What makes you feel uncomfortable about driving?

[Shellsbutt]

Where to start? Driving at night
One way streets
Parallel parking
Driving across bridges
Driving in bad weather
Driving in those construction zones on the freeway with the white barriers and the lanes are so narrow and you're trying to pass a semi
Other drivers

 

[goofyernmost]

As I have gotten older I started to be a little concerned about driving. I was mediocre in most everything I did in life, but I always felt that I was one of the better drivers. I got my drivers license in 1964. I drove professionally for a number of years and have driven everything from a riding lawn to an 18 wheeler. During those 57 years I have never had an accident or have ever been a part of one. I taught defensive driving to city bus drivers but then I got older. I had some medical problems over the years that caused me some mobility issues so I stuck around close to home for a couple years. Over the summer I started to have some major improvements in that area and decided that I wanted to go up north to my home state of Vermont from No. Carolina. It meant taking I-95 at least up to New York. I went and traveled 2000 miles on that 11 day road trip. It didn't take me long to fall into the grove and by the time I reached the DC area I was back and loving it. No anxiety or even a slight case of nerves. That in spite of the fact that there are some wild a$$ crazy drivers out there now.

I still am aware of my advancing years and have asked my family to please let me know if they see any decline before it's to late. However, that experience gave me back a very important part of my life.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Good point - I think you are in MA and even in small cities here - there are deer running across the road at 10PM - in the main part of town. Just happened Monday night and it was a close call on on the way to the Pub.

I used to drive down 95 to work and there was a deer hit almost every week - I am sure its worse now.

I am in Mass and once pulled around a corner in Newton Lower Falls and nearly plugged three of them in a neighbourhood. They gave me a very indignant look before running off.

 

[SpaceMan5]

Red light runners. Dodged a bullet a few times. Big problem in Los ANgeles

In Seattle it is the homeless riding their bikes as if no one else was on the road. You never know if they are gonna zip out into traffic, suddenly veer in front of you, etc.

 

[tony67]

I am in Mass and once pulled around a corner in Newton Lower Falls and nearly plugged three of them in a neighbourhood. They gave me a very indignant look before running off.

I head there was a Coyote in the North End of Boston the other day - just wow - that is also getting to be a problem - they need to take care of the deer

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Tanks.

 

[Lord Manhammer]

Tanks.

You encounter that many tanks driving through the English countryside?

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

You encounter that many tanks driving through the English countryside?

You'd be surprised...

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

You encounter that many tanks driving through the English countryside?

 

[mikehn]

In deer country during the rut

 

[ozliz]

For me there’s a lot on the road of course, but it’s actually the attitudes of people off the road that bother me the most. I found learning to drive harder than many other things I have had to learn in life and I was unfortunately injured in an accident (driver was following too close and ran into me when I slowed down for heavy traffic) many years ago. I’ve never been confident and people that act like it’s just something easy that everyone can and should be able to do perfectly. I wish there was more understanding out there.

 

[tony67]

So less uncomfortable and more angry but - went out this morning to pick up some stuff for the holiday weekend.

Lots of road works and lots of multilane roads merging to one lane.

There is always that person that even though they know its merging to one lane and everyone else is trying to merge over they feel like they can just go ahead around everyone and then cut in - this is exactly why there is road rage.
I never let them in and then they get annoyed with me.
One of the benefits of driving my 2005 Explorer around town for these types of errands.

For the bonus - why is it that 90% of the time these people are driving a Mercedes - sometimes a BMW - more more often than not its a Mercedes.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

So less uncomfortable and more angry but - went out this morning to pick up some stuff for the holiday weekend.

Lots of road works and lots of multilane roads merging to one lane.

There is always that person that even though they know its merging to one lane and everyone else is trying to merge over they feel like they can just go ahead around everyone and then cut in - this is exactly why there is road rage.
I never let them in and then they get annoyed with me.
One of the benefits of driving my 2005 Explorer around town for these types of errands.

For the bonus - why is it that 90% of the time these people are driving a Mercedes - sometimes a BMW - more more often than not its a Mercedes.

I wonder if your area uses zipper merge instructions because that is increasingly more common.

Multiple construction zones around here between street roads and highway projects have "use both lanes" or "merge now" signs (meaning the merge is late) or some other notation to mean early merging is not the way to go.

We have a spot here where two highways merge together. After they did construction on this spot (which they've done multiple things there to try to ease traffic) on the highway that is merging into the larger one they added an additional lanes to help with volume of cars on this highway.

Spot one is the main merge with 3 lanes merging into a 5 lane highway. That 3rd lane added continues onto the 5 lane highway for a portion of it creating a 6 lane highway which then turns back into a 5 lane highway. The second spot turns that 5 lane highway into a 4 lane highway.

