February 2, 2010 • 24 mins
Have you ever found yourself enraged by rogue drivers, slowpokes or rubberneckers? In many parts of the world, bad drivers are an unfortunate fact of life on the road. Join Scott and Ben as they review common driving pet peeves in this episode.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Go behind the wheel and under the hood on Everything
Automotive with high speed stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hi, everybody,
welcome to podcast. I'm Scott Benjamin and the auto editor
here at how stuff works dot com and my name
is Ben. I write some videos and hang out with
Scott on this show. Fantastic fantastic, easy as that now, Ben,
(00:24):
I don't like to complain about you know, this type
of things you're but um, I guess I want to
find out some of your pet peeves today because um,
I've got a few automotive pet peeves and I I
hesitated to bring them up because I know it does
sound like you're complain or you're whining or whatever, but
really there's some things that are bugging me. And UM
(00:46):
kind of shortlist, shortlist of things. I'm not going to
read all of them, you know, verbatim to you, but um,
I want to know if you have things that bobby
you out there on the road to Yeah, just tell
me what cross your Fannie Ben bulling for us? Uh.
I I appreciate your humor, but you need to realize
you're opening the door that does not close. Do you
(01:06):
really want to do this? Yes? And I have a
list of uh some some pet peeves that I've consulted
with some of our colleagues here at Studio one a UM,
and I think maybe you know this is uh you
originally told me about this before you start any research
on it. And I thought this was a lot of fun.
(01:29):
And I think a lot of people will agree with
some of this stuff, even if a lot of our
listeners are guilty as am I. So I'm gonna go
down here. I'm gonna tell you the ones that I'm
guilty of as I'm telling you know what. That's a
good idea a lot. Yeah, I want to be fair.
I want to be fair. First off. One big one
and very common here in Atlanta not using turn signals.
(01:50):
I use turn signals. I'm not a great driver, but
I use turn signals. Um. And I find it offensive
when other people don't understood. I use turn signals, even
in own neighborhood. He's turned to me. I use turn
signals pointing in my own driveway. No, I truly do. Well, Okay,
you're yeah, No, that's no, that's good. That's one. But
I'm sure that there's gonna be a hundred others that
I'm guilty of tailgators. Guilty I knew it only you
(02:16):
know what My wife thinks I'm guilty of it all
the time. Really, yeah, that drives me crazy, But I'm
I don't think I'm as guilty as she thinks. And
and um, I also think that I do it maybe
if I'm a little bit angered by the driver in
front of me sometimes and I mentioned that on air
before that I will that's a bad side of me. Really,
(02:36):
I'll follow a little too closely if I just a
little bit of anger that happens to me. But I'm
more guilty of this next one, cutting off other drivers.
I don't. I don't do it on purpose, I hope not.
Some eyes what's that I let them pass? Um? But
you know, being that we are in a high traffic area, Uh,
(02:56):
sometimes I feel that the only way I can get
he is to cut someone off. Because uh, we'll we'll
go into something actually that Jerry brought up just before
we started recording. Um, but we'll go through the more
of this list. When people try to jump in line.
There's a lot of construction in Atlanta, Scott, So when
you see that orange sign that says construction right lane
(03:17):
ends five feet. That doesn't mean drive four hundred ft
and then try to insert yourself into the line. Mark
this one off of my list because I have merging
courtesy as one of mine. I'm marking enough right now. Okay,
but you know what. On a side note that the
signs don't usually start five hund feet ahead. They start
two miles ahead. And someone will drive your right to
(03:38):
the last ten feet and then try to cram themselves in.
And that's where all the trouble comes about. The merging
courtesy is not there and so and yeah, and a
lot of times other people aren't going to let those
drivers in, yeah, because they're mad because they waited in
line right right. And um, let's see another one that
I think people are gonna agree with texting or using
a cell phone while driving. Some states are making it illegal,
(03:59):
I think in Cab County, which is part of the
Atlanta metro area. If you are in an accident while
you're on your cell phone and they can prove it,
then you're the at fault driver. A this this hits
close to home. I suspect my wife was in a
traffic accident just recently the car. Her car was re
rended in traffic and um, I I've got a suspicion
(04:19):
that the driver was on using text at the time
or texting. Um just but from what she told me
about it and the speed doing that this guy was going,
it was stop and go traffic, and he really crammed
into the back of her car. Um. His car was undrivable.
And the second he got out, he already had his
phone in his hand. He was still going through pages.
And I don't know if he just was you know,
(04:40):
instinct to grab the phone and do that, or if
it was in his hand ahead of time. But it
just seems like thinking it through logically that he wasn't
paying attention. It's just not worth it. So I mean,
I don't know. I just I suspect it, but there's
no way to prove something like that. It's just not
worth it. Another one putting on makeup while driving, yeah,
or or an I have seen the guilty I'm kidding
(05:03):
reading while driving having the newspaper uh spread out over
the steering wool. Totally agree. I've seen this one before.
I've seen novels in people's hands and I don't understand
how they can do it. I love reading. I have
never done that. I will be honest with you. I
don't have too much dignity. I have pulled over to
gas station before because I wanted to finish what I
(05:23):
was reading when I left yet and I thought I
could make the whole trip. Then I thought, no, what
a bookworm. Yeah, that's good. That get straight. I mean
better than reading on the road, better than going slow
in the fast lane, that's for sure. Like, that's that's
gonna be. That's gonna be a popular one among all listeners,
I think, because everybody seems to get peeved at that
(05:45):
using the left lane just to travel at normal speed.
I mean whatever, that is five, So you shouldn't be
doing that. There's an other there's a usually there are
two or three other lane now. But my question is, yes,
is that just a passing lane or is that just
a lane for high speed travel? Because some people see
it as only a passing lane. Yeah, that's true. That's
(06:08):
true because you're supposed to pass on the left or whatever.
