Merica

[HotelMinion]

So I haven't posted here in roadkill for a while but I still see people who seem to have left their brains at home where they drive. Why my fellow mericans? Why?

Brainless 1: This was back on July 4th. I saw this guy with a HUGE Merican flag on his truck. I mean his truck was big but the flag was bigger. He sped past me, flag waving in the air, and while I appreciated his patriotism and what not, all I could think of was that it was going to fly off and hit someone at the speed he was going. Right on the windshield, and they'd swerve into me. Or I'm going to be the one hit. Fortunately, this didn't happen. I saw him a few miles down, pulled over and fixing his flag that had fell. Hmm.

Brainless 2: There's this part of the city with a new plaza/outside mall, and I call it the Cesspool because people do not follow/read the signs. There's a 4 way stop intersection. I roll over, stop. I see a guy coming fro my left. I assume that he was going to stop...NOPE. He sees me, assumes that my stopping means I'm letting him thru, then speeds right at me just as I'm going. I brake and he throws his hands up and punches the wheel with his fists while I dirty look him. In the end, he speeds off, shooting my dirty looks while I get flashbacks from my accident from 10 years ago (a long time but ptsd sucks.) Learn to read, moron.

Brainless 3: Why oh why do people do this. 3 point turn right at me. So were driving with him right in front at 40 mph. All the sudden he swings around, backs up right in front of me. I beep. Then he swings some more to do a U turn with a BIG GRIN. I'm pretty sure that's illegal in the middle of a two way street. Becoming disturbingly common.

Brainless 4: Stop blocking traffic. There's a guy that begs for money at a busy intersection. The other day the light turns green and someone was holding up the line to give him money, just blew my mind. I don't care if someone wants to give money away, but just to regard the ones behind you, rude! I wonder if this happens in other countries?

[Pixelated]

Not unusual to have most of this happen here in My Hometown ... which is definitely not in Merica (look north ).

People stop to let somebody make a left turn ... even though there is nobody behind the stopped party, and of course if the stopped party starts up again and there's a collision, the left-turner will get the blame. Just GO, already!

As for reading signs ... Yep. I mean, nope.

And today I saw several idiots do crazed slaloms across two or three lanes because they suddenly decided their turn was RIGHT HERE!!! And heaven forbid they go a bit further and do a civilized turnaround and then go back a block or two, ya know?

[XCashier]

Brainless 1: This was back on July 4th. I saw this guy with a HUGE Merican flag on his truck. I mean his truck was big but the flag was bigger. He sped past me, flag waving in the air, and while I appreciated his patriotism and what not, all I could think of was that it was going to fly off and hit someone at the speed he was going.

I've seen an awful lot of vehicles with these flags, and I wonder the same thing, if they're fastened down solidly enough or if they're going to fly off and smash up the next vehicle. Not to mention, those flags get tattered pretty quickly. If I wanted a flag on my car, I'd get a sticker. Much safer.

[notalwaysright]

Lately I've been going through two roundabouts each way to work and back... Good grief people, you are so stupid, no amount of schooling will fix it. One roundabout is right before the community college, and idiots just fly straight into the two lane roundabout without a care in the world. Well, if one of them does hit me, my dash cam will show them not even looking or touching their breaks. So far I've been able to anticipate and not get hit, but eventually these drivers are determined to hit *something.*

Also, sometimes people will defend bad roundabout habits by saying that they're "new" and not everyone knows how to drive in them. I remember when they actually WERE new, but it's been years and years at this point. Plus, even when they were new it's really not that hard. And you know what? There's always one rule, regardless of how new an intersection is. What is that rule? Oh yeah, it's "look around you and try not to run into anything." Pretty simple I think.

[Cia]

Pretty simple I think.

Last year was the first time I've been in a round-about in over twenty years. Had no clue who had the right away while inside the circles in Washington state since the last ones I drove in were in Louisiana and Texas. The Louisiana one I was stuck in for five to ten minutes before I was able to nudge my way out. I find traffic circles to be creepy.

[Slave to the Phone]

The traffic circles out here have both standing signs and road marks. Our newly built junction has 3 circles for people to traverse to go to 3 different parts of the state is really confusing.

When I see someone who is confused and going around the whole thing again, I just wait for them to get out of the circle without the added distraction of another car.

[notalwaysright]

In my town these are the most common larger roundabout signs,



It's pretty simple. The drivers I'm complaining about basically just shut their eyes and hit the gas as they enter. I haven't noticed license plates from other states, except Canada. So if these people are all from out of town... Well, I still don't have pity because they aren't using their eyes, they're actively trying to ram into the side of my car.

[Nunavut Pants]

I bet they'd lose their s**t over this one:

[drunkenwildmage]

The small town that my brother is a cop for, when they installed their first round-about, he had sit on it, most of the time, for the first couple weeks. He didn't give out many tickets, really just pulled people over to educate on how to use it. That was a couple years go, not sure now, I think it more depends on the case.

[dalesys]

I encountered my first traffic circle when I was 24? - downtown Edmonton rush hour, rental car. At the time (1975) the one and only traffic circle in Salt Lake metro (and probably the entire state) was in the middle of a subdivision in Glendale.

[greek_jester]

I bet they'd lose their s**t over this one:

Ah, the good old magic roundabout. The reason Brits start giggling hysterically when Americans start moaning about simple little one-lane roundabouts being too complicated.

[Slave to the Phone]

Ya know, Nunavut Pants, that looks very well planned out and I bet it works very well to keep traffic moving...up until the first time a noob got in there.

[Lovecats]

We first ran across those when my husband and I were both in the AF and were stationed just north of London in the early 70's. Actually, weren't that difficult to figure out (at least, for us). They have been working on widening sections of I-85 near where we live in NC and have put several roundabouts on some of the overpasses. People have been going out of their minds!

[EricKei]

I know we Have roundabouts/traffic circles back in Luuuuziana, but the only one I have been through is the one that's suspended a storey or two above ground -- one highway dips below it (East-West), while the other goes above it (North-South). (Not visible : the fact that Airline Dr dips down a good bit below that overpass, so it serves as a major drainage spot -- not that this stops a few dumbasses from trying to drive THROUGH water that can easily be above a car's roof)