Bags on Gass pump = NO GAS!!!

[AFpheonix]

I don't have to deal with the stupid red light cams anymore. I just wish they'd start enforcing the "no talking on your cell phone while driving" more. That's the most terrifying thing around here: A soccer mom trying to back and turn the way-too-big for her SUV with one hand because she's got a phone shoved in her other ear.

Heh heh heh.....my husband and I were coming back from the beach the other day and got stuck behind some moron in the fast lane doing 50. As soon as we could pass on the right, we did, and watched this guy "drive" with one hand on his cell up to his ear, and the other hand gesticulating wildly with his conversation. I wonder if he was steering with his knee? We got the hell away from him as fast as possible.

[Dreamstalker]

Some of them are supposed to make them unreadable for the red light/speed cams, but not to the naked eye.

IIRC, Mythbusters busted that one awhile ago.

The tinted cover on the shitbox's rear tag was also caked with grime, so for all intents and purposes he had no plates (at least I couldn't make out any letters).

Lovely. Just lovely.

What really surprised me was that I couldn't get another permit (first one had expired before I could take road lessons). The way I see it, as long as you've passed the written test why should previous permits matter (I told the guy what had happened, which was that I was a full-time student when I had my first permit and couldn't find the time to take lessons then)?

In Santa Fe, driving while talking on a cell is ticketable, not sure if it's a primary or secondary offense (as in can you be pulled over simply on suspicion of that). Handsfree kits are OK though.

[Pagan]

In Santa Fe, driving while talking on a cell is ticketable, not sure if it's a primary or secondary offense (as in can you be pulled over simply on suspicion of that). Handsfree kits are OK though.

Yeah, it's illegal here in Albuquerque, too. They can pull you over and give you a ticket for that alone. Just wished they'd actually start doing it. And no, I have never talked on my cell while driving. I can multi-task, just not those two things!

[myswtghst]

Talking on a cell while driving is illegal in Chicago, but its considered ok if you have a headset. In the burbs, they don't really enforce it.

Also, the uninsured's need to hit people/cause accidents seems to be universal, as my first ever accident went something like this>I was driving in icky, snowy weather, was cut off by an idiot with around 8 kids in his backseat who was going slower than me already and then hit his brakes, I honked but couldn't stop in time and wound up hitting him. He stayed long enough for the cop to decide on no tickets, due to inclement weather. Once my insurance company determined it was his fault, and tried to go after him/his insurance company for the $$$, he fled the state and we found out the insurance company was a scam. That was fun, having to deal with the repurcussions of that on my insurance, since they couldn't "close" the case.

[ThePhoneGoddess]

I lived in Santa Fe from 1998 to 2005. I went to St. John's College and then worked for the Santa Fe Reporter afterward for a while.

[Bella_Vixen]

It must be some universal law of the uninsured, try to hit (or be hit by) something bigger/more expensive than you.

My Explorer was annhilated by a Nissan Maxima. This jerk was FLYING over a hill at well above the 30 MPH limit. I NEVER saw him. I'd lived there at that point for almost 6 years, and knew to be wary at that intersection.

I don't have insurance. Can't afford it. Trust me. I've crunched the numbers, and it's either car insurance or electricity. The asshat's insurance company decided to take me to collections. I haven't heard from them in almost a year now.

[Becks]

What really surprised me was that I couldn't get another permit (first one had expired before I could take road lessons). The way I see it, as long as you've passed the written test why should previous permits matter (I told the guy what had happened, which was that I was a full-time student when I had my first permit and couldn't find the time to take lessons then)?

I never had trouble getting the permits (last time I was in and out of the DMV in 20 minutes or less )...it was just a matter of finding time to practice and hauling my butt to the DMV for the road test.

[Tigress]

Sadly, our government doesn't allow for Natural Selection.

Why do you think we have all these warning labels on everything under the sun?

It's because somewhere . . . someone was stupid enough to try what they weren't supposed to do.

Warning on a chainsaw: "Do not stop with genitals." Because somewhere, somehow, someone tried to stop his chainsaw with his wang.