Um well, passing on the right I think is wronged
but guilty. Yeah, sometimes an important storm, you know. Sometimes um,
I don't know, man, I always thought it was just
a high speed lane, and then you can you can
if you'd rather not go high speed the entire time,
but you want to go faster than the person in
(06:30):
the next lane, I think it's okay to use that
lane to pass them because but just because you don't
want to go fifty five doesn't mean you want to
go eighty, you know. So I think there's a happy
medium understood rubber neckers though guilty. Yeah, I'd love to
look at accident scenes and uh and fires and all
kinds of things like that. I don't know what my
problem is interesting on the right, Yeah, stuff like that.
(06:53):
If I see someone hit a bear, yeah, I'll look
at that. Um, I don't know why I do. I'm
a rubber necker. What gets me is people will complain
about it the entire time that we're waiting in traffic
to go past an accident and then also go fifteen
miles an hour. And it's such a cycle of abuse
of traffic because you you think that you know, sure,
well there's an initial slow down, and then that you know,
(07:14):
you know what that does? That just compounds all the way.
That's what I could be there all day after twenty
minutes in line. I've actually heard somebody say a friend
of mine that is right with I said, I thought
you said you hate how everyone slows down to look
at accidents, and he said, it's been twenty minutes. I
deserve this, and you know, how can you argue with it? Okay?
(07:35):
So then we also have people who flashlights and don't
get a chance, don't give you a chance to get
out of the way, uh distance at a red light.
You know, when you somede already a red light and
someone stops three or four car links away, which, especially
in a crowded area where there's a traffic light at
every block, can can actually mess up traffic. So you
you prefer that they get right in your rear bumper
(07:56):
and stop, not my rear bumper. But they're not on
my front bumper either, obviously. But but I'm gonna be honest,
that is one of our colleagues, Pet Peeves. It's not okay.
I promised the man nanimity, so I can't. I'm more
in the I mean, we're in the corner of give
you have everybody a little bit of space. And there's
the reason is that if somebody were to hit me
(08:16):
from behind, then my car doesn't get damage on the
front and the back. Um, I don't hit the car
in front of me, So you know, I understand that.
That's why I give I give some space to my
My rule is that if I can't see a little
bit of space between my car and their bottom back bumper,
then I'm probably too close. Now I do the same thing.
(08:38):
I try to see if I can see their their tires. Yeah,
that's and that's see, that's an easy little that's an
easy little way to not be dangerous or chronical something
like that. Um oversized cars, because we do live again
in the city. You know what, if you know how
to uh use a four wheel drive vehicle, if you
need to use a four whel drive vehicle, they are
(08:59):
made for you, and it's great that you have one. If, however,
you live downtown, maybe around the neighborhood of Well, I
can't divulge Studio one a secret location. But you know,
sometimes you don't need an escalade, especially if you're trying
to parallel park that bad boy in the street with
no parking. You're better off of the peel fifty, right.
(09:20):
And then some people tell me they're aggravated by tickets
in the mail, And then I'm going to get to
my top tickets in the mail. Yeah, because you know what,
that ties into one of mine. But we'll save it
for a moment. But the tickets in the mail thing,
just remember that because we have the red camera system here,
red light cameras. Yeah. Yeah, it's gotten me, that's what
you're talking about. Okay, okay, So these are my two
(09:41):
to my absolute my number one and number two peeves respectively. Okay. First,
and this is gonna sound silly, but hear me out, Scott.
I think traffic signs are pessimistic. I think one of
the reasons people are in bad mood because think about it,
there are no real positive traffic signs. The nicest traffic
sign we have in the English language says keep moving,
(10:01):
And if you think about it, that's just kind of bossy.
It is bossy. Yeah, you're right, but I feel like
maybe it's it's sort of this survivalistic thing. Don't give up, ben,
so you keep moving. Do you see it as like
not just like a stop sign, it's like stop ben stop? Yeah? Yeah,
I feel you know. And dead end? Can you just
say the road stops? Why are you messing with my head?
And then all there are all these wrong way signs everywhere.
(10:23):
I know they need to be there, Scott, But what
it killed the DT to put a right way sign? Uh?
You know yeah? I guess boy, I've never thought about
that pessimistic. I send a lot of time in traffic
and I can and again I don't read in the car,
so I can only read the traffics. I guess you
could read like neighborhood street signs like Serenity Way and
yeah yeah, Maple Hill Grove and that yeah. And then
(10:45):
red light cell. This is one of my number one
peeves and red light cell. I call it the red
light cell. What is it like they're selling something? You're
at a red light and then someone comes up to
you and they want money for something and maybe it
maybe don't ations um for a nonprofit it maybe for
Little League, maybe for you know, um yeah, it doesn't
(11:08):
roses right. Maybe someone just asking for some change because
they're down on their luck. I don't like that. First off,
it's it's unsafe. Secondly, it depends upon the pressure that
people feel, because most people have enough respect for another
human being that they're not going to pretend you're invisible,
(11:31):
especially when they're sitting there with just glass between you
you know, so that's that's probably my number one. Okay,
got it? The red light cell. I've never heard it
called that. I made that term up. Very good, very interesting.
I got to get a shortlist here alright, And you
know what, I'll just bring up the one that you
had mentioned, the red light uh the tickets, the tickets
and the mail. Now we've got the red light system here,
(11:52):
red light photo enforced system here. So what happens is
they take a photo, you know, half a second before
the light turns red, when the lights red, and then
half second afterwards or something like that, right, um, and
then they send you all three photos to prove that
you were in the intersection when the red light was red. Um.
