are you seeing increasingly stupid drivers?

[97guns]

im not talking bad drivers im talking stupid drivers, theres a big difference. stupid drivers making bad decisions like pulling out in front of you or getting in front of you and jamming on the brakes or slowing down in the fast lane on the freeway to change lanes and make their exit.

the list goes on for me at least, just today im waiting at the light to enter the freeway behind a car and an idiot behind me. light turns green and we proceed to enter but this idiot jumps into the carpool lane where it ends right before entering the freeway, theres absolutely nowhere for him to go except between me and the lead car. he EXPECTS me to let him in but im under 1 cars length with the front car, he jams it in and i lay the horn. next time im blocking and keeping these sob's behind me where they are at fault, i read this guy like a book and knew exactly what he was gonna do, next time he gets blocked

[rennigade]

Its a little bit of stupid but more of an impatient problem.

I live in DC...ive noticed over the years that less and less people use turn signals. When I go home back to PA ive noticed that happening there more and more as well. Maybe its a trickle down effect from major areas...not sure.

I definitely think people are in more of a hurry now than ever before. Thats probably due to technology and having access to almost everything instantly on demand. Most now carry smartphones in your pocket that can answer just about any question within seconds with a simple search. Just a decade ago that didnt really exist. (just a quick search said iphone was released in 2007...so up until then smartphones were terrible and didnt work well...so less than a decade ago.)

What 97 is experiencing is just people who would rather not wait an extra 6 seconds but instead will gladly pull out in front to inconvenience someone else. Or cutting someone off to possibly shave off a couple seconds. Patience is all but dead and will not exist in another 10 years.

[disneysteve]

I'm not sure of the difference between bad and stupid, but yes, there are certainly a lot more people driving poorly, and pretty much all for the same reason as far as I can tell: distracted driving. I see people every day swerving, drifting across lanes, stopping short nearly rear ending someone, and invariably the driver has a cell phone in his/her hand.

I love to drive, but it's becoming more and more nerve wracking when I look in my rear view mirror and the driver behind me is looking at their lap or visibly texting and not looking at the road. Or they have a GPS mounted smack in the middle of their windshield, like that's not in the way of actually seeing what's happening.

The car manufacturers have given in to the trend with Chevy now offering cars with WiFi. Some have a system that will read your facebooks posts to you. WHY? What could possibly be so vitally important that you need to know it while you're supposed to be focusing on driving.

Folks, when you get in the car, turn your phone OFF. Not on vibrate. Not on Bluetooth. Actually turn it OFF.

[bjl584]

I'm seeing increasingly stupid people. Everywhere that I go. People are self absorbed, ignorant, oblivious, and rude.

Just the other day, some guy riding his bike must have broke the chain. So, instead of moving off the side of the road he was trying to fix it right in the middle of an intersection. What would make him think that that was ok to do?

A few days before that, walking into a super busy store at an amusement park that I was at a man stops right in the doorway and starts taking family pictures. Really? He totally jammed up the whole doorway while hundreds of people were trying to go in and out of the place.

I could go on and on. I don't know when people became so oblivious to their surroundings and why people don't know how to properly act around other people.

[disneysteve]

Everywhere that I go. People are self absorbed, ignorant, oblivious, and rude.

Bingo. This exactly.

This is clearly on display at your local supermarket. I do the food shopping in our house so I see it every week. People stop their cart right at the end of an aisle, totally blocking anyone from getting past, while they review their shopping list, decide what they need next, or send a text on their phone. Or they stop the cart smack in the middle of the aisle rather than putting it to one side which would still allow others to pass. Or they just suddenly stop and start backing up without bothering to look if anyone is behind them. I can't tell you how many times someone has slammed into my cart doing that.

We also see it all the time when we go to Disney World. People stand in the doorway of a shop or restaurant and stop to pull out their park map to decide where they're heading next. Or they stand blocking the entrance to a ride because their Fastpass time isn't for a few minutes but making it impossible for the people with active Fastpasses to enter.

It just doesn't seem to occur to these people that they are not the only ones in the universe.

[97guns]

yep all that for me too ^ but there are still many that will hold open a door for you

[rennigade]

It just doesn't seem to occur to these people that they are not the only ones in the universe.

