Things that annoy me

[Jstpssng]

Hit or miss depending on where I am.. Some intersections you just shouldn't pull out into and sit.

That tractor trailer driver making a left turn onto your road will appreciate that you've left him some space.

 

[Sundancer268]

Not getting annoyed by trivial things is part of the secret of a happy existence...but since you brought it up...
I have to chuckle when I see folks wait until they have walked a short distance after parking their cars in a lot and hit the lock button on their key fobs (sounding the horn)...when all they needed to do is touch the button before they close the door...

I do the key fob thing because, if someone does not get their door closed I get two chirps out of the horn instead of one when everything is correctly closed.

 

[CliffordK]

I figure if someone wants into my car bad enough, they might as well just open the door rather than bashing a window.

Mom's Toyota is kind of nice. She just leaves the key fob in the purse. When she is near the car, the doors automatically unlock, she gets in, and presses a button to go. Never has to dig keys out of the purse. No beeping either.

I think the doors more or less automatically lock when she is away from the car.

By enable the "Child Lock" on the back seat, she can roll the rear windows down for the dog, and the doors can't be opened from the inside, nor the outside (because of the lock).

 

[mostly_gas]

I find that people not ready to go when the light changes annoying. Onr guy sat through a full light cycle and waved when I honked.

 

[sixdogs]

How about the TV or radio commercials that give the obligatory disclaimer at the end in ultra fast talking? It's so fast you can't understand a word of it.

 

[CliffordK]

I find that people not ready to go when the light changes annoying. Onr guy sat through a full light cycle and waved when I honked.

I did that once.
I could see a fire engine coming. Lights flashing everywhere.
And, I wouldn't pull out in front of it.
The guy behind me was honking like crazy....
at least until the fire engine passed.

 

[Larro Darro]

You know who owns GEICO, don't you? Berkshire Hathaway. Warren Buffett.

He turned a tiny company into one of the top three. All with the help of this little guy's cousin.

 

[Bird]

What gets me is people that wait, before the intersection and prior to the crosswalk in order to make a left hand turn. Driver training taught me to pull into the intersection and wait for traffic to open up.

I don't know who did your driver training, but that's sure new to me. I'll guarantee you that you could have just gotten annoyed with my mother because she'd never pull into the intersection to wait to turn left because when she took her first exam for her first driver's license (Ardmore, OK, in 1945), she did that and of course the light turned red while she was still in the intersection and the examiner told her to just go back to the station; automatic failure of the exam for a traffic violation, he counted being in the intersection when the light turned red as running a red light. She had to go take the test again on another day, and she never forgot that.:laughing:

But if I can SEE a break in the traffic coming, I'll pull into the intersection, but if I can't see such a break coming, well, you could just get annoyed with me, too, because I don't intend to still be in the intersection when the light turns red.

And I guess you do know that having your wheels turned to the left while you wait is dangerous because if you get rear ended it'll knock you into the oncoming traffic.

 

[sixdogs]

Bird--good info and I've had others mention that. So maybe I've been driving wrong for the past 50 years? Good thing I'm in the country but that is indeed the way my high school driver training instructor told me. Do I get a do-over?

 

[Bird]

Bird--good info and I've had others mention that. So maybe I've been driving wrong for the past 50 years? Good thing I'm in the country but that is indeed the way my high school driver training instructor told me. Do I get a do-over?

As long as there's no accident or road rage incident, you're cool.:laughing::laughing: I guess most public schools have quit teaching driver's ed in high school and for more than one reason.:laughing: As with any occupational group, there are good and bad drivers among school teachers, and the one I had in the 10th grade taught some good ideas and some that definitely do not apply in this day and age. My own experience many years ago, when I was a patrolman, and what I've read other places, was that school teachers as a group were usually poor drivers, but you'd never convince one that he/she did anything wrong. I once said something in front of my wife about school teachers being poor drivers and she told me, "You shouldn't say that; my oldest brother is a school teacher." He had rear ended a dump truck and demolished his Olds a couple of weeks earlier.:laughing:

I can't remember just where it was, but I once read a study that concluded that there is an inverse relationship between education and driving ability, and of course, we all know there are exceptions to every rule. I do wonder if that conclusion was valid or not.

 

[Larro Darro]

I hate it when tomato worms don't know the difference between peppers and tomatoes. And it rains for 14 days straight so all the dust washes off your plants. Look at the amount of poop around the little Habanero plant. We never did find a worm on it.

 

[txdon]

Bird, MPgerma lives in Houston did the research. - here is the answer...

"I have already researched this earlier this year.

Texas criminal code states it is against the law to ENTER an intersection after the light turns red. You will get a ticket for running a red light if you ENTER the intersection after the light turns red. You should not get a ticket if you are already in the intersection.