The problem I've got that with that is that it
(12:12):
seems like anywhere else in the world that I've been driving,
UM where they don't have this. When you're making a
left hand turn, you're able to creep out into the intersection,
you make the left turn, and there's usually about two
or three cars are able to get through that light
per cycle, even if it's even if it's crowded, if
it's if it's rush hour. The problem with that system,
(12:32):
I'm I'm completely gun shy of doing that because of
that that red light system. Even even one car pass it,
I wouldn't even be the first car to do that
because of that red light system. I just don't want
to be caught in the middle of the intersection when
it turns red. They will. And if you know, if
the other people come in, you know, head on your way,
are you know, I guess that they don't stop. If
(12:52):
they're going to try to go through the yellow light.
Then you're stuck right in the middle of the intersection
during the red light, and you're left to make your
turn after it's red. Um So anywhere else be able
to get two or three cars through. Here in Atlanta,
it seems like you can't even get one car through.
And and a lot of people are like me where
they don't want to do that because they get caught.
But then that makes the person behind you or two
people behind you very mad that you didn't do that.
(13:14):
That's true, but also they would also get tickets. Yeah,
but I feel like these systems are in place because
they're necessary. Before there were more, before people knew their odds.
Oh yeah, we're dramatically increased their odds of getting caught rather,
uh than they would just take red lights as sort
of this suggestion. So hey, maybe you should stop. I understand,
(13:34):
you know, and which is really the yellow lights job? Yeah,
I get it. I know, I know it's a safety issue,
but it's still And I see what you're saying, because
I I lead out all the time, you still haven't
been nailed and they're not gonna wood. That's good for you.
What's next. I've got a couple here, and I let's
go to them quick because I know we're running short here. So, um,
how about this one? Unrestrained kids in the back seat
(13:55):
of a car or in the front seat where they're
just kind of here on the highway. They're hopping over
the seat there, what are dumping around? It seems extremely dangerous.
I mean when I was a kid, I knew it
was kind of common, um, you know, sitting in the
front seat with no seatbelt on, that type of thing.
But um, they're they're you know, lost for that now,
and I don't see anybody really enforcing that. I don't.
I mean, I know they are, but um, I see
(14:17):
it often enough that I think, like, you know, we're
at least when you need them, you know when you
could see. I know they're they're they've got a busy thing,
you know, they're they're covering other more busy, more important
things maybe, but it's important, I think, to keep the
kids buckled. And it just it just drives me crazy
because I know something's going to happen someday and that
just makes me upset. Another one, dogs in the rear
(14:38):
pickup truck of a truck. Yeah, I see this on
the highway. I see it. I mean just kind of
walking around. It's like that dog's gonna jump out any second,
heavy dog. I know what. I see it all the time. Anyway, Um,
two or three more and that's about it. Um. Let's see,
I'll cigarette butts out the window, flipping cigaret but the window.
(15:01):
Have you ever have you ever been hit by a
cigarette butt that's been flipped out of the window? I
mean your windshield, Yeah, your windshield. And you see the
scatter and the sparks that happens, and if it's at night,
it looks like a tracer bullet. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I've
had that happen before it and there's this, uh, I
don't know, unspoken fear that you know, if it goes
underneath the cart. Somehow I'm gonna get wedged in there
and start a fire. Or what if if you have
(15:21):
your window down and you don't see a spark come
in exactly, you get you know, a burn mark in
your in your back exactly. It's not it's not likely,
but it could happen. But anyway, that's one thing that
bugs cigarette butts and the the people floking out of me. Um,
not at me, but just out of the vehicle. No,
they know it's here's one people backing up on the
off ramp. I see this all the time. I see
(15:42):
this every day. I see somebody who has missed the
off ramp and they're backing up against traffic to get
back to that ramp rather than going to the next
exit and just turning around and coming back like like
I would do. Why is that that's what I would do? That?
Would you back up on the highway? No? I would
go to the next yes, very good, very good, because
it's extremely dangerous. Yeah, I don't understand that, but I
(16:03):
see it every single day on the highway. Um, of
course I have an entire highway trip home and back,
so yeah, here and back. Are we getting to the
big one, because before we get to the big one,
I gotta put in one that Jerry said, I got
one more. Go ahead, Okay, this is because you've got
you've got the big one. All right. We're gonna save
that one for a second. Uh, Jerry, and you and
(16:24):
I were talking before started recording about just an underlying
lack of common courtesy. Uh something the way you know,
I'm gonna miss quote you, Jerry, so don't get mad
at me. Something about the way there's some transformation that
takes place when people hop in a car. Someone could
be perfectly nice, you know, when they're outside of their Chrysler,
(16:44):
but when they're inside, and I'm not singling Chrysler out,
I'm just saying any kind of vehicle when they're inside,
there's something happening. You know. People don't walk the way
that they drive. Nobody has ever run up behind me,
you know, with a flashlight, clicking it on and off
and yelling because I'm in the line at the bed.
I love that example. I I I would love it
if it actually did happen, you know. And it's so
(17:05):
much easier to merge in a crowd at the mall
and sometimes sometimes yeah, sometimes Yeah, now you're right, there
is a complete lack of courtesy that happens up not everybody,
I mean, yeah, and and not all the time. And
I'm guilty this sometimes. You know, if I, for whatever reason,
in a bad mood or or you know, sometimes inavert inadvertent. Um,
you know, you don't realize that that car was next
(17:26):
to you, and then you know that they're emerging and
you catch them for the last second. You feel terrible
about it. You know I should have backed off or whatever.
But um, most of the time it's intentional. And then
there's car discrimination. I used to be guilty car discrimination.
If someone has a car that is very, very nice
and they're already kind of driving like a jerk. If
someone has a super nice car and they were not
(17:49):
a good a great driver, not necessarily a villainous driver, um,
then I would I would relish the opportunity to not
let them in and drive fast. Oh my gosh, it's terrible.
I'm better now, better now, I've seen the light. Okay,
it's not their fault. It's like a confessional today, it
kind of is. But let's go to the big one. Well,
(18:10):
I got I got two left in this this this one.
