Young drivers and maturity
09-01-2003, 11:36 AM
#1
Thread Starter
I am putting this in the Vintage forum because I know that if I were to relate this story anywhere else it would probably turn into a flamefest. That is not my point. My point is to ask why things like this are going on.
An interesting thing just happened to my wife and I as we were leaving our local shopping mall. Today is Labor Day and in addition to the Labor Day sales, the mall is especially crowded because of the rain and nasty weather that we are having in Northern New Jersey. Still, E.W.A. and I had a little cabin fever and Sears is having a tool sale, so we went. We left the S at home and instead took E.W.A.'s TL.
After shopping, and after lunch, we decided to go home. We got into our car and left. Our mall is typical in that the outer perimeter has two lanes in each direction circling the parking lot. We got into the left lane, and were driving to our exit. Up ahead the right lane was tied up with cars making right turns into the parking lots. A car, perhaps a Maxima or Camry, next to us accelerated and cut into our lane just inches ahead of us. I hit the brake and tapped my horn to let them know that they had cut me off. After the right lane tie up, the car that had just cut me off made a sharp turn back into the right lane and slowed down. When he was next to me he swerved sharply into my lane. I swerved into the oncoming lane next to me. Luckily, there was no one coming. I got back into my lane, and the car that swerved got back into his. He once again slowed down. As I got next to him, he and his fellow passenger stuck their tongues out at us, chuckled and sped off. The kids in the car were somewhere between 18 and 22. E.W.A. and I are both convinced that this was no accident but rather an intentional game of chicken.
E.W.A. and I were besides ourselves, a little shaken from the incident and quite upset. We still can't believe that these kids would be so stupid as to do this, but we were there.
My question is this, are we not teaching our youngsters how to properly and responsibly drive? Are we not teaching them the rules of the road and driving manners? Have we not taught them to respect the machinery that they are using?
I don't mean this as an indictment of all young drivers. I know that many are responsible, reasonable and mature but this incident was beyond belief.
An interesting thing just happened to my wife and I as we were leaving our local shopping mall. Today is Labor Day and in addition to the Labor Day sales, the mall is especially crowded because of the rain and nasty weather that we are having in Northern New Jersey. Still, E.W.A. and I had a little cabin fever and Sears is having a tool sale, so we went. We left the S at home and instead took E.W.A.'s TL.
After shopping, and after lunch, we decided to go home. We got into our car and left. Our mall is typical in that the outer perimeter has two lanes in each direction circling the parking lot. We got into the left lane, and were driving to our exit. Up ahead the right lane was tied up with cars making right turns into the parking lots. A car, perhaps a Maxima or Camry, next to us accelerated and cut into our lane just inches ahead of us. I hit the brake and tapped my horn to let them know that they had cut me off. After the right lane tie up, the car that had just cut me off made a sharp turn back into the right lane and slowed down. When he was next to me he swerved sharply into my lane. I swerved into the oncoming lane next to me. Luckily, there was no one coming. I got back into my lane, and the car that swerved got back into his. He once again slowed down. As I got next to him, he and his fellow passenger stuck their tongues out at us, chuckled and sped off. The kids in the car were somewhere between 18 and 22. E.W.A. and I are both convinced that this was no accident but rather an intentional game of chicken.
E.W.A. and I were besides ourselves, a little shaken from the incident and quite upset. We still can't believe that these kids would be so stupid as to do this, but we were there.
My question is this, are we not teaching our youngsters how to properly and responsibly drive? Are we not teaching them the rules of the road and driving manners? Have we not taught them to respect the machinery that they are using?
I don't mean this as an indictment of all young drivers. I know that many are responsible, reasonable and mature but this incident was beyond belief.
09-01-2003, 11:45 AM
#2
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I don't know the real answer to your question but I think it's highly likely that you just had a run in with a couple of young penises with ears. It does sound like they were just playing but that's a darned foolish way to play.
I do think that most young people are taught well while a few aren't. Glad you were watching when they swerved at you.
I do think that most young people are taught well while a few aren't. Glad you were watching when they swerved at you.
09-01-2003, 11:49 AM
#3
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Rob, I have people swerve right in front of me and then get upset because they think that I'm tailgating them? They are the ones that almost knocked my front end off and they're upset at me?
Then they probably complain about how much their insurance costs!
Then they probably complain about how much their insurance costs!
09-01-2003, 12:00 PM
#4
Thread Starter
CG
I agree, these two probably represent the minority of young drivers. Most are responsible. What frightens me is the thought that if kids like this got their hands on an S2000, a 350Z or any of the high performance vehicles out there we'd have some real trouble.
Bob
I know exactly what you are talking about. It amazes me too.
