Having a SENIOR moment

[tomman58]

We are on our yearly trek across the US and again are being greeted by some seriously unqualified drivers.
The first one is the person that refuses to put on his headlights at dusk or in the rain. The "I can see you so you must be able to see me"
Next we have the person that thinks you will move over for him as he enters the freeway........ wrong not moving because I have a semi passing on the right.
Next we have the clown that cuts you off because you aren't doing 70MPH even though you are in the far right lane.
Finally we have the gut that just blows through a dead red light. This seems to be far more frequent of late.

These people ware on me and I really wish they were fewer but they seem to be multiplying.

[Bowti]

naturist wrote:

Veebyes wrote:
The merging thing. Why don't drivers, cars mostly, not get over if they can to let vehicles on, especially things like RVs & semis which are not able to speed up quickly?

It is a simple matter to show a little courtesy to help that big guy on the highway.

Why do car drivers expect that big rig to just get out of their way? Everyone assumed the responsibility of getting themselves safely down the road by accepting that driver’s license. It is no one else’s responsibility to you, it is yours alone. I have had people fly into road rage because I failed to run the guy passing me in the other lane off the road so they could meander onto the freeway. Not my job to merge you in, bud. The key is “if they can.” And if I can’t, it’s still your job, not mine.

I had a argument with a guy who told me it was the law that I was to move over to let him onto the highway. So there is a lot of mis information and lack of knowledge on merging.

[Horsedoc]

"Next we have the person that thinks you will move over for him as he enters the freeway........ wrong not moving because I have a semi passing on the right."

I am trying to visualize this and just can't picture it. So, are you saying "the person" is entering the freeway from left? If you are in the right lane, and the person is entering like most interstate on ramps are set up (from the left) then you might try to work with the guy. How does a semi on your RIGHT figure into this ? Wouldn't you be changing lanes to your left?
Explain??

[bigred1cav]

Germania wrote:
There definitely should be a school teaching people the proper way to merge.

There is. RV DRIVING SCHOOL

[patbac]

I think a lot of the merging problems are not from rudeness, but from lack of brain ability. Not stupid - just unable to quickly gauge how fast everyone is moving, the space available and then what needs to be done to safely move into that space. Pretty basic physics (without the math).
It would be nice if there were a way to test for that before license is given out.

[Jayco25E]

The ones that get my goat are when I am towing on back roads with hills and I get behind some little car that thinks they have to ride the brakes down hill. Now I am not talking about steep mountains just general hills. If I see I have to go back up one hill while going down hill I like to let my rig coast a little within reason to help get up the next hill. Always get behind someone riding there brakes.

[Dave_H_M]

So where does the "senior" deal come in?

[tomman58]

I do agree with some RV types driving to fast or not into the fact they are towing a 40' toy hauler! I can't be sure but am betting these are mostly your "I'm in it for the weekend" types not like us snowbirds that drive like most semi drivers respecting others and following the rules of the road.

[monkey44]

Too slow is one issue, and off-speed merging another we all tolerate... but some drivers think they alone are immune to speed laws. AND, believe we are in their way.

In middle or right lane - generally at or about speed limit, we sometimes have a driver ride up on our rear and begin blinking high beams, as if that's a legal 'get outta my way signal' ... It's not, and never works.

What do they want us to do, move out of the slower lanes into the fast lane, so they can speed past us on the right?? Never can figure that one.

[colliehauler]

When I go through a large city I try to pick the middle lane, doesn't affect people trying to get on the freeway and doesn't slow people in the passing lane down. I try to drive with the flow of traffic and not be a obstacle.

[time2roll]

opnspaces wrote:
I'm with azdryheat on this one. Seems like we're seeing a cross section of human behavior out on the roads. What I find really disheartening is my fellow RV'rs, the self proclaimed nicest people in the world, putting others at risk. There are multiple posts above to rationalize why the poster is justified in driving in an unsafe manner. Justifications run the gamut from "I'm bigger and can't move over easily" to "I have the right of way and I'm going to take it" And I really love the quote "Not my job to merge you in, bud."

I truly hope that these kinds of quotes above are from keyboard warriors and not indicative of true driving styles.

That is great until they prove otherwise so many times.

Why do they hang on the rear bumper and so I ease on some throttle so they suddenly realize they have enough space to pass and cut me off with little to spare.

The others hang on the front bumper so I start to slow a bit and before long I realize they are doing same and we are both going 30 mph instead of 60. Great, now the person behind is road raging.

After a few of these we get bored and decide to just stay at a steady speed and let them deal with it. We get in trouble for that too. So much burden on the existing traffic to read the mind of the person merging on.

Do my best but it is tough at times.

[opnspaces]

azdryheat wrote:

BTW, I've seen some pretty crappy RV driver behavior, too, so I don't think we have a leg to stand on to criticize non-RVers.

