Don't give Women Drivers the finger

[Stigg]

Thought this was hilarious. Posted on my local community forum about a guy who drives through Washington D.C. each day.

I was riding to work yesterday when I observed a female driver, who cut right in front of a pickup truck, causing the driver to drive onto the shoulder to avoid hitting her. This evidently angered the driver enough that he hung his arm out his window and gave the woman the finger.

"Man, that guy is stupid," I thought to myself. I ALWAYS smile nicely and wave in a sheepish manner whenever a female does anything to me in traffic, and here's why:

I drive 48 miles each way every day to work. That's 96 miles each day.

Of these, 16 miles each way is bumper-to-bumper. Most of the bumper-to-bumper is on an 8 lane highway.

There are 7 cars every 40 feet for 32 miles. That works out to 982 cars every mile -- or 31,424 cars.

Even though the rest of the 32 miles is not bumper-to-bumper, I figure I pass at least another 4000 cars. That brings the number to something like 36,000 cars that I pass every day.

Statistically, females drive half of these. That's 18,000 women drivers!

In any given group of females, 1 in 28 has PMS. That's 642.

According to Cosmopolitan, 70% describe their love life as dissatisfying or unrewarding. That's 449.

According to the National Institute of Health, 22% of all females have seriously considered suicide or homicide. That's 98.

And 34% describe men as their biggest problem. That's 33.

According to the National Rifle Association, 5% of all females carry weapons and this number is increasing.

That means that EVERY SINGLE DAY, I drive past at least one female that has a lousy love life, thinks men are her biggest problem, has seriously considered suicide or homicide, has PMS, and is armed.

Give her the finger? I don't think so.

[larissa]

Thought this was hilarious. Posted on my local community forum about a guy who drives through Washington D.C. each day.

Haha!! :laughing:

There you go ... so be good to us and let us have our way and we won't kill you! :grin:

Thanks for the laugh, Stigg :heart:
~~~Larissa

[StealthAssasin]

ROFL lol thats some funny stuff :P and my gf aggreed with this lol xD and said if i give her the finger she will cap my ass lol >_>

[Ju Smurph]

:laughing:

Better than not giving a women the finger, not giving them their drivers license :wink: ahhhhh Utopia :wink:

[Foonyak]

/target Ju Smurf
/agree

Hey, if a crappy driver displays their crappyness in my immediate vicinity, the finger is automatic. If it happens to be a woman who hates men, hates her life, and is armed and suicidal/homocidal...fine. As long as she's no longer being a crappy driver in my immediate vicinity, I'm happy. If she follows me home, even better; y'know why? That means she is gonna assault me, possibly with a deadly weapon, which gives me a legal reason to beat the snot out of her for being a crappy driver.

Crappy drivers are one of my biggest pet peeves. It's really not hard to be a decent driver if you pay a little attention. And if you're paying a lot of attention to driving, NOT YOUR CELL PHONE, MAKE-UP, OR YOUR ****ING FRENCH FRIES, you could be a really good driver. Watch your mirrors, don't change CDs (unless you're at a traffic light that just turned red), put the god****ed phone away, save your dinner until you get home, and just drive.

[brandondash]

The misogyny in here is palpable.

[Clavina]

/target Ju Smurf
/agree

Hey, if a crappy driver displays their crappyness in my immediate vicinity, the finger is automatic. If it happens to be a woman who hates men, hates her life, and is armed and suicidal/homocidal...fine. As long as she's no longer being a crappy driver in my immediate vicinity, I'm happy. If she follows me home, even better; y'know why? That means she is gonna assault me, possibly with a deadly weapon, which gives me a legal reason to beat the snot out of her for being a crappy driver.

Crappy drivers are one of my biggest pet peeves. It's really not hard to be a decent driver if you pay a little attention. And if you're paying a lot of attention to driving, NOT YOUR CELL PHONE, MAKE-UP, OR YOUR ****ING FRENCH FRIES, you could be a really good driver. Watch your mirrors, don't change CDs (unless you're at a traffic light that just turned red), put the god****ed phone away, save your dinner until you get home, and just drive.

Statistically speaking women are better drivers than men. end of story.

[Valas Azuviir]

Foonyak, would you like to remain on these forums??
If, the answer is yes, then I suggest you watch your language.
If, the answer is no, then keep doing what you're doing now and we'll be tossing you right out the door.

[Foonyak]

/target all
/apologize

I am truly sorry for breaking the rules, but yes I did intend to say those things. That is one of my biggest peeves. I realize that it doesn't justify my swearing. Again, I apologize.

[Nitroussquirrel]

Ya know whats weird for me with bad drivers? I am deathly afraid of using the horn, but the finger on the other hand...thats a different story. I dont know why but now that I think about it...I just find it weird.

[Foonyak]

The horn is loud and obnoxious, but for the most part inoffensive. However, when it's used it can startle a driver to do something even more stupid than what they've already done.

The finger is silent, so when it's used one has to be in a position to where one is not going to do anything stupid while waiting for the offending driver to notice. No tail-gating (driving very close to the vehicle in front of you), swerving, making sure that the cars in the other lanes adjacent to you aren't merging into you, etc. But it is just as effective as using the horn to get your point accross.

[SmokeThizzle]

wow stigg where do you come up with this stuff i havent laugh that in a long time. i thought it was going to be another story about you getting jumped by a 12 year old. this was great. you made my day

[Tanitha]

The finger is silent, so when it's used one has to be in a position to where one is not going to do anything stupid while waiting for the offending driver to notice. No tail-gating (driving very close to the vehicle in front of you), swerving, making sure that the cars in the other lanes adjacent to you aren't merging into you, etc. But it is just as effective as using the horn to get your point accross.


Until you happen to catch the one person who's had a bad day and was about to turn homicidal. As much as it frustrates me, I'm trying to get a grip on my temper and not get mad at the vast number of idiots on the road. Yes, Kiwis make some of the worst drivers I've ever encountered and I grew up in a third world country. There is so much latent passive agressive behavior on these roads it's scary.

We have this thing called passing lanes as most out of city highways are single lanes. Every few miles you'll get to a passing lane, where slower vehicles are obliged to peel off to the left (We drive on the left hand side of the road) while faster traffic can stream by on the right. Unfortunately, the person doing 45mph will speed up to 55 or 60 or even more once you attempt to pass them and will - honestly - brake once they reach the end of the passing lane, thus trapping the queue behind them once more.

But, giving someone the finger is not going to do anything but make them mad and possibly lead to even worse behavior. It might be a temporary vent for you - but it will never change their behavior.

I don't think I've ever encountered someone who will go "Oh, that guy just give me the finger. I must have been doing something wrong. Here - let me just change my habits. Thank you!"

More likely it's a l2drive derivative with some colourful language thrown in.

[Foonyak]

I haven't deluded myself into thinking that I'll change their behavior with a well-timed bird. I just hope that they realize that they're not the only person on the road, and that they're not any more (or less) important that anyone else that happens to be driving on the same road at the same time.

Ninty percent of the time, I'll just swear loudly (or in my head if Abigail [daughter] is in the car) and let it slide, because ninty percent of the time it's not a big deal. That other ten percent of the time, however...well, I'll just refer you all to the bold text in my first post in this thread.

