Slow drivers in other than the slow lane.

People yammering on cellphones. Shut up and drive.

People that run out of blinker fluid.

Left lane bandits.

Favorite Things

People racing past me to be ticket fodder.

First, let me tell you that I live in the most violent city of the world, and I've seen some nasty stuff, like (not my Favorite Things though):

People racing past me to be smashed against concrete pillars on the side.

Chicken racing.

Car fights on a parking lot.

And something they used to do just for fun:

The highway to my suburban town had both ways (single lane) one besides the other, and these criminals used to tail-gate big trucks, waiting for an oposite driver to come close, then sudenly, they got out from behind the truck, making the unaware driver screech tires, almost roll-over, end up in the fields and surely need a pants change.

Yahlasit

Where can I pick up a jug of that Blinker fluid because I know some people that seem to be running low on the stuff.

Ah, other people's faults, great topic! Tailgaters bug me. I like to know the safe stopping distance for my ride/speed and respect that distance, unless you're passing, in which case, pass already don't ride butt.

I also detest slow drivers who don't observe the limit and norms of the road. In good driving conditions, everyone moves around 10 km over the official limit - you can't be charged unless you do more than that. People who are abnormally slow often turn out (or seem) to be (a) elderly (b) drunk, and/or (c) otherwise occupied - yapping into a cell phone top of the list...

1. Tailgaters.

2. Drivers who are weaving in and out of the lanes forcing others to step on their brakes to avoid an accident

3. Drivers who don't turn on their headlights when it is raining or at dusk.

Drivers who drives without checking their rear indication lamps

Drivers that drives with 100% of radio volume

I only reserve the diversion of 100% of radio volume for those moments when I'm stuck behind some slow mo and forced to do 50 where it should be 70...

Leaving fog lights on when it's not foggy (or putting them on in the rain!!!). I get out at red traffic lights, knock on drivers' windows and tell them, very sweetly, that their fog lights are on.

Middle lane cruisers.

Doing 40 mph in a 60 zone, especially when they then do 40 mph in a 30 zone.

Randomly stopping on to let people out of side roads when we're the only two cars on the road...

Stopping at give way signs when you can see three miles down the intersecting road and nothing is in sight. In either direction.

Talking on a mobile, but we've covered that one....

People pulling out into my lane in front of me, when they (should) know I will have to slow down so as not to hit them. It's almost as if they think it is their right to do so.

_{Smile for the birdie, a$$hole}

Drivers who stop at the end of an "onramp " and wait for a long gap in traffic. During rush hour this could take a long time.

Usually people who grew up in rural areas and hate to drive in the cities.

Mostly ladies in my town, they're terrible drivers, and if a potencially dangerous situation arises, they freeze up ! forcing you to maneuver and save yours, and their lives, you often end up with some damage, maybe cosmetic, but still counts.

Yahlasit

What makes that one worse is when you're stopped behind someone that is afraid to merge with the moving traffic and when you finally do get to go the person behind you pulls up and flips you off because they think you're the one that caused it.

Traveling down the highway at well over the posted speed. Having someone approach from the rear at a greater speed. Flashing their lights and tailgating for me to get over out of the way at 2 AM in the morning with no one else in sight . With two or three other travel lanes to go around.

Sorry not going to work with me. In these cases you want lead go around and get in front and lead. You want to follow don't be annoying about it or I slow down.

Slower traffic is supposed to be in the right lanes. You would get creamed in Europe!

When I was in Italy, I had a low power rental car. If I had to pass I would first check the rearview mirror. Any specks on the horizon then I would just wait because in 15 seconds there would be two or three cars right behind me.

You learn to be quick (as you can) and get out of the left lane. In the US most people are clueless. Even professional drivers in big rigs are now starting to sit in the left lanes, passing no one.

well i will not discuss others' mistakes which annoy me because i have a great shortcomming. i drive while i am drunk at night. i am ashamed of it and even more worried when few months back i rented a limo from San Francisco limo service and on my way back to home i was unable to control the car. thanks heaven that the chauffer was with me. he drived me home and took the car back.

Does that mean you're sitting in the outside (RH lane in UK/Oz/NZ(?) and LH lane in US/Europe) lane?

If so, then you're one of my pet hates. In the UK, undertaking (passing on the left) is illegal.