I'm with azdryheat on this one. Seems like we're seeing a cross section of human behavior out on the roads. What I find really disheartening is my fellow RV'rs, the self proclaimed nicest people in the world, putting others at risk. There are multiple posts above to rationalize why the poster is justified in driving in an unsafe manner. Justifications run the gamut from "I'm bigger and can't move over easily" to "I have the right of way and I'm going to take it" And I really love the quote "Not my job to merge you in, bud."

I truly hope that these kinds of quotes above are from keyboard warriors and not indicative of true driving styles.

Grit dog wrote:
Weird, last 2 on-ramp loafers I seen yesterday were both blue hairs. Both women. 1 with a car full of presumably grandkids getting on I 90 at about 44mph and the other, grandma flying solo in a circa mid 90s Buick, same deal.
Pretty sure neither of them consciously thought they were “entitled” to drive so d@mn slow, they were just slow.

You should all probably read Grit dogs post again. Not everybody has the same incredible and legendary driving skill that you have. Does that entitle you to run them off the road as they try to merge?

Johno02 wrote:
It is the "entitled, I get anything I want" generation.

While I agree with the entitled part of this post I question which generation is showing the sense of entitlement here.

Many years ago I was a 19 year old having to take a drivers safety course because of a speeding ticket. The class was taught by an off duty police officer and truly most of it was a blur of boredom soon to be forgotten monologue. But one quote the officer said has stuck with me to this day. It was relevant then and is relevant enough today that I passed it along to my children as I taught them to drive.

"Never force the right of way. You may be right, but you may also be dead right."

[time2roll]

tomman58 wrote:
Next we have the person that thinks you will move over for him as he enters the freeway........ wrong not moving because I have a semi passing on the right.

Yup BTDT. Car attempted to merge in the space between the truck and 5th wheel. Fairly low speed and I thought she was going behind me. She got a failure to yield citation and her insurance paid all damages. This stuff can be learned the easy way or the hard way.

If I can help a bit to get them to have some open space I do but there are limits of what a large vehicle can be expected to actually do. Especially compared to a regular car.

I does amaze me how many people will so effortlessly line up with my door panel instead of the huge open space in front or behind me.

Of course no one wants to get trapped behind a large slow vehicle. Must I let 3, 5, 8 cars wedge in front of me? Then they get all bunched up slam on the brakes. And they wonder why we go a bit slower.

[Jetstreamer]

folivier wrote:
My speed driving my motorhome is 62-64mph. I'm about 60' long and don't have the power or brakes or maneuverability to change speed as quickly as a car. If I move over to the left lane to let someone in then by the time they get in and ahead of me there is usually a line of cars behind me getting PO'd because I'm in the left lane driving much slower than they are. Many times they whip around the right side of me and I'm blocked from getting back in the right lane. So it is much safer for me to remain in the right lane. The person merging can easily adjust their speed to merge either before or after me. So no I won't usually move over for someone to merge unless there is no one coming up behind me. It's all about safety.

This is very true.

[ford_truck_guy]

Grit dog wrote:

Johno02 wrote:
It is the "entitled, I get anything I want" generation. Perfect example of the "spare the rod" child raising school. Give it a few generations for the world to get rid of them.

Weird, last 2 on-ramp loafers I seen yesterday were both blue hairs. Both women. 1 with a car full of presumably grandkids getting on I 90 at about 44mph and the other, grandma flying solo in a circa mid 90s Buick, same deal.
Pretty sure neither of them consciously thought they were “entitled” to drive so d@mn slow, they were just slow.
Now the Subaru with the “coexist” sticker on the back doing 68 mph passing a semi that’s going 67mph in a 70 zone. Yeah I’ll slap the entitlement tag on them leaf lickers!

I firmly believe though, it’s simply lack of awareness of surroundings or others that cause most of the traffic issues, not a conscious desire to mess with others.

Couldn't agree more....

People are clueless when it comes to driving, I firmly believe A LOT of it has to do with technology, WAY TOO much going on inside the cars anymore to actually pay attention to the task at hand - DRIVING....

Its the folks who are merging and just take the lane at the very end as I am unable to merge left due to another vehicle that I want to scream at ! !

[Grit_dog]

Johno02 wrote:
It is the "entitled, I get anything I want" generation. Perfect example of the "spare the rod" child raising school. Give it a few generations for the world to get rid of them.

Weird, last 2 on-ramp loafers I seen yesterday were both blue hairs. Both women. 1 with a car full of presumably grandkids getting on I 90 at about 44mph and the other, grandma flying solo in a circa mid 90s Buick, same deal.
Pretty sure neither of them consciously thought they were “entitled” to drive so d@mn slow, they were just slow.
Now the Subaru with the “coexist” sticker on the back doing 68 mph passing a semi that’s going 67mph in a 70 zone. Yeah I’ll slap the entitlement tag on them leaf lickers!

I firmly believe though, it’s simply lack of awareness of surroundings or others that cause most of the traffic issues, not a conscious desire to mess with others.