P A Y Attention!!

[Rettax3]

---Warning -beginning rant!---
So, I was running some errands today, driving the Yellow Indy, and was cruising down the road heading home, when I ran across (almost literally) yet another Darwinist who thinks they are the only person in the world. Some people simply can't seem to pay attention to what they are doing, and it almost caused an accident (actually, it almost caused a negligent...) today.

The road I was on is a 50 MPH two-lane undivided country road, meaning that there is a 100 MPH closure-rate with oncoming vehicles just a few feet away. This particular stretch is straight, but sight-distance is still limited due to the hilly nature of the area, and the road is bordered on both sides by steep embankments and tall pines leaving a whole lot of nowhere-to-go. The road was actually dry and clean, for a change, and it was also pleasantly sunny and (relatively) warm today. As I crested one of the hills, I noticed an SUV off to the side of the lane, halfway in the road and using only half of the shoulder, with its' turn signals on -not its' hazards mind you, just the turn signals. A moment later, I am close enough to see that the driver's door is wide open into the lane of the road, and the driver is standing in the door-frame to get enough height to adjust something on the roof of the SUV. I had just enough time to accelerate and swerve around this idiot and get safely back into my own lane before interfering with oncoming traffic -now with a little better than a 100 MPH closure-rate. The cars behind me all had to stop in the middle of the road for this person, and I'm sure had a grand adventure stopping in time.

I'm not saying I never make mistakes, of course I do, but why does common sense seem so incredibly uncommon? This was just careless, simply not thinking about how one's actions effect other people around oneself. I am reminded of the recent auto insurance commercials about how some people are 'simply human' -I think that it is more like 'simple humans'.

---Rant over. (For now.) Thanks.---

[Money pit Beretta]

Nice rant and I fully agree that was total BS. To me those people should not be allowed to have or teach kids(Really I think they should be put down).
I don't know who these people are, but there are more and more of them. I had a woman in a Venture van pull up next to me and wouldn't turn. I wanted to go left and she was going to go right. She had four good chances to do it and I couldn't see over her hood. I got mad and put it in park, so did she as she yapped on the phone. Tell me how see couldn't see over my lowered car. We were on a hill, but all she had to do was pull up a little to see over my roof(which I'm sure she could have anyway). I got mad, put it in drive and went to WOT. Then made a right turn out of the parking lot from the left turn lane. As I was giving her the bird I saw that she then was able to make the turn.
Darwinist? I'm not going to agree with that in any way, shape or form. These people are just too into self. They can be a "Darwinist" or a "churchee"(or you can use a "y" on that) and still think that they are the only important people on planet(I include their family because they do).

[Rettax3]

Darwinist? I'm not going to agree with that in any way, shape or form. These people are just too into self. They can be a "Darwinist" or a "churchee"(or you can use a "y" on that) and still think that they are the only important people on planet(I include their family because they do).

-Sorry, I meant 'Darwinist' sarcastically implying that this individual would phase themselves out eventually in a very Darwinian way, but you are right, I misused the word. It really does seem that there are an ever-increasing number of self-involved fools running around out there. I am tired of seeing all these lawyer-inspired safety measures that do nothing but protect the chronically stupid from what they deserve. Yeah, unfortunately stupid begets stupid- can someone please add some chlorine to the gene-pool already?

[woody90gtz]

People piss me off all the time.

[Money pit Beretta]

Looks like I misunderstood. I sure wish they would phase themselves out. But as you said they are protected....that is wrong. Worst part is they are allowed to breed.

[Travelor]

Just so I understand correctly... A vehicle was pulled off to the side of the road, and you sped up to get around it, while all the other drivers slowed or stopped? ...Did I read your rant correctly?

You do know that states have a slow/stop law for vehicles on the side of the road?

Not to sound like a dick, but you did just say:

This was just careless, simply not thinking about how one's actions effect other people around oneself.

They could have had an emergency, and not expecting to be hit at 50mph, stepped out in front of you.... You should listen to your own advice...

[Rettax3]

Just so I understand correctly... A vehicle was pulled off to the side of the road, and you sped up to get around it, while all the other drivers slowed or stopped? ...Did I read your rant correctly?

