Ladies and gents, just a silly question. Have you noticed road behavior getting worse over the past few years, or is it just me? I moved here from Alberta as of 2004, and in my entire life in Alberta, I had precisely one road incident as a pedestrian (Got bumped lightly by an elderly gent who was quite apologetic. No harm, no foul, that time). I can remember over half a dozen near misses in BC now where I've either nearly been run down, or exposed to near criminal stupidity (One was a lady wearing a goddamn bingo visor on her face upside down, as sunglasses. No joke). The reason I ask, is because I've now experienced yet another fit of stupidity; I was nearly run down along with two other people, *again*, last night, by a moron passing a stopped vehicle through a marked crosswalk (He wasn't even passing on the road either, he was passing on the yellow paint marked sidewalk at a crosswalk, on the right, through a three way stop, around stopped traffic).
What the hell, seriously.
*tries not to be racist*
But I can say this, damn old ladies. >.<
Yes, it is getting very retarded. I've seen a whole lot of swerving in and out of traffic on the #1 in front of me EVERY TIME I go for a drive with my sister. Literally, every time, I'm calling in dangerous drivers because I'm the one in the passenger seat.
Everyone, if we want this to stop, we need to give the police people to chase that deserve it. That's what they're there for. Even if a lot of us consider them a gang hired by the crown.
: Van_Fox December 03, 2010, 11:24:35 -07:00
*tries not to be racist*
But I can say this, damn old ladies. >.<
The idiot I just had an encounter with was a male who didn't look any older than 30.
and old ladies aren't a race. Last I checked, anyways.
. . . Not to be rude, but I find Albertan drivers tend to speed a lot. :-X
It's ironic to me that I should find this thread. Last night on my way home from the bank I was nearly run over by a woman running a yellow light. I'm assuming the pedestrian lights have a quicker reaction time than the traffic lights, my light had the little picture of the white guy crossing the street, the traffic light had just turned yellow. She thought she could blast through in time, but I got in the way! ;D The silly thing had to slam on her brakes in the centre of an intersection.
: Selkit December 03, 2010, 11:30:22 -07:00
: Van_Fox December 03, 2010, 11:24:35 -07:00
*tries not to be racist*
But I can say this, damn old ladies. >.<
The idiot I just had an encounter with was a male who didn't look any older than 30.
worse drivers are Albertans dude! xD get behind one of them, your sure to get into an accident.
When did you get in an accident behind an alberta driver? :P
Alberta drivers speed because all their roads are straight.
Still, living in edmonton for two years in the 90s, there were aggressive drivers, but not so many stupid drivers.
i think its mostly the city, way too many drivers in onve plave not to mention all the immagrants and what not, not to be racist either but this is just my interetion of it, being not from the city, the last time i had to go to richmond were all doing between 120 and 140 on the free way and i noticed alto of drivers (yes i looked just about everyone was asian but they would just pull into a small spacve ahed of you and slow down to almost 80 once the were infont of you. PRETTY FUCKING DANGEROUS if you ask me, again not trying to be racist but we just have too many people from too many parts of the world driving as they would in their home countries its just not safe, partially our fault i think we should have mandatory drivng schools and stuff for people thatcome over from other countries especialy the ones that alredy hold a drivers lisene from another country/provience if neeed be just my 2 cents
: Blue December 03, 2010, 11:40:31 -07:00
and old ladies aren't a race. Last I checked, anyways.
I never said they were O.o
I don't think it's the high Asian population we have here in BC... just avoid Burnaby and Richmond. :P
Eh, I've been driving for just over 11years now in both BC and AB, I think everyone has their bad drivers, and I can't really say if there are worse here or not... I think it's more of a different kind of bad driving... AB seems to have a lot of speeders, where as BC has the "fender bender while trying to park" people.. I dunno, I just drive really defensively and so far have not had an accident.
p.s. if my post makes no sense, it's because I am sick D:
I haven't had a license or driven in several years... but when I first got it, I was driving along one of the short streets in Qualicum Bay (LOTS of retired people there btw) and almost got hit THREE TIMES within 10 seconds by people backing out of the diagonal parking stalls without looking behind them. >_____<
I have also notice that a lot of people completely disregard speed limits. Regardless of how fast you drive, there are always a bunch of those that still want to go 20km/h faster than you.
I can tell you of two recent cases involving 'clueless' drivers. One in which I personally saw, the other my room mate just told me about the other day.
Dad was driving me south bound on King George. We were slowing down for the red lights just in front of the Best Buy, at the mall. The thing to note about that intersection is that both directions on King George have left hand turn signals. Just as we were about to pull up, the lights turned green for going straight through. A box van, one lane in and slightly ahead of us, had just starting to accelerate as it had been stopped at the red light. A car in the other direction, sitting in the left turn lane suddenly took off and got in front of the box truck. It then ended up getting rammed and spun around across the intersection right in front of us. My dad managed to come to a controlled stop, so we weren't hit. Left turn signals do not turn green when opposing traffic already have a green light, so she had jumped her light for whatever reason.
