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OMG... thought I was the only one who deems certain cars as bad drivers! I have a running list in my head, so here are mine:
1. Dodge Charger (those cars seem to attract the seriously aggressive a-holes)
2. VW Jetta (tailgaters and lane-weavers)
3. BMW 3 or 5 series
4. Ford Mustang (post-90's)
And finally...
5. PRIUS!!! My best friend drives a Prius, and I'd like to say she's an exception... but sadly (and don't tell her I said this, LOL) she's one of the worst drivers I know. Unlike the others on my list, they're on here for being slow yet stubborn - the types who go 60mph in the fast lane, and then speed up when you try to pass. WTH.
Honorable mention: Volvo, for similar reasons to the Prius.
I forgot about this. Any pickup truck that says 4x4 or AWD at the back - they think they are beyond everything. And then I drive a few miles and see an accident
Yes, they are definitely on my list too! Not long ago on the local freeway, I saw a huge pickup barreling towards me in the rear-view mirror... I quickly moved over, let him pass, and got back into the fast lane. He then came upon another car going slower than he liked, but the next lane over was blocked at that moment. I figured he would just hit the brakes and slow down, but noooooooo - he decided to use the SHOULDER to pass! I also saw a pickup do the same on the bridge once, so it appears some pickup drivers think the rules (and common sense) don't apply to them.
I don't usually wish harm upon other people, but some people could use a good (non-fatal) accident to knock some fear into them. Especially knowing how karma and the local cops work, as I bet these idiots have clean-ish driving records.
Oh yeah, and speaking of 4x4 drivers who think they're invincible... I used to live up in the mountains (Lake Tahoe), and just about EVERY 4x4 that came up from the "flatlands" seemed to think snow & ice were irrelevant to them. I drove an SUV at the time, but being a local, I understood that didn't mean I could speed or swerve in that kind of weather. We actually had a saying about it: If you see an overturned SUV or truck on hwy 50, you can bet they're from Sacramento or SF. Common sense, people - four-wheel or not, you still have to slow down in ice & snow!
- 4x4 full-size pickup trucks (esp. those w/lift kits, rims, aftermarket grilles, etc.) - 99% of these vehicles seem to be piloted by total tools who think they own the road, and are often driven in a stupid, dangerous manner (cutting you off on freeway onramps, going well past speed limits in terrible weather). On the contrary, people actually using these trucks for WORK don't seem so irresponsible with them (from my experience, at least).
- Full size 4x4 SUV's - Same as above, in SUV format instead. More common to see the driver on their phone too.
- Riced out mid 90's Civic/Intergra/Eclipse - Not the properly built ones, but the ones w/tacky paint jobs, rims, spoilers, and a loud muffler just for noise. These cars seem to attract idiots who have no business driving a fast car in the first place.
- Minivans - These are usually the ones I gotta worry about going 5-10 under the speed limit in the left lane.
- Ex-Police car Crown Vic - You're not fooling me, so quit driving like a moron!
4. All makes and models being driven by kids 21 and under. They think they know what they're doing, but in this day and age of cell phones, touchscreen navigation systems, loud stereos... They are some of the most distracted, least experienced drivers around.
There's a marked difference in the quality of driving done by, say, 16-17 year olds versus 19-20 year olds. And the correct term is "under 21" not "21 and under". I notice that those who are under 21, but close to it, drive more cautiously and less aggressively than those who are high school age. Of course, 19-20 year olds ARE less safe and less experienced than 21+ adults driving, but our accident rates are less than twice that of middle age drivers, while 16-17 year olds (especially 16) have crash rates 4-6 times higher than middle age drivers. And there is a higher proportion of idiots that are 19-20 vs 21+... I knew a 19 year old guy that drove his truck at "90 mph" in a 40 mph zone in front of a Kroger. I wasn't in the truck, and the passenger with him was probably exaggerating the speed, but I wouldn't doubt that he was doing more like 70 mph. 70 in a 40 is very dangerous.
