How do you drive courteous ( ideas welcome ! )

[Arragonis]

If someone is running faster on a 2 lane road but can't pass (we have corners here in Civilisation not seen usually in the colonies) then I tend to find a clear straight, slow and signal to the side so people can pass.

I also leave a gap between me and the vehicle in front on a two lane road so that people can pass me and tuck in front of me, and then pass that other vehicle again later - it saves frustration.

If a truck is passing me then I do the light flash thing when his trailer wheels are clear so he can pull over. Same with larger vans and pickups.

I flash my four-way hazards (orange turn indicators here) when someone lets me merge to encourage them to do the same again.

I leave a gap near junctions (on/off ramps) so people can merge.

I try to ignore those mergers who take the pish and tuck bumper to bumper to the vehicle in front so we have to let the whole queue out, but it can be hard not to want to punch them very hard and repeatedly for not cooperating. I have been known to block such people on principle, which is silly.

I let people pull out.

I refuse to pull out (if nobody is behind me) if just after the pull out I'm going to have to turn across traffic and make the kind person who let me out have to wait. If only I could combine these two ?

Even in long queues I leave a gap for pedestrian crossings.

I reply to most hand genstures with a friendly wave or a tip of the hat as all gentlemen should.

[Rishar]

I have to admit...I have picked an odd thing to get into, that being hypermiling. While I'm very courteous to other drivers I do have a bit of a...road rage issue at times.

I always keep my distance, 3 car lengths at the very least. I was always told the distance between two power line poles. Though more often then not, I'm not going fast enough to worry about that ;P

One peeve is with people who pass to turn. Or even take an off ramp. Irks me to no end. A few times I've been in just the wrong kind of mood and have sped up to make sure they can't take the off ramp. Hurts the mpgs but does tend to make me feel a little better. Of course, you may be thinking, oh well, they'll take the next ramp. This happens to be the last exit before you hit the Canadian toll bridge >.> so I really make them pay for it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm courteous by making others regret not being courteous so that maybe they'll drive a little more sensibly to the next person. But I'm working on it! I just have to remind myself to be calm and that I'll get my chuckles at the gas station.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by Rishar

I have to admit...I have picked an odd thing to get into, that being hypermiling. While I'm very courteous to other drivers I do have a bit of a...road rage issue at times.

I always keep my distance, 3 car lengths at the very least. I was always told the distance between two power line poles. Though more often then not, I'm not going fast enough to worry about that ;P

One peeve is with people who pass to turn. Or even take an off ramp. Irks me to no end. A few times I've been in just the wrong kind of mood and have sped up to make sure they can't take the off ramp. Hurts the mpgs but does tend to make me feel a little Better. Of course, you may be thinking, oh well, they'll take the next ramp. This happens to be the last exit before you hit the Canadian toll bridge >.> so I really make them pay for it.

I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm courteous by making others regret not being courteous so that maybe they'll drive a little more sensibly to the next person. But I'm working on it! I just have to remind myself to be calm and that I'll get my chuckles at the gas station.

I call that a 'pass and ditch'. I do the same thing you described. I especially enjoy it when I'm in the Mustang. Can't outrun me.

One of my major pet peevs is people jumping in your lane to pass someone, only to go 1-2mph faster, slowing EVERYONE down in the lane. I always give them a close cut for that .

[P-hack]

It is easier to be courteous when you pay lots of attention. Like if I'm coming to a stop light in the right lane, and I see a car behind me with its signal on, I'll move to the left (If they give me enough notice), and if another car fills in and I need to get right again, well that isn't a problem for the leaf.

Also no problem gliding for a bit if someone "needs" to pass, I don't have anything to prove playing chicken. Just a bit of patience is good for courtesy (not too much though).

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by P-hack

It is easier to be courteous when you pay lots of attention. Like if I'm coming to a stop light in the right lane, and I see a car behind me with its signal on, I'll move to the left (If they give me enough notice), and if another car fills in and I need to get right again, well that isn't a problem for the leaf.

Also no problem gliding for a bit if someone "needs" to pass, I don't have anything to prove playing chicken. Just a bit of patience is good for courtesy (not too much though).

There is a limit to my patience though. When I see someone hauling ass up behind me, cutting other people off just to get the the off ramp sooner, I'll make sure he has a bad time. If I see someone next to me, causing safely, and all the sudden their blinker comes on and they start to merge I'll slow down to allow them to get over. I normally get a hand wave or some other form of thank you gesture.

[freebeard]

road rage

On my last road trip a tractor/trailer passed my and I dimmed my lights as it passed. When it was maybe 1/8th mile down the road I put them on high, and he fish-tailed the rear trailer and lost 15mph. When I passed him, he pulled into the left lane and either ran up on me or brighted his lights. I jinked into the right lane, an on-ramp and the shoulder. His horn bellowed in either rage or frustration—he couldn't touch me without overturning his rig. Never saw him again, he probably had a schedule to keep.

Assume all truck drivers are serial killers.

Edit: long-haul truck drivers.

[ninetynineSC2]

Originally Posted by freebeard

On my last road trip a tractor/trailer passed my and I dimmed my lights as it passed. When it was maybe 1/8th mile down the road I put them on high, and he fish-tailed the rear trailer and lost 15mph. When I passed him, he pulled into the left lane and either ran up on me or brighted his lights. I jinked into the right lane, an on-ramp and the shoulder. His horn bellowed in either rage or frustration—he couldn't touch me without overturning his rig. Never saw him again, he probably had a schedule to keep.

Assume all truck drivers are serial killers.

Edit: long-haul truck drivers.

Depending on how bright your highs are it probably still blinded him/her with those big mirrors. Imagine if you were that person, getting blinded day after day, you'd probably snap and do that as well. Not going to lie, someone comes up on me and doesn't dim their lights I will coast until they either dim them or pass, then if they pass without dimming they get the highs to look at just like I did. My car is low enough stock that there are times I almost CANNOT see if they have their highbeams on or if their one of the idiots that slap HIDS in stock housings. Makes me want to keep a box of hammers in the passenger seat to throw at them.

[freebeard]

55w Hella H-4s. Maybe truck mirrors should have a day/night option if it's that big a problem.

I'm sympathetic though, my inside mirror is a 5-panel Wink mirror (2.5' wide with no day/night option) and a jacked up 4x4's low beams are a problem. I put my hand up in front of the mirror to preserve my night vision.

[markweatherill]

I am sure that the poor driving of others is not encouraged by 'revenge' maneouvres, it's reinforced. Setting a good example is so wimpy, right? But if one out of ten gets the idea, it's better than ten out of ten maintaining bad practices.

[Fat Charlie]

Tell me what I, as a random member of society that you've never met, owe you as another driver. Now tell me why you do not also owe that same consideration to me and the other people in the area. If we're all in it together, which we are, we can work together and have smooth flowing traffic. No muss, no fuss, and everybody gets where they're going with no problems. But I refuse to reward bad behavior by cooperating with it.

I was going faster than the cars in the right lane this morning . A car that wanted to go even faster came up behind me and sat awfully close. I could have juggled speeds, popped into a gap in the right lane and forced them to adjust everything so that the faster car could proceed unimpeded, but why? How many of us should be disrupted for the enjoyment of one guy... who tailgates? I know the road's kind of full, but this guy really wants to go faster. We should all work together to let him go. We all owed it to him.