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What Are Your Driving Pet Peeves?

So many peeves, so little time ...

 

Have any of you ever spent time in the ScanGwinnett or the City of Dacula forums? Do you have an online forum in your neighborhood perhaps?

These forums can be informative and entertaining, they can also be a good way to get to know the people who live around you or just vent a bit. With that in mind, I thought we might try something a little different with this feature.

Rather than discussing politics or current events or other news subjects, "Dacula Q&A" will be dedicated to lighter topics. If you have a suggestion for a discussion topic, please leave a comment or email me at Kristi.Reed@Patch.com.

To get us started, let's discuss something most of us can relate to -- driving and pet peeves about driving and the driving habits of others. I actually have a pretty long list, but I'll start with my top five:

1. Drivers who are not handicapped, but choose to park in handicap spaces and or the gore between spaces. The gore is there so that people who use wheelchairs have room to get out of their vehicles. It is not a prettily-striped parking space!! And while I am on the subject, handicap spaces are not cart return areas!

2. Drivers who do not understand the concept of yielding when turning left.

3. Drivers who speed in school zones and school parking lots.

4. Tailgaters (You know who you are and you are a brake check away from a lawsuit).

5. Drivers who run red lights. If they ever install a red light camera at Hamilton Mill Road and Braselton Highway, they'll make a fortune.

What driving activties do you find most irritating?

Related Topics: Driving

Tammy Osier

6:30 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012

Not sure what yielding on a left means on number two, but it may be my number one pet peeve. Let's see if it is...OK. You want to make a left straight ahead. The light is green and both of us are driving in our lane. YOU have a left lane to get over in, but you continue to ride (at 1 mph) in MY lane until the last minute. When I am making a left, I look for my turn lane and GET IN IT in order to be considerate to the driver who is trying to make the green light. Is that too much to ask????

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Kristi Reed

7:17 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012

Hi Tammy - You're right, that is annoying too, but this is the one I mean: http://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/2010/title-40/chapter-6/article-4/40-6-71/ (people who do not yield to oncoming traffic when turning left).

Craig Reed

8:34 pm on Sunday, March 25, 2012

2.. Ditto on the improper use of handicap spots PARTICULARLY by drivers who are trying to protect their specialty car doors from dings or who are just to lazy to park away from other cars.
2. Tailgaters. It's not a crime to drive a slower speed than the posted limit. Granted, driving slower than 85mph on I-285 may get you run over, but I'm not about to let the driver behind me dictate my speed. Running late? In a rush? Sorry. Too bad for you.
3. People traveling the opposite direction who stop in the inside lane and leave a gap for cars to turn in front of them when there is a second lane where cars can continue moving. That lures inexperienced drivers into accidents. I realize the gap-making-driver is trying to be courteous by leaving a gap but it really creates more problems and hazard as the crossing driver will turn blind into the oncoming outside lane traffic.
4. Boom Boom music at the intersection. Although that complaint will certainly fall on deaf ears.
5. Empty HOT lanes on I-85 when traffic is jammed up in the other 5 lanes. Come to think of it, HOT lanes at any time.

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Kristi Reed

5:37 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

I guess driving hasn't changed much in the past six decades.

R++ - One of the famous "Dacula Crew"

1:27 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

Drivers that flick cigarettes out the window ...

You paid between 20 to 60k+ for your car/SUV/Babe or Boy magnet - it's got an ashtray in there SOMEWHERE, please look for it BEFORE hit the road.

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Kristi Reed

5:40 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

Hi R - Yes to both of these!! The cigarette thing is particularly bad though. If you look at the ground at some Gwinnett County intersections, there are just hundreds, if not thousands, of butts piled against the curbs. Nasty.

R++ - One of the famous "Dacula Crew"

1:54 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

Dump trucks with the little signs that read as follows "Keep back 100 Ft" and "Driver Not responsible for objects thrown from roadway".

It's great - because when they use any on ramp or hit a bump on the interstate, the top heavy load of big stones they are carrying shift, the rocks hit the roadway and go where? They bounce right up on the windshield of the vehicle following 100 ft or more back. Now if the Braves just could use some these drivers or roadway blacktop sections as pitchers in a ballgame...

Could regular drivers just post a decal on their car that reads as follows "Driver Not responsible for lead objects thrown from the highway"?

I asked this once when I called Commercial Truck division GA State DMVS on a particularly overloaded truck raveling down I-85 while observing it tossing the little bundles of joy like beads at Marti Gras.

Of course traffic tried to scatter like cockroaches from an episode of Hoarders when the lights first come on. Fun had by all to be sure.

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Joe Friday

9:34 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

I have many but the biggest is people that are driving slow in the left lane. "Slower traffic move right". If you look ahead of you and there is no one there and you look in the rearview (rarely happens) and there is a line of cars, YOU ARE THE PROBLEM!! MOVE OVER!!! Rubber necking ranks up there too. Nothign more frustrating then sitting in traffic only to find that it was caused by a simple accident or a cop doing a traffic stop. I have more but I'll leave it at that for now.

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Mitch

11:15 am on Monday, March 26, 2012

I have so many I could write a book. Some have been touched on, but here are a few:
1.) Hand out the window with a Cigarette(or window cracked). Okay, so the smoke is not good enough for your car, but apperantly it is just fine for your lungs?? Roll your window up and keep your smoke to yourself!
2.) Car/Truck customized to be louder than normal. Wow, your vehicle makes noise, you are a real tough guy now.
3.) Speeding in a subdivision with kids everywhere!
4.) Obama bumber stickers.

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Rich Rewkowski

12:29 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012

Have only been in this wonderful state for a year after moving down from NY (where aggressive driving seems to be the norm). In general, driving courtesies are much better here, but I do have two very specific observations:
1. Turn/signal lights seem to be an optional feature on many vehicles :>)
2. Large number of drivers in SUV's (more female than male) with right hand on the steering wheel and the other pressing a cell phone to the left ear. (maybe this explains why they are unable to signal, as in #1, or don't acknowledge a friendly wave).

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Kristi Reed

1:58 pm on Monday, March 26, 2012

@Joe - It is amazing how rubbernecking can jam traffic up for miles for even the most minor things (traffic stop is a good example). @Mitch - yes to all of those, especially #4 ;) @Rich - My husband jokes that he doesn't use a signal because people don't need to know his business. There are time though that I am not at all sure he is joking ...

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sigetyc@bellsouth.net

8:21 pm on Saturday, March 31, 2012

People who stop practically 2 car lengths behind stopped traffic so NO more cars can fit behind in the turning lane & let the cars going straight pass by.

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