Negotiating Curves Badly

[catcul]

I was driving on a road in the mountains of Virginia. This happens to be a road with many very sharp curves. I get behind this minivan does something to go around these curves I've never seen before. He swings wide to go around curves that go to the right. I don't mean just over the lines wide, but fully into the wrong lane wide.

What this van was doing was get into the wrong lane of the road, turn into the curve, and drive on the right side of the road. If he had gotten into an accident, I couldn't call emergency services because I didn't have a signal on my cell phone.

All you really can do on a road like this is avoid hitting the guard rail, mountain side, oncoming traffic, and deer.

[PepperElf]

yeah that can be pretty scary.


i saw a guy do that in virginia coming off of a 55mph road (not really a highway), taking a right on red. He was going so fast he drifted completely into the left hand turn lane on the cross traffic road. (plus his turn had a "stop" line so he ran the red too)

[Food Lady]

My grandfather thought it would be a good idea to teach my mom to drive on roads like that. In winter.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

My grandfather thought it would be a good idea to teach my mom to drive on roads like that. In winter.

He would have gotten along famously with my Mom's middle sister (3 years older than Mom) who thought it a good idea to teach Mom how to drive - out on Hwy 68 (back in the early 60's was a 2 lane with a solid line down the middle) in her Rambler station wagon.

Then got upset and whined to Grandma (their Mom) after my Mom got so nervous that she ended up wrapping the Rambler around a tree!

One of the rare times Grandma stuck up for my Mom (middle sis was her fave child who did NO wrong 99.9% of the time) and told Middle Sis that it was her OWN fault and she could pay for the damages HERSELF and not force Mom to do so.

Mom never got behind the wheel with Middle Sis in the car since.

[Food Lady]

My mom is a very competent driver because of it.

[vikingchyk]

I was driving on a road in the mountains of Virginia. This happens to be a road with many very sharp curves. I get behind this minivan does something to go around these curves I've never seen before. He swings wide to go around curves that go to the right. I don't mean just over the lines wide, but fully into the wrong lane wide.

I have seen that behavior way too many times, either in VA or by someone with VA plates up here. Bonus points if they have to ride the brakes uphill and around a curve That's why they are in my top 5 hated drivers list

I think it's just pure laziness, because moderating your speed so you don't do stupidity like that is hard </sarcasm> The "idiot lazy driver" moves that send me most bonkers are that one; the ones that perform left turns as a long gentle arc, instead of an actual left turn (thereby cutting across/into the oncoming lanes for far too long); and the jerks who have to use both of the lanes in the traffic circle/roundabout by my house, because steering is so exhausting.

[wolfie]

and the jerks who have to use both of the lanes in the traffic circle/roundabout by my house, because steering is so exhausting.

What about the jerks who put in a roundabout instead of a proper intersection, and the other jerks who try to pass on the roundabout, not realizing that I HAVE TO use both lanes due to the tracking difference when pulling a 53 foot trailer?

[protege]

I was driving on a road in the mountains of Virginia. This happens to be a road with many very sharp curves. I get behind this minivan does something to go around these curves I've never seen before. He swings wide to go around curves that go to the right. I don't mean just over the lines wide, but fully into the wrong lane wide.

I've seen quite a few people do that locally. Not sure why--either their car's suspension sucks, or they have no driving skills. If it was a large vehicle, I could somewhat understand. Buses and trucks, especially the big 40-foot jobs, simply aren't built to handle the sharp curves on some of our roads. It's understandable that they might come across the center line to make the curve. They try not to, but in some cases, don't have a choice. But, if you're in a Geo Metro...and you're sliding over the double-yellow at speeds under 25mph...you're an idiot.

[dalesys]

I blame power steering. In my day, it took applied *muscle* to make any turn.

[Chromatix]

Let's just say that I can handle 40-foot *boats* with more skill than that. And I don't mean the euphemism for a "full size" car, I mean an actual boat. (That's not me or my boat, just one of the right size.)

[protege]

I blame power steering. In my day, it took applied *muscle* to make any turn.

I've driven a few cars without power steering--my MG, the Tercel I had years ago, and the Ford Tempo. The last one actually *had* power steering, but the pump seemed to work only when it wanted to. But, the steering on the other two wasn't all that heavy. The Tercel's setup was actually very fluid, once I got used to it. Same with the MG. The reason that car's steering was heavy was simply down to worn components. Once I'd fitted new tires, replaced all the suspension bushes, and greased the bearings, it lightened up greatly.

[catcul]

The section of US 58 where I witnessed this bad piece of driving has such sharp curves, vehicles over 35 feet long are banned. The curves on that road are that sharp.

[dalesys]

Anybody else remember these?

[Jay 2K Winger]

I have seen that behavior way too many times, either in VA or by someone with VA plates up here. Bonus points if they have to ride the brakes uphill and around a curve That's why they are in my top 5 hated drivers list

If I were on an unfamiliar road, and I had to go uphill and around a curve, I'd probably go slower, too, to the point of even riding the brakes, because I can't be certain some lunatic won't come barreling around that curve at full speed.

But I can see how that would be irritating to someone else.