My bout with gas pump stupidity was when I was pumping the gas for my boyfriend, who was quadriplegic. He asked me if the tank was full, but I had no way of knowing until the pump clicked back on me. So this brilliant troglodyte decided that he would cut his car on while the pump was still in the tank to find out from the gas guage. I have never moved that fast before or since than I did running around the car and stopping him. Then he looked at me as if I was stupid in stopping him. Then I pointed out that signs tell you to turn your car off for a reason. I was still "stuipd" but he let me finish pumping without risking blowing up the station.

[Andara Bledin]

My Explorer was annhilated by a Nissan Maxima. This jerk was FLYING over a hill at well above the 30 MPH limit. I NEVER saw him. I'd lived there at that point for almost 6 years, and knew to be wary at that intersection.

My Volvo was annihilated by a Ford Explorer. The jerk came cruising over the hill at well over the 35 MPH limit. He never saw me. I'd been visiting Nekojin there for the last 6 months and knew to be wary at that turn.

I couldn't make this stuff up.

I don't have insurance. Can't afford it. Trust me. I've crunched the numbers, and it's either car insurance or electricity. The asshat's insurance company decided to take me to collections. I haven't heard from them in almost a year now.

Wait, the other guy was speeding over a blind hill, but you were at fault?

^-.-^

[Bella_Vixen]

Wait, the other guy was speeding over a blind hill, but you were at fault?

^-.-^

I was making a left turn at an uncontrolled intersection, which apparently puts me at fault.

[Andara Bledin]

Yeah. There are several "automatic" rules regarding fault. If you're not at fault, you really have to fight, very hard, to get it made right, and usually, it's not worth it.

I had a friend who was making a right turn out of a gas station and got hit by an extremely unsafe driver, and he got to take the fault for it. The other guy had been in the left lane of a street with 3 going each way, and decided, about 50 yards from the intersection, that he really needed to turn right, so he drifted straight from the left lane to the right and ran into my friend who was pulling out of the gas station driveway. Since my friend was "merging", it was automatically his fault on the paperwork.

In my case, it was a rear ending, so it was automatically the other guy's fault, but he didn't even try to say it wasn't. He copped to it right off. I think he really felt bad for hitting me. He's probably relieved I didn't try to sue.

Uncontrolled intersections are terrible. Uncontrolled and unassisted are worse. Without actual turn lanes are just plain asking for accidents. Add any sort of obstruction, such as a hill, and it's amazing there aren't accidents every day.

^-.-^

[ArenaBoy]

Talking on a cell while driving is illegal in Chicago, but its considered ok if you have a headset. In the burbs, they don't really enforce it.

It's legal to talk on a phone and drive in Detroit. Which sucks big time as I see a yuppie, some soccer mom, or some teenager on their phone nearly knocking me over in my tiny Saturn while said idiot is driving an SUV.

This little shitbox with no front tag.

If you're ever in Michigan and you see cars without front tags, don't worry. The front tag thing was abolished a long time ago (Budget constraints) and there have been times when it would've have been nice to rely on front tags rather than the description because we couldn't see the #($(#&%!@$@% plates!

If you're not at fault, you really have to fight, very hard, to get it made right, and usually, it's not worth it.

One of the problems with me being 19 is I get the fault even though the idiot who causes the accident is in their 30s or 40s and should know better.

[ahanix1989]

I can't count how many times...
Near-accidents, people look at me like I'm the one at fault, because I'm 18 and driving a big van.
Doesn't matter that, as we were closing in on a red light, the guy next to me sped up and merged into my lane, thereby cutting my stopping space in half. Why? Because I'm 18 and driving a big van.

Remember, if you cut in front of me: Vans don't stop fast.
Remember, if you're tailgating me: You have ABS. I don't. I slam on my brakes, and my front tires lock up, and I stop pretty damn fast on dry land, while your Saturn's ABS is limiting your stopping time*

*(Yes, it has been proven that stopping distances are shorter on dry land when you don't have ABS, simply because of the incredible friction of a locked-up tire.)

[Bella_Vixen]

Yeah. There are several "automatic" rules regarding fault. If you're not at fault, you really have to fight, very hard, to get it made right, and usually, it's not worth it.

^-.-^

I decided it wasn't worth the hassle.

I talked to the judge and got the fine slightly increased and got my points lowered, which was more important to me.

And like I said, I haven't heard anything from the asshat* or his insurance company** in over a year, and nothing from the collections people in almost a year.

*last time I heard from him was the day of the accident
**last time I heard from them was the day after the accident