Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Petty Annoyances (road version)

Well hell, and totally off topic, I just realized I've passed the 200 post mark...

  • The guy driving in the left lane at 90km/hr. Who refuses to move to the middle lane. 'Cause he likes it in the left lane. The grass is greener and shit. Besides, he's almost at the speed limit, so what's the problem?
  • His opposite. The guy who refuses to let you move to the middle lane after passing someone. The guy who, while you're already doing 120 and have your flasher on to move to the centre lane, cuts off the guy in the middle lane and squeezes through to cut you off too, cause damn, he can't wait 3 and a half seconds for you to move. The man is busy, the man is going places, the man is an idiot.
  • Tailgaters. I hate when they just sit on your ass. Every time, my foot itches to hit the brakes to teach them a lesson (and probably get myself killed in the process)
  • Those people on the highway who throw their cigarettes, coke cans and assorted litter out the window. And people who empty their ashtrays in parking lots. I'd love to shove the crap down their throats. Especially after it has rained a bit and I step into the mess getting out of my car.
  • People who talk on cellphones while driving. I know, 99% of cell phone owners do it. It's dangerous, dammit! Just the other day some idiot on a phone just pulled out into traffic and almost sideswiped me. Oh, and there's the time I was crossing the street, minding my own business, contemplating the fact that the little man on the "cross now" light has a really tiny head when an idiot on a cell almost ran me over. And had the gall to yell at me to watch where I was going. Despite the fact that he was RUNNING. A. RED. LIGHT!
  • That idiot (I seem to be using that word a lot today) who, despite seeing that there's tons of traffic and he might get stuck in the middle of the street when the light changes, charges ahead anyway. Rather than waiting, even if the light is green, for there to be space to advance into. He's the one who inevitably ends up blocking the street for the rest of us when the light changes.
  • People who don't respect pedestrian crossings. For the record though, this seems to be a uniquely Quebec problem. Now, everyone knows if there's a pedestrian on a crossing, you're supposed to stop to let him pass. We all learned that in drivers ed, right? Except, in Quebec, where it is forgotten as soon as it's learned. Along with most other rules of the road, like merging into traffic and stupid stuff like that. A while ago, while I waited in the middle of a crossing, five cars or so went straight through (including a cop car) before someone decided to stop. A car with Ontario plates. The cops could make major money by ticketing those idiots (again with that word). But then they'd have to take a break from that oh so popular Quebec sport: Squoosh the pedestrian.

6 comments:

Jocelyn said...

Actually, I've only ever seen those pedestrian laws respected in the states of California and Oregon. Outside of those places, walkers take their lives in their hands!

Congrats on the 200 posts. That's huge.

Steven said...

Fuck you...I like the left lane... ;)

Steve~

Big Brother said...

Good peeves, but I would add one or two or three others.
1. Trucks.. I hate trucks. They think that the road system was built just for them and they have been multiplying faster than bunnies. They slow down traffic, pollute and cause accidents, especially the "train routier" where you have two 53 foot trailers hooked one after the other. There is no way I'll believe that the trucker can control 120 feet of truck going at 100 km/hr.
2. The side by siders, where there is a two lane road and you have two cars driving along at 40 km/hr in a 70 km/hr zone. They drive side by side so that nobody can pass them. God forbid that they should both be in the slow lane. (This is one that you often see trucks doing)
3. The leap-froggers: They pass you and then when they are in front of you they decelerate. When you are on cruise control, you have to brake, pass them again and then put the cruise back on. You are always going at a steady speed with the cruise, but they are going like a yoyo. Of course when they see you pass, they'll accelerate and pass you again, so you end up playing leap-frog.
4. Why is it that when people want to turn many of them come to an almost complete stop before turning. They turn at about 5 km/hr. causing everyone behind them to slam on the brakes. Seems to me that modern cars are able to corner a little bit faster than that.

Lhia said...

the word of today is
most definatly
idiot

200 posts
wow
I wonder if i will ever make it that far.

Bardouble29 said...

Preach on sister...preach on!

I hate people that also merge onto the freeways going 25 miles an hours!

Ian Lidster said...

The most frightening city for crossing the street in a crosswalk in my experience was Vienna. But, number two in all my travels was, yes, Montreal. Wow! Maybe Montreal now has first place because EU rules (and there are thousands of 'em) might have slowed Vienna down.

Ian