My kid’s just finished the classroom part of driver education and it prompted a discussion of crazy things we’ve seen other drivers do.
The craziest thing I saw, many years ago now, was I came up behind a guy driving a Ford Ranger pickup and could see through his rear window that he was doing tricep extensions with a dumbbell in his right hand. I was more surprised as I passed to see he was shaving with an electric razor in his left hand. I don’t really know how he was steering.
Kiddo said they were told personal grooming was the fourth leading cause of accidents.
Watch Lord of the Rings on a phone mounted on the steering wheel. I called the police immediately.
Shockingly, watching videos while driving is not illegal in many US states (some it’s ambiguous, others there’s simply no law that actually bans it)
Strange. In the Netherlands you get a big fine even for talking on the phone without any screen interaction. Just holding it to your ear is already forbidden.
As you should. That movie deserves a bigger screen and decent sound setup. Watching it on a phone is criminal.
I’ve climbed out of the passenger window across the roof and back through the window of the door for the seat behind the driver while my friend was driving us around once.
E: oh yeah this friend didn’t have his license at the time either
Just last week, a car had missed their turn on the motorway, so decided to REVERSE up the hard shoulder.
On Sunday there was a crash blocking an Autobahn. 50 cars turned around and drove back to the nearest exit, on the emergency lane kept free for the ambulance.
I see this shit far too often. It makes me wonder if they’re aware their gps can get them rerouted without having to risk their or anyone else’s necks.
I’ve seen elderly folks do that a few times. Not on the shoulder, but still in their lane, backing up into oncoming traffic. (Yes, I did spend some time living in Florida.)
Reminds me of a saying I heard: “Good drivers sometimes miss their turn. Bad drivers never miss their turn.”
I can’t agree more. I always say if you miss a turn or get in the wrong lane then “own your mistake and go around”
Too many times I see someone got in the wrong lane so they turn on their signal and wait or just plow over to the lane they wanted and cut others off. Nobody understands the solid white line. If it’s sold white you can’t cross it!
I was rear ended while waiting to make a left turn on a rural highway. We got out and look at the car behind us. The windshield is completely splattered in red. It was two guys eating chips and a bowl of salsa.
In the car: lady fully putting on mascara in a rainstorm
With a car: also raining, guy speeding doing 100 in a 65 with no lights on. Wife pulls the car onto the highway and he almost hits us, jerks left and 360s in this long, slow (in my memory it’s slow, probably happened in like 4 seconds) spin and comes to a dead stop facing perfectly forward and in the dirt of the median. Watched him turn on his lights and start to pull forward before we were out of sight
Pittsburgh has some of the worst drivers I’ve ever seen. Running red lights and waiting for yield signs to turn green is the norm there. I’ve seen at least 5 accidents caused by a Pittsburgher stopping at the end of an entrance ramp to a highway.
Unfortunately my car was finally sent to the body shop after 7 years dodging people, and 3 months from leaving the city by a lady who decided to make a left turn from the right lane. Luckily I always have a dashcam running, no one was hurt and the police wrote her a ticket. This lady was a high level Karen, and went ballistic when I asked if she was ok after she crashed into me. Best part was when her husband showed up 10mins later and apologized to me for his, “dumbass wife” who just knocked the mirrors off his truck.
Me and a few other drivers were parked by an unmanned gas station (late night near airport pickup that charged per minute from entry) - anyway, an early '00s renault hatchback swings into the station, pulling a U-turn before three unmarked police vehicles with sirens on surround it.
Officers step out and walk over, having a chat with the driver for a bit. Then, the driver steps out and the other passengers start to come out, one after another. After a little bit, there are twelve adults have exited this little hatchback along with a bunch of luggage. Driver is arrested shortly after.
Never seen anything like it before or after.
I was with my uncle (ca 1990) when he confidently took an offramp and got onto the I5 freeway going the wrong direction in an RV.
Bad enough with the wrong way, but in an RV is so much worse!
