The World's DUMBEST Driver...

[Werewolf]

I may have encountered the world's DUMBEST driver this morning.

I-40, downtown Oklahoma City, cruising down the freeway around 7:45AM. Traffic on this stretch of I-40 at that time of the morning normally moves along between 50 and 60 mph. I wouldn't call the normal congestion level wall to wall cars but it's close. That makes it quite difficult to get on the interstate going west from two of the on ramps downtown because they are quite short and have a steep up angle to get to the interstate so visibility is limited. Experienced OKC drivers don't use them during rush hour they either stay on the main east west street (Reno) or drive to another on ramp.

Anyway this morning, which is typical a few times a week, there was a car visible on the on ramp stopped and waiting for an opportunity to get on the freeway. He's not the stupid guy.

Now get this (I'm on my motorcycle by the way - Honda 750 Shadow) doing about 55 when the MORON 2 cars ahead of me decides to STOP and let this guy waiting for an opening on. The guy just in front notices a bit late and panic stops as do I. Not fun in a car and even less fun on an MC. We both get stopped, him with about a foot clearance between him and the moron and me about 3 feet between me and the guy ahead. Whew, made it - well - almost. I hear the screech of tires from behind and see the car behind me fishtailing, smoke coming from the tires in a panic stop. Cars to the left of him moving away to the leftmost lane as fast as they can and the cars behind him all trying to stop. I'd estimate that at least 10 cars had to hit the brakes hard.

Time slowed down for me as I contemplate what it's going to feel like to be crushed between two cars and think to myself, "It's been a fun ride GOD, be seein' ya in a bit".

Lucky for me the guy directly behind got stopped in time, the guy behind him didn't though and hit him in the rear - probably going no more than a few miles per hour.

The whole thing took maybe 3 to 5 seconds. The guy in front of me was half out of his car and I was half off my bike fully intending to grab hold of the fool and stomping a mudhole in his ass right there on the interstate. The MORON saw what happened, undoubtedly saw me and the guy in front of me preparing to head his way and (probably wisely) took off which was lucky for him and even luckier for me because assault is not a fun thing to get arrested for.  It's a bit more than 2 hours later and the adrenaline dump still hasn't worn off.

Y'all tell me...

Was that the dumbest driver on the planet or what?

[wmenorr67]

Didn't happen to catch his plate number did you?

[Werewolf]

Didn't happen to catch his plate number did you?

Nope...
He took off too fast, too rattled etc. Probably wouldn't have done much good anyway to get it and report it to the cops. The guy'll still be stupid and the cops wouldn't have any way to keep him off the highways.

[griz]

Was that the dumbest driver on the planet or what?

I've seen dumber.

The one example that stands out in my mind was a car stopped in the middle of three west bound lanes of I-264, a very busy road on a weekend.  The driver had had almost missed her exit, so had dropped anchor in the middle of the highway, turned on the right turn signal, cranked the wheel all the way to the right as if she was parking in a tight spot, and was patiently waiting for traffic to "clear".  I was east bound and didn't stop to watch the show, figuring traffic would clear in about eight or nine hours.

[Ex-MA Hole]

I keep entertaining getting a bike, then read stories like this, and think how it could turn out.....

[Boomhauer]

G*#*%@n F$#&ing courtesy drivers

[mfree]

I'm thankful that the only idiocy I see on the roads regularly are people who are on entrance ramps and get slower and slower because they're driving out of the mirror instead of turning their head, and those who stop.... at the very end, giving themselves no acceleration room.

I've stopped on ramps before to time entrances in HEAVY traffic, but well back of the actual entrance to the highway so I can actually be doing some semblance of the speed limit when I match up with that hole in the line.

EDIT: Last paragraph, I only stop when I've already been slowed or stopped, and particularly only on one very short uphill ramp entering our vaunted Pellissippi Speed.. er... Parkway. 80mph bumper to bumper, 2 lanes, and can't ride the shoulder thanks to a bridge 200 yards down the road...