I was driving home late one night on the motorway, went through an interchange, me in LHL, other guy in middle lane, cop car on hard shoulder as we came round the bend. Roadworks with 50 mph speed limit 2 miles ahead. Both OG and me doing 70 mph (posted limit at that point). Cop pulls out and follows.

Suddenly I realise OG has lifted off accelerater and is slowing, and I'm close to undertaking (having kept constant 70 mph). So, indicate, pull out to ML, RHL, pass OG and back into LHL.

Blue lights go on and OG is pulled over for middle lane cruising! Hooray.

I still reckon the cops had a bet on which of the two cars they'd be booking that night.

Another time I did that on the M1 just north of London. Check rearview mirror: A$$h0le (doing about 60 mph) had pulled out into the outside lane...on an empty motorway. WHY!!!???????!!!

Not usually around here some people don't care what lane your in. If in front of them they just want you to get out of the way. Even on an interstate where the posted speed is 55 and your doing 75 passing in the high speed lane. They doing faster will ride your butt flashing the head lights. They don't have the common courtesy to let you get by and out of their way before they react.

Even had them pace me for 50 miles or so until got to some congestion and had to slow down. Then start the flashing like I am the cause of the slow down.

I just pull over get out of their way and pull back out...you never know, they may actually need to get past.
Once, a long time ago it was me flashing, rushing to the hopital...it turned out ok fortunately.
(They are probably just a$$holes...but you never know)
Del

3/4 empty bottle of Old English 800 tossed out the sunroof usually does the trick.

Approaching a busy residential 4 way stop. Everyone there is paying attention to who is next and traffic is flowing nicely. Then some nervous Nelly decides to be "nice" and wave someone through out of sequence before they go through. As they drive away, they leave everyone behind them in a confused state, not knowing who is next or should they start a counterclockwise rotation and who should start it.

Yeah, maybe grandma needs to be slapped up 'side the head a few times until she "gets" it!

Courtesy is something you'll need to develop tolerance of...

Failure to dim highbeams...and those drivers that group together across all lanes...and those that pass only to then slow down.

People who turn to look at the passenger when they speak to them. A very dangerous practice. In the movies they always have people do this, for some cinematographic reason, eye contact, etc., so I think kids see this and emulate it and it could be thecause a rear enders.

I'll second that, and add, people who take their hands off the wheel to make gestures or wave their arms around for emphasis. I'm especially fond of those who steer with one finger while waving the other hand and making a speech.

Wha...? How are you s'posed to drum like Keith Moon if you have your hands on the wheel?
Del

Hey, I use my knee to drive when I'm being Ian Paice!

Nobody drums like Keith Moon.

Particularly when that dual carriageway is only 5 or 6 miles in length and all the car drivers were planning to use it to get past the trucks so they could travel at 60 mph on the next single carriageway stretch rather than the 40 mph to which trucks are limited.

I sometimes drive a high profile vehicle with pig yard lites over the visor, It's irritating that on coming drivers don't dim their headlights until they see the headlights of my truck so I get blinded while they wait for my headlights to appear over the hill

Drivers that increase speed when you try to pass but reduce speed when the opportunity to pass has past.

Drivers in a big truck with high beams who tailgate your small car for kms giving you a mirror glare headache, on an icy unsanded road where there is already a risk of accident if you have to apply your brakes for any reason..... at 1 am with no other cars on the road and over straight stretches where there is opportunity to pass if you're in such a hurry! (okay, maybe the poor man was attached to my rear bumper before he realized it might be risky to brake or speed up... is that a four wheel drive?)

When driving in very slow stop start traffic, some people will stop a cars length behind the one in front, despite the fact that they are blocking a side street/exit or entry to a roundabout etc... they are oblivious to what's around them.
And DITH E R ING .
I shouldn't really criticise having shunted someone a couple of weeks back (no one hurt) but I saw classic dithering a couple of days back.
A woman only needed to drive out of the supermarket carpark, but no, she had to creep at barely a snail's pace as she fiddled with her sunglasses (I was walking back to my car when I saw this). One car was trying to reverse out in front of her and couldn't figure if she was waiting for him or proceeding...
Well he waited, Whew...no crash there.
I carried on towards my car and then heard 'CRUMP'.
She'd carried on creeping along until eventually another car did reverse out...I didn't see who hit whom.
If just stopped ar$ing about and driven out smoothly she'd have been long gone.
She was literally 'an accident waiting to happen'.
Del

Drivers who activate the turn signal only after it is obvious that they are turning.