You do know that states have a slow/stop law for vehicles on the side of the road?

Not to sound like a dick, but you did just say:

This was just careless, simply not thinking about how one's actions effect other people around oneself.

They could have had an emergency, and not expecting to be hit at 50mph, stepped out in front of you.... You should listen to your own advice...

No, I understand what you are saying, I was half expecting to hear someone mention that viewpoint, it does sound questionable to speed up around a stopped car, but it is an issue of having had to be there to understand the situation. Sorry, but back-seat driving from the internet doesn't earn any points here, and accusing me of carelessness when you weren't there is less than fair, please rethink that.

To clarify, yes, I could have aggressively stopped from 50 MPH, or I could have accelerated a little to keep a good safety-cushion between me and the on-coming traffic (I could have just maintained speed or *politely* slowed a little and been fine, but I wanted more cushioning since I had to swing out into the oncoming lane to avoid the SUV's wide-open door and keep a "safe" distance away from the driver in case she fell off the SUV and into the road right at the moment that I was passing by -and it was at the start of a passing-zone, if that matters). The cars behind me really didn't have a safe option to pass due to the oncoming traffic, but they were a little ways behind me too (if I had been being tailgated at a time when this pulled-over SUV was making people brake to a stop, I would have complained about that too -tailgating is as stupid as texting while driving IMO). The driver was standing in the door-frame of the SUV tinkering with the load on their roof, this did not appear to be an emergency of any kind, and if she did not expect traffic to be on the road traveling at the 50 MPH speed-limit, well, that was sort of the point of my rant. It is a public highway, not her personal driveway, and she had more shoulder-room to pull off the road further, and probably could have worked from the passenger-side to adjust the load or figured out another way to safely access the roof from the driver's side than to have her door wide open into traffic. Even the token gesture of turning her hazards on wasn't offered here (unless the left rear bulb was burned-out maybe, but I don't see a need for me to be so charitable as to offer-up excuses for her).

We all live in the world together, and it is silly to think that we can all get through life without getting in each others' way from time to time. I'm not complaining about that, and yes, we all need to have a level of tolerance and understanding for each other. But when someone crosses a line from needing some reasonable tolerance to acting like they are the only person who matters, they don't deserve understanding.

[Asylum]

The world is full of "just plain too stupid for a cure to be developed" people!

[Travelor]

No, I understand what you are saying, I was half expecting to hear someone mention that viewpoint, it does sound questionable to speed up around a stopped car, but it is an issue of having had to be there to understand the situation. Sorry, but back-seat driving from the internet doesn't earn any points here, and accusing me of carelessness when you weren't there is less than fair, please rethink that.

Do not put words in my mouth, I have not accused you of anything.

I did not call you careless when referencing your previous statement so I don't need to rethink it, but I do feel you should listen to your own advice and think about how your actions could have affected someone else!

Obviously I wasn't there, and I only have your side of the story to go on. But there is always another side to any story. I am not "backseat internet driving" as you put it, I'm simply trying to make you aware that there is a possibility that this wasn't just a "Oh, I'm going to block traffic with my door and be a dick about it while I get that annoying leaf stuck on my wiper" scenario, instead this could have possibly been "oh crap the rope snapped and several pieces of lumber tied to the roof are about to spill all over the road unless I stop RIGHT HERE..." and they would have been more concerned with that and not noticed you coming. From your description of the road, they COULDN'T get over anymore anyway because of the steep ditch line. So maybe that spot was the best option for an executive decision pull over.

[Rettax3]

Whoah Travelor, I'm not trying to throw stones here, or put words in your mouth, so put the brakes on.

This was just careless, simply not thinking about how one's actions effect other people around oneself.

You should listen to your own advice...

I'm not trying to make assumptions about what you are saying either, but when you quote my line back to me about people being careless and tell me to follow my own advice, it seems pretty clear that you are criticizing my judgement. If you weren't, then I apologize for taking it that way, straight and up-front, okay?