There's a marked difference in the quality of driving done by, say, 16-17 year olds versus 19-20 year olds. And the correct term is "under 21" not "21 and under". I notice that those who are under 21, but close to it, drive more cautiously and less aggressively than those who are high school age. Of course, 19-20 year olds ARE less safe and less experienced than 21+ adults driving, but our accident rates are less than twice that of middle age drivers, while 16-17 year olds (especially 16) have crash rates 4-6 times higher than middle age drivers. And there is a higher proportion of idiots that are 19-20 vs 21+... I knew a 19 year old guy that drove his truck at "90 mph" in a 40 mph zone in front of a Kroger. I wasn't in the truck, and the passenger with him was probably exaggerating the speed, but I wouldn't doubt that he was doing more like 70 mph. 70 in a 40 is very dangerous.
The other thing that is not being discussed is that the very old drivers are a big accident risk as well. Their reflexes are slowed, some have dementia and mistake the gas pedal for the brake, and their senses are often compromised as well. I should know, a lady in her 80s plowed her Town Car into the back of my sport utility at a stoplight a few years ago. I was sitting stopped at a red light for about 30 seconds and then get whacked- twice. She mistook the gas for the brake and hit me, then make the same mistake again hit me a second time. It totaled her Town Car as she hit my trailer hitch and it impaled her front end all the way up to the serpentine belt pulley. Fortunately she decided to spend some of my tax dollars that pay for her Social Security on car insurance and I got a new hitch and rear bumper cover.
What is often overlooked is the crashes that fogeys *cause* are often much worse than the ones they are directly involved in. An octagenarian driving his Buick LeSabre at a blistering 30 mph down a busy street with a 45 mph limit at ten to 8 in the morning to get his cup of coffee at the Denny's is a big accident risk. He creates a traffic obstruction and can lead to crashes as working people rush to pass and avoid being trapped behind the torpid geezer as he toddles along. You guys knock semis for driving slowly, but they may weigh 80,000 lbs and sheer physics states they are not going anywhere fast even if they do have a 15 liter engine with a turbo the size of a gallon paint can. The geezers are in cars that are more than able to accelerate, brake, and turn just as well as anything else out there on the road- they have no excuse to be a road hazard. But the oldster set votes in large numbers and are a "protected class" for age discrimination as a result. Folks under 18 can't even vote, so we know why there are hefty restrictions on younger drivers but the geezers can continue to be deadly on the roads and little is done about it.
Really? Because the majority of Prius drivers in San Diego I've encountered are actually the idiots who do everything slowly. They drive 60 in the fast lane, they spend 5 minutes making a right turn, they drift from lane to lane...they generally drive as if they are too busy doing something else.
Funny how we can both think that Prius drivers are the worst offenders but for totally opposite reasons.
Good point. I guess they make the list for all reasons
1. Prius drivers
2. Lowest level luxury cars
2.5 Lowered imports with unmatched panels
3. Lifted small trucks (not even 4x4 but lifted with mudders?)
4. Mini-vans
5. SUVs
1) Cadillac DeVille/Dodge Charger/Chrysler 300/any stereotypically "ghetto" car with blacked out windows and big wheels: They're driving slow pretty much everywhere they go. I understand not wanting to get picked up for speeding or any other cockamamie excuse the police invent to stop suspicious vehicles, but seriously... get going. Doing 40 in a 55 is a surefire way to get picked up for going too slow.
2) Honda Pilot: a woman, 99% of the time, on the phone, and hell on wheels. I'm on serious alarm-bells ringing, red-alert when I see one on the road.
3) Any car (especially minivans) with dents in either rear corner of the bumper: I guarantee you it's a woman driver with zero depth perception, because a dent in the bumper cover means she backed into something. And I pray it wasn't your car.
4) Any car (especially minivans) who do 60 in the left lane. 'Nuff said.
5) Chevy Cavalier, especially if it's a young woman driving: their radios are usually blaring, and for good reason - so they don't hear the death rattles of the car coming apart around them. Unfortunately, blasting the radio that loud also makes them completely unaware of their surroundings.
6) Dodge Ram/Ford F250/Chevy Silverado (but only if the truck clearly hasn't been offroad in years): I know if you're compensating for something small, go really, really big. But roaring the V8 and cutting off the car in front doesn't help anybody.
1. Subaru drivers
2. Prius drivers
3. Minivan drivers
4. Anything with Mom and a pack of rug rats.
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