I'll second that, they first hit the brakes and you don't know what they're going to do then after you've lost momentum the turn indicator comes on.

Just signal intent.....

Learn to drive: Mirror - Signal - Manoeuvre

Pass Test: Manoeuvre

I believe that many people here in the US think that turn signals are optional.

This senario is very troubling:

I remember looking and then signaling moving over then looking again (about 2-3 seconds) and there's a car there an I hear horn but if I correct the trailer will surely fall on them. I'd no choice but to ignore the (dumb a$$) and continue the lane change. I have no idea how they handled that??

Every driver should be educated about the special needs of tractor trailers and big rigs when it comes to braking space etc. There was a brutal accident here a couple of years ago, which happened when a driver in a small car passed a big truck and immediately slowed down in front of it! No idea that the trucker could not just stop on a dime. It should be part of every driving course to understand ALL vehicles on the road and their limits....

Failure to use turn signals.....failure to turn off turn signals for miles and miles down the highway.....failure to dim high beams, especially the newer type lamps with the irritating blue-white haze.

While stuck in a highway traffic jamb, the idiot drivers that cruise down the paved right or left shoulders of the highway passing everyone and thinking they'll get far when in fact they don't when it comes time to merge-in again, resulting in a bigger traffic tie-up!This includes motorcyclists too! Idiots on the shoulders that won't move to let emergency first responders pass-by on the shoulders if there is a highway accident and a resulting traffic jamb!

Idiots twittering, texting or on the cell phone who are oblivious to their surroundings and traffic conditions...this applies to both sexes and all ages! They're much more dangerous than the drunks on the road!!!!

All idiots that pass a stopped school bus (either way) when the bus' flashing lights are on or the swing-out stop sign is deployed......seen too many close calls for the little one crossing the street because of these reckless and dangerous drivers!

That's just a short list for starters!

Idiots who drive on the left side of the roadway, just because they came to Canada from Hong Kong.

every year here in Toronto we get a few ex Hong Kongers who do this drunk and have a head on collision...

do crazy yanks do this in the UK?

Sometimes. I used to work for Uncle Henry & one of our US semi-permanent transfers had an accident. Not her fault...idiot Essex boy came round the corner on the wrong side, both instinctively headed for "own side", but she headed for US own side...

Luckily no-one hurt, bt she was put off driving in the UK - she already didn't like the narrow roads.

Few years back, I spent 6 weeks in Germany, driving. No problem there, but when I got back it took a while to work out where I should be...

Yep...most traffic jams are the result of poor driving habits not traffic density issues. Changing lanes in a jam causes slowing just the same as those going down the shoulder.

Driving high profile vehicles gives one a good view of the circus . If you had the opportunity you would see some drivers darting from one lane to another trying to get ahead only to be within a hundred yards of their starting position in traffic after the jam clears; it's just not worth the aggravation??

I've noticed that if all drivers maintain proper following distance jams rarely occur or are very short.

That's why UK has adopted Variable Speed Limits on certain roads (M25 and M42). I don't trael on them (regularly) so I don't know if it does work.

I think this thread is about bad habits that we ourselves are committing. It's not about what we see others doing but what we recognize ourselves doing.

Me: I step on the brakes too hard when coming to a stop because I don't start braking soon enough.

I like to look at things around me which has caused me to have to brake at the last minute.

I usually only get 5 to 6 hours of sleep at night which means I am probably suffering from sleep debt. It's not a problem in the mornings when driving to work but at the end of the day driving home I think I might be at risk.

It doesn't matter what time I got to bed, I'm awake after about 5 to 6 hours. On weekends I can stay in bed and eventually fall back to sleep and get in about 8 hours but on work days I don't have that luxury.

Janissaries:

Thanks for the Freudian approach, just don't take it too seriously. Some people here are pointing to behaviors frankly criminal; why would they incriminate themselves with such sub-concious projections? I bet they give it a thought before posting.

If you allow me to express my opinion about mental health; I think everybody knows exactly what is wrong with them, thyre just too ashamed to admit it or let it show, if they happen to believe in psychology (a pseudo-science for me), they would think these "doctors" would magically take the illness out of their minds. But all they do is ask you "how you feel about that ?" while shamelessly keeping an eye to the clock (God save them from giving you one extra minute for free !!!).

Yahlasit

I like throwing stones when I live in a glass house and I'm not afraid to point out that I live in a glass house.

Should I take that literally ? or there is a hiden (at least to me) meaning?

