Opinion Talk

By Jay

July 30, 2008 7:53 AM | Link to this

It depends….. I follow the rules and expect others to also.

If I see you waiting to get in with your signal on, I will let you in. If you scream up and try to force your way into to a space too small and expcet me to back off, you will be paying for my car repairs because you won’t get in.

Same for the fools who race up a turn only lane just to try to force their way into the other lane at the front. You will wait because I will not let you in.

I don’t reward cheats or line cutters. They put brakes and turn signals on cars for a reason.

By cutoff

July 30, 2008 8:06 AM | Link to this

The courtesy wave is all but gone. Too bad- discourages me from being nice and letting people over in to my lane anymore. Also- for you inconsiderate drivers who shoot down GA 400 South in the 2nd to right lane to skip ahead of us in the right lane as we patiently wait in line to get on 285 West- SHAME ON YOU! I purposely will never let you in. Just b/c you are running late is no reason to cut in front of us to make us later. You wouldn’t do this if you were walking up to a line of people- so why is it any different if you are driving? People do this as well on 285 E to get on 400 N as well. Drives me nuts. Get in line like the rest of us.

By kitty

July 30, 2008 8:07 AM | Link to this

I operate on the principle that if I let someone in, then someone else may let me in…what goes around, comes around. Now some people are just plain rude. I consider a signal a request. Signal and I will let you in. I know how hard it is to manuever around here, but some people are just rude and won’t let you in even if you signal. Heaven forbid I should get between then and their pedicure. What is interesting is that we would all move faster if people would learn to merge and let people in instead of being absolute idiots and slowing the whole thing down by cutting people off.

Oh and I have noticed that men in pickup trucks are the worst and women in minivans on cell phones. Why are women in minivans always on their cell phones? What could they have to say that is all that important all the time as they ignore your signaled request to merge in?

traffic etiquette…yep, a pet peeve of mine. :)

By Charles

July 30, 2008 8:11 AM | Link to this

Atlanta has definitely become the Aggressive Driver Capital! It has made me become a more defensive driver in the past 10 years. Here are some of my observations:

• Drivers of a certain gender/race pulling 1/2 of their car into the right lane of traffic and stopping to make a left - causing everyone to throw on their brakes in both directions (and sometimes causing an accident they leave behind).

• Drivers speeding up to pass you while driving at or above the speed limit - then stopping abruptly to make a turn in front of you.

• Drivers on their cellphones, PDA’s and other devices not paying attention to their lane, traffic around them and running into the back of other vehicles (I’ve been a victim twice in the past 5 years of this).

• Drivers doing what I describe as the ‘crowding manuever’ - slowly moving into your lane to force you to put on your brakes and let them in. It doesn’t matter that you’ve already let someone else ahead into traffic - they’re getting ahead of you, too.

• Drivers insisting on driving in the left lanes at a much slower rate of speed as surrounding traffic - causing brakes to be applied and manuevers by others that cause traffic to slow down or stop.

• Drivers who think they are NASCAR drivers (moving over 2 or more lanes in one manuever and at excessive speeds).

I guess that’s enough venting for now - my fingers are sweating just thinking about this.

By Ken

July 30, 2008 8:20 AM | Link to this

Atlanta drivers are the absolute worst at just changing lanes without signaling or looking. I’ve had more near misses than I can count with these morons and I’ve actually been hit once. These people are a bigger problem than the speeders but cops don’t ever write tickets for improper lane change unless someone has been killed or injured.

Message to the idiots who do this: YOU ARE NOT THE ONLY PERSON ON THE ROAD!!!!

By WillM

July 30, 2008 8:23 AM | Link to this

Is “that little wave of acknowledgment important?” You bet it is. It’s interesting to hear the author has a New York perspective. Sounds like ATL and NY might be more alike here than I would have thought. I lived in LA back in the 90s and when I moved here I found, surprisingly, that I missed the courtesy of California drivers. Strange but true. I found that drivers in CA seemed to be more likely to use a turn signal before changing lanes, even without a car directly behind them, than drivers here are and that in general they were far more likely to ‘mind their lane’ and not just assume that they were the only car on the road.