Unfortunately because people are so used to early merging all it did with those added lanes is cause back up traffic so badly because people weren't using that added lane to continue on after merging from the one smaller highway and then late merge. If people used those additional lane and merged late it would keep traffic moving much better.

In some cases it's best if people late merge even though we all want to fight against it and increasingly traffic engineers are setting it up that way. So long as people of course aren't using shoulders to go around people, I'm assuming you're talking about how you want people to merge into one lane early on but some cars aren't.

 

[tony67]

I'm assuming you're talking about how you want people to merge into one lane early on but some cars aren't.

Yeah this is specifically constructions sites where there are tons of barrels and light and its obvious we are all trying to merge to the one lane, I was Stradling two lanes in one case and they barley fit between the barrels and my car - then they wanted to cut in front of me further up - as no one was letting them in.
Twice this AM, same situation, both Mercedes SUVs.

There are places where this happens on the highway as well and I am a little more forgiving as I have made the mistake myself on roads I don't know. Ill usually cut in as soon as I can, but I see people again in expensive cars for the most part, who will drive 3/4 of a mile all the way to the merge and then cut in saving themselves 20 minutes or so. Its legal sure - but its also rude. Yeah we are all just waiting hear for the fun of it. And all those folks that pull that just makes it slower for the people that got cut off as they try to force their way in.
Its also really annoying when you have a 2 hour commute that should take 1 hour.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Yeah this is specifically constructions sites where there are tons of barrels and light and its obvious we are all trying to merge to the one lane, I was Stradling two lanes in one case and they barley fit between the barrels and my car - then they wanted to cut in front of me further up - as no one was letting them in.
Twice this AM, same situation, both Mercedes SUVs.

There are places where this happens on the highway as well and I am a little more forgiving as I have made the mistake myself on roads I don't know. Ill usually cut in as soon as I can, but I see people again in expensive cars for the most part, who will drive 3/4 of a mile all the way to the merge and then cut in saving themselves 20 minutes or so. Its legal sure - but its also rude. Yeah we are all just waiting hear for the fun of it. And all those folks that pull that just makes it slower for the people that got cut off as they try to force their way in.
Its also really annoying when you have a 2 hour commute that should take 1 hour.

We had a recent thread here discussing rudeness, etc. That's actually why I brought up zipper merge. Because what we interpret rudeness may actually be the way traffic engineers want us to do.

I would agree with you about actually merging the moment when there's physically no room due to barriers because that's unsafe someone needs to give but your description matches almost perfectly to how a recent construction zone was set up on one of our 2 lane highways. Barrels and cones out but also use both lanes signs and indications that the merge zone was a late one. To merge early was incorrect in that scenario. I'm not saying it wouldn't irk me lol so I fully understand your frustration but I'm trying to pay more attention myself to what I am being directed to do and let go of my past way of always no matter what early merging because that's how we were taught years ago.

An article just a week or so ago (this information isn't new the article however is a recent reminder) mentioned that my state and the one next to me the DOTs say zipper merge is what they recommend drivers use when traffic is slow and congested and I would call an hour commute doubled to fit that metric. I think that's why I'm seeing more overt signage than I used to in my area. If it's light traffic with cars zipping by easily then early merge is recommended.

This is from my state's DOT
“Drivers should wait until their lane is about to end before merging in between cars on the open travel lane. When drivers see the ‘lane closed ahead’ sign and traffic backing up, drivers should stay in their current lane up to the point of merge and then take turns with the other drivers to safely and smoothly merge into the remaining open lane,” the department wrote. “When traffic volumes are heavy and traffic is moving slow, it is much safer for motorists to remain in their current lane until the point where traffic can orderly take turns merging.”

The state next to me's DOT
“By using two full lanes of traffic until the merge, you reduce the difference in speed between the two lanes,” “The length of backups is reduced by 40-50 percent.” Recommends the so-called “early” merging during times of light congestion, and zipper merging when there is “heavy congestion with slowed or stopped traffic.”

Purely a guess but based on enough stats it's quite possible if people late merged in at least some of those cases you mentioned for your area it wouldn't take as long as you've experienced. But who knows what your area recommends. Maybe they still recommend early merge but around here it's become increasingly clear our DOT's (I live at the border of two states) do not for all situations.

 

[dizneegirl]

People using cell phones - in their hands - while driving... but that annoys/angers me more than makes me uncomfortable, I guess. Them weaving all over the road is the uncomfortable part.

 

[tony67]

People using cell phones - in their hands - while driving... but that annoys/angers me more than makes me uncomfortable, I guess. Them weaving all over the road is the uncomfortable part.

Yeah - 9 times out of 10 someone who is driving like a fool is holding the phone and talking on it or worse texting

 

[AurumPunzel]

Potholes.

 

[starvenger]

I have a theory that you lose the ability to drive properly once you get behind the wheel of a Mercedes.