Stop Signs: Not Just for Decoration.

Have you ever seen the people that approach a stop sign, quickly check both ways, and just kind of roll on through without coming to a complete stop? I see this happen quite often, and you probably relate. You may even do it yourself! I am certainly guilty myself although I usually try to avoid it. Maybe those people think they will just save everyone else approaching the hassle of trying to decide who stopped first and who gets to proceed first. Then there's an awkward waving session and both parties involved in the wave end up starting to go and then abruptly step on the brakes. Repeat...

Ok, I'm all for saving time and this normally wouldn't have bothered me except this particular time, the "stop sign roller" pulled the little time saving trick at a two way stop sign and before I knew it they were right in front of my 3/4 ton truck which just so happened to be travelling at 55mph in the right of way. There was literally no stop even attempted as far as I saw. I was forced to apply the brakes as hard as I could while trying to keep it in the lane. The vehicle managed to nearly avoid being turned into a total loss insurance claim.
So next time you decide you're going to "roll through", at least try to avoid the two way stop signs. You might save your own life!

Roundabouts

We were "fortunate" enough to have a roundabout constructed here in town this past summer. Problem is, most people struggle with the operation of such a device. The general idea is that you approach the roundabout slowly, about 20-25 mph, look left(I would say don't bother looking right but I have seen with my own eyes, "grandpa" driving BACKWARDS through the roundabout) for oncoming traffic, yield if there are vehicles coming, If nothing is coming, Don't stop as if you confused an upside down triangle for an octagon. There's not a stop sign in front of you! IT'S A YIELD. In case you slept through Driver's Ed, a yield sign indicates that a vehicle driver must prepare to stop if necessary to let a driver on another approach proceed (but has no need to stop if their way is clear). A driver who stops has yielded their right of way to another. In contrast, a stop sign always requires a complete stop. I know it's tough and if you are still having trouble figuring this out, Click HERE and read up!

Burnout Fail

If the bag over the window wasn't bad enough, this poor soul had to take things a step further and blow his engine while trying to do a burnout in a car that just screams the antithesis of tire spinning ability and performance.

Click for Moronism

Funny Bridgestone Tires Ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vhR6VYlACY

Remember, too fast for conditions is a real problem!

Plan ahead please.

     Due to the nature of what I do for a living, I send a lot of mail through the US postal service. Usually checks and bills and such. Today was personal, I just had to drop Netflix. I like to use the drive up mailboxes downtown to accomplish this task since it's obviously faster than trying to park where there is no parking to go in to the post office. Today as I turned on to the street where the mailboxes are, there was another car in front of me. This is quite common due to the popularity of people tending to use those boxes for the quick outgoing mail drop. This particular person also had to make the stop at the mailboxes. Apparently you can just take as much time as you feel necessary to utilize these facilities. I think they actually wrote a letter, put it in an envelope, stamped it, and put it in the mailbox in the 4 or 5 minutes I sat behind the car waiting to simply drop my Netflix envelope. This is somewhat irrelevant to "Bad Driving" but they were in a car and I felt like sharing my frustration. Next time I'm going to park, get out and walk around them while they sit there contemplating how many stamps it might take to mail an envelope with a few staples and paperclips inside. 

Bad Driver Gene?

UC Irvine neuroscientists may have found a gene that relates to how good or bad a driver you are. Read the full article here.