Is it that Southern California, the ultimate and original ‘car culture’, just has had more training and exposure to high-volume driving conditions for more generations than ATL and therefore are more courteous drivers.

On the flip side of course, people in LA do not hesitate to use their horns to chide you for various mistakes than here, where that still seems to be avoided for fear that it may be taken as a hostile personal assualt.

By Jay

July 30, 2008 8:25 AM | Link to this

Add to the list:

• Drivers who exit the interstate on the right from the far left lane

• Fools who miss their exit and instead of going to the next exit and turning around they back up in the emergency lane to their exit

• Drafters who ride on a semi’s bumber at 80 mph

By ABRCWR

July 30, 2008 8:47 AM | Link to this

The biggest problem I have with Atlanta traffic, is the left or passing lane. People will get in this lane and stay there regardless if they are going 10mph slower than folks behind them who just want to pass. They believe that if they get into the right lane then they will never be able to get back over when they want to pass someone. They don’t realize that most of the time the line of cars backed up in the left lane is caused by them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By Steve

July 30, 2008 9:05 AM | Link to this

I have to agree with ABRCWR. I cannot believe the people in this area that stay in the left lanes going slow while the rest of us have to pass you on the right. This is not England, folks. The LEFT LANES ARE FOR PASSING ONLY. DO NOT PLANT YOURSELF IN THE FAR LEFT LANE. Did anyone pass their driver’s test here?

By Jay

July 30, 2008 9:33 AM | Link to this

Agree with the comments about slow drivers in the left lane, but this isn’t NASCAR so you don’t have the right to ride up on their bumpers and ‘bump’ (intimidate) them out of the way.

By Just Me

July 30, 2008 9:37 AM | Link to this

Just about everyone drives like they are on the Nascar track, and while you have the right to speed, I have the right to do just the speed limit. You can do the headlight blink, tail gate and honk your horn all you want, I will not going to speed so just go around me. And have a wonderful day.

By Grob Hahn

July 30, 2008 9:44 AM | Link to this

If you attempt to change lanes by turning on a turn signal most Atlanta drivers will see this as a sign of weakness and speed up to keep you from making the lane change in front of them. This is the Nascar mentality of people not wanting to get “Lapped” in traffic. Stupid, but true!

Grobbbbbbb

By Ricky Bobby

July 30, 2008 9:57 AM | Link to this

I am the king of using signals and siplaying common courtesy when changing lanes. I even use my turn dignal when changing spaces in my garage (he he). Automakers are wasting money by installing turn signals. 85% of the accidents I have witnessed was due to a jackarse not using their signal (Gwinnett Especially).

Two Rules:
1.Stay your hiney part out of the left lane. This will eliminate horn honking, tailgaitng, and some road rage.

By JJ

July 30, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this

My turn signal is not a request to let me in, but a signal to let you know I am changing lanes. Don’t speed up, just let me in. I will do the same for you.

Now, if I am sitting in line, and you whip up and try to get in front of me at the last second, forget it. You will not get in. I sat in line, you can too. Your time is no more important than mine.

When I let you in, a simple wave of thanks is all I ask, I mean I extended a courtesy to you, you should at least acknowledge it. If you don’t I will wave at you anyway.

Another thing, turn your freaking lights on when it is raining. All you hotshots with daytime running lights don’t have rear lights, and in the event of a hard rain, I cannot see the back end of your vehicle.

Also, please turn you lights on when driving in the mornings before 7:00. I nearly hit some idiot this a.m who didn’t have lights on at all at 6:45. You are driving a dark car in the dark. Not very smart. I mean, how do you see your own dash?

By Rick

July 30, 2008 10:46 AM | Link to this

Good driving technique dictates that the blinker is put on for a few seconds to alert the other driver, then move into the lane (but only if there is a gap). Of course, some drivers see this as a challenge to their personal space and will speed up. I just cannot tell you how many times only my reaction time has saved me a lot of sheet metal damage.