The other account has something of a better ending, as told by my room mate to me a few nights ago.
The road we live near is on a long, moderately inclined hill. It flattens out at the bottom for a bit before coming to four way stopped intersection. Seems one person in particular has this rather nasty habit of flying down the hill in his car, then blowing through the intersection like it isn't even there. My room mate told me that almost every time she goes out, she is nearly hit by this person's car. Several days ago she was walking along, the same car goes down the road. At the intersection was a stopped unmarked police car. The car that was flying down the hill, slows down just a bit before going through the intersection, but still blows the stop sign. The driver must have realized the cop was there, stopped in the middle of the intersection. Then, for whatever reason, decided to take a turn down the other road in front of the cop. The cop pulls a quick J-turn and pulls the car over.
On the way back, my room mate sees two cop cars sitting where they had pulled over the guy's car.Their lights were still flashing. She went over to thank them for pulling the car over. Told them the story of, whenever she goes out for a walk down the street and this car comes by, she would almost get hit ever time. Turns out, the other cop was there because he had given that same person five other tickets earlier that day. Then as my room mate was walking back up the hill, the same car came flying down the hill again. Only this time, the driver saw the flashing police lights and decided to do a u-turn.
What the f*** happens in Penticton at 4pm?!? Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I've encountered some of the worst, most laughably terrible driving since moving to this town.
I mean, after a couple weeks, I noticed pretty quickly that people here just run red lights and stop signs when they don't feel like stopping. They just... go through. No slowing. I've never seen that phenomenon nearly as often anywhere else.
But when the sun goes down, people just start driving as if they were f***ing Superman, and everyone else are the useless meatbags that keep his days full of endless annoyances. Left turn only lane? Naaahh, I'll go straight ahead! Thirty kph speed limit? I'm in a hurry, man, I'll just do seventy. Oh, look, a bike lane, that will make it SO MUCH EASIER to get to that red light so I can slam on my brakes!
Anyways, sorry for the bitchiness, you lot. I'm just... really peeved that people seem to forget that they are not whipping around in a two thousand pound pile of fluffy pillows, they are riding around in something very capable of ending a life or worse, maiming someone for life. Then again, I'm grumpy with humanity in general occasionally, for being so utterly blind to anyone outside their immediate circus. Bleah. In somewhat related news, I picked up the electronic parts I was looking to get in the first place, elsewhere. The howling demon nerfgun now runs at 24v. :evil:
S'why I never trust other drivers. I always assume they can't see me.
On the other end of the spectrum, I dislike pedestrians who assume cars would stop for them every time and that they own the road. "IM GONNA WALK WITHOUT WATCHING OUT FOR ONCOMING CARS!.. ALSO VERY SLOWLY!"
I drove in my mustang at 240 regularly and i never had any issues with my own safety or others (drove at night with nobody around XD) But i do notice how bad some other drivers are! It annoys the crap out of me ><
Astraithious, I have this sudden urge to throw things at you. What kind of reaction time do you have at 240 if a dark colored object wanders onto the roadway, or say, you encounter a chair in the road that fell off while someone was moving (Seen that happen; Orka came within about half a foot of skewering his front bumper with chairlegs on the 405 in Redmond. Had all of 150 feet worth of reaction time, and only saw it when another vehicle swerved around it). Reckless, stupid...
Chairs on the... Wait, what???
But, in accordance with this topic, I see B. Columbians talking about how bad us Albertans are at driving. Over in A-ville, we say the same thing about people from BC. But. But, I do realize we suck at driving, too. We tend to race more, as we are used to having flat amounts of land and not a lotta sharp bends to maneuver about. I see that BC peeps tend to be more maneuveristic, and only try to use it to their advantage in dodging obstacles. Like others here, I am a defensive driver. However, as my vehicle is back home for the time being... I cannot prove such x3!
Being in the city has proven to be quite an experience, watching how cars race to get from A to B, and seeing how many risks they want to take. I have had my ass almost shaved off a few times by cars zooming behind me while I cross at a crosswalk. I do not know about you, but I prefer my ass in one piece, thanks...
: Van_Fox December 03, 2010, 11:24:35 -07:00
*tries not to be racist*
But I can say this, damn old ladies. >.<
Now you're being ageist.
: Selkit December 04, 2010, 04:24:01 -07:00
Astraithious, I have this sudden urge to throw things at you. What kind of reaction time do you have at 240 if a dark colored object wanders onto the roadway, or say, you encounter a chair in the road that fell off while someone was moving (Seen that happen; Orka came within about half a foot of skewering his front bumper with chairlegs on the 405 in Redmond. Had all of 150 feet worth of reaction time, and only saw it when another vehicle swerved around it). Reckless, stupid...
