January 21st, 2007
Upset About Bad Drivers, Rude People? Rant About it on the Web
By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Ever get cut off by a driver who seemed to think a turn signal mandates entry into your lane … even without any space? Nowadays a honk generally gets a response, but generally not the kind my mother would have gotten … an apologetic wave or something. Nope, you’ll be ignored, or flipped off.
Or maybe my pet peeve: people leaving their cell phones on in a movie and maybe even answering them.
Several websites have opened up to cater to frustrated people. Among them are advicegoddess,com, rudepeople.com, platewire, and hollabacknyc.
“Just to say to someone, ‘Careful you could kill someone,’ they’re like, ‘Yeah, whatever,’” she said. “But once I put their picture up on my site, it’s not just you I’m deterring from that behavior again. It’s other people.”
But can these sites actually change behavior? In some instances, yes. One Santa Barbara, Calif., man used to steal neighbor Tim Halberg’s morning newspaper until he was caught on videotape by Halberg himself. Halberg posted the video on youtube.com and the stealing stopped. Source: ABC News
We Say: I took a look at these sites and noted many examples that have experienced. A lot of it, to me, is that common courtesy and politeness have gone out the window, as more and people now have a sense of entitlement about their actions … kind of like, well, I exist, therefore I’m entitled to do whatever I want.
Eric N. says:
I often wished there was a way to immediately vote down a bad driver on the road… the normal progression of time does not resolve their wreckless or bad behaviors on the road… plus I sometimes wish I could just label someone as a “asshole” so everyone and their mother new. Granted, I am not the best driver, but still some people nearly kill you and you can’t do anything about it.
January 21st, 2007 at 5:49 pm
GAB says:
I agree, basic courtesy is a dying concept in the USA. The real travesty is that 90% of bad driving behaviour is not linked to a real need (late to work), these people are going to the mall, and simply do it out out of habit.
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:26 am
ron p. says:
I call it the, “Excuse me, Oh I’m sorry.” society.
Although drivers do indeed possess the ability to wreck your day, it’s even simpler stuff that annoys me.
You see it everyday. In front of you going down the grocery store isle is someone, seemingly on autopilot, glancing left and right, who then decides to stop and shop, right in the middle of the isle. The thought of moving to one side never occurs to them, because, THEY are the only shoppers in the whole freaking store. You, me and other shoppers do not exist in their self centered pee brain.
In an effort to be polite and get by them, you say, “Excuse me.” And they say, “Oh, I’m sorry.” And they move their cart to the side.
How many of these exchanges have you had in the last week?
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:20 am
justin says:
Almost as bad as the driver described are the ones that dont make room at on-ramps for merging traffic.
January 24th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
H. Cord says:
This society gets ruder every day. I have seen more people cussing each other out at the gas stations, in parking lots and giving each other the bird on the highway. If I drive my car on the road at the speed limit, I have people who tailgate or try to see how close they can get to my front fender when they come around. W
November 16th, 2007 at 9:56 am
H. Cord says:
This society gets ruder every day. I have seen more people cussing each other out at the gas stations, in parking lots and giving each other the bird on the highway. If I drive my car on the road at the speed limit, I have people who tailgate or try to see how close they can get to my front fender when they come around. W
November 16th, 2007 at 9:56 am
H. Cord says:
This society gets ruder every day. I have seen more people cussing each other out at the gas stations, in parking lots and giving each other the bird on the highway. If I drive my car on the road at the speed limit, I have people who tailgate and be smart alecks. In my motor home I have people who will zip by, barely get in front, then all of a sudden make a right turn. If I am making a right turn, they try to run in under me on the right side, so i can’t turn without crushing them.
November 16th, 2007 at 10:05 am