I would love to be able to ask these people,(especially those “Drivers of a certain gender/race”; eh, you’ve noticed too, Charles?) exactly what is their thought process. It is a complete mystery to me. What is one car length out of your day?

And, yes, if you have your blinker on, I will let you in. I will even back off a bit. And especially for those merging onto the highway: they are coming in, I will allow them a space. It is only good courtesy and gives me good Karma.

We need to emulate the several European countries who have very stringent driver’s testing. One reason the Autobahn has no speed limits is that Germans know how to control their vehicles.

By Puhleeze

July 30, 2008 11:02 AM | Link to this

The left lane is for passing and not intimidation. If I’m already doing 80, please don’t ride my bumper. Slow your self down.

Slow people will move out the left lane when impatient speeders will stop switching lanes like they have ADHD.

And to the beyotch in her house on wheels that would not let me over when my car was having mechanical issues, here’s a big F U to you!

By MANGLER

July 30, 2008 11:03 AM | Link to this

I have driven in many large cities. I am a transplanted Floridian (South Florida) who now resides here in Atlanta. My opinion still holds that, despite the number of aggressive drivers around Atlanta, I still feel that South Florida is worse. I would also say that the Orlando area is worse, but that’s heavily due to tourists. I don’t get the feeling that the average driver around Atlanta is actually trying to cause me harm, they are just in an extreme hurry to get to the next red light. When someone zips around me or comes over in front of me around here, they usually do it quickly and move on with their lives with only minimal, if any, interruption to my goals. And please don’t assume I’m going 25 in the left lane (or any of the other 10 lanes). I’m going 75 or 80 usually, which just isn’t fast enough apparently.

In Florida, it would seem, the average driver chooses their victims and sees them as such. I’ll even admit to having that mentality, but I’ve been working to stave it off and be a little more civil behind the wheel.

As for turn signals … I’m doing better. I’d say I’m running around 75% now, which is up from the 5% in Miami (you know, when a police car was within sight).

By fes

July 30, 2008 11:07 AM | Link to this

When will the state of Georgia step up and do something about the driving situation by REQUIRING driver’s education courses? A major reason/excuse for all of the bad drivers is a lack of knowledge of the rules of the road. Turn signals, headlights, and left lane usage is all common sense once you learn the rules.

Learn to merge people. It is so much easier to merge in if you are going the same speed (or faster) as the moving traffic. It’s also much easier if you aren’t distracted by your ever-so important phone calls. Hang up and drive and for the love of god stop trying to send text messages. It’s extremely unsafe for everyone on the road and it’s very illegal.

By Kim

July 30, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this

Jay, Just Me, Puhleeze, and anyone else who thinks they own the lane they’re in:

Georgia law states: SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT. If you are traveling slower than the flow of traffic in the lane you’re in (your actual speed is irrelevant) then you are REQUIRED to pull over. The law was written to keep idiots like you from turning yourselves into rolling road hazards.

By the way, it doesn’t just apply to the far left lane. Morons in the center lanes are also breaking the law. It doesn’t hurt you to simply move over.

Unfortunately, comman sense and courtesy, much like morality, must be legislated.

By john

July 30, 2008 11:24 AM | Link to this

The number 1 complaint is always slow drivers in the left lane. You want to go 20-25 mph over the speed limit, and someone else only wants to go 15-20 over the limit, so you get torqued off when they are in the left lane. So you tailgate, flash your lights, flip them off, blog on the ajc about slow arses in the left lane, because you are the most important person on the highway. No amount of drivers’ education will change this.

My main complaint about Atlanta drivers are the ones that “jump the gap” when merging onto the interstate. I am trying to merge onto the interstate and a gap in the traffic is approaching and I adjust my speed to merge into the gap. However, the gap reaches the bozo behind me first, so he swerves across the solid white line, takes the space I was going to merge into and could care less that I have to slam on the brakes to keep from being in a collision.

By Kim

July 30, 2008 11:31 AM | Link to this

For those who can read see: O.C.G.A. Section 40-6-40 Paragraph (b).

For those with no reading comprehension skills, have someone who took driver’s education explain it to you.