However, in Houston, we have a city ordinance that concerns red light cameras. It states that if you are IN an intersection when the light turns red, you will get a violation from the City of Houston and will need to pay a fine. It is different from the criminal code. There are still people arguing this difference with the city council so we will have to see if it changes. Many people have gotten "tickets" from city of houston for being stuck in traffic IN the intersection when it turned red and the flash on the red light camera went off. I know because it happened to me and thats when I started all my research.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/houston/530247-texas-traffic-laws-waiting-intersection-turn-4.html#ixzz2Yks7quAa"

Above is what I was taught, however the cameras do add another problem.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I don't know who did your driver training, but that's sure new to me. I'll guarantee you that you could have just gotten annoyed with my mother because she'd never pull into the intersection to wait to turn left because when she took her first exam for her first driver's license (Ardmore, OK, in 1945), she did that and of course the light turned red while she was still in the intersection and the examiner told her to just go back to the station; automatic failure of the exam for a traffic violation, he counted being in the intersection when the light turned red as running a red light. She had to go take the test again on another day, and she never forgot that.:laughing:

But if I can SEE a break in the traffic coming, I'll pull into the intersection, but if I can't see such a break coming, well, you could just get annoyed with me, too, because I don't intend to still be in the intersection when the light turns red.

And I guess you do know that having your wheels turned to the left while you wait is dangerous because if you get rear ended it'll knock you into the oncoming traffic.

The examiner was wrong. If your front wheels are past the white line when the light turns red, you did not run it. But now, you must clear the intersection..

 

[Midniteoyl]

Bird, MPgerma lives in Houston did the research. - here is the answer...

"I have already researched this earlier this year.

Texas criminal code states it is against the law to ENTER an intersection after the light turns red. You will get a ticket for running a red light if you ENTER the intersection after the light turns red. You should not get a ticket if you are already in the intersection.

However, in Houston, we have a city ordinance that concerns red light cameras. It states that if you are IN an intersection when the light turns red, you will get a violation from the City of Houston and will need to pay a fine. It is different from the criminal code. There are still people arguing this difference with the city council so we will have to see if it changes. Many people have gotten "tickets" from city of houston for being stuck in traffic IN the intersection when it turned red and the flash on the red light camera went off. I know because it happened to me and thats when I started all my research.

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/forum/houston/530247-texas-traffic-laws-waiting-intersection-turn-4.html#ixzz2Yks7quAa"

Above is what I was taught, however the cameras do add another problem.

Also look at how long the yellow is. Most states have a law saying how long the yellow should be. When the cameras go in, the company shortens that time. If you can prove it, ticket gets thrown out. Several have been busted already with some cities taking the cameras out altogether because it costs so much in court fees they were actually losing money.

 

[mikehaugen]

As long as we are on the traffic discussion I hate it when people pull over to the side when there is an emergency vehicle coming on the other side of a four lane divided highway. In fact I was told by a traffic school teacher (yes the kind you go to after you get a ticket) that you only need to YIELD to emergency vehicles... if you are not in the way, even on a two lane road, you do not need to pull over- though in this case I usually do.

Probably my biggest annoyance however is loud eaters... especially ones that chew with their mouth open.

 

[Midniteoyl]

I move over 'cause the other idiot in the way just might not pull over.. This way the emergency vehicle has plenty of room..

 

[mikehaugen]

I'm talking about an open state highway with nobody in sight except me and the guy in front of me or a divided highway with a curbed divider where the ambulance would have to jump the boulevard for you to be in his way or on an open open interstate with eighty feet and a ditch between you and oncoming traffic.

 

[aczlan]

I'm talking about an open state highway with nobody in sight except me and the guy in front of me or a divided highway with a curbed divider where the ambulance would have to jump the boulevard for you to be in his way or on an open open interstate with eighty feet and a ditch between you and oncoming traffic.

From what I have read, in that case (like with a schoolbus in the same situation) you only have to stop if the ambulance is on your side of the highway.

Aaron Z

 

[Bird]

I figured I was going to start something.:laughing:

TXDon, I never issued a red light traffic citation to anyone who entered an intersection before the light turned red, and don't know of any other officers who did. And I don't know what's being done with the red light cameras now-a-days, but many years ago, Dallas did have officers in the downtown area issue citations to drivers who got caught in the intersection when the light turned red. In other words, they entered the intersection without having room to clear the intersection before the light changed, so they then had the traffic blocked that had a green light. I don't remember for sure, but I think instead of a red light violation, the citations were for "obstructing traffic."

Midniteoyl,

The examiner was wrong. If your front wheels are past the white line when the light turns red, you did not run it. But now, you must clear the intersection.

I agree, but since I don't know what the law was in Oklahoma in 1945 I can't say whether he was right or wrong.

Most states have a law saying how long the yellow should be.

And the higher the speed limit on that street, the longer the light is supposed to stay yellow.

When the cameras go in, the company shortens that time.

Never heard of that, so I wouldn't know, but I guess we all know that the red light cameras are controversial.

mikehaugen,

I was told by a traffic school teacher (yes the kind you go to after you get a ticket) that you only need to YIELD to emergency vehicles... if you are not in the way, even on a two lane road, you do not need to pull over

I don't know about the law in your state, but in Texas

Sec. 545.156. VEHICLE APPROACHED BY AUTHORIZED EMERGENCY VEHICLE. (a) On the immediate approach of an authorized emergency vehicle using audible and visual signals that meet the requirements of Sections 547.305 and 547.702, or of a police vehicle lawfully using only an audible signal, an operator, unless otherwise directed by a police officer, shall:

(1) yield the right-of-way;

(2) immediately drive to a position parallel to and as close as possible to the right-hand edge or curb of the roadway clear of any intersection; and

(3) stop and remain standing until the authorized emergency vehicle has passed.

 

[sixdogs]

Bird--my thinking over the years is that those who can, do and those who can't, teach. Probably could start a fight with that, and it certainly doesn't apply in all cases but I think it makes a lot of sense.