During morning rush hour (a near-standstill occasionally broken by brief periods of 10mph movement), I once saw a woman eating a bowl of soup/oatmeal/whatever while steering with her elbows.
It seemed to be a regional norm to eat breakfast in the car because a 20 mile commute generally took 1.5-3 hours and often moved slower than a walking pace, but that was the only time I’d ever seen someone eating food that required a dish and utensil.
This was my experience going down the GW Parkway. People frequently had the morning Post unfolded all the way reading it, and others applying eyeliner and mascara.
Sounds like the kind of commute where an ebike would be life changing in time savings
While stopped at a red light, a taxi casually got onto the right sidewalk and drove on it to get to the front of the line.
I’d give an A for dedication to customers I guess.
Next we’ll be learning taxis are amphibious.
Late '70s, on a winding paved backroad heading into town, a smaller car coming in the opposite direction lost traction (a light, misty rain had just gone through) and rolled twice in a field before landing upright.
My buddy and I quickly pulled over and ran towards the car to make sure everything was alright.
They drove off before we got to them…
Ok…I want THAT car!!! Forget airbags, and modern safety standards. This dude rolls his car TWICE and just drives off.
…until you get in a collision and the car crumples up and squeezes you out like red toothpaste.
Cars like that don’t crumple up, you just bounce around inside till you die
Ya, iirc, it was something like a Datsun or Toyota compact car, which were a lot smaller and fragile than today’s compacts.
This is one of those events that you chalk up to pure luck.
There was a vehicle I’d see on my daily commute for awhile. It would run every red light on one of the larger streets in my city, but the driver would slow down to make sure no one was coming.
The unfortunate thing was that due to the timing, I could easily and legally follow about 3-4 seconds behind the vehicle as the green lights are timed and the driver just happened to be a bit ahead of the cycle. I witnessed them more than a few times.
but the driver would slow down to make sure no one was coming.
Sounds like pretty safe driving to me.
Safe-ish, until some other driver on the crossing road approaches way faster than estimated, sees the light go yellow and floors it. Sure, they might see it in time, but there’s a risk they don’t. My dad once didn’t see a crossing car at a yield intersection despite looking that way and got T-boned. He didn’t think he was doing anything unsafe either.
Still safer than just blazing through though, so I guess partial credit for being carefully impatient?
Comparatively yeah. It just sticks with me because apparently those 3-4 seconds made all the difference.
It was a welcome addition to the conversation (just in case you took my previous comment negatively).
No negativity taken. I’m sure I’ve seen worse regularly… Too regularly. To the point that I don’t bother committing it to memory at this point. People driving on the median or opposing traffic as a shortcut? Daily. People holding up an intersection to show off their sick burnout skills? A couple times a year.
Most of what I’ve read in here though? I haven’t seen anyone so absorbed in not driving while driving.
Tailgating is the most dangerous thing I’ve seen.
Once I saw 5 cars travelling at 80+ mph each with barely a few feet between them
My driving instructor ran a red light, driving with one hand (sometimes even no hands on the wheel for a few seconds), texting and calling while driving.
Surprisingly, when it came to the lessons, he’s the strictest instructor I’ve ever had. Teaching me good habits and forces me following the laws by-the-letter.
I passed my driver’s license with max points.
My driving instructor always told me: “you must follow all the rules of the road until you get your license. Then you can break them all you want, but be prepared for the consequences.”
That’s shitty teaching.
When you break the rules of the road, others have to live with the consequences, too.
Was waiting outside the student union one afternoon. Loads of other students about. Student guy drives past slowly in an old Vauxhall Nova or similar, thinking he’s pretty cool. Then the front wheel falls off, and starts rolling down the street. The car slams into the road loudly and the guy gets out and starts chasing after the wheel. Didn’t end up looking as cool as he’d hoped.
There was a guy I used to see in traffic who used to play trumpet as he drove. It’s been more than 20 years since I saw him and I still think about it from time to time.
