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Near Death and Stupid People

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  • Near Death and Stupid People

    First, I'll start with the smaller stupids before getting to the near death incident involving my tiny little Honda Hatchback and a large 18-wheeler semi.

    Red Lights are not suggestions
    I don't know what was in these people's minds all at, but apparently red lights on busy intersections are now optional. Why didn't I get this memo? Several large semis, vans full of kids, you name it, they ran the lights like it was nothing. I watched one woman do something that makes me wonder if she wasn't drunk or high or something. We're sitting at a four way intersection, our road is two lanes and goes north/south. The west/east road is four lanes and extremely busy all of the time. This is later on in the day, not quite night, but the sun has sunk down behind the houses. We're at the light, waiting for it to turn (granted the light did take far longer than it normally does to change, but it was red, couldn't do anything, or so I thought). A beige mini-van is in front me, slowly creeping closer to the intersection, trying to trigger the sensor. Now, it's only been maybe two, two and half minutes, when W/E traffic slowed, this van thought that they were more important than everyone else and proceeds to creep into the intersection and then pulls RIGHT THROUGH THE RED LIGHT WITH TRAFFIC COMING FROM BOTH DIRECTIONS! Several cars had to slam on their brakes as not to take them out.

    Great thing about it? Not even five seconds later, the light changed.

    Winter is still here, deal with it
    yes, I realize that it is nearly April and it's still cold and snowing. I know this time last year it was nearly 80F for almost a month. But, that was last year, this is this year. and sadly, we are still dealing with frigid cold temps and snow in the forecast. So, that being said, I really don't think it's asking too much to continue to take care of your car before heading out on your way, most notably, cleaning you car off completely. Your car is the same height and size as mine. I am a mere 5'6 and can easily reach every point of my with my brush or broom to clean the snow off, thus, your 6'something ass has no excuse for not cleaning your roof off (it is not a actual offense for not doing it, but if the snow flies off and hits someone and causes an accident, then they can be fined or even jailed depending), because all of that snow just hit my windsheild and nearly sent me over the large overpass we were climbing in the process. So fuck you buddy!

    Near Death
    So this is the big one. Me and my roommate were coming back up from Plain City (for those of you in Ohio, it's 30 minutes north of Columbus, little tiny town) from taking his 10 year old kid back to school after having him stay for the weekend (long personal story, but him and his ex had him, broke up, and now she's using the kid to get revenge for him leaving her (he had a good reason, trust me), by not allowing him full custody, but refusing to keep him if it "interferred" with her plans, ie if she wanted to get drunk and skank around, we had to go get him. Also, he doesn't have his license as of right now, thus me driving him down there.) We came up via 33 and switched over to 117 in Huntsville and followed that to Lima. Now here is the intersection in which this happened at. http://https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Intersection+of+Bowman+Rd+and+Bellfountaine +Rd,+Lima,+OH+&hl=en&ll=40.722584,-84.051347&spn=0.000898,0.00144&sll=40.722662,-84.05163&sspn=0.010164,0.023046&t=h&hnear=Bellfont aine+Rd+%26+Bowman+Rd,+Perry,+Allen,+Ohio+45804&z= 20 (may need to zoom in a bit to see it fully).

    It's right before the fairgrounds, where 117 goes from two lanes to four. We were in the right line, the semi was in the left behind a crappy pick-up that seem to have the same acceleration problem my car has (can still go pretty fast but takes FOREVER to get up there). The light is red with them sitting waiting for it to turn as we're coming up to the lane widening. The light changes and the pick-up isn't moving fast enough for the semi apparently, so without looking and without signaling or anything, he decides to go into our lane. By this time, we were already beside the truck (note: when we came up, we had not been in his blind spot and I know he saw us there because he hesitated briefly before going it for it). Course, we're freaking out because it's the semi or a large curb that would tear up the bottom half my car. I originally slammed on the brakes, but we were already in the no return area, so I gunned it and wormed out of there. We get farther down and are just flipping out because of this asshole, cause he certainly would have crushed my tiny tin can. Then, to top it off, the bastard then spends the rest of drive to the main roadway on my ass (and this was a 55mph zone and I was doing nearly 65mph to get away from him. We turn onto the main road and then have to turn again onto I-75, where, still riding my house, nearly takes out my back end as I'm turning, not slowing down or anything. I got back to the house shaking, and then had to grab my stuff and head BACK that way to get to class. Needless to say, I was shook up for a bit. But really? Were you that impatient and that much of a jackass that you had to nearly kill us TWICE in a five minute span so you could go and sit in downtown traffic? My roommate looked for a number to call on the truck, but there wasn't one and he drove away too fast for us to get his cab number, so nothing came out of it.
    Now, before fratching gets in here, my dad was a truck driver for a long time before his accident. I am always conscience of where they are, where their blind spots are, etc, but this guy and a few others here lately have just pissed me off to no end. You want me to respect you while on the road, you gotta respect the fact that my car is merely a bug on your grill with the size difference. So please, be aware of other drivers and they'll do the same for you.