In either case I'm sure you need more sleep, believe me I know exactly how you feel, I'm having 5 hours of sleep a day, or even less !. Today doesn't count, I slept 8 hours, but dreamed that I had insomnia.

Yahlasit

My all time hate is reserved for people who pass me on the right. Particularly when I am on my motorcycle. I can't think of anything more dangerous.

Why are they passing you on the right?

In Oregon you are required to drive in the right side of the road and the left lane is only for passing.

If you're in the left lane and driving slower then the flow of traffic, even if you are driving the posted speed limit, you are making yourself a hazzard to the other motorists and can be ticketed for that. Police don't ticket people because they are breaking the law in this case, they ticket you because you pose the greater threat to safety.

The motorcyclist is probably driving in the left lane thinking he's not moving because he's driving the speed limit and to hell with everybody else and the faster moving cars are having to pass him on the right side, when courtesy dictates that he should voluntarily move over to the right lane and let others pass especially when he has several cars lined up behind him.

He should get over into the right lane regardless because he is on a motorcycle and if he should happen to get hit he is most likely to get killed. He can't be dependent on everyone else looking out for him because chances are all the other drivers are in their own little private Idaho's and not paying attention to him in the first place.

My biggest peeve on other drivers is their changing lanes and turning at intersections without using their turn signal. It's especially annoying when at an intersection someone makes a left turn in front of you and they are not using their signal.

I should preface this by pointing out that I am in Canada, where we drive on the right. UK, Maltese, Hong Kong, Australian and New Zealand readers should replace the word "right" with the word "left".

I'm not a pokey sob who hugs the inside lane on a divided multi lane highway. Here, on a divided highway, we keep to the right except to pass. Though of course you don't have to...nolaw against passing on the right on a divided multi-lane highway. (that would be section 150.1 of the linked relevant document)

I note that many states have conflicting laws.

Regardless, I don't worry too much about "laws" since on a motorcycle, you can be dead right just as easy as being dead wrong. Emphasis on the "dead" part.

Nah...I'm talking about ordinary two lane highways and city streets.

They are passing on the shoulder, they are passing on the parking lanes, they have passed on the grassy verge of the airport parkway. These are offences under the traffic act, section 151.1 of the linked document.

I drive my motorcycle in the left hand "rut" of the road. When they come up behind me, they see almost a whole lane to my right that they can sneak through. And they do. They also will cut inside the curve when I am making a right hand turn from the stop sign. I can't count the number of times that I have come up to a stop sign, looked left, waited for an opening in traffic, then looked right only to see a bozo right beside me, waiting to do the same thing. I usually check my signal lights to be sure they are working, and since they always are, I ask the guy what is so important that he has to get to. They I ALWAYS courteously let him go first, and ask him politely to not do it again. Nothing is served by getting angry. Those that know me are amazed when I say this, but you can't afford road rage unless you are encased in a half ton of solid steel. And even then....

WHY do they do it? My guess is impatience. I usually sit a couple of klicks over the speed limit, so I am not obstructing traffic. Lack of knowledge of the Highway Traffic Act perhaps? I just remind myself that half the drivers I encounter out there are below average, and it behooves ME to get the xxxx out of their way.

you need a saddle bag of these...

known as caltrops

Shame, shame, shame...

I heard of a fella that ran into a handful of ball bearings that came bouncing at his car. The bearings took-out a headlight, windshield, mirror and one went through the grill and continued through radiator to the timing cover causing coolant and oil leaking.

If that larger ball bearing that penetrated the radiator had gone through the windshield someone could have been seriously injured.

I think I think cause and effect dictates this behavior is counter-productive also known as reckless endangerment.

The cowtrop may get another cyclist or picked up in an SUV's tire; the part that extends outside the fender an then be thrown what then??

The people that really drive me crazy are the overly polite ones. A few examples...

• People who yield when it's their right-of-way
• People who block up traffic behind them to let someone else make an illegal turn
• People who stop at a round-about even when it's empty

...but the list is endless.

People who stop at a round-about even when it's empty .
Oh yes...

The highway code specifically says don't do this, these are the muppets who don't look when they are 30yards away and plan ahead.
They get hit up the back by someone who is having that final safety check to make sure it's still clear, having made the reasonable assumption that the car in front will proceed onto an empty roundabout.