These people that you are describing...a lot of them are completely oblivious to their surroundings. My FIL is exactly like this. He's a disaster waiting to happen. He doesnt text and drive but he's all over the road...he'll walk in the middle of the road when there is a sidewalk, stop and take pictures in a heavily foot traffic area. The kicker is if my wife and I are with him she'll yell at him and he'll either say he doesnt care or he'll say "so what", he'll laugh about it, or he'll get p*ssed off and yell back. Its a really odd thing to see coming from a 60+ year old man child. One of the rudest people ive ever met because he's clueless.

[disneysteve]

a lot of them are completely oblivious to their surroundings.

The oblivious factor is a big one. And it's one thing to be clueless with your shopping cart. It's entirely different to be oblivious when you are piloting a 2-ton hunk of metal traveling at high speed. How many times have I seen a driver suddenly cut across two lanes of traffic to make a right turn from the left lane? Or not bother to stop at a red light, not even slowing down? Or backing up on a highway off ramp apparently changing his/her mind about getting off there. Or making a sudden u-turn in the middle of a busy road. They are very clearly doing these things with intent. It isn't accidental. They just don't care. I can almost kind of understand not caring about others but when doing these things, they don't care about themselves either because they are putting themselves in very imminent danger. It makes no sense to me at all.

[greenskeeper]

I'm seeing increasingly stupid people. Everywhere that I go. People are self absorbed, ignorant, oblivious, and rude.

I don't know when people became so oblivious to their surroundings and why people don't know how to properly act around other people.

I can pinpoint it.....the invention of the "selfie" *shudders*

[greenskeeper]

next time im blocking and keeping these sob's behind me where they are at fault, i read this guy like a book and knew exactly what he was gonna do, next time he gets blocked

Why? The guy was an a-hole and you were in the right. I'd let the guy in and keep driving safely to my destination. Too many wack jobs out there to let something like that escalate.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I agree that the bad driving has increased. I think there is a greater proportion of bad drivers, but I also think that the sheer number of all drivers, good or bad has increased hugely since the days I was first driving. I think I even read that there are four times more cars on the road now than 30 years ago in my metro area. More crowded highways and streets make the likelihood of "running into one" higher; going about our business safely is made dangerous.

I might be one of the few people out there who doesn't think they are a super good driver. My skills are mediocre. But I've never had an accident and I've certainly never caused one. I try to be vigilant, to anticipate what I may need to do and what others may need or simply want to do. I try to be a polite, considerate driver. Really, I hope that helps traffic move better and people to not get angry or impatient while driving. Driving while highly emotional is not a good thing.

[DaveInPgh]

Everywhere that I go. People are self absorbed, ignorant, oblivious, and rude.

There was a post in another thread today stating that fortunately there are way more good people than bad in the world.

My first thought when I read that was the person must not leave the house. My commute to and from work consists of people intentionally pulling into intersections and blocking traffic when they don't have the right away. And during the day as a pedestrian, I often wonder if today is the day someone is going to kill me in the crosswalk.

So I am not sure if it is just people's driving that sucks or if people just suck in general.

[rennigade]

I can pinpoint it.....the invention of the "selfie" *shudders*

Agreed...also...can we also ban the word "selfie" while we're at it? Makes me cringe when people say that. When did wanting a picture 3 feet away from your face become so popular?

[disneysteve]

I also think that the sheer number of all drivers, good or bad has increased hugely since the days I was first driving. I think I even read that there are four times more cars on the road now than 30 years ago in my metro area.

This is definitely a factor. The roads are far more crowded than when I got my license in 1980.

Another technology problem besides cell phones is GPS. People no longer bother to learn where they're going so they aren't prepared for what they need to do. When was the last time someone gave you directions for anything, mentioning landmarks to watch for or how many traffic lights to count so that you will know when your turn is approaching? Today it's all about punching in the destination, hitting start, and listening to the commands which sometimes have you needing to turn left when you're stuck in the right lane. Reasonable people like me just keep going and turn around when there is an opportunity but far too many people just jam on the breaks and cut across traffic to stay on the dictated course.

[Nutria]

I could go on and on. I don't know when people became so oblivious to their surroundings and why people don't know how to properly act around other people.

Blame the Me Generation for the beginning of the end of manners.