Road rage much?

Alright, I wouldn't describe myself as a road rager.  But driving can definitely be an extremely frustrating experience for me.  Some people consider me a "scary" driver.  When I get in my car it's because I'm going somewhere.  And I want to get there.  In a timely fashion.  This does not mean I am some kind of crazy speed demon.  I am not (anymore).  I have gotten enough speeding tickets to know not to speed anymore.  This just means I get annoyed when people are in my way and prevent me from doing my ideal speed.  But I will do 5 over the speed limit.  So if the speed limit is 45 I will NEVER do more than 50.  I even use my cruise control to help me control my speed.  My frustration comes from other drivers.  As it does for all of us, I'm sure.  I mean, everybody thinks that they're a good driver and that driving mistakes are always the other drivers fault.

I am actually very forgiving to common driving mistakes.  Getting cut off or when someone is driving crazy slow.  Or, when you're stopped and someone wants to make a left from the right hand lane so they flag you down and ask if they can cut you off.  These are forgivable offenses to me because I also do them.  Hey, I've accidentally cut someone off.  Hey, sometimes I drive a little slow when I'm in an unfamiliar area and have to drive slow to find what I'm looking for.  These people do not usually bother me.  These are not end-of-the-world offenses.  Doing these things does NOT make you a "bad" driver.

Some things that truly bother me are the people who ride the merge lane ALL the way to end.  THESE are the people that cause traffic!  Because, ultimately, they either have to stop completely OR cut someone off (causing them to screech to a halt)  to get into traffic.  (and in turn, the people who never let anyone merge in are just as guilty!)  These people should be shot.  But I do have a funny story about a merge lane asshole that I will write at the bottom.  Also, when people pull in front of me to go 10 mph slower than me.  I will literally ride their ass.  This annoys me to no end.  I think this is the biggest reason why some people consider me a "scary" driver.  Doing these things DOES make you a "bad" driver.

Other things that bother me:  people who don't accelerate through turns.  I drive a stick people, I practically stall out following you through a 5 mph turn!  The texters who hold up all of traffic.  I guess they think they're being "safe" doing 20 in a 35 so that they can pay better attention to their texting.  Then there's the guy that cuts across 5 lanes of traffic on the highway to make his exit.  Because apparently, he didn't realize his exit was coming up for the last 5+ miles he was driving.

The other day I was following this guy who suddenly pulled into the next lane.  I was like "geez, why did he do that?"  Oh, because there was a huge piece of debris in the road that I had about 2 car lengths to swerve around and avoid myself.  Thanks asshole for waiting so long to move over.  Then, I was driving behind this guy who just wouldn't accelerate after we turned so I suppose I was driving a little too close.  When I finally got fed up and went to pass him, he sped up and wouldn't let me by!  Oh, I was pissed and actually yelling!  Then we both turned into the same parking lot and ran into the sub line at Publix.  Awkward!

But you know how it is.  When you're driving your own car you feel so in control of what you're doing.  If other people would just follow my logic, it would be perfect!

So, my merge lane asshole story:  I was driving in my car one day with my mother.  We're chatting away and approaching an area I know to have a merge lane.  I just happened to notice this one driver not taking his chance to merge into traffic and I start getting super annoyed with him.  So we're driving side by side now and out loud I'm like "oh no, you're not getting in front of me jerk, you had your chance and you didn't take it!"  My Mom is like "deborah, just let him in".  I start yelling "No way!  What an idiot!  I'm not letting him in!"  We are almost down to the end of the merge lane and we're still battling each other.  My Mom is just freaking out at this point.  In the end, my car just didn't have the HP to beat him.  But I was so mad!  Afterwards, I started laughing and my Mom was just having an absolute heart attack.  I just laughed so hard even typing that out.  It still makes me chuckle to think about it.

Be safe out there people and watch out for those crazy drivers!

What driving offenses drive you crazy?