[French G.]

Even in a car when driving in a panic stop environment action #1 is to maintain a healthy distance from the car up front, #2 is to aim the car somewhere other than the rear bumper of the panic stopper up front, #3 is to stomp brakes, #4 eyes to mirror to see if you can avoid being rear-ended.

Driver behind you was dumber than dirt and needed the mudhole treatment, but if you had become road sausage you would have born some complicity. Aim for the shoulder or something, just don't be stationary between two larger masses one of which is not stationary. Glad you made it, keep the escape route always. Driving in Norfolk VA for 14 years I can count about a dozen times I would have been badly rear-ended had I not braked on the shoulder in a panic stop pile-up or left enough room when stopped to pull to the shoulder. I swear I spend more time watching the rearview to miss wrecks than I do looking out front. All my guys that rode bikes took at least one nasty wreck in that traffic hell. I love motorcycles but I freely admit I don't have the brass balls necessaryto urban commute on one the way people drive.

[Regolith]

Kind of reminds me of the idiot truck driver I came upon while driving over the Cascades last month.  The guy had no hope of being able to go much faster than 20mph up the hills, and not much faster than that going down (speed limit is 55, traffic usually goes at about 10 miles over that).  Instead of pulling over to let traffic go by, however, he decides that allowing a mile of cars to stack up behind him isn't all that bad. 

The kicker is that due to the hills and curves, visibility is severely limited.  I came up on the conga line forming behind him after coming around a turn, and was only able to stop soon enough because I usually keep a fairly big space between me and the car in front of me.

It was bad enough that I put on my hazards until a couple of cars came up safely behind me.

Given that I had already been driving for about 8 hours or so, I was NOT happy. I was even less happy when I passed the guy and saw that the truck had no plates.  How he didn't get pulled over I have absolutely no idea.

[Jamisjockey]

I was once rear ended by a woman on a cellphone.
Driving my old Jeep Cherokee....4" lift and 31" tires....the left lane was stopped ahead for someone trying to turn left.  I gave myself about 3 car lengths, as I could see what was going on, and looked in my rearview for a chance to pass on the right.  What I saw was a small white car with no intention of stopping.  As the moment of impact arrived I let off my brake, which made me roll forward.  Her front end was smashed.  She hit me so squarely that the Mazda emblem from her car was rammed into my reciever hitch.... 
0 damage to the XJ.

[coppertales]

Oklahoma drivers, what more can be said.......   The only thing worse is Wisconsin drivers............I know for a fact because I live in Texas and used to live in the UP of MI.......chris3

[Werewolf]

...Driver behind you was dumber than dirt and needed the mudhole treatment, but if you had become road sausage you would have born some complicity. Aim for the shoulder or something, just don't be stationary between two larger masses one of which is not stationary...

Well - that's the normal plan but in this case - NO Shoulder. Elevated freeway, downtown, 3 lanes and no shoulder, no where to go sideways or othewise except into traffic to the left or over the rail to the right which would be about a 40' fall. Options limited.

Rush hour traffic sucks, people tail gate, it happens. What one doesn't expect to happen is some moron coming to a dead stop to let some other moron who can't navigate an on ramp get on the freeway.

Life is full of surprises. That's part of what makes it so fun...       

[Tallpine]

About 30 years back I was driving down the Cimarron Canyon in northern New Mexico - a 2-lane very winding road with rocks on one side and river on the other.  It was a little bit slick but I had a 4wd p/u and good radials and I was pushing it just a little.

I come around a corner and there are some tourists stopped in the middle of the road taking pictures of mountain sheep 

I touched my brakes just an instant and quickly realized that was a very bad idea.  The only thing to do besides hitting the car was to take the oncoming lane and hope nothing was coming around the blind corner.  I figured that if somebody did come around the corner, that I would have to take the big cottonwoods along the river so as not to kill anyone beside myself. 