[Valas Azuviir]

/target all
/apologize

I am truly sorry for breaking the rules, but yes I did intend to say those things. That is one of my biggest peeves. I realize that it doesn't justify my swearing. Again, I apologize.

I can understand a pet peeve and all that, but there's more than one way to skin a cat, or in this case, express your displeasure without breaking our rules, or going all mysoginistic on us. Just keep that in mind for next time.

[Stigg]

wow stigg where do you come up with this stuff i havent laugh that in a long time. i thought it was going to be another story about you getting jumped by a 12 year old. this was great. you made my day

Haha, firstly, let me say, I don't hold anything against women drivers. I do hold something against the lady I saw eating a Bigmac, smoking a cigarette, talking on the cell phone, and driving all at once. But that had less to do with her being a woman (besides the make-up part) and more along the lines of her being a freakin hazard to my health. I posted this more because I am a huge math geek and I liked his derivation....albeit he was wrong with his 1 car in 40 feet...but anyways...

Smoke, my community forums (not sure if Im allowed to link to them...) have some of the MOST hilarious jokes i have heard. Most of them are commonly heard jokes, but this one (from knowing the person that wrote it...) struck me as overly original and I could just imagine him getting ran off the road, waving at the woman, then looking up all this information....which made it much more hysterical from my point of view.

[Foonyak]

I saw the most polite use of the horn this afternoon on the way back from lunch. A lady was in a gas station drive way at the intersection of a major road and an eight lane highway, and as you can imagine, traffic wasn't willing to let her out of the drive way while the light was green. The light turned red, traffic started backing up again, and once more she was 'stuck' in the drive way.

What does she do? No, she doesn't pull out, wedging the corner of her minivan full of kids between the back bumper of one car and the front bumper of another, as so many people decide to do these days (in Houston at least). She lets loose a short horn blast, getting the attention of everyone at the light, and signals to a driver that she would like to get in front of him when the light turns green. He waits for her to pull into the lane after the light turns green, and the rest is traffic bliss.

[Sundestroyer]

Hahahahahahaha....great post. I won't be giving any women the bird in traffic here in Sacramento...that's for sure. =D

[idealises]

lol lol..that's greaaat.

[TeamRamrod]

Around where i live there are tons of idiotic drivers and i can pretty much guess their sex or if they are old just by seeing the stupid mistake they have done. 95% of the time i am right, its like a gift lol. and no disrespect but most of them are women... i saw a lady driving and reading a newspaper while going 50-60 mph, i mean she had the newspaper all laid out on top of her steering wheel WTF! also reminds me of the time some lady tried racing me on my way to work when she had two kids in the back...

[Elly]

Thanks for that Stigg :laugh:

Ju Smurf - I was reading this report earlier today (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6309033.stm) on the BBC about research in the US which proves that we can't drive and use the phone/change CDs as well as we think we can.


"Our new research offers neurological evidence that the brain cannot effectively do two things at once. People think if they are using a headset with their cell phone while driving they are safe, but they're not because they are still doing two cognitively demanding tasks at once," said co-author, Dr Rene Marois

[kcma]

so i guess the whole "multi-tasking" thing is just a myth!! :)

[satineeftw]

I am reviving a dead thread *apologizes* but I have often wondered this:

Say you see me walking down the road and I accidentally bump into you. We would more than likely exchange polite apologies and continue on our way (this happens quite frequently seeing as how I am probably the most clumsy girl anyone knows) But put me behind the wheel of a car and I accidentally cut someone off (always accidental, I'm not rude) and I get a man old enough to be my father fly past me and flick me off screaming obscenities at me. What is the difference in these scenarios? Granted being behind the wheel of a car makes things a lot more dangerous, does that mean we can stop showing common decency to one another? People treat each other so vulgar on the road. It disgusts me. :embarassed:

[Sacroth]

Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore visual facts (http://www.funtoosh.com/dj.php?details=A11~362~notfound~367~355~on~0.25~voted).

[satineeftw]

Unfortunately I am not on my home Pc at the moment and am not allowed to look at your link.. (I feel so childish :embarassed: ) but they regulate my internet access (with obvious reason :evil2: ) at work. But my point still remains. People should treat people the same on the road as they would any other time.

[TeamRamrod]

Nevertheless, it's hard to ignore visual facts (http://www.funtoosh.com/dj.php?details=A11~362~notfound~367~355~on~0.25~voted).

hahaha man that is too funny, i had to send that one to some of my friends :grin:

[mesonm]

I am reviving a dead thread *apologizes* but I have often wondered this:

Say you see me walking down the road and I accidentally bump into you. We would more than likely exchange polite apologies and continue on our way (this happens quite frequently seeing as how I am probably the most clumsy girl anyone knows) But put me behind the wheel of a car and I accidentally cut someone off (always accidental, I'm not rude) and I get a man old enough to be my father fly past me and flick me off screaming obscenities at me. What is the difference in these scenarios? Granted being behind the wheel of a car makes things a lot more dangerous, does that mean we can stop showing common decency to one another? People treat each other so vulgar on the road. It disgusts me. :embarassed:

so, you are asking what?