    Leaving on a good note
    My last note is good one. Just got a call back today from the FastDirection gas station (obviously not the name, but most of you will figure it out, hopefully) and after nearly two and half years of being unemployed, I finally have a job! It has been a great day so far simply because of that. I have orientation Monday, and don't know when I'll officially start, but dear lord am I happy.
    Last edited by Tithera; 03-23-2013, 06:34 AM. Reason: url didn't work first time, grr
    Just because they serve you, doesn't mean they like you. And just because they smile and act polite doesn't mean they aren't planning to destroy you.

    "I put the laughter in slaughter."

  • #2
    One morning I was on I-96 heading towards Detroit. It was still dark and raining, so I wasn't going my usual 70 and was going between 60 and 65. This semi came up on my ass and nearly pushed my car faster. Sadly, I didn't get anything form it because he had a taped piece of paper to his door. So I'm guessing it was a new trucking company and I probably wouldn't have gotten anything out of it anyway.

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    • #3
      I-94 is a bad section where it meets 127. The number of times I've been cut off because people don't read signs... Ick

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      • #4
        There are good, intelligent truck drivers, like my father...and then there are the ones like the one in the OP. My father once chased one of those types down and berated him for trying to kill me. Fun times.
        "And though she be but little, she is FIERCE!"--Shakespeare

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        • #5
          Quoth BrenDAnn View Post
          There are good, intelligent truck drivers, like my father...and then there are the ones like the one in the OP. My father once chased one of those types down and berated him for trying to kill me. Fun times.
          My own father tried to be good, but sometimes the temptation to chew someone out was irresistable. On one occasion, he's chugging along at 40mph (background: UK, two lane road, no median, out of town with no other posted limit means 60mph for cars/vans up to 3.5t, 40mph for trucks) and approaching a roundabout.

          White Van Man decides that being stuck behind a truck for a couple of miles is an imposition, and tries to overtake *on the roundabout.* Much danger, not legal.

          WVM's ambition wasn't matched by ability, and he is taken by surprise by a) the fact that trucks take up a lot of room when cornering, and b) the little traffic island at the exit of the roundabout. His van executes a perfect 180-degree skid in front of dad's truck, and ends up in the roadside ditch, facing the wrong way. Dad pulls into the side alongside the van, now mostly hidden from view in the ditch, turns on the flashy yellow light bar and hazard lights, climbs down and opens the passenger door of the van to conduct the following exchange:

          Dad:"Are you hurt?"
          WVM: "No"
          Dad: "Good. You f***ing deserved that for driving like a t**t."
          WVM: .....
          *Slam* of van door, gets back into truck and drives on, calling the incident in and requesting police attend, and if they want his view he'd be glad to make a statement.
          Last edited by bunrotha; 04-02-2013, 01:54 PM.

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          • #6
            WVM is VERY lucky. When a truck makes a tight turn (as in going through a @#$%^& roundabout), the space beside it goes away SIDEWAYS. Easy for a "crunchy" (small vehicle being driven in a stupid manner, as opposed to a "squishy", which is a pedestrian being stupid) to get squashed.
            Any fool can piss on the floor. It takes a talented SC to shit on the ceiling.

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            • #7
              About the driver thing... how come you didn't call the police? They may be truck drivers but they are required to obey the laws just like everyone else, and that would have really put a stop to the behavior when the cops pulled up on him.

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              • #8
                I cannot stand driving right next to a tractor trailer, and if I am passing them, I speed up no matter what speed I am going, I want that thing as far behind me as possible. I also like to have at least one vehicle between me and its rear end. I've been nearly run off the road by them while using an on ramp to get onto the highway, had them tailgate me (close enough that I could see the grill of their truck clearly and almost nothing else). Most truck drivers I put in the category of reckless (altho I know none personally, and I hope if I do meet any, they aren't ones that fall into this category.)

                Now, I have had one experience with a tractor trailer that had me cheering for the driver. We were heading north on our major interstate, I95, and there was a traffic jam, it was STOPPED and we were all corralled into one lane, the right one. There was the shoulder, but we were all patiently waiting our turn, moving slowly and when the lanes widened again we were going to start moving, we knew it. There was a tractor trailer and a tanker (the kind that hauls petroleum) ahead of us by a car. A car from far behind started driving up the shoulder, got past everyone, but another decided to follow the first car's lead, and the tractor trailer and the tanker both slowly moved so they were 1/2 in their lane, 1/2 on the shoulder, ensuring no one could pass (if they were emergency cars traveling on the shoulder, I am sure they would have moved). The car in front of us was kind to this person and let them butt, however I was cheering like crazy for the tractor trailers, glad they weren't letting idiots get past all the people patiently waiting.

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