What's america's number one driving frustration? Slow drivers

Jstas

Saw this article this morning, thought it was interesting especially because it seems so many of us will be sitting in vacationer traffic at some point this year.

Motor Trend Poll Finds Top Five Sources of Irritation on the Road

El Segundo, Calif. (May 25, 2011) ? Despite gas prices garnering the lion's share of news coverage lately, something altogether different is a major source of frustration for the American driver these days. Motor Trend, the world's automotive authority on cars, trucks and SUVs, recently completed a poll to determine the top-five sources of irritation for drivers. Topping the list was being stuck behind slow drivers, with more than forty percent of the respondents in this latest poll citing this as their chief annoyance.

In fact, Motor Trend found almost 90 percent of those polled reacted against the offending driver in some way; with 13 percent reporting that it moves them to varying degrees of frustration and even anger. One participant wrote, "It makes me want to tear their license plates off!"

Motor Trend polled readers nationally via its Wide Open Throttle Blog, and its Facebook and Twitter accounts to gather the data. The poll also clearly indicated many drivers feel there is a general lack of awareness of other drivers, among their counterparts.

Rounding out the top-five list, Motor Trend readers reported in descending order, the most aggravating habits of other motorists as:

1. Being stuck behind slow drivers ? 43.5%
2. Inattentive drivers texting and talking on cell phones ? 23.2%
3. Drivers that do not use turn signals ? 16.1%
4. Aggressive drivers cutting through traffic ? 10%
5. Drivers who refuse to turn right on red ? 7.2%

"What we have here is a glimpse of the frustrations experienced by drivers who take driving seriously," said Motor Trend editor-in-chief Angus MacKenzie. "It's clear many drivers are thinking about almost anything other than driving when they are behind the wheel, to the irritation of others on the road. Poor situational awareness and a lack of concentration are probably the real cause of the majority of road crashes today."

Motor Trend invites people to join the conversation and submit their own list of driving pet peeves on Motor Trend's Wide Open Throttle blog at http://wot.motortrend.com and on the Motor Trend Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/motortrendmag. Become a fan of Motor Trend on Facebook to voice your opinion and follow all the latest developments at the world's automotive authority.

Link from Autoblog: http://www.autoblog.com/2011/06/02/motor-trend-polls-readers-to-find-top-five-motoring-annoy/

mrbiron

although all 5 of those make me want to kick a puppy, the two that would TOP the list for me are as follows;
The people who brake for falling leaves and invisible deer/gnomes. "Brake Happy"
....or....
The people that accelerate to 45 and then slow down to 25, THEN accelerate to 48 and slow down to 23. Rinse and Repeat for duration of ride. "Pulse Drivers" :mad:

bobman1235

They polled readers via strictly electronic means (Facebook, Twitter, and blog), meaning the vast, VAST majority of their responses woudl be from teh 30 and under crowd.

Just worth noting. I imagine this would change drastically with a more well-rounded group.

jflail2

While slow drivers are definitely annoying, the ignorant cell phone users are tops on my list.

I had a lady nearly pull out in front of me downtown just yesterday as she blabbered away on her phone, oblivious to the world. So I slammed on my brakes and looked at her to wave her on through since she was too important to pay other cars any mind. Hahahaha, she then had the nerve to flip ME the bird at that point. I just laughed and waved her on.

I'm not a fan of "litigous America", but if I get hit by someone ignoring the world as they chat or text on their phone, I most definitely will be sueing in an attempt to get every penny out of their pocket.

Slow driving is annoying. The blind cell phone users are another story entirely in my mind.

maximillian

- People who cruise in the left most lane.
- People who throw their cigarette butt out the window.
- People who accurate in the adjacent lane to get in front of you at the merge and then go SLOW.
-

cnh

30 and under crowd? Nah, you mean 25 and under (or, the HIGHEST insurance risks on the road...would be Gordons who are always trying to get somewhere 'unimportant' in the shortest time and the most unsafe way and driving their clunkers at speeds they can't really maintain control of)? That's the ticket, well, it would be a ticket if you lived in Connecticut?

Slow drivers are a small, and fairly insignificant highway problem--their 'testosterone levels' are too LOW--not manly enough to 'show' us how fast they were in their 'youth'. lol

cnh

byfthalone

bobman1235 wrote: »

They polled readers via strictly electronic means (Facebook, Twitter, and blog), meaning the vast, VAST majority of their responses woudl be from teh 30 and under crowd.

Just worth noting. I imagine this would change drastically with a more well-rounded group.

and all of them doing the survey on their iphone or droid while driving!!!

BlueFox

As a corollary of number 1, I drive with cruise on whenever I can, and there is always someone who busts their a$$ to get in front of me, and then drives slower than I am.

shadowofnight

Slow drivers when I am in the lifted truck....inattentive drivers when on the motorcycle.