You admit to being really clumsy, and also behind the wheel of a car...and do something that causes someone to bump into you? Oh wait, you said....you 'accidentally' cut them off...

Then, you indicate that the driver of the car you bumped [er...cut off] is your father's age, as if younger people would surely not give you the finger?

I ask...Why are you driving around absent-mindedly cutting people off, then wondering why they are responding negatively to you?

My thought is that people respond more anonymously the more remote they are from you. Thus, bumping into you is immediate, and you and they are next to each other...In the car, you are both somewhat remote...On the internet, it is much more remote.

[satineeftw]

I fail to see how tripping on my two left feet has anything to do with rush hour traffic in Washington DC. People get cut off. It happens. I am not a bad driver but if people also knew how to let people in we wouldn't have half the problems we have with road accidents, as a volunteer medic I feel qualified to pass this judgment.

Secondly, I was making an example out of a man old enough to be my father. I'm not particularly young but I'm assuming older people should behave more mature than say a 16 year old so it shocks me more to get a "F OFF" from a grown man rather than a kid.

My point is that people should be more respectful of each other. I am not trying to act all innocent but I don't flick people off on the road. when I am driving with my son in the backseat the lat thing I need is someone to shout out words I don't want him to hear until he is much older. You have a very valid point. I'm not trying to thwart anyone. I respect your opinion. I'm just saying the bad language and the lack of respect is a problem for me. Maybe it's just D.C...not many good drivers here. :tongue:

Again sorry if i offended anyone, it was not my intention. :sad:

[mesonm]

I fail to see how tripping on my two left feet has anything to do with rush hour traffic in Washington DC. People get cut off. It happens. I am not a bad driver but if people also knew how to let people in we wouldn't have half the problems we have with road accidents, as a volunteer medic I feel qualified to pass this judgment.



Correspondingly, if people actually planned ahead and drove defensively, they would know to move over before it became an issue where they had to cut someone off....

There are at least two ways to look at your scenario, and you are only looking at one...IMO...

You want to say "please don't feel badly of me because I cut you off...", and I'm suggesting that you think ahead so as to removing the need to cut someone off.

Incidentally, being more respectful (which is what you request above) also includes not cutting them off in the first place.

Enjoy!

:grin:

[satineeftw]

Correspondingly, if people actually planned ahead and drove defensively, they would know to move over before it became an issue where they had to cut someone off....

Not everything is planned on the road. We all try to plan our route but it never happens that way. Otherwise, there would be no accidents. It's not so much cutting off, its people not letting people in. i.e, having enough space to merge but the car behind me speeding up because they don't want to be behind another car.

There are at least two ways to look at your scenario, and you are only looking at one...IMO...

I'm looking at yours too. You are saying maybe i should drive more carefully and thought out but sometimes what we plan isn't the way things are carried out on the road. Everyone is whipping in and out of lanes to get home an extra 5 minutes early where I am. If you drive with all the reccomended space in between you, someone would pull out in front of you because people see a opening and take it here. We have some horrid drivers in D.C Metro area. I don't cut people off, people really do speed up to not let people in.

You want to say "please don't feel badly of me because I cut you off...", and I'm suggesting that you think ahead so as to removing the need to cut someone off.

I didn't say please don't feel badly because I cut you off, I was saying please don't feel bad if I offend you with my opinion. I was trying to be respectful of anyone with an opposing position.

Incidentally, being more respectful (which is what you request above) also includes not cutting them off in the first place.
Again, this doesn't apply. I was speaking to posters not drivers, It's also not just one drivers road.

Enjoy!

:grin:

Again, I am not saying anything with any sarcasm or whatnot, I'm trying to show my point of view. My point is this thread was about giving woman the finger on the road. it's about common decency. No matter what someone has done to you, It's not adult behavior to bascially say"oh yea, well F you" IMO

[Stigg]

Firstly:
My thought is that people respond more anonymously the more remote they are from you. Thus, bumping into you is immediate, and you and they are next to each other...In the car, you are both somewhat remote...On the internet, it is much more remote.
Exactly. If you ran into me with your body, I'd probably laugh, check my wallet (to make sure you weren't a pickpocket), apologize (even if it wasn't my fault), and continue on my way.

If you cut me off on the road so that you can inch your way to the front of the line, I'll blow my horn. You just caused a potentially dangerous situation to me so your butt could get somehwere a half a second earlier. If you cut me off out of sheer stupidity (i.e. not checking your blind spot), I'll blow my horn to make you aware that you either need to: Wake the heck up and start paying attention to driving as opposed to putting on your make-up or eating that big-mac while smoking and talking on your cell phone....or at least make you aware that you really need to check your blind spot....as next time you could kill somebody.

So in the end, no matter if you are a heartless butthead that is trying to get to work on time because he slept in with his mistress, an idiotic driver who is too concened with catching the morning stock exchanges instead of driving, or just somebody who screwed up and didn't check their blind spot, MY reaction is the same.