This one gets me. And there's a variation of this
one too. I get my car washed and I'm on
a two lane road, maybe invariably there will be somebody
that will have a trailer or something like that. They
will go off the road with two wheels and throw
dirt and rocks all over the I don't know what
it is about it, but when my car is still
(18:31):
damp from the car wash, that's when this happens. And
I get home and there's you know, mud or or
just streaks of dirt and stuff all over. It happens
every single time. I don't know why that is. It
doesn't happen any other time, but it's always on the
way home from the car wash. And the variation on
that is, if you're on the highway or you know,
traveling at fifty miles an hour or whatever, someone in
(18:53):
front of you got a clean car again, clean windshield,
everything is nice. You know, you're headed out a date
go wherever. Someone in front of you uses their their
windshield washer and it more or less sprays over the
top of their car and onto your car, speckles the
whole vehicle. You know that what you were just polishing
off of the car five minutes before that, I can
just open to you what's interesting has But I don't
(19:16):
think it hits me emotionally the way that it bothers
me so bad. Because yeah, because I've been to you know,
some of these quick change or quick oil change places
and they put well they well one time they put
almost like muddy water in the innything and it was awful.
I had to flush it out, you know, a power
wash and then flush the system and it was really
a mess. I had a decrease and it was a
(19:37):
little really gross. I don't know what happened, um, but
stuff like that ends up on my windshield then when
I was being careful not to hit that, you know,
because I've had a nice clean car, trying not to
hit my windshield washer because you know, leaves the streaks
and marks and anyways. That really bugs me. Is that
your number one? No, that's not my number one? Okay, good, okay,
I thought that was I thought that was anti climactic.
(19:57):
You see what I mean. This is whiny. Well, we're
almost dude, I know. Okay, stick up for the listeners
because these people might be in traffic right now, Scott,
we're doing this for them. This is my biggest pet
peeve on the road. And this this originated. This I
don't say originated, but where I first heard this was
in Chicago, probably in the mid nineties. I never heard
it anywhere before, and now is everywhere in the US. Apparently,
(20:19):
let's get a drum roll. I think this deserves a
drum roll. People who honk the instant a light turns green. Now,
this happens to me all the time I witnessed. I
was a pedestrian in Chicago. I heard this happening. I thought,
what the heck is going on. I didn't really realize
what was going you know. The second it turned green,
(20:40):
I heard a lot of honking. I thought, oh, that's weird.
But um then it started to spread. And I'm not
saying Chicago is the birthplace of this or anything, but
that's where I heard it first. And now it's everywhere
and including here. And what gets me the most is
that it's not just the second person in line thinking
that the first person is asleep, you know, because it's
the second that it turned I mean, the instant it
changes sometimes times. This is a car that's six or
(21:01):
seven cars back, don't they realize that there's a process
where the first car goes, the second car goes, the
third car goes, etcetera. And it's kind of a chain
and you have to wait. It doesn't it's not that
the second that light turns green, all twenty cars don't
move simultaneously forward. It doesn't work that way, and that
drives it really crazy, and it makes it makes me
(21:24):
want to stay right where I am and pretends if
I was asleeper looking at doing something else. But I don't.
But that's one of those things that makes me go
to instant anger. Really Yeah, yeah, I don't. It just
it grates on me. Yeah, it's kind of I guess,
if we want to go with the wall con versus
driving analogy, it's like you're in a crowded elevator and
the door opens and people start cursing at you. That's right,
(21:48):
that's right. So that this this honking as soon as
the light turns green my number one. And like I said,
it's just it takes my blood pressure right through the
roof instantly. I bet for some people though, it feels
for some people it feels really good to honk the horn.
I guess, you know, I never ever touched my horn
ever do Someone could be you know, they could slam
on the brakes and stet right up to my front
(22:09):
bumper and be staring at me. I wouldn't honk the horn.
I've been trying to incite my girlfriend to to be
less stingy with the horn because I will. Yeah, I know.
I know she's a really nice person, and I do
my best to be a nice person, but I don't.
I don't honk just because I'm angry. Um. I honk
because I'm alerting people to the fact that they are
(22:32):
doing something stupid which may cost us in terms of
health and money. You're driving elitist. I maybe I might
just be you know what, I am definitely. I just
got over my driving prejudice of cars, you know, So
it's one step at a time. But even I have
never honked right when the light turns green because I
(22:52):
understand what's going on. So everybody out there keep that
in mind. You're making someone in front of you very mad,
and if it's Scott, you won't because he won't honk
the horn. That's right now, You know what. There have
been times when people in front of me are probably
reading a book or doing whatever he was talking about, texting,
I won't honk the horn. I'll just I'll wait and
I don't know why, but I just won't touch the horn.
(23:13):
That's weird. Yeah, maybe we need to get you a
customized horn. If I put to someone's house and I
want to alert them that I'm there, you know, come
on out and get the car, I'll roll down the
window and y'all, hey, come on out, I'm here. If
you're at the right house now, Yeah, we should fix
We should fix your horn so that it plays kenyan
Naro nice. That would be good, which is the Simpsons reference.
And usually when we do a Simpsons reference that means
(23:35):
we're ready to call it a day, right, I'm ready, Okay,
So thanks for listening, guys, thanks for listening to our grapes. Yeah, uh,
we we probably well, we hopefully hit on a couple
that you thought of. Um, but if we missed one,
especially if it's something just drives you up the wall,
write us in, tell us about it. We'll tell everybody else.
And as always, the email address. And Ben, Ben, I'm
(23:57):
gonna give an email address. But what have you done?
You've opened the floodgates. So he's gonna be a million emails.
I told you that in the beginning, All right, go
ahead and write it said high speed Stuff. With how
stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands
of other topics. This is how stuff works dot com.