Some people can drive, some people can't! I've never had an issue ever. Plus i race at Eagle motorplex near ashcroft BC , my reaction time is pretty good. I also never endanger anybody but myself, and the highway between hope and kamloops you can usually see quite far ahead of yourself. I guess i am just lucky to =)
Ohhhohoho... I find it both funny and ironic that it's always been watching someone with an Alberta license plate that had me questioning why some people were given drivers' licenses! :evil:
But yeah... depends on where you live, I guess. I grew up in the countryside, where everyone I know learned how to drive their first tractor as soon as their feet could reach the pedals. I've never seen an incident between rural folk; but every time I drive through downtown Chilliwack or drive into Vancouver, I see some pretty ridiculous bullshit. =\ The highway from Chilliwack to Hope (where I work) isn't any better, unfortunately. Even out that way, accidents usually involve some retarded city-slicker in a big dumb Denali or H3 with sickeningly huge and shiny rims. >(
: Astraithious December 04, 2010, 12:30:24 -07:00
: Selkit December 04, 2010, 04:24:01 -07:00
Astraithious, I have this sudden urge to throw things at you. What kind of reaction time do you have at 240 if a dark colored object wanders onto the roadway, or say, you encounter a chair in the road that fell off while someone was moving (Seen that happen; Orka came within about half a foot of skewering his front bumper with chairlegs on the 405 in Redmond. Had all of 150 feet worth of reaction time, and only saw it when another vehicle swerved around it). Reckless, stupid...
Some people can drive, some people can't! I've never had an issue ever. Plus i race at Eagle motorplex near ashcroft BC , my reaction time is pretty good. I also never endanger anybody but myself, and the highway between hope and kamloops you can usually see quite far ahead of yourself. I guess i am just lucky to =)
Having covered a lot of accidents involving people driving ridiculously fast on the Coquihalla, several in which they had to scrape the drivers off of the roadway with a spoon, I'd highly suggest slowing down. Plus the Highway Patrol up there doesn't mess around.
I do slow down, and yea i know i was caught by one! Took him over 10 minutes to catch up (stopped at merrit) yay for 400$ tickets lol, oh well. New rules means i can't speed anymore but last year was amazing! =)
: z00p December 04, 2010, 01:29:28 -07:00
S'why I never trust other drivers. I always assume they can't see me.
On the other end of the spectrum, I dislike pedestrians who assume cars would stop for them every time and that they own the road. "IM GONNA WALK WITHOUT WATCHING OUT FOR ONCOMING CARS!.. ALSO VERY SLOWLY!"
yes i agree and some times i swear they want to get hit like constant situations ive been exelerating to change gear so i can smooth out the ride witch in my car is vary loud and mack it obvious im there the pedestrians just calmly walk across the street not evan in a crosswalk grrrr
and not to mention other drivers withe there hight beams grrrrrr
Pedestrians. They jaywalk all over Kamloops. It's a bloody wonder I haven't hit one yet.
Distracted drivers. I've had more than a few close calls with them. On two occasions, a distracted driver plowed into the rear of the truck I was driving. The second time, the f***ing s**t was paying more attention to the INFANT in the passenger seat. >:( He hit me at more than 90 km/h in a 60 zone.
Chinese drivers. They have NO PLACE WHATSOEVER in the driver's seat of anything. They don't give a s**t about the "Rules of the Road".
Oh... For the record, I learned to drive in Alberta. :P
: Fargo December 05, 2010, 01:36:47 -07:00
Pedestrians. They jaywalk all over Kamloops. It's a bloody wonder I haven't hit one yet.
Distracted drivers. I've had more than a few close calls with them. On two occasions, a distracted driver plowed into the rear of the truck I was driving. The second time, the f***ing s**t was paying more attention to the INFANT in the passenger seat. >:( He hit me at more than 90 km/h in a 60 zone.
Chinese drivers. They have NO PLACE WHATSOEVER in the driver's seat of anything. They don't give a s**t about the "Rules of the Road".
Oh... For the record, I learned to drive in Alberta. :P
everybody on the road but me is a liability and should be removed. (kidding! ;D ) but it seems to me that there are some really bad drivers out there, with alberta plates or not. (not that people from alberta are bad drivers, but they did their drivers test when they were 15 and never had to make a corner or go up a hill, and when you see one on a bend with an incline, you had better believe they drive slow.) but then again, i speed everywhere. the less time i spend on the road the better.
and i'm not gonna say that Chinese drivers are any worse than other races, but whenever i drive through Richmond i use extreme caution. and i mean extreme, i was once behind an asian woman who was driving a big truck and swerving from lane to lane. at least when she wasn't on the center-line of the road. point is i couldn't pass her on a 2 lane road! i had to wait until there was no traffic and pass in the oncoming lane.