By doningeorgia

July 30, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this

I’m out there a few hours every day. What I notice “most” about drivers who you see darting from lane to lane is… it is almost always someone who does not signal their intentions to anyone, and why, well it’s 90% of the time someone with one hand up to their ear and this person feels this is their road so drop dead and let them in. I never do however, I prefer to move ahead and then signal that I am about to take their lane!

By Get It Right

July 30, 2008 11:38 AM | Link to this

Quick note to Just Me and Puleeze, if you’re in the inside lane and preventing faster traffic from passing, you are required by law to move to the left. It does not matter if you are going 55 or 80. Be nice and let the people by. That will make the road safer for everybody and help reduce Road Rage.

I let signalers in and do my best to prevent line breakers. I give a wave always when someone is nice to me.

My biggest peeve is with idiots who do not know how to get through an all-way stop. Do not wave me through when it is your turn to go. Do not assume that I will wait if you try to go out of turn. I’ll hit the gas - and scare you - if you you do. South Dekalb has the biggest concetration of people who do not have the intelligence to get through a 4-way stop. LEARN TO DRIVE.

By Just Me

July 30, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this

As I rarely get on the interstates due to the way most of you jerks drive, and am usually on 2 lane roads. In residental area (just of the record) where kids are out playing doing the speed limit should not be issue. Since there is NOT another lane for me to move too, folks will just have to deal with me doing the speed limit. And for you parents that may lose your child in a car accident….just remember kids learn by your example. So please if you should lose your child due to their driving habits that you taught them please do not get on the news crying and expecting other to feel sorry of you. I feel more for the child that had you as a parent.

By RCH

July 30, 2008 12:21 PM | Link to this

My kindness letting you in front of me has limits.Especially those drivers that see a sign noting the closure of a lane, usually the left lane, and race up that lane attempting then to move over. Forget it.I will NEVER let you over. And to all those dummies that do; you are the enabler that allows that individual to continue that habit. Is his time worth more than yours and mine?

By Noelle

July 30, 2008 12:24 PM | Link to this

Turn Signal Atheism is the real national religion. I don’t know why it is that people ignore that little switch on their steering column, but they do. Atlanta isn’t anywhere near the worst for that, either. (Atlanta’s the worst for people who don’t know how to merge and think driving 80 ever qualifies as “going with the flow of traffic.”)

Lack of driver’s education isn’t the issue. Even when they know the rules, the entitled, self-centered, I’m-better-than-you people believe the rules simply don’t apply to them.

Most of the rules of the road are just basic common sense, but unfortunately, common sense just isn’t that common any more.

By Cat

July 30, 2008 12:26 PM | Link to this

My biggest pet peeve is the driver that will almost hit you to get in front of you and then begin tapping their brakes because you are tailgating them!!

By Trunk Monkey

July 30, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this

My criteria for slowing down and allowing a merge is based on the vehicle. I will not get stuck behind one of those rediculously large duelies or SUV’s.

If you’re in a sedan, a cross-over, or a regular truck…sure, why not? I’m seldom in that big of a hurry anyway.

By Get A Life

July 30, 2008 12:43 PM | Link to this

My biggest peeve is when people put on their turn signals as they are changing lanes. I honor signals, but how am I to honor a signal when you just put it on when you are changing lanes? They know that if you hit them in the rearend you are WRONG!! This is a law that really needs changing. Whatever happened to see your way clear (which means that your car can fit into the space in front of another car without causing an accident).

By Kim

July 30, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this

Just Me: Most traffic accidents and deaths are on surface streets and neighborhood streets at 35-45MPH. See you there!

By Rick

July 30, 2008 12:56 PM | Link to this

“Georgia law states: SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT.” This sentence is the big problem. Those who sit in the left lane justify their position by saying that they are doing the speed limit, so they are not the slow traffic, that they are simply obeying the law, literally.

The law and signs should read, “KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS.” Then there is no excuse for toddling along in the left lane, or in any lane.

Again, to mention Europe: in most countries you can get a ticket for sitting in the left lane. And you can be ticketed for passing on the Right.