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thesurfer

In some cities, its agaisnt the law to text and talk on the cell phone, Most accidents in my city, are 16-19 year olds who simply dont know how to drive,Have no regard for others, and dont in my op, belong driving,,, Kinda like the types of people who can legally drink, but shouldnt, cause they dont know how to act,,

greg2350

mrbiron wrote: »

The people that accelerate to 45 and then slow down to 25, THEN accelerate to 48 and slow down to 23. Rinse and Repeat for duration of ride. "Pulse Drivers" :mad:

I hate that had a friend that drove like that made me car sick is it so hard to keep a constant speed..

The ones that bother me the most is when the speed limit is 65mph and im doing 70mph and people run up on me doing 90mph and scower at me like im doing something wrong. Whats so wrong with going 5mph over at least im not doing 40mph in a 65. I have had 1 speeding ticket in 20 yrs no accidents pay $36 month for insurance.

bobman1235

cnh wrote: »

30 and under crowd? Nah, you mean 25 and under (or, the HIGHEST insurance risks on the road...would be Gordons who are always trying to get somewhere 'unimportant' in the shortest time and the most unsafe way and driving their clunkers at speeds they can't really maintain control of)? That's the ticket, well, it would be a ticket if you lived in Connecticut?

Slow drivers are a small, and fairly insignificant highway problem--their 'testosterone levels' are too LOW--not manly enough to 'show' us how fast they were in their 'youth'. lol

cnh

Jesus H, how old are you, 100? Is someone on your lawn right now? Damn kids.

bobman1235

greg2350 wrote: »

The ones that bother me the most is when the speed limit is 65mph and im doing 70mph and people run up on me doing 90mph and scower at me like im doing something wrong. Whats so wrong with going 5mph over at least im not doing 40mph in a 65. I have had 1 speeding ticket in 20 yrs no accidents pay $36 month for insurance.

Get out of the fast lane. There's nothing 'wrong' with going 70, but if someone wants to go faster, you're not the police, and they're just gonna be dicks if you're plugging up the highway with your principles. Let them get pulled over, but those jackasses who sit in the fast lane going 66 and saying "what, i'm going the speed limit, i'm not moving" are just making things more dangerous.

maximillian

greg2350 wrote: »

The ones that bother me the most is when the speed limit is 65mph and im doing 70mph and people run up on me doing 90mph and scower at me like im doing something wrong. Whats so wrong with going 5mph over at least im not doing 40mph in a 65.

Can't stand people who tailgate too. Even if I am doing 40 in a 35 some people insist on hugging my bumper. Jerks.

mrbiron

its probably someone from Rhode Island.....break test them!:biggrin:

heiney9

bobman1235 wrote: »

They polled readers via strictly electronic means (Facebook, Twitter, and blog), meaning the vast, VAST majority of their responses woudl be from teh 30 and under crowd.

Just worth noting. I imagine this would change drastically with a more well-rounded group.

While I don't disagree the demographic is probably skewed that way a little bit. I know a crap load of 31-55 year olds who do the electronic thing and would most likely participate if they were aware of the poll.

The distribution of the poll may not have reached out to the older demographic (I have no idea) but many above 30 are electonically plugged in.

Just my .02c

H9

exalted512

bobman1235 wrote: »

They polled readers via strictly electronic means (Facebook, Twitter, and blog), meaning the vast, VAST majority of their responses woudl be from teh 30 and under crowd.

Just worth noting. I imagine this would change drastically with a more well-rounded group.

I would also imagine that people that were aware of this were also primarily motor trend subscribers which I would also imagine skewed these 'statistics'
-Cody

greg2350

bobman1235 wrote: »

Get out of the fast lane. There's nothing 'wrong' with going 70, but if someone wants to go faster, you're not the police, and they're just gonna be dicks if you're plugging up the highway with your principles. Let them get pulled over, but those jackasses who sit in the fast lane going 66 and saying "what, i'm going the speed limit, i'm not moving" are just making things more dangerous.

Just curious where is it written the fast lane means you speed constantley. fast lane is for passing only not doing 90mph. You speed up pass then get back over. I agree if your doing the speed limit dont just sit in the fast lane. But my problem is they do it even if im not in the fastlane thats what pisses me off.

heiney9

greg2350 wrote: »

Just curious where is it written the fast lane means you go 30mph over the speed limit. fast lane is for passing only not doing 90mph. I agree if your doing the speed limit dont just sit in the fast lane. But my problem is they do it even if im not in the fastlane thats what pisses me off.

Do you read road signs? Slower drivers keep right. It doesn't say speed limit drivers stay right.