I will admit, we wish we'd taken the 4Runner. Most likely the kids wouldn't have been so frisky.
I agree, these two probably represent the minority of young drivers. Most are responsible. What frightens me is the thought that if kids like this got their hands on an S2000, a 350Z or any of the high performance vehicles out there we'd have some real trouble.
Bob
I know exactly what you are talking about. It amazes me too.
I will admit, we wish we'd taken the 4Runner. Most likely the kids wouldn't have been so frisky.
09-01-2003, 10:36 PM
#6
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The world will always have its mix of different people. You ran into some punks...there is no way for parents or guardians to rid the world of punks. You just have to accept the fact that these type of people exist. Hey, there are murderers, robbers, rapists, etc... that exist in our world, is it so surprising that these type of youngsters exist as well? You have to accept the world we live in, take a deep breath, and shake it off.
09-02-2003, 05:20 AM
#7
You ran into some punk kids. There have always been punk kids for every generation to deal with.
While my experience last night was a little different, it tells me stupid and bad drivers come in all ages (judging by the kinds of cars I had to pass). We were traveling on the expressway. It was night and raining quite hard, with a lot of Labor day traffic bumper-to-bumper. Just enough traffic to make it difficult to pass anyone who will not pull over into the slow lane. What is so damn difficult about doing that? Why are some driver's so inconsiderate. Instead we have a few really stupid and poor driver's who constantly are hitting their brakes, while in the passing lane, when there's no need what so ever. All they have to do is look beyond their nose and lift on the gas when needed. But instead a handful of poor driver's make it frustrating and log jam it for everyone else. Finally after perhaps 25 miles or more I'm able to work my way past these four or five idiots by passing on the right. And then it's clear sailing. I had all-wheel drive, good wipers, good tires, and even in a downpour the speed limit was no problem. I have never had a problem pulling over for faster traffic, so what is their problem. What happened to road manners? Why are these idiots always hitting their brakes? What happen to driver training? End of rant.
While my experience last night was a little different, it tells me stupid and bad drivers come in all ages (judging by the kinds of cars I had to pass). We were traveling on the expressway. It was night and raining quite hard, with a lot of Labor day traffic bumper-to-bumper. Just enough traffic to make it difficult to pass anyone who will not pull over into the slow lane. What is so damn difficult about doing that? Why are some driver's so inconsiderate. Instead we have a few really stupid and poor driver's who constantly are hitting their brakes, while in the passing lane, when there's no need what so ever. All they have to do is look beyond their nose and lift on the gas when needed. But instead a handful of poor driver's make it frustrating and log jam it for everyone else. Finally after perhaps 25 miles or more I'm able to work my way past these four or five idiots by passing on the right. And then it's clear sailing. I had all-wheel drive, good wipers, good tires, and even in a downpour the speed limit was no problem. I have never had a problem pulling over for faster traffic, so what is their problem. What happened to road manners? Why are these idiots always hitting their brakes? What happen to driver training? End of rant.
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09-02-2003, 01:24 PM
#9
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to be honest, when i encounter behavior like this (which is all too often) i find that more often than not it's a middle aged white male or an irate soccer mom in an SUV. no insult intended to anyone on this site, as we all know there are a-hole drivers in every demographic.
the problem i encounter with young drivers is usually just sheer stupidity and inexperience or wanton recklessness in the case of 'street racing...' the behavior you describe matches much more closely with the attitude i associate with a wealthy middle aged dude used to getting everything he wants and offended that anyone would be in HIS way.
the problem i encounter with young drivers is usually just sheer stupidity and inexperience or wanton recklessness in the case of 'street racing...' the behavior you describe matches much more closely with the attitude i associate with a wealthy middle aged dude used to getting everything he wants and offended that anyone would be in HIS way.
09-02-2003, 07:10 PM
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Rob, I would have to agree with most of the others...seems like you ran into a pair of punks who had to maintain an image of toughness after you pointed out thier mistake in cutting you off. Some people's egos are just bruised much to easily and they must maintain "face" in front of thier friend...small egos.
I witness incredibly stupid driving everyday during my commute into work. Take today...on the drive home on the 401 (one of the busiest highways in North America) a BMW was LESS than 2 feet from the back bumper of an 18 wheeler, who in turn was less than 2 feet from the car infront of it...all travelling >60 mph on an 8 lane highway....
I witness incredibly stupid driving everyday during my commute into work. Take today...on the drive home on the 401 (one of the busiest highways in North America) a BMW was LESS than 2 feet from the back bumper of an 18 wheeler, who in turn was less than 2 feet from the car infront of it...all travelling >60 mph on an 8 lane highway....
