erratically. Narrowly avoided a couple of pedestrians on the sidewalk and only avoided plowing into the restaurant's front window because she hit the big flower pot thingy. Then she LEFT THE SCENE and continued driving! Fortunately a couple of people called it in... and as the driver quickly discovered, the next block down happened to be where the police station was and they were waiting for her.

Never did find out what she was using, but if I spot anyone driving like that, if it's possible, I pull over and call the cops. In some states like ours (NJ) you can call #77 from your phone to get highway patrol and report dangerous drivers.

[Jetfire]

I was out quite late last Saturday night, and drove home just before 2 am. I'm never out that late, and there was still quite a bit of traffic. While I was totally sober, I kept thinking and wondering how many others were not! Then I got paranoid, and whenever someone got near me (3 lane road) I'd chagne lanes. Safely of course. Made it home fine, but on the other side, saw a shiny red car pulled over, with two cars with pretty flashing lights. Betting they weren't sober!

2 AM is when the bars close in many (if not most) places. So IMO that's when you should be extra aware if you're out and about, since that's when the fresh drunks will be hitting the streets (sometimes literally.)

[EvilEmpryss]

In some states like ours (NJ) you can call #77 from your phone to get highway patrol and report dangerous drivers.

#77, *77, #677... I've tried using those with mixed success on an interstate drive I make often. A few times I've reported speeders and seen them pulled over by the cops a few miles up the road. Other times?

I tried to report a semi driver who was weaving over two whole lanes of traffic: I reported him in three different states with the same crazy driving because I'd get ahead of him, wind up stopping for a snack or something, and then see him pass by, still weaving across the lanes.

And of course the bad drivers never have the "how's my driving" numbers on the back of their rigs, so I couldn't even report him to the company he was hauling for.

[HotelMinion]

Maybe it was someone who didn't know how to drive the car? I would've call non emergency police. What if s/he runs over a child?
The worst erractic driver that I've seen was kind of construction truck (I'm not sure what kind of truck it was, the closest I've seen is a dump truck) butting in on the highway at 5 mph. We (the other cars and I) were going 60 mph, so this truck made us swerve. Then we had to keep swerving because the truck was taking up TWO lanes of traffic! He kept weaving and debris and rocks were falling off his load so we gave him a wide berth. At one point I thought he was going to tip cuz he was fishtailing and then he pulled over.

[Catwoman2965]

I see some in the parking lot of my apt complex. We have a lot of people from other parts of the world, who perhaps have never driven. And the culture is such that women are second class citizens. But here, you need to be able to drive, so many a time I've seen someone driving veerrry slowly or not staying on their side of the road. Obviously practicing for their driving test, but still getting in my way.

[mhkohne]

And of course the bad drivers never have the "how's my driving" numbers on the back of their rigs, so I couldn't even report him to the company he was hauling for.

The hows-my-driving numbers are no sure thing anyway. We tried to call in a bus that driving badly and the number went to a full voice mail box.

[An Haddock]

The hows-my-driving numbers are no sure thing anyway. We tried to call in a bus that driving badly and the number went to a full voice mail box.

There was a scene in the Simpsons like that... Otto has some sort of grandiose bus crash and immediately dozens of people that witnessed it start calling the How's My Driving? line with their cell phones.

[eltf177]

There was a scene in the Simpsons like that... Otto has some sort of grandiose bus crash and immediately dozens of people that witnessed it start calling the How's My Driving? line with their cell phones.

Made infinitely easier by the fact the bumper with the sticker rips off the bus and lands right in front of the crowd...

[mathnerd]

Or mental impairment, like my late MIL. She drove so erratically simply because she forgot what she was doing while she was driving. Not that she was a great driver by any means before. In Hot Springs, it's nearly impossible to get a judge that will pull a license for an elderly person unless they kill someone with their driving. To quote one judge, "I'd hate to remove their sense of freedom.." Umm, dude, the lady suffered from dementia. The DR wanted her license revoked.

We solved this problem with one of my grandmothers by simply refusing to fix her pick up truck when it broke down. Everybody in the family with any mechanical skills agreed, so it went as smoothly as possible. She was upset, but we'd all agreed on the party line, which was that she was no longer safe to drive and none of us felt it was right to do something that would keep her on the road. My other grandmother, who was a more difficult personality hung her own keys up when the time came. She kept a car only so her teenage/young adult grandkids didn't have the "I have no car" excuse if she wanted us to drive her around. That actually worked out pretty well for everybody. She'd always take the person who was driving her around for a nice lunch and give us 20-50 bucks, depending on how many hours she had us out. Plus, in her more lucid moments, she was actually a pretty cool person. She wasn't very nice, but she was pretty cool.

[Zellie Crescent]

The hows-my-driving numbers are no sure thing anyway. We tried to call in a bus that driving badly and the number went to a full voice mail box.

When I was still in senior year there was some asshole who tried to cut us off and called the number. The bus owner was the one driving us that day, about half a minute after he got done beeping at us we heard her phone ringing. She told him that she'd have a talk with the driver and hung up, she laughed and shook her head.