Really, people, this all about common courtesy. So please lose the Big Ego, and just make all the roads safer. Is this possible?

And several of you are right about the Me Attitude. One of my favorite stories involves a BMW passing everyone in the drive-up at a McDonald’s in JAX. The lady pulled up to the window and ordered a Coke, telling the employee it was a simple order and she was really in a hurry. I witnessed this, my hand is in the air. Sadly, she got served, instead of being laughed at.

By Hey Kim

July 30, 2008 1:06 PM | Link to this

By law, you are REQUIRED to not break the speed limit.

Don’t lecture us about what the law is when you are breaking the law by speeding.

By Kim

July 30, 2008 1:20 PM | Link to this

Hey Idiot! You need a lecture. You are required to pull over! SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT overrides your speed limit.

By Kim

July 30, 2008 1:32 PM | Link to this

Hey ME! and another thing…daily I get behind you idiots in the left lane doing SLOWER than the speed limit. How do you, in your infinite ignorance, justify that?

By Kim

July 30, 2008 1:54 PM | Link to this

Rick: A couple of years ago Florida started posting signs along the median of their highways threatening tickets to the “left lane toddlers”. Clearly, other states have the same problem we do.

By RCH

July 30, 2008 1:58 PM | Link to this

Gee, how simple can it get. If you are in the left lane and see a car in your rear view mirror, turn on your signal and move over. Is it some type of power trip that you stay in the passing lane?

By ed

July 30, 2008 2:13 PM | Link to this

What about those driving at 30 mph (or less) in the access ramp to an Interstate, not only backing up everybody behind them, but also not developing enough speed to merge easily into the highway traffic. I can call them a lot of things but I’m censoring myself.

By Jay

July 30, 2008 2:17 PM | Link to this

If only two laws could be followed traffic would move so much better:

1) Leave the far left hand lane for passing and faster traffic

2) Trucks stay in the far two right hand lanes

By Sharon

July 30, 2008 2:26 PM | Link to this

The wave is very importan to me. I always acknowledge someone else’s courtesy with a wave, and if I am courteous and someone doesn’t wave back, it burns me up.

I ditto the comments about the idiots who don’t turn their lights on in the rain. Look around you — who is easier to see, the people with their headlights on, or those without? It not just shows your stupidity, it’s against the law not to have them on in the rain.

And after so many near misses by idiots driving while talking on cell phones, I’m not doing them any favors any more. Get off the phone, then I’ll let you in.

By chris

July 30, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this

Could anyone explain why Atlantans treat a flashing light (one side is flashing red, the other is flashing yellow)as a four-way stop? In every other state I have driven red means stop, yellow means proceed with caution.

By steve

July 30, 2008 2:37 PM | Link to this

I try to use my turn signals whenevr possible (I believe about 99.5% of the time - not in my driveway). I find most drivers respect that and will allow me in. I then try to acknowledge that with a quick wave (soory to anyone I forgot to give one too). My two biggest issues are: 1) The person in a turn only lane who wants to force their way into my line (at the front of the line) when their lane runs out. I will not let you in unless I notice out of the area tags on your. That also applies to users in middle and left lanes who want to move over at the last second to take an exit. I sat in line for the exit…you can too. 2) People who drive slower in the left lane. Please…please…pleeeeeeaze move out of the lane. I’m not going to honk at you or give you the finger. I will ride close to your bumper or flash my lights to let you know I would like to pass. I don’t consider that rude, only communicating my intention to you (honking the horn and giving you the finger is rude). You may be going 75 already, and I may be going 80; but the same rule applies as if you are going 50 and I’m going 55 - slower traffic needs to move to the right.

By thatsme

July 30, 2008 2:41 PM | Link to this

By Kim: Just Me: Most traffic accidents and deaths are on surface streets and neighborhood streets at 35-45MPH. See you there!

Kim, that statement is not entirely true. It depends on where. I used to live in NYC, and according to reports published by Department of Transportation your statement is true, but here in GA, according to the same agency, most accidents are on the highways.

By Rick

July 30, 2008 2:51 PM | Link to this

OOOOH, please do not me started on cell phone users. I have no tolerance whatsoever.

