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I went to the local Wal-Mart this afternoon with my daughters because the older one had money burning a hole in her pocket (she wanted more Pokemon cards). 

I turned into the lot, and I was attempting to turn Left and go down an aisle to park.  I very clearly had my Left turn signal on, and since I never use my phone when I'm driving, I was paying attention to the other cars around me.  Just as I started to turn left, a huge black SUV nearly hit me BECAUSE IT TRIED TO PASS ME ON THE LEFT.  I had my turn signal on, and I know it works, yet this person decided they couldn't wait for me to turn. 

So, as I'm waiting for my heart to slow down, the woman behind the wheel of the SUV (and don;t get me going on the retarded soccer mommies in this pit of a city who insist on driving vehicles they can't handle, that's another rant), STARTED HONKING AT ME.

Now, I'll be the first to admit a have a bad temper.  I'm a good driver though, because I don't like police officers and endeavor not to meet any while driving.  But having the idiot woman who almost hit me HONK AT ME LIKE IT WAS MY FAULT was more than I could handle.  So I leaned my head out of the window and shouted,"WHAT KIND OF F*&^%NG MORON PASSES ON THE LEFT WHEN SOMEONE'S TURNING?"  Of course, by now people are watching me, and she's got a look on her face that says, how dare you speak to me!  I went ahead with my turn, and instead of turning left, SHE FOLLOWED ME.  She pulled in behind me as I parked, and rolled down the window and said, "You just hurt my feelings and I demand an apology!"

So, I stood there for a moment, then said, "Okay, I'm very sorry you apparently have more money than driving skills or common sense."  Then I opened the door and let my daughters out of the car, when this woman shouted "If you didn't have kids with you I'd get out and force you to apologize right here in this parking lot!"

I walked over to her car, and invited her out to make good on her promise.  Now, I'm not a big person, in fact I'm only 4'11", but thankfully she decided to drive away instead.  A store security guard came over and asked if I needed assistance or wanted him to call the police for me, but by then I was a bit embarrassed and I just wanted to get inside the store.

What gets into people?  I mean seriously, who in their right mind would pass someone on the left when they were obviously turning left?

One of my best friends is about 4' 11'' and she is the toughest person I know. Size means nuthin'.  :wink:

As a "professional" driver (I always thought that term was silly...can you be a professional walker?) I've been through untold driving courses, classes and what not to help me in my job. Everyday I see countless people that do not obey the laws of the road, drive sloppy or dangerously and have zero personal responsibility, meaning that they always want to blame someone else (like me) for their own idiotic mistakes or complete and utter inability to properly operate a motor vehicle. Coupled with the selfish behavior exhibited by so many people (which often is just a case of them being so wrapped up in their own little world, they are oblivious as to what is transpiring around them) and I truly believe that the majority of people with licenses should not have them.

Shadow, maybe with all your courses you can answer this for me!  I have been in Nevada for a few months now, and they have these strange u-turn gaps in the median.  Traffic on either side of the median is one-way.  Here's my artistic rendering:
(http://www.dodginggrunge.com/adminStorage/uturn.jpg)
Now you'll notice that the gap itself is technically 2-way, yet traffic is forced to drive on the wrong side.  Now, obviously there is no way around this and it usually works out just fine.  However, Las Vegas will not stop developing stripmalls and they are now using these u-turn medians for cross traffic!  So now in addition to making a u-turn, you can go straight across the road.  But what's worse, people at the stripmalls can go across the road into this middle.

The problem quickly becomes that if a car in the median is going straight, and someone in the stripmall is going to the median, they have to do a dangerous X maneuver to flip from left-right/right-left respectively.  I have stopped using them altogether because I've been in a half dozen near accidents.  What the hell were they thinking?!  Haha.

And I did ask someone at the DMV when I went to get my Nevada license, and they didn't have an answer.  :lookingup:

Actually, what I was taught from a textbook is that you are to go to the far side of a median crossing when using one, thus keeping yourself on the correct side of the road.  That would also appear to solve the problem you describe, in what should be an intuitive manner.  However, people like to take the path that is the shortest or quickest, so it might take some education to make this second nature.

I'm interested to see what someone who drives a truck for a living says, as well.

When I really get angry is when someone does something that puts my family in danger.  I've lost my temper once or twice in the last few years, always after another driver did something that was stupid and could have resulted in an accident with my children in the vehicle.

A car (or truck) is one of the most lethal things known to man if the person behind the wheel is not paying attention or makes a bad decision.  Inertia is utterly remorseless.

Snivelly, I have to say you showed a lot more restraint than either my wife or myself would have, I not only wouldn't apologise, I would have repeated my opinion of her intelligence, if Poogie had been the one driving she would have to be physically restrained to prevent bloodshed. It seems that the older we get the less tolerent of stupidity we are, probably going to get us in trouble one of these days. I gave you a karma for not beating the s**** b**** to death. Hope it makes you feel a little better. :teddyr:

If my kids hadn't been in the car I wouldn't have gotten so upset.  The SUV would have hit me right in the rear driver's side, where my 5 yr old was sitting, and that's what set me off.  But also, without the kids as witnesses I might have grabbed a tire iron out of the back and gone after the windows on the SUV.  Driving in Charlotte is a nightmare, I've seen more examples of bad driving here than I have anywhere else I've been in the US. 