Let us know what you think, Send an email to
podcast at how stuff works dot com and be sure
(24:20):
to check out the High Speed Stuff blog on the
how stuff works dot com home page. M
Go behind the wheel and under the hood on Everything
Automotive with high speed stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hi, everybody,
welcome to podcast. I'm Scott Benjamin and the auto editor
here at how stuff works dot com and my name
is Ben. I write some videos and hang out with
Scott on this show. Fantastic fantastic, easy as that now, Ben,
(00:24):
I don't like to complain about you know, this type
of things you're but um, I guess I want to
find out some of your pet peeves today because um,
I've got a few automotive pet peeves and I I
hesitated to bring them up because I know it does
sound like you're complain or you're whining or whatever, but
really there's some things that are bugging me. And UM
(00:46):
kind of shortlist, shortlist of things. I'm not going to
read all of them, you know, verbatim to you, but um,
I want to know if you have things that bobby
you out there on the road to Yeah, just tell
me what cross your Fannie Ben bulling for us? Uh.
I I appreciate your humor, but you need to realize
you're opening the door that does not close. Do you
(01:06):
really want to do this? Yes? And I have a
list of uh some some pet peeves that I've consulted
with some of our colleagues here at Studio one a UM,
and I think maybe you know this is uh you
originally told me about this before you start any research
on it. And I thought this was a lot of fun.
(01:29):
And I think a lot of people will agree with
some of this stuff, even if a lot of our
listeners are guilty as am I. So I'm gonna go
down here. I'm gonna tell you the ones that I'm
guilty of as I'm telling you know what. That's a
good idea a lot. Yeah, I want to be fair.
I want to be fair. First off. One big one
and very common here in Atlanta not using turn signals.
(01:50):
I use turn signals. I'm not a great driver, but
I use turn signals. Um. And I find it offensive
when other people don't understood. I use turn signals, even
in own neighborhood. He's turned to me. I use turn
signals pointing in my own driveway. No, I truly do. Well, Okay,
you're yeah, No, that's no, that's good. That's one. But
I'm sure that there's gonna be a hundred others that
I'm guilty of tailgators. Guilty I knew it only you
(02:16):
know what My wife thinks I'm guilty of it all
the time. Really, yeah, that drives me crazy, But I'm
I don't think I'm as guilty as she thinks. And
and um, I also think that I do it maybe
if I'm a little bit angered by the driver in
front of me sometimes and I mentioned that on air
before that I will that's a bad side of me. Really,
(02:36):
I'll follow a little too closely if I just a
little bit of anger that happens to me. But I'm
more guilty of this next one, cutting off other drivers.
I don't. I don't do it on purpose, I hope not.
Some eyes what's that I let them pass? Um? But
you know, being that we are in a high traffic area, Uh,
(02:56):
sometimes I feel that the only way I can get
he is to cut someone off. Because uh, we'll we'll
go into something actually that Jerry brought up just before
we started recording. Um, but we'll go through the more
of this list. When people try to jump in line.
There's a lot of construction in Atlanta, Scott, So when
you see that orange sign that says construction right lane
(03:17):
ends five feet. That doesn't mean drive four hundred ft
and then try to insert yourself into the line. Mark
this one off of my list because I have merging
courtesy as one of mine. I'm marking enough right now. Okay,
but you know what. On a side note that the
signs don't usually start five hund feet ahead. They start
two miles ahead. And someone will drive your right to
(03:38):
the last ten feet and then try to cram themselves in.
And that's where all the trouble comes about. The merging
courtesy is not there and so and yeah, and a
lot of times other people aren't going to let those
drivers in, yeah, because they're mad because they waited in
line right right. And um, let's see another one that
I think people are gonna agree with texting or using
a cell phone while driving. Some states are making it illegal,
(03:59):
I think in Cab County, which is part of the
Atlanta metro area. If you are in an accident while
you're on your cell phone and they can prove it,
then you're the at fault driver. A this this hits
close to home. I suspect my wife was in a
traffic accident just recently the car. Her car was re
rended in traffic and um, I I've got a suspicion
(04:19):
that the driver was on using text at the time
or texting. Um just but from what she told me
about it and the speed doing that this guy was going,
it was stop and go traffic, and he really crammed
into the back of her car. Um. His car was undrivable.
And the second he got out, he already had his
phone in his hand. He was still going through pages.
And I don't know if he just was you know,
(04:40):
instinct to grab the phone and do that, or if
it was in his hand ahead of time. But it
just seems like thinking it through logically that he wasn't
paying attention. It's just not worth it. So I mean,
I don't know. I just I suspect it, but there's
no way to prove something like that. It's just not
worth it. Another one putting on makeup while driving, yeah,
or or an I have seen the guilty I'm kidding
(05:03):
reading while driving having the newspaper uh spread out over
the steering wool. Totally agree. I've seen this one before.
I've seen novels in people's hands and I don't understand
how they can do it. I love reading. I have
never done that. I will be honest with you. I
don't have too much dignity. I have pulled over to
gas station before because I wanted to finish what I
(05:23):
was reading when I left yet and I thought I
could make the whole trip. Then I thought, no, what
a bookworm. Yeah, that's good. That get straight. I mean
better than reading on the road, better than going slow
in the fast lane, that's for sure. Like, that's that's
gonna be. That's gonna be a popular one among all listeners,
I think, because everybody seems to get peeved at that
(05:45):
using the left lane just to travel at normal speed.
I mean whatever, that is five, So you shouldn't be
doing that. There's an other there's a usually there are
two or three other lane now. But my question is, yes,
is that just a passing lane or is that just
a lane for high speed travel? Because some people see
it as only a passing lane. Yeah, that's true. That's
(06:08):
true because you're supposed to pass on the left or whatever.