The other accident makers are the ones who pull 80% onto the roundabout perfectly well and then stop for some imagined reason despite the fact that, they now have right of way because they are on the damn thing...oh I see there's another car 20 yards away which may be coming this way...or perhaps it's a heavilly laden lorry which couldn't possibly accelerate quickly enough to pose any threat.

Del

I'm glad we don't have roundabouts where I live. The way I understand it, if it's busy traffic, you can get stuck having to go several trips around the circle before you get your break to get off where you want. That's not effiecient the way I see it. But then again, I've never used one.

The way I understand it, if it's busy traffic, you can get stuck having to go several trips around the circle before you get your break to get off where you want.
Not if you use 'em correctly, if all the traffic on the roundabout is going at a similar speed it is easy to blend in and out, the problems happen when there is near gridlock on one exit which snarls the whole thing up. The answer then is usually to exit asap and find another route.
Occaisionally people go around twice if they are lost...
Del

You missed the point that in sensible countries (i.e. not France), those on the roundabout have right of way, so it's easy getting off - assuming there's nothing holding up traffic so much on your intended round that there's stationary traffic back to the roundabout, but then, that's hardly the roundabout's "fault", is it?

Going round and round is also a great way to wait for someone who's dropped back a bit when travelling in convoy, I think 7 circuits was our record. I also think it might be an offence to sit on the roundabout continually (1.5 laps coz you've missed your exit would be ok).

People who reverse out on to the road.

UK Highway Code says reversing onto more major road is illegal...so that means reversing out of your driver is illegal - no only that, it's downright dangerous.

Blinking well reverse INTO your drive (and every parking space) then you'll be able to see when exiting...or is that rocket science?

My parents live on a busy inner ring road and we've ALWAYS reversed into the drive. Except when one idiot stopped inches from the bumper when Mum had indicator (turn signal) and reversing lights on and was against the kerb. She moved forward, and instead of passing, he snugged up again (I think other cars were passing by this time). Then she shut off the engine, got out and locked the car and went into the house. He was quite foul mouthed, since he was effectively boxed in by the traffic behind but that's not something that fazes my Mum.

Talking of parking, why is it at supermarkets that have parking spaces that back onto a pedestrian walkway, even those people who put their shopping in the boot (trunk) of the car nose in to the spaces, then block the driving lanes with their trolleys???

I asked a woman recently and her reply: "I'd never thought about that". If she'd done as I suggest, she would have also been under a canopy and wouldn't have got wet loading her car.

I worked for our Phone companies here in the US for 18 1/2 years, and the one I spent most of my years with required us to back into (reverse into, for you on the other side of the pond) parking spaces. In fact, if you had a company paid rental, or a company vehicle, and didn't, you lost your job instantly, no arguments. It IS a safety thing, and I still do it, by habit. You can always see better, drinving into traffic and don't need to see as well to back into a quiet parking space. But I catch a lot of strange and hostile looks here from people. I'm glad to know YOU, at least, don't think I'm nuts for doing it.

I almost always back into spaces and you do get some interesting feedback sometimes.

Got a ticket for once. Head in parking only. I guess it makes it easier to see license plates.

Also, at a retirement community I got a nasty note from the management for parking nose out. I can only guess that you are seen as a non-conformist or something.

All of the above.

This is the start of my "angst" season with piss-poor drivers. RVs, tourist drivers who drive 40mph on 'my' 2 lane highway and don't use the turnouts to let those who drive the speed limit (55mph) by. And then when they reach a passing lane drive 65 so you can't safely pass them.

I'll sum this up.

The problem is the broad spectrum of driving skill on the road. Some have 30 years experience, some have 6 months of experience, and some have 6 months experience 60 times (or more).

The other problem is the wide range of seriousness people apply to the task. Some people take driving very seriously, some don't take driving seriously at all, and the aggregate of the two is like putting pasta and anti-pasta together in the same pot - yielding an explosive mix.

The driving culture is some countries is biased more to the "take it serious" side of the equation and then there is Florida.

Much of the US population seem to act as if driving is a right, rather than the privilege as described by law. I imagine that is similar in other countries. This results in a very low bar for passing the driving test, which in my mind, is the root of many of our driving problems.

driving test?
..You mean there's a test?
Del

Y'all know that based on viewing so much crappy driving skills you'd swear that peeps somehow received their driver's licenses from the grocery store Gumball Machine.....LOL

Well Cap'n, its is always helpful to remember that fully half the people you meet on the highway are below average drivers.