The fast lane is the fast lane and yes it's for passing as well as going faster than the limit. Hell, in Illinois if you drive in the left lane only, you can get a $120 ticket for blocking traffic even if you're the only one on the road.

H9

billbillw

All of those listed in the article annoy me, but I get much more frustrated when I see a slew of rude 'me 1st' people trying to merge at the last second onto a backed up interchange ramp (or lane reduction) while there is clearly a backup of 1/4-1/2 mile of cars who are already waiting in line. It is so common around Atlanta. Its one thing if the driver wasn't paying attention and has to get over at the last minute, but these bastages will glide past all the waiting cars and force themselves in when they get to the last 50 feet almost causing a wreck. I've even seen people going through the gore off to the left of the ramp still trying to merge.

greg2350

heiney9 wrote: »

Do you read road signs?
H9

Yeah I do read road signs smart a%@:rolleyes: and the sign says left lane for passing ONLY doesnt say this lane is for speeding well above the speed limit. Someone doing 90 to 100mph in a 65 is more dangerous to me than someone doing the speed limit and slowing up the impaitent speeders. Speed limit is there for a reason...

mrbiron

SUNDAY DRIVERS!!!!!......oh look at that squirrel.......oh look at that other squirrel........that stick looks like my great aunt betsy before the lipo........I've never seen a more shiny rock in my entire life. :biggrin:

Get off the road! I have Mass-hole rage!

exalted512

greg2350 wrote: »

Yeah I do read road signs smart a%@:rolleyes: and the sign says left lane for passing ONLY doesnt say this lane is for speeding well above the speed limit. Someone doing 90 to 100mph in a 65 is more dangerous to me than someone doing the speed limit and slowing up the impaitent speeders. Speed limit is there for a reason...

If you are passing someone else going 70 in a 65 and someone is tailgating you, etc...they are in the wrong.

If you're going .03 mph faster than the guy in the right lane and someone is tailgating you, even though you're doing 5 over...you're in the wrong.

That's just my opinion though. I totally understand where you're coming from, I just dont agree
-Cody

greg2350

exalted512 wrote: »

If you are passing someone else going 70 in a 65 and someone is tailgating you, etc...they are in the wrong.

If you're going .03 mph faster than the guy in the right lane and someone is tailgating you, even though you're doing 5 over...you're in the wrong.

That's just my opinion though. I totally understand where you're coming from, I just dont agree
-Cody

I agree you should speed up and get over.

sda2mike

i've been in FL for 9 years....i've never seen so many people not use their turn-signals...

bobman1235

greg2350 wrote: »

Yeah I do read road signs smart a%@:rolleyes: and the sign says left lane for passing ONLY doesnt say this lane is for speeding well above the speed limit. Someone doing 90 to 100mph in a 65 is more dangerous to me than someone doing the speed limit and slowing up the impaitent speeders. Speed limit is there for a reason...

Just to be clear, the person tailgating / speeding is definitely in the wrong, BUT if (IF) you're in the passing lane and not letting them pass, you're not helping anything. Two wrongs dont' make a right and all that.

If people are tailgating you for going the speed limit in a non-passing lane then they're just dummies.

greg2350

bobman1235 wrote: »

Just to be clear, the person tailgating / speeding is definitely in the wrong, BUT if (IF) you're in the passing lane and not letting them pass, you're not helping anything. Two wrongs dont' make a right and all that.

If people are tailgating you for going the speed limit in a non-passing lane then they're just dummies.

And I agree with that you should get over and let them go. I agree people should not ride in the passing lane doing the speed limit if your going to do the speed limit stay in the right unless you need to pass then get back over...

Ron-P

That 43.5% should slow down. That's the problem. It's not the slow drivers, it's the other people in too much of a hurry to get through life.

As the saying goes; want to live to be an old man, then drive like one.

Joe08867

1. Tailgating
2. Not letting me leave enough room in front without squeezing in.
3. Inattentive Drivers
4. Cellphone/Text while driving
5. Slow drivers pacing the car next to them.

bobman1235

By the way, personally I think my biggest pet peeve is when you're merging for some reason, and everyone's just being friendly and doing that alternating merge thing where it basically works like a zipper - one from lane 1, one from lane 2, one from lane 1, one from lane 2 - and then you get that flaming dickhead who insists that NO WAY are you getting in front of him, as if the 2.3 seconds he saves by being one car length further up in stop and go traffic is going to make any difference.

Ugh, I HATE that.

heiney9

Pet Peeve - people who take 6 blocks on a main street to get up to the 45mph speed limit. 10-12-15-22-22-25-29-31-35-35-37-40-41-42-43-44-45 mph and 6 blocks later they finally hit the speed limit just in time to stop at another light and repeat the same frustrating 6 block creep to speed! :mad:

Happened to me this morning on the way to work and I just about blew a gasket!

H9