I am a child of the 60”s. I shoot the Peace sign to anyone who does something nice. I like that more than a wave.

I used to flash my lights (and my Mazda has some !bright! lights). Now, I just change lines and go around the slow idiots. It’s easier, quicker and less stressful. I, of course, hit my blinker as I move back into the lane, hoping some little bit of awareness will make its way into the other driver’s brain. Yes, I am an optimist…

By CommonSenseRules

July 30, 2008 2:58 PM | Link to this

Are you kidding? As one who had several weeks of professional classroom and on-the-road driver training, and passed a defensive driving course, it is evident to me that on the roadways around Atlanta I am a minority of a minority.

Perhaps 1 out of 15,000 drivers in the greater Atlanta area seems even to know what that little thingamajig on the left side of their steering column is. If one is lucky, 1 out of 10,000 drivers will use it appropriately from time to time. Even then, most often the truism that the only thing that a blinking taillight indicates is that the mechanism works is confirmed over and over again.

It doesn’t matter where folks learned to drive, most learned horrendously poor driving habits from their parents, who, themselves, learned to drive either in areas with 1/10th Atlanta’s traffic volume, or in equally horrible areas, using some version of dodge-the-other guy as their driving strategy.

Yield sign? We don’t need know stinkin’ yield signs!! Crosswalk? Geometric street art!

Statistically, even though the morning commute reports are full of “wrecks,” it is nothing short of miraculous that so many arrive home unharmed on a daily basis! Whether one is of an angel-believing faith, or no faith at all, highway angels are most assuredly watching over most of us, with the bicycle angels doing double overtime!

By RCH

July 30, 2008 3:05 PM | Link to this

Rick

I used to flash my lights (and my Mazda has some !bright! lights). Now, I just change lines and go around the slow idiots. It’s easier, quicker and less stressful. I, of course, hit my blinker as I move back into the lane, hoping some little bit of awareness will make its way into the other driver’s brain. Yes, I am an optimist…

As I pass them on the right I give them the dirtiest look.However a mile down the road in my rear view mirror they are still in the left hand lane. I believe I am right. It is a power trip.“I am in the left hand lane and you can’t make me move. So there.”

By Just Me

July 30, 2008 3:07 PM | Link to this

Who is paying for my gas? Who is paying for my car insurance? Tires, brakes and other car repairs. And who would have to pay for the speeding ticket? That would be ME, so until you are willing to pay for my gas, the increase in car insurance for the ticket, the ticket and repairs to my car, I will continue to OBEY THE SPEED LIMIT and you can go around me if there is a lane to do so. Or you could try something really weird and leave the house earlier for work like I do and then it you won’t have to speed and drive like a fool

By mike

July 30, 2008 3:11 PM | Link to this

If I’m in the left lane and I see people coming up behind me I will usually move over. But NOT if they start flashing and honking. I agree with the poster who says “By law you are required to do the speed limit”. Bingo. If you are doing 80 in the left lane and run up on someone doing 70 then you are breaking the law (as is the person doing 70 in the city). Don’t expect them to obey the law just to make it easier for you to break the law. ‘nuff said.

By AJ

July 30, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this

Just Me: Obey the speed limit, fine. But why do you have to prove your point in the LEFT lane??

By Puhlease

July 30, 2008 3:19 PM | Link to this

Kim, you’re funny !! If the speed hog next to you is so hyped up and switching lanes, how can you move over. Do you think riding someone’s bumper is going to do the trick? I’m trying to move, trust me. My life is more important than the EGOS behind the wheel. How about everyone just calm down. In a rush to go absolutely nowhere.

By mike

July 30, 2008 3:24 PM | Link to this

I have too many peeves to list but the main one is just plain inconsideration. Once I was travelling down Holcomb Bridge in the curb lane near Spalding when this “kid” is approaching the road from a shopping center. I didn’t give it a second thought. Until HE KEEPS COMING without stopping. I had to swerve into the left lane to avoid getting hit. Luckily there was no one there. So at the red light I lean out my window and give him a piece of my mind when I see him mouth the words “Get over it”. I’ve never gotten out of my car to confront someone but if I was going to that would have been the time.