Im part asian ;...; And i drive better while faster then many people ^^
Yea kamloops sucks for people.... eugh!! hate those cyclists
...all of this is a big reason why I take public transit, and only drive for pleasure/groceries. o.o; The other reason being how fricking expensive gas is, and my car gets something like 16L/100km. XD Sure is fun to drive the Sea to Sky, though. :P
After years of doing the daily driver grind, I've noticed that rush hours are insane here - the 'rush' part is obvious, and I've only really had one minor fender-bender where on a 3-lane-in-one-direction road, two of us on the outside lanes both tried to switch to the centre lane at the same time, and kissed doors. c.c;
Now that driving is just a matter of going up the road to the store, or maybe to Coquitlam to see my parents, usually late at night or on the weekend, I don't usually have an issue - part of it is being much more defensive now, and generally sticking to no more than 10-15km/h over the limit, if that, and the right lane where possible. :p I'm sorry - you guys want to be an idiot and burn through faster to that red light up ahead that I've already timed and know will change by the time I get there? Go right ahead, have the left lane. c.c; I'm not going to hold anyone up (and I'll generally push myself a bit faster when it goes down to one lane), but I'm done being a part of it. I drive assuming everyone and everything is going to jump in front of me, and plan accordingly - that doesn't mean going under the speed limit (unless in severe inclement weather; i.e. snow) or being old-man-driver, but it does mean not tailgating the guy in front like everyone seems to, and always giving myself an escape route, especially if it doesn't necessarily mean 'slam on the brakes'.
As a pedestrian, though, yeah - I find the #1 thing you can do to ensure safe crossing and such is to make eye contact. Make sure the driver sees and acknowledges you - even if it means that little awkward hesitation of 'no no, after you'. My life is not worth being scraped off of someone's front bumper, and I'm sure they don't want to live with something like that either. And you know what? It works. I find my commute taking the train so much calmer, simpler, easier, and honestly it doesn't take that much longer (living right by a SkyTrain station helps - I try not to move anywhere NOT by one, honestly - the extra cost is worth it).
I can't imagine our drivers are any 'worse' than other drivers in big cities, just different. The inattentiveness, speeding, and stupid moves are global. XD At some point you just have to learn to relax, be defensive, and vigilant. Make sure no matter what happens, there's no way to pin it on you. ;P
So I got hit by a car tonight...
well car door.
After the Cloverdale Christmas Parade we are wondering through the "end zone" of the parade and as I am walking by a car the door opens and whacks the side of my knee. >.<
The guy was very sorry and it didn't hurt too badly, but if I was a step behind I could have drilled my knee right into it!
So a message to passengers... WATCH WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR CAR DOORS!!! Nearly blind furries might be trying to walk past.
The drivers (and the pedestrians, and the cyclists) in Vancouver are bloody insane. I can go out for a half-hour drive and easily see three or four completely egregious things - pedestrians darting out into traffic, cyclists almost running down pedestrians, drivers almost running down pedestrians, people making left turns in front of the traffic coming the other way as soon as the light turns green, people casually running red lights, and the list goes on and on.
I was sitting waiting to turn left onto Terminal from Quebec a couple nights ago and the guy in the lane next to me came within a hair of hitting two people because they decided it was a good idea to run across the street in front of us literally as our left-turn light was turning green. I try to avoid driving along Commercial - and I live a block and a half from it - because I swear to God that some of the pedestrians there are literally suicidal and I don't need a human hood ornament. Victoria Drive takes a little longer but I'm much less likely to inadvertently kill someone.
What really sucks is that my partner doesn't drive and I've been badgering her to get her license so I don't have to do all the driving on road trips, but when she sees all the ridiculous things that happen on the streets of Vancouver I think she thinks she'd be insane to get behind the wheel. And maybe she's right.
I admit I occasionally speed a little, but I'm getting a lot better about it. I always do 30 in park and school zones when they're in effect, and there's usually some doofus doing 50 or 60 behind me who ends up right on my bumper.
And oh, God, don't even get me started on power outages at intersections. The four-way stop procedure is something other people are supposed to pay attention to, right...?
(okay, me... deep breaths...)
I've gotten into the habit of kicking out cars headlights if they drive onto a crosswalk while im crossing.
if they have a problem with that, then ill call the police and say they hit me.
works every time.
~Fixing the problem one motorist at a time~
: Lemony December 14, 2010, 11:36:26 -07:00
I've gotten into the habit of kicking out cars headlights if they drive onto a crosswalk while im crossing.
if they have a problem with that, then ill call the police and say they hit me.
works every time.
I've tried to attack a similar problem from the other direction by running down pedestrians who cross in traffic where there isn't a crosswalk, but the police don't seem to like it. Something about "vehicular manslaughter" or some BS. :P