That lesson and a few others taught me to never mind how I can drive safely, that I have to be prepared for the stupidest possible thing someone else might do, and/or some natural calamity.  I see people on mountain roads drive 60 or 70 mph around blind corners just because their car is so great and they can do it, never thinking that there might be 20 ton rock in the road or a semi-trailer jackknifed across the road.

[Monkeyleg]

I once saw an elderly woman stop on the interstate and back up to get to the exit she'd missed.

[French G.]

Well - that's the normal plan but in this case - NO Shoulder. Elevated freeway, downtown, 3 lanes and no shoulder, no where to go sideways or othewise except into traffic to the left or over the rail to the right which would be about a 40' fall. Options limited.

Crickey! I'd rather ride bikes in the thunderdome than that set-up. I knew a real nice fellow that survived getting hit by a car and launched off an overpass to land on the interstate below. 6 months in the hospital. Sadly, 6 years later he was somewhat back to normal and offed himself over women troubles.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

had one where i came over the top of a hill onmy yammie 750 cars stopped i couldn't stop in time so i grabbed shoulder stayed up barely as the car behind me slammed the car i woulda hit. still get puckered over that one

25 years ago a guy came to a dead stop on the woodrow wilson bridge to berate the truck behind him for following too close lil 16year old girl rammed the back of truck and died the dimwit who stopped took off but someone gothis tag and he got a manslaughter beef

[Tallpine]

I know of a case where some flatlander stopped dead in the road at the bottom of a hill for an oncoming ambulance.  That might be the thing to do in some places, but there was a semi-load of hay coming down the hill. 

I knew the brother of the guy in one of the vehicles that got squished in the resulting pile-up.  It pretty much disabled him for life.  I think there may have been some fatalities too ...

[Boomhauer]

I know of a case where some flatlander stopped dead in the road at the bottom of a hill for an oncoming ambulance.  That might be the thing to do in some places, but there was a semi-load of hay coming down the hill

Wait a minute, on a normal two lane road, WHY would one stop for an oncoming ambulance? It's in the other lane, no problems, no conflict, right?

Idjit.

[French G.]

Stupid people do it all the time, not thinking when they get wrecked the ambulance is already disappearing into the sunset and not coming back for them. Almost every almost wreck I've almost had in freeway driving was the result of massive brake checking to look at the pretty emergency vehicles. Ohh something shiny! 6 lanes away of course.

[MechAg94]

I see idiots stop or go really slow all the time when emergency vehicles are on the other side of the road or not going their way. 

My Dad told me once he was driving to Victoria for a job.  He was going down a 2 lane farm road in the early morning hours just before sun up with it is still sort of gray.  I think he said there was a little fog also.  He noticed a couple lights off to either side and something looked screwy.  He realized something was up and was able to slam on the brakes and come to a complete stop right in front of the 18 wheeler gravel truck sitting across the road trying to turn around. 

[Firethorn]

I, at the least, slow and pull over for emergency vehicles with lights on unless it's on the other side of something like a divided highway.  Regular two lane road?  Pull over, giving them room to pass any cars on the other side as well.

[grislyatoms]

I, at the least, slow and pull over for emergency vehicles with lights on unless it's on the other side of something like a divided highway.  Regular two lane road?  Pull over, giving them room to pass any cars on the other side as well.

That's what I do as well. Fairly certain that's the law in most places.

[41magsnub]

Dumbest for me was when I was almost run over by an M1 Abrams in a Humvee.  At night in the field we did not use normal lights.  We used blackout lights.  In convoys we frequently would put a red chemlight on the back and a white chemlight on the front (didn't make much sense to me either since it defeated the purpose of the blackout lights but it was the standard).  I'm cruising at night without NVG's (the Colonel stole mine since his died) and I see a red light ahead and think "score!, somebody to follow!".  Keep in mind I have crappy night vision so following somebody means I'm not staring at the ditch trying to not run into it.  I suddenly realize that it was coming up on me really damned fast so I pull over.  Some jackass in the tank had put a red chemlight on the front of it.