By JES

July 30, 2008 3:25 PM | Link to this

With all this talk about “you’re breaking the law” so I won’t move over for you…if you folks saw a bank robbery, would you try to stop it? After all, they’re breaking the law…..who made you people cops?

By Just Me

July 30, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this

AJ, I drive in the left lane because its the only one I can drive in. As I usually drive on 2 lane roads, if I was to get in the other lane I would be driving on the wrong side of the road. So now what….

By Kim

July 30, 2008 3:33 PM | Link to this

Thatme: In reality, according to Georgia’s own numbers, last recorded in 2004…surface street accidents outnumbered interstate accidents by more than 6-1.

By Dave

July 30, 2008 3:37 PM | Link to this

Driving through this city is a joke. Road courtesy is basically non-existent. I feel like my commute to and from work every day has become a game of Russian roulette.

Does anyone here actually know someone who has received a traffic ticket for failure to signal, or does our state not even bother to enforce the traffic laws that require more that a radar gun, a breathalyzer, or a red light camera to catch?

Traffic enforcement in Georgia is not treated as an issue of safety and lives saved, rather it is used as a vehicle of revenue collection.

Furthermore, Georgia’s drivers’ license exam is pathetic. In order to operate a 1 ton + vehicle on the nation’s most congested highway, all you have to do is weave through some cones in a parking lot, parallel park, and some other minor junk? Give me a break! A real road test coupled with a fee of $100 every time someone has to take it would make people take it far more seriously, and would help keep some of the idiots off the road.

Georgia also desperately needs a behind-the-wheel cell phone ban; at a minimum for the Metro Atlanta area. I don’t care how great of a driver someone thinks they are while they flap their lips or text message, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that most of the time when I see someone swerve halfway into the oncoming or adjacent lane that there is a cell phone involved.

Heavily increased penalties for traffic violations would help as well. 4-digit fines for dangerous and/or inattentive driving would get people paying attention real quick. License suspensions for repeat offenders would not only help clear the roads of idiots, it would also benefit our public transit systems. How about mandatory traffic school which would be taught over a weekend in the county jail (all expenses paid, of course, by the offender) before the driver could be eligible for license reinstatement?

Face it, the only way that we are going to get the attention and any action from the legions of morons swarming our roads is with a set of draconian traffic laws and penalties.

By mike

July 30, 2008 3:54 PM | Link to this

To JES: The bank robbery analogy is pointless. People aren’t talking about stopping others from breaking the law. They just don’t want to make it easier. There is a difference. Would you drive the getaway car for the aforementioned bank robber? You wouldn’t actually be robbing the bank but you make it easier for him if you stand point and drive. He’ll rob a bank anyway without your help but do you want to be an accessory?

By frustrated1

July 30, 2008 3:54 PM | Link to this

What gets me is trying to get on 75N at the Cloverleaf each evening. What is it with you people jamming up the right hand lane as you pass Delk? How are the rest of us supposed to merge when you folks are bumper to bumper at a dead stop trying to prevent us from getting on 75, but the left hand lanes are moving just fine? MOVE OVER 1 lane- that way we can ALL get home!!

By Sugar

July 30, 2008 3:55 PM | Link to this

Thank God my daily commute is under 10 miles.

Ya’ll need to take some breathing exercises. Deep cleansing breaths, inhale through the mouth, exhale through the nose.

Put the cell phone down, and turn the radio on, and enjoy. There is always some idiot on the road, but there is really nothing you can do. No sense in stressing out, just relax. You will get to your destination safely.

And does anyone in this town know what YIELD means?

By Mike

July 30, 2008 4:01 PM | Link to this

Puhlease (sp?)— that gets us back to the topic of turn signal usage. Maybe if you signaled your intent to move over, the person needing to pass would know your intent? Just a thought. Perhaps you should try one.

Wave to me next time we’re on the highway together! I’m the one in the far right lane passing everyone else who is traveling too slow in the other lanes.