Having to drive through DC all the time, I wouldn't dare do anything mroe than blow my horn. Yo udon't know what kind of psychos are out there.

Satinee - B/c you live in/around the dc areqa...did you hear about the aggressive driving in frederick? Apparently a 20-something couple was driving down 270 (iirc) and got into a heated argument with a trucker. The trucker apparently forced them off the road where the couple's car flipped a few times and killed them both.

(Link: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/news/display.htm?StoryID=58979 )

Anywho - yes, it comes down to respect....and fear....

[satineeftw]

Didn't really want this to turn into a debate. I'm way to passive for that. Hope it hasn't.

And once again. I am not talking about cutting people off. Let me give you a scenario of the times I have pissed people off on the road. (Not many I sware, but it happens to us all) I put on my signal, look in my mirror, see both headlights of the vehicle in that lane in my mirror making sure they are far enough behind me, I check my side mirror and blind spot, merge in and they speed up and get mad because someone is in front of them. This is all happening at 5:00 AM so I am not sure if morning rush hour has anything to do with it but I am not just flying in and out of lanes. Believe me, I have seen way too many people get killed on the road to be acting carelessly. I really don't care about getting somewhere early. I'll get there when I get there. Thats why I leave early to avoid things like this but when someone does it to me I don't flip out and drive by them after it's over cursing their whole family :cry: :shocked:

Why would you think just because I'm a female I'm talking on the phone, smoking, and doing my makeup. I do my makeup in the morning, i don't smoke, and don't own a cellphone for that purpose. No one needs to talk to me that early in the morning IMO In DC we can't talk on a cell phone and drive. You will get pulled over and ticketed in an instant. And traffic is never faster than 15 / 20 MPH. Speed limits are very low and lights and traffic and one way streets. I hate it :undecided:

Having to drive through DC all the time, I wouldn't dare do anything more than blow my horn. You don't know what kind of psychos are out there.


I did hear about that one driver, He drove away after the incident too. It's horrible. Cars are dangerous and I do see your point. People get scared when something like getting cut off on the road, but passing them, and yelling out obscenities is not on my agenda. So you have a valid point. I guess in an ideal world, no one would make road mistakes or have road rage either.

[Stigg]

In no way was i referring to YOU specifically about putting on make-up...and anything I say is just a general statement....and my use of "you" has absolutly nothing to do with YOU. :)

There is ONE thing that will actually get me pissed off when I am driving...and that is when the people in the fast lane dont pass cars in the slow lanes. Too many times have I been stuck in the fastlane going 55 mph because the guy in front of me won't pass the grandma on the right. THAT really annoys me.

[mesonm]

Didn't really want this to turn into a debate. I'm way to passive for that. Hope it hasn't.

And once again. I am not talking about cutting people off.


Honeslty, it isn't a debate...But I think you miss a great opportunity for learning here, in your attempt to focus the conversation away from what you could PERSONALLY do better.

And, if you are passive, why are you cutting people off on the road? Or, am I missing that you are talking hypothetically?

You keep wanting someone else to do better, without understanding that avoiding the situation by not cutting them off might even be better.

enjoy!

[satineeftw]

Thanks for the clarity :smiley: It's always nice to get other perspectives on things. If I didn't listen to you than I would be ignorant. Seems, I still have a lot to learn about driving still.

And Yes, I can't stand that people use the left lane to just ride in.

Thanks for the clarity Stigg. Well thought out posts I might add:thumbsup:


*edited to show that I was posting this before the last comment was made but forgot to press post, silly me :tongue: "

[Alakon]

You know, I've only read two threads on this board so far, and I've come to a conclusion already.

Mesonm, you're a very aggressive person to debate with.

Satinee seems to be an extremely reasonable person. Poor her.

I was actually interested in the argument, about behaviour on and off the road. I reckon that it has to do with the fact that we sort of feel that we own the car, and thus the immediate space it is upon. (Referring to an obscure study on drivers I read).
Whereas bumping into someone, we must feel more self conscious that we've intruded on their space.

As has been noted elsewhere, NZ drivers are among the worst. (Bad roads too). And we tend to get fairly aggressive on the road, I can attest to this as I was recently driving a cheap Mazda Mx-6, and on coming home was challenged by no less than three budding boy racers. I'm not a boyracer so I didn't indulge.:grin:

But I'd like to hear more on that subject, rather than percieved faults in other posters. It's up to you I spose, but it'd be more interesting for me.

[Shellar]

Statistically speaking women are better drivers than men
Statistically speaking, an average person has one breast and one testicle.

[mesonm]

Mesonm, you're a very aggressive person to debate with.


Well, I guess worse things have been said about me. I only intend that the person I'm 'debating' with at least comment on what I've said...heh

Sometimes, root cause isn't 'not pointing giving someone the finger', but rather preventing the cause of the dispute in the first place.

I'll bet you can guess what I do for a living... ;)

[Stigg]

I'll bet you can guess what I do for a living... ;)

Ocean Drudger?
Profesional Mime?
Safari Guide?
Antarctic Explorer?

The anticipation!

Statistically speaking, an average person has one breast and one testicle. Don't men have 2 breasts as well?

In which case, I R 2 times betr than avrage!

[Foonyak]

Shellar simply forgot the addition of the key word "functional".