Um well, passing on the right I think is wronged
but guilty. Yeah, sometimes an important storm, you know. Sometimes um,
I don't know, man, I always thought it was just
a high speed lane, and then you can you can
if you'd rather not go high speed the entire time,
but you want to go faster than the person in
(06:30):
the next lane, I think it's okay to use that
lane to pass them because but just because you don't
want to go fifty five doesn't mean you want to
go eighty, you know. So I think there's a happy
medium understood rubber neckers though guilty. Yeah, I'd love to
look at accident scenes and uh and fires and all
kinds of things like that. I don't know what my
problem is interesting on the right, Yeah, stuff like that.
(06:53):
If I see someone hit a bear, yeah, I'll look
at that. Um, I don't know why I do. I'm
a rubber necker. What gets me is people will complain
about it the entire time that we're waiting in traffic
to go past an accident and then also go fifteen
miles an hour. And it's such a cycle of abuse
of traffic because you you think that you know, sure,
well there's an initial slow down, and then that you know,
(07:14):
you know what that does? That just compounds all the way.
That's what I could be there all day after twenty
minutes in line. I've actually heard somebody say a friend
of mine that is right with I said, I thought
you said you hate how everyone slows down to look
at accidents, and he said, it's been twenty minutes. I
deserve this, and you know, how can you argue with it? Okay?
(07:35):
So then we also have people who flashlights and don't
get a chance, don't give you a chance to get
out of the way, uh distance at a red light.
You know, when you somede already a red light and
someone stops three or four car links away, which, especially
in a crowded area where there's a traffic light at
every block, can can actually mess up traffic. So you
you prefer that they get right in your rear bumper
(07:56):
and stop, not my rear bumper. But they're not on
my front bumper either, obviously. But but I'm gonna be honest,
that is one of our colleagues, Pet Peeves. It's not okay.
I promised the man nanimity, so I can't. I'm more
in the I mean, we're in the corner of give
you have everybody a little bit of space. And there's
the reason is that if somebody were to hit me
(08:16):
from behind, then my car doesn't get damage on the
front and the back. Um, I don't hit the car
in front of me, So you know, I understand that.
That's why I give I give some space to my
My rule is that if I can't see a little
bit of space between my car and their bottom back bumper,
then I'm probably too close. Now I do the same thing.
(08:38):
I try to see if I can see their their tires. Yeah,
that's and that's see, that's an easy little that's an
easy little way to not be dangerous or chronical something
like that. Um oversized cars, because we do live again
in the city. You know what, if you know how
to uh use a four wheel drive vehicle, if you
need to use a four whel drive vehicle, they are
(08:59):
made for you, and it's great that you have one. If, however,
you live downtown, maybe around the neighborhood of Well, I
can't divulge Studio one a secret location. But you know,
sometimes you don't need an escalade, especially if you're trying
to parallel park that bad boy in the street with
no parking. You're better off of the peel fifty, right.
(09:20):
And then some people tell me they're aggravated by tickets
in the mail, And then I'm going to get to
my top tickets in the mail. Yeah, because you know what,
that ties into one of mine. But we'll save it
for a moment. But the tickets in the mail thing,
just remember that because we have the red camera system here,
red light cameras. Yeah. Yeah, it's gotten me, that's what
you're talking about. Okay, okay, So these are my two
(09:41):
to my absolute my number one and number two peeves respectively. Okay. First,
and this is gonna sound silly, but hear me out, Scott.
I think traffic signs are pessimistic. I think one of
the reasons people are in bad mood because think about it,
there are no real positive traffic signs. The nicest traffic
sign we have in the English language says keep moving,
(10:01):
And if you think about it, that's just kind of bossy.
It is bossy. Yeah, you're right, but I feel like
maybe it's it's sort of this survivalistic thing. Don't give up, ben,
so you keep moving. Do you see it as like
not just like a stop sign, it's like stop ben stop? Yeah? Yeah,
I feel you know. And dead end? Can you just
say the road stops? Why are you messing with my head?
And then all there are all these wrong way signs everywhere.
(10:23):
I know they need to be there, Scott, But what
it killed the DT to put a right way sign? Uh?
You know yeah? I guess boy, I've never thought about
that pessimistic. I send a lot of time in traffic
and I can and again I don't read in the car,
so I can only read the traffics. I guess you
could read like neighborhood street signs like Serenity Way and
yeah yeah, Maple Hill Grove and that yeah. And then
(10:45):
red light cell. This is one of my number one
peeves and red light cell. I call it the red
light cell. What is it like they're selling something? You're
at a red light and then someone comes up to
you and they want money for something and maybe it
maybe don't ations um for a nonprofit it maybe for
Little League, maybe for you know, um yeah, it doesn't
(11:08):
roses right. Maybe someone just asking for some change because
they're down on their luck. I don't like that. First off,
it's it's unsafe. Secondly, it depends upon the pressure that
people feel, because most people have enough respect for another
human being that they're not going to pretend you're invisible,
(11:31):
especially when they're sitting there with just glass between you
you know, so that's that's probably my number one. Okay,
got it? The red light cell. I've never heard it
called that. I made that term up. Very good, very interesting.
I got to get a shortlist here alright, And you
know what, I'll just bring up the one that you
had mentioned, the red light uh the tickets, the tickets
and the mail. Now we've got the red light system here,
(11:52):
red light photo enforced system here. So what happens is
they take a photo, you know, half a second before
the light turns red, when the lights red, and then
half second afterwards or something like that, right, um, and
then they send you all three photos to prove that
you were in the intersection when the red light was red. Um.
The problem I've got that with that is that it
(12:12):
seems like anywhere else in the world that I've been driving,
UM where they don't have this. When you're making a
left hand turn, you're able to creep out into the intersection,
you make the left turn, and there's usually about two
or three cars are able to get through that light
per cycle, even if it's even if it's crowded, if
it's if it's rush hour. The problem with that system,
(12:32):
I'm I'm completely gun shy of doing that because of
that that red light system. Even even one car pass it,
I wouldn't even be the first car to do that
because of that red light system. I just don't want
to be caught in the middle of the intersection when
it turns red. They will. And if you know, if
the other people come in, you know, head on your way,
are you know, I guess that they don't stop. If
(12:52):
they're going to try to go through the yellow light.