As for me 'thinking about how I effect other people,' I didn't start this rant to ask members who've never met me if they think I'm a good driver or to take a poll to see if the law says to speed up when passing stopped vehicles. I was sharing my complaint about rude, insensitive people, because this was OBVIOUSLY a case of someone being self-absorbed, to the point of endangering people. While there are two sides to each story, I did not feel it necessary to try to justify the other person's position, and I doubt they are on this site to have their feelings hurt by my opinion of them. I don't need to worry about the other side of the story, because I am not a judge in court deciding who goes to jail because three people were killed in an accident that could have been avoided simply by shutting the darn door when traffic was approaching or using the whole shoulder. I'm telling my side of the story, because, well, this is my story to tell, she can tell her own side to her friends on Twit-Face if she had a problem with me actually going around her.

Obviously I wasn't there, and I only have your side of the story to go on. But there is always another side to any story. I am not "backseat internet driving" as you put it, I'm simply trying to make you aware that there is a possibility that this wasn't just a "Oh, I'm going to block traffic with my door and be a dick about it while I get that annoying leaf stuck on my wiper" scenario, instead this could have possibly been "oh crap the rope snapped and several pieces of lumber tied to the roof are about to spill all over the road unless I stop RIGHT HERE..." and they would have been more concerned with that and not noticed you coming. From your description of the road, they COULDN'T get over anymore anyway because of the steep ditch line. So maybe that spot was the best option for an executive decision pull over.

I noticed an SUV off to the side of the lane, halfway in the road and using only half of the shoulder

As I said in the OP, she had room to pull farther over, and had she been fully on the shoulder without her door open, there would have been zero conflict, I would have happily slowed down and been on my way hoping that they were not having any serious trouble.
I rather doubt the driver was incapable of moving her vehicle farther onto the shoulder, and I'm pretty certain that her door didn't actually stick in the full-open position, so I'm fairly certain that she was just being self-centered and/or stupid, to be blunt.

However, I fully admit that you had a valid point regarding my decision to speed-up, but in my opinion, the safest thing I could have done was exactly what I did. Maybe I should have even punched it a lot harder, but I didn't think that was necessary, and I didn't want any more speed around this person than I had to have. If I slowed down before going around the SUV, then the oncoming traffic might have gotten nervous, slammed on their brakes and caused a pile-up, or some of the drivers could have swerved into my lane to avoid a collision leaving me nowhere to go. If I mis-judged the timing and sliced it that thin, it would be putting my safety in the hands of the oncoming cars by requiring them to slow down. I could have tried to stop in time, in fact almost certainly could have stopped in time even if I had to do threshold braking to do it, but then I would be just past the crest of the hill with cars coming up behind me at 50mph, and if I swerved onto the shoulder first to get out of their way, I would be partly on the soft shoulder and likely wouldn't have been able to stop in time. I could have simply maintained speed and gone around, but as I've already said before, I wanted as much cushion between myself and oncoming traffic as I could get, and I never said I downshifted and went WOT to show off. Travelor, I understand your concerns and like I said, I know my actions sounded questionable, but it seems like you started with the assumption that I wasn't thinking about the consequences of my own actions. I assure you, I was driving with thought, feeling, and instinct. Even at 50 MPH, I didn't have time to whip out a slide-rule and calculate maximum safety odds, or make a statistics chart to estimate the chances of results of each possible course of action. My instincts told me to veer away from the stopped car, maintain maximum control of my vehicle, and get back out of the wrong side of the road as quickly as possible. I used my best judgement to determine the safest course of action, estimated the time and distance I had left to get around the obstruction in the road, and determined that it was safer to go around than to try and stop in time and hope that I wouldn't become an even worse obstacle myself. I kept control of the situation with myself and my vehicle, instead of handing it over to the oncoming cars or the cars behind me. If someone thinks that was wrong, well, they can keep riding the train.
Cheers!

[Koots]

This kind of stuff happens in my isolated home town too. Lots of uneducated drivers just expecting the rest of the world to stop accidents from happening, not them.

It's bad enough that I almost want to lodge a formal complaint against the driving instructors here in town. They are way too lenient and letting some seriously dumb and distracted drivers out on the road.