Dave: You’re right! The only laws on the interstates being enforced are the speeding laws. Speed limits are only for revenue generation…not safety. “Statistics” tell us that “speed is a factor” in most, if not all, traffic accidents. “Factor” being the operatative word. The tires on the vehicle being round is also a factor. In my opinion, the CAUSES of most accidents are inattention, inability and inexperience, in that order.

By JES

July 30, 2008 4:08 PM | Link to this

Mike-an “accessory” to speeding? Now I’ve heard it all. You folks just stick with your principles and stay in that left lane, whatever the consequences.

By Fred

July 30, 2008 4:10 PM | Link to this

I have a 1 hour commute each way. I have gotten to the point were I don’t want to stress about the traffic so I never tailgate and always let people pull into the space in front of me. It does not inconvenience me in the least because I always leave room so that I don’t even have to touch my brakes. It does annoy me when people don’t use their turn signal but I don’t dwell on it. What I don’t do is let people pull into traffic in front of me when traffic is creeping UNLESS they have their turn signal on and are watching for a space to pull in. Idiots on cell phones have to wait!

By Ryan

July 30, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this

Don’t want to rehash the whole turn signal topic, but I didn’t see this… when someone does let you in, either at a light or on the highway, please KEEP UP with the car FRONT of you. There is nothing worse than reciprocating someone’s kindness (or inattention), by slowing down the flow of traffic and getting in their way. -R

By Bob

July 30, 2008 4:35 PM | Link to this

For those of you up in arms that people are annoyed that they have to pass you on the right because you’re going slow, you basically are saying “I’m going the speed limit, you’re breaking the law…nyah nyah nyah…I’m not moving.”

DId it ever occur to you that YOU may be breaking the law as well? I believe in Georgia it is against the law to drive in the left lane, except to pass, if you are driving below the speed limit. (So either you are somehow continuously running at exactly the speed limit, are breaking the law by exceeding the speed limit, or are breaking the law by driving below the speed limit in the left lane.)

Unfortunately Georgia does not have the common sense that some other states do to say that you basically need to stay out of the left lane except to pass. (But you might want to keep that in mind if you drive out of the state.)

Get a life, be courteous, and stay out of the way. It is not your responsibility to make other people slow down.

By Ed

July 30, 2008 4:48 PM | Link to this

Ok..a couple pet peeves: 1. Use the signal light. If you don’t know where it is, look in your car’s user’s manual. 2. Use the signal light BEFORE you are turning. You really should be turning on the signal light before you start breaking…as a warning to the people behind you. 3. Do not pull in front of someone (or pull out in front of someone) unless you can keep up the same speed. 4. If you just passed a whole line of cars in my lane and want to cut in front of me…don’t bet on it happening. If everyone else has to wait in line, you do too. You’re not special. 5. Get off the phone/blackberry/etc. You don’t drive as well as you think you do when you’re using it. 6. And yes…stay out of the left lane unless you’re passing someone. Making other people slow down because you can’t handle moving right is rude. It’s also illegal in many states (and countries).

By Grading Wooten

July 30, 2008 5:05 PM | Link to this

Ed, very sensible rules.

There are cowboys out there, people. Flipping off a cowboy is dangerous. I flipped off this one pickup truck driving couple (bubba and bubbette). They pulled along side of me and she threw a cup of coke at my hood. So I passed them and got in front of them, and he stopped. So we had this mexican standoff, all the while both of us were flipping each other off, and, luckily, it ended up being funny. We were lucky that no other traffic was around. We were just stalled there in the road about thirty feet apart, flipping each other and using every obscene gesture either of us, including bubbette, could think of. I started laughing, and then they started laughing and we just drove off on our way.

Flipping off is never a good solution…

By rmbr343

July 30, 2008 5:15 PM | Link to this

It’s just plain old common courtesy AND common sense that drivers are lacking. I get the biggest kick out of seeing someone in a huge hurry pass me, weave in and out of traffic passing other people, only to have to stop at the same red light I do. I especially love it when I get to pull up in the lane right next to them. I always try to look over and give them a friendly little smile!