Observations From The Road: Things that Piss Me Off

When you cover a couple hundred miles on a day ride from where I live, you see a lot of other people on the road. Being on a motorcycle gives you a unique perch to see inside of theirs cars.

Because we have our own special extra-strength brand of assholishness here in the NY Metro bubble, the chances are pretty good that you will see drivers do things that will make you shake your head. Chances are even better that there will be a few who piss you off.

These are my observations from this weekend.

Hang Up and Drive

The amount of drivers on the road who are doing things in their cars aside from driving is staggering. They’re digging through the glovebox, reaching under the seats, eating, grabbing stuff from the back seat, messing with their dashboard displays, and of course… ON THE PHONE.

Oh, the phone. The blessing and the curse of technology. Do you see someone doing 32 mph weaving across the fast lane oblivious to the parade behind them? Odds are they aren’t drunk. They’re on the FUCKING PHONE!

The number of truly fascinating people worthy of not missing a single brilliant sentence that falls from their lips that I personally know? Exactly ZERO. Who the hell are all of these people talking to all the damned time?

True Story: A teenage girl on the phone smashed into the rear of my friend’s car which was parked in front of my house. She hit it hard enough to break the rear axle on the SUV. It sent her car careening up on to the curbed grass island in the middle of our road. When we ran outside after hearing the huge bang – the girl NEVER hung up the phone. She stayed on it crying to her friend until the police came.

WTF?

Car Seats, Booster Seats, Kids in Seatbelts

The 70’s are over. Having a toddler crawling around in the back window of the car, cradling an infant on your lap or having little Johnny hanging out the window on the Jersey Turnpike might not be the best idea.

Strap your kid in and see the previous “hang up and drive” section. It’s a jungle out there.

Left Lane Sandbagging

Hey, you! The one in the left lane on the highway going slower than the traffic in the 2 lanes to the right of you… MOVE! Keep right except to pass.

What is it that makes people feel like they have to just park it in the left lane? And then dial up a friend for a chat. 

US State Keep Right Laws | NY VTL 1120

How About You – What Are Your Roadway Peeves?

Fuzzygalore

Rachael is the whimsical writer behind the 20+ year old Girlie Motorcycle Blog. As a freelance blogger, she is on a mission to inspire laughter, self-examination, curiosity, and human connection. Girlie Motorcycle Blog can be found on several Best Motorcycle Blog lists.

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12 Responses

  1. Adrian says:

    Pretty universal, unfortunately. Though I suspect the “NY Metro Special Assholeishness” might do it a little more fashionably than what I’m used to lol
    – also this is my 4th time trying to post this comment, if I Doh!: That reCAPTCHA response was incorrect.” one more time I’m giving up lol

  2. You nailed the big ones. Also, when you’re following the left-lane sandbagger, the aggressive dick head who runs up and sits 6 inches behind you, as if you’re supposed to somehow leap-frog over the slow mover, or move over, which of course you can’t do because you can’t see around the dick head’s vehicle taking up your entire mirror (even better if dick head is driving an 18-wheeler.) RRRrrrrr.

  3. Trobairitz says:

    Yes, yes and yes!!

  4. Shybiker says:

    You hit my two biggest peeves on the nose (1 & 3). Someday I’m gonna arm my bike with a grenade-launcher…

  5. Canajun says:

    I’m with you on those 3 for sure but I would add to number 2 the people who have their dog sitting on their lap while they drive/try to see around it.

  6. RichardM says:

    Yes to all including Canajun’s addition!

  7. Kevin says:

    This explains it. Nearly everyone in the Denver metro area must be from NY. People turning without signaling is the only thing I would add.

  8. Lucky says:

    My personal pet peeve is a new one I’ve discovered since relocating: people who will speed up when you put your turn signal on so you can not change lanes.

    I swear, it’s the state hobby here…

  9. Dar/princess Scooterpie says:

    I have seen people eating, shaving, playing video games and just being generally shitty drivers, makes me nuts.

  10. Ninefingers says:

    I’m not sure if you have them in the US but here in the UK we have ROUNDABOUTS. They’re places where the majority of car and lorry (truck) drivers see bikers as fair game. Just as you try to exit someone will cut you up!

  11. DUC748 says:

    1 and 3 are annoying, 2 is plain irresponsible. I’ve become more and more angry with those drivers that take the center line as merely a suggestion. Too many people like to cut the corners on left handers to straighten things out, or run wide on the right handers when they’ve overcooked the corner. Problem being, sometimes our paths intersect. For those assholes straightening the corner out I’m typically inclined to hold my line and press the “what the hell are you doing” attitude and hope they change that behavior. On the flip side, that might not be the smartest thing on my part when it’s a large F350 carrying a trailer full of landscaping equipment. =|

  12. Mike says:

    Couldn’t agree more plus I will add those asswipes in huge pickups that ride right up your biker ass.

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