Kudos to you for keeping your cool and not dragging them out of their car to beat the everliving shizzle (yes, I said shizzle... uugh) out of the nitwit driving the car that tried to pass you on the left. It's what I would have done just because i'm one of those crazy ass hotheads on the road in the Wallyworld parking lot.  Stupidity reigns and some soccer mommies will always have to strap blocks to their feet to drive their precious SUVs. Gah. Don't even get me started about those twits that drive and talk on their cellphones on a constant basis. Blah.

There is a reason I do not drive: the thought of the drivers I would meet on the road absolutely terrifies me.

Her driving habits were bad enough - but she actually followed you to tell you her feelings were hurt and demanded an apology?    :buggedout:  Priorities eh?

Huh?  You are in Charlotte?  I used to live in Charlotte, spent 6 years in Rock Hill and am now just east of Columbia.

We just returned from our annual road trip from SC to Colorado - mostly Interstate driving except the time we are actually out there.  I've made this trip many times.  Saw some interesting driving (putting it nicely) to say the least, but interestingly, less than usual.

Big Cities I've driven in during rush hour:

Los Angeles, CA
Atlanta, GA
St. Louis, MO
Denver, CO
Kansas City, KS/MO
Nashiville, TN
Knoxville, TN
Raleigh, NC
Charlotte, NC
Miami, FL (and all of south Florida)
Greater New York City area (Hoboken, NJ, specifically)
Des Moines, IA
Lexington, KY
Minneanopolis, MN
Mobile, AL
New Orleans, LA

By far, and this really is no contest, my least favorite city to drive in is St. Louis.  Actually, I've decided I cannot stand driving in the state of MIssouri period, though I confess never to have driven in the southern parts of the state.  Charlotte, while heavy traffic (and a fair bit of rudeness) is, imo, not TOO bad.

The absolute dumbest drivers I've seen as a group are in South Carolina.  Here, people seem to think if they are IN the car, they have to have the foot ON the floor.  It seems common knowledge that the Highway Patrol in this state is fundamentally lazy (oh, the number of blatant, near life threatening violations I've seen within sight of a HP officer...), so folks pretty much do what they want.  Following too closely is the norm, people will SPEED UP to prevent you from merging and also when you are turning left (the oncoming traffic, I mean) - seemingly to TRY to hit you before you make your turn.

Oddly, I felt safer driving in the NY area in rush hour in a van I did not own with bad brakes than I do on a normal day here.

In SC, I've worked for two Law Enforcement agencies - one city and one county.  Both had traffic units.  The city did a fair job at 'policing' the laws within their jurisdiction, but the county?  No way.  Traffic enforcement was a low priority (even for the traffic unit - go figure).  I have heard rumors of other Sheriff's telling their people "traffic enforcement is not our job, that is for the highway patrol."  Dunno if this is true, however.

The closest we came to getting into a wreck on this past trip was really mostly MY fault.  Interstate 57 in Illinois had a place where the left lane of traffic was closed for construction right at an acceleration/merge lane for a small town's access to the highway.  I was in the right lane anticipating the lane closing right behind a semi truck, with another truck coming up the acceleration lane.  What I did not know what that the temporary concrete divider for the lane closure actually came across BOTH lanes - highway traffic was actually having to move onto the accerlation lane (kinda a reverse merging situation) and the shoulder.  So, there I was going about 60 mph behind a truck, with a truck on my right and speeding up, with NO LANE.  Good the thing the binders were in decent shape, eh?  (NOTE: maybe I missed the sign that said BOTH lanes closed ahead.....it's possible, but I only remember seeing one that said LEFT LANE closed ahead).  Oh well, I should have been being more cautious anyway.

Anyway, I can feel your pain, Snivelly; we see that kind of stupid impatience and self-centeredness here ALL the time.

If anyone (except those in St. Louis) want to 'feel' safer about driving in their home area, you are welcome to come drive here for a week or two.  SC should be a defensive driving training ground.  It does not help that the civil engineers who designed our state's highways seem to have been utter morons (acceleration lanes almost long enough to get up to 30 mph, for example).

Maybe these folks could start offering driving lessons.   :bouncegiggle:

Some good drivin (http://www.glumbert.com/media/driving)

Ulthar, I have noticed that drivers down your way tend to drive like bats out of hell!  We've gone to Hilton Head a few times since we moved here, and I just hate driving I-95.  The New Yorkers on their way to Florida will run you right off the road then flip off the burning wreck of your car on their way past. 

I've been to Missouri but I've never driven there.  And as bad as Southern CA is supposed to be, we spent our honeymoon in San Diego, and I thought driving there during rush hour was a breeze compared to braving the crazed soccer moms here.  I'm also pretty familiar with Lexington, since I grew up in KY, and that's not a terrible place to drive.