Then you're stuck right in the middle of the intersection
during the red light, and you're left to make your
turn after it's red. Um So anywhere else be able
to get two or three cars through. Here in Atlanta,
it seems like you can't even get one car through.
And and a lot of people are like me where
they don't want to do that because they get caught.
But then that makes the person behind you or two
people behind you very mad that you didn't do that.
(13:14):
That's true, but also they would also get tickets. Yeah,
but I feel like these systems are in place because
they're necessary. Before there were more, before people knew their odds.
Oh yeah, we're dramatically increased their odds of getting caught rather,
uh than they would just take red lights as sort
of this suggestion. So hey, maybe you should stop. I understand,
(13:34):
you know, and which is really the yellow lights job? Yeah,
I get it. I know, I know it's a safety issue,
but it's still And I see what you're saying, because
I I lead out all the time, you still haven't
been nailed and they're not gonna wood. That's good for you.
What's next. I've got a couple here, and I let's
go to them quick because I know we're running short here. So, um,
how about this one? Unrestrained kids in the back seat
(13:55):
of a car or in the front seat where they're
just kind of here on the highway. They're hopping over
the seat there, what are dumping around? It seems extremely dangerous.
I mean when I was a kid, I knew it
was kind of common, um, you know, sitting in the
front seat with no seatbelt on, that type of thing.
But um, they're they're you know, lost for that now,
and I don't see anybody really enforcing that. I don't.
I mean, I know they are, but um, I see
(14:17):
it often enough that I think, like, you know, we're
at least when you need them, you know when you
could see. I know they're they're they've got a busy thing,
you know, they're they're covering other more busy, more important
things maybe, but it's important, I think, to keep the
kids buckled. And it just it just drives me crazy
because I know something's going to happen someday and that
just makes me upset. Another one, dogs in the rear
(14:38):
pickup truck of a truck. Yeah, I see this on
the highway. I see it. I mean just kind of
walking around. It's like that dog's gonna jump out any second,
heavy dog. I know what. I see it all the time. Anyway, Um,
two or three more and that's about it. Um. Let's see,
I'll cigarette butts out the window, flipping cigaret but the window.
(15:01):
Have you ever have you ever been hit by a
cigarette butt that's been flipped out of the window? I
mean your windshield, Yeah, your windshield. And you see the
scatter and the sparks that happens, and if it's at night,
it looks like a tracer bullet. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I've
had that happen before it and there's this, uh, I
don't know, unspoken fear that you know, if it goes
underneath the cart. Somehow I'm gonna get wedged in there
and start a fire. Or what if if you have
(15:21):
your window down and you don't see a spark come
in exactly, you get you know, a burn mark in
your in your back exactly. It's not it's not likely,
but it could happen. But anyway, that's one thing that
bugs cigarette butts and the the people floking out of me. Um,
not at me, but just out of the vehicle. No,
they know it's here's one people backing up on the
off ramp. I see this all the time. I see
(15:42):
this every day. I see somebody who has missed the
off ramp and they're backing up against traffic to get
back to that ramp rather than going to the next
exit and just turning around and coming back like like
I would do. Why is that that's what I would do? That?
Would you back up on the highway? No? I would
go to the next yes, very good, very good, because
it's extremely dangerous. Yeah, I don't understand that, but I
(16:03):
see it every single day on the highway. Um, of
course I have an entire highway trip home and back,
so yeah, here and back. Are we getting to the
big one, because before we get to the big one,
I gotta put in one that Jerry said, I got
one more. Go ahead, Okay, this is because you've got
you've got the big one. All right. We're gonna save
that one for a second. Uh, Jerry, and you and
(16:24):
I were talking before started recording about just an underlying
lack of common courtesy. Uh something the way you know,
I'm gonna miss quote you, Jerry, so don't get mad
at me. Something about the way there's some transformation that
takes place when people hop in a car. Someone could
be perfectly nice, you know, when they're outside of their Chrysler,
(16:44):
but when they're inside, and I'm not singling Chrysler out,
I'm just saying any kind of vehicle when they're inside,
there's something happening. You know. People don't walk the way
that they drive. Nobody has ever run up behind me,
you know, with a flashlight, clicking it on and off
and yelling because I'm in the line at the bed.
I love that example. I I I would love it
if it actually did happen, you know. And it's so
(17:05):
much easier to merge in a crowd at the mall
and sometimes sometimes yeah, sometimes Yeah, now you're right, there
is a complete lack of courtesy that happens up not everybody,
I mean, yeah, and and not all the time. And
I'm guilty this sometimes. You know, if I, for whatever reason,
in a bad mood or or you know, sometimes inavert inadvertent. Um,
you know, you don't realize that that car was next
(17:26):
to you, and then you know that they're emerging and
you catch them for the last second. You feel terrible
about it. You know I should have backed off or whatever.
But um, most of the time it's intentional. And then
there's car discrimination. I used to be guilty car discrimination.
If someone has a car that is very, very nice
and they're already kind of driving like a jerk. If
someone has a super nice car and they were not
(17:49):
a good a great driver, not necessarily a villainous driver, um,
then I would I would relish the opportunity to not
let them in and drive fast. Oh my gosh, it's terrible.
I'm better now, better now, I've seen the light. Okay,
it's not their fault. It's like a confessional today, it
kind of is. But let's go to the big one. Well,
(18:10):
I got I got two left in this this this one.