Present company excepted of course. ;)

Second least favorite activity...people who park too close to the intersection, making it a gamble to go around them while making a turn. I got hit a few years ago when buddy's wife jumped into the car, and he gunned it, right into my driver's side. Fortunately, such low speed accidents are not usually fatal, but they are annoying. (Yes, I admit it was my fault, but even the judge was understanding.) There is a bank with an ATM just up my street which has this scenario waiting almost 24-7. What I do now is come up on the car and see if it occupied. If no, then I proceed to go around him. If it is occupied, I tap briefly on the horn to catch his attention, and then wave at him like he was an old friend. He usually waves back, perhaps with a puzzled look on his face, and then I can usually indicate that I will be going around. Its not foolproof, but since I started doing that I have not been tee-boned while turning in front of the "parked" car. Others have.

The horn is almost always improperly used. In Canada, you rarely hear a horn. In Rome, it was part of the atmosphere! A Neapolitan friend of mine found driving in Canada to be strangely unnerving because of the lack of the "highway music". There is no doubt a use for that most ubiquitous of safety devices...I think it is there to attract attention. Let people know that they were about to change lanes into you. Let people know you are prepared to pass. Nevertheless, it tends to be used in a long blast which substitutes for a series of cuss words, which does nobody any good. Not everybody who leans on the horn for 25 seconds of tension relief is a "below average" driver, but it is a pretty good indicator. (hmmm...does the shoe fit?)

Third least favorite activity, is not the driver at all, but rather the people who affect drivers by planting hedges you can't see around, hang four by four garage sale signs on intersection posts at eye level, and so forth. When people buy houses along commuter routes, then convince the local municipality to lower the speed limits just totally piss me off. I have a way to convince the local home owners association to petition the municipality to bring the speed limit back up to normal. Its an old trick I learned in the military...just obey the order. Completely and with exactitude. In other words, I obey the speed limit, exactly. The resulting highway music behind me doesn't bother me a bit, but the home owners get the message pretty quickly. I sometimes feel badly about the home owners, but hey, I bought MY house on a busy street because it was cheap, and I don't complain. The traffic was there before I was! Passive-aggressive I know, but it worked just fine in two cases south of Ottawa. I'm sure it wasn't just me though...

I would have to say that the thing I hate most is not getting a wave or some type of "thank you" act from another driver if I do something polite for them on the road. I believe that driving behavior is a very good indicator of how you conduct yourself outside of the car.

Hmm, I have seen some pretty dramatic behavior changes from people when they get behind the wheel of a car. So, I would not be too fast to think you can draw that kind of relationship.

Ya know, I don't know what another person's thinking. Some people are very insecure and afraid to respond; sad but true, they ascribe to the no eye contact no gesture quiet as a mouse approach.

Many time's seeing rage occur on the road, one person is livid somewhat because they believe the object of their scorn is aware of them though often the other driver is at a complte loss.

It bugs me when I'm cruising along and someone cuts a corner ahead of me and trips the lite when there's no one else on the road other than me but I have stop...especially if I'm driving a vehicle with 0-60mph of eleven minutes

Bimbos for Darwin.

The really sad thing is, after Daddy has settled the vehicular manslaughter lawsuits and bought another BMW they'll all be right back out there, doing the same damn thing: deciding just who is the real slut.

Ah well. Check out the babes in DeathProof for kickin one bad driver's ass all the way to Darwin.

Good chase scene, not Bullitt or French Connection caliber but those skanks sure showed Kurt Russell whats what.

Thx. never seen it b4.

1) For reasons that escape me, American drivers will not use their turn indicators. Even when they know you are right behind them and they know they are about to turn right, they still won't use them. You'd think it would be in their own best interests, but no, they just can't be bothered. Ill-mannered, lazy, couldn't care less about anybody else - that's the attitude that pervades.

2) Freeway drivers that drive at 80-90 mph in the slow lane. When your turn comes to turn right onto the off ramp, you have to cross the path of these imbeciles. Definitely a Calfornia trait.

A curse on all of them.

What do you mean? I always turn there! ;-)

As far as point number two goes, I am confused.

The etiquette for driving is to stay right except to pass.

That has no bearing as to how fast you are driving. In other words, there are no speed dependent lanes. However, I see some drivers act as if they believe there are.

Also, at least in Pennsylvania, an overtaking vehicle has the right of way, or more specifically, you shall yield the right of way to an overtaking vehicle. Again, this applies to relative speeds, not absolute speeds.