This one gets me. And there's a variation of this
one too. I get my car washed and I'm on
a two lane road, maybe invariably there will be somebody
that will have a trailer or something like that. They
will go off the road with two wheels and throw
dirt and rocks all over the I don't know what
it is about it, but when my car is still
(18:31):
damp from the car wash, that's when this happens. And
I get home and there's you know, mud or or
just streaks of dirt and stuff all over. It happens
every single time. I don't know why that is. It
doesn't happen any other time, but it's always on the
way home from the car wash. And the variation on
that is, if you're on the highway or you know,
traveling at fifty miles an hour or whatever, someone in
(18:53):
front of you got a clean car again, clean windshield,
everything is nice. You know, you're headed out a date
go wherever. Someone in front of you uses their their
windshield washer and it more or less sprays over the
top of their car and onto your car, speckles the
whole vehicle. You know that what you were just polishing
off of the car five minutes before that, I can
just open to you what's interesting has But I don't
(19:16):
think it hits me emotionally the way that it bothers
me so bad. Because yeah, because I've been to you know,
some of these quick change or quick oil change places
and they put well they well one time they put
almost like muddy water in the innything and it was awful.
I had to flush it out, you know, a power
wash and then flush the system and it was really
a mess. I had a decrease and it was a
(19:37):
little really gross. I don't know what happened, um, but
stuff like that ends up on my windshield then when
I was being careful not to hit that, you know,
because I've had a nice clean car, trying not to
hit my windshield washer because you know, leaves the streaks
and marks and anyways. That really bugs me. Is that
your number one? No, that's not my number one? Okay, good, okay,
I thought that was I thought that was anti climactic.
(19:57):
You see what I mean. This is whiny. Well, we're
almost dude, I know. Okay, stick up for the listeners
because these people might be in traffic right now, Scott,
we're doing this for them. This is my biggest pet
peeve on the road. And this this originated. This I
don't say originated, but where I first heard this was
in Chicago, probably in the mid nineties. I never heard
it anywhere before, and now is everywhere in the US. Apparently,
(20:19):
let's get a drum roll. I think this deserves a
drum roll. People who honk the instant a light turns green. Now,
this happens to me all the time I witnessed. I
was a pedestrian in Chicago. I heard this happening. I thought,
what the heck is going on. I didn't really realize
what was going you know. The second it turned green,
(20:40):
I heard a lot of honking. I thought, oh, that's weird.
But um then it started to spread. And I'm not
saying Chicago is the birthplace of this or anything, but
that's where I heard it first. And now it's everywhere
and including here. And what gets me the most is
that it's not just the second person in line thinking
that the first person is asleep, you know, because it's
the second that it turned I mean, the instant it
changes sometimes times. This is a car that's six or
(21:01):
seven cars back, don't they realize that there's a process
where the first car goes, the second car goes, the
third car goes, etcetera. And it's kind of a chain
and you have to wait. It doesn't it's not that
the second that light turns green, all twenty cars don't
move simultaneously forward. It doesn't work that way, and that
drives it really crazy, and it makes it makes me
(21:24):
want to stay right where I am and pretends if
I was asleeper looking at doing something else. But I don't.
But that's one of those things that makes me go
to instant anger. Really Yeah, yeah, I don't. It just
it grates on me. Yeah, it's kind of I guess,
if we want to go with the wall con versus
driving analogy, it's like you're in a crowded elevator and
the door opens and people start cursing at you. That's right,
(21:48):
that's right. So that this this honking as soon as
the light turns green my number one. And like I said,
it's just it takes my blood pressure right through the
roof instantly. I bet for some people though, it feels
for some people it feels really good to honk the horn.
I guess, you know, I never ever touched my horn
ever do Someone could be you know, they could slam
on the brakes and stet right up to my front
(22:09):
bumper and be staring at me. I wouldn't honk the horn.
I've been trying to incite my girlfriend to to be
less stingy with the horn because I will. Yeah, I know.
I know she's a really nice person, and I do
my best to be a nice person, but I don't.
I don't honk just because I'm angry. Um. I honk
because I'm alerting people to the fact that they are
(22:32):
doing something stupid which may cost us in terms of
health and money. You're driving elitist. I maybe I might
just be you know what, I am definitely. I just
got over my driving prejudice of cars, you know, So
it's one step at a time. But even I have
never honked right when the light turns green because I
(22:52):
understand what's going on. So everybody out there keep that
in mind. You're making someone in front of you very mad,
and if it's Scott, you won't because he won't honk
the horn. That's right now, You know what. There have
been times when people in front of me are probably
reading a book or doing whatever he was talking about, texting,
I won't honk the horn. I'll just I'll wait and
I don't know why, but I just won't touch the horn.
(23:13):
That's weird. Yeah, maybe we need to get you a
customized horn. If I put to someone's house and I
want to alert them that I'm there, you know, come
on out and get the car, I'll roll down the
window and y'all, hey, come on out, I'm here. If
you're at the right house now, Yeah, we should fix
We should fix your horn so that it plays kenyan
Naro nice. That would be good, which is the Simpsons reference.
And usually when we do a Simpsons reference that means
(23:35):
we're ready to call it a day, right, I'm ready, Okay,
So thanks for listening, guys, thanks for listening to our grapes. Yeah, uh,
we we probably well, we hopefully hit on a couple
that you thought of. Um, but if we missed one,
especially if it's something just drives you up the wall,
write us in, tell us about it. We'll tell everybody else.
And as always, the email address. And Ben, Ben, I'm
(23:57):
gonna give an email address. But what have you done?
You've opened the floodgates. So he's gonna be a million emails.
I told you that in the beginning, All right, go
ahead and write it said high speed Stuff. With how
stuff works dot com for more on this and thousands
of other topics. This is how stuff works dot com.
Let us know what you think, Send an email to
podcast at how stuff works dot com and be sure
(24:20):
to check out the High Speed Stuff blog on the
how stuff works dot com home page. M
CarStuff News
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Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.