Stop Much?

[BigBird]

I don't know if this is a problem where you live, but in my neck of the woods, drivers seem to think it's okay to go full steam ahead until about 8 feet before the stop sign, then test their brakes by coming to a screeching halt. I'm sure the local garages that sell brake pads don't mind, but it drives me crazy, because I'm never quite sure if they are actually going to stop or not, so I usually slow down, even though I have the right of way.

On occasion this turns out to be a good thing, like today, when another clueless driver blew right through the stop sign, causing me to step on my brakes full tilt. I missed her by about 6 feet, laid on the horn, and swore, but she just kept going, didn't even slow down. Have a nice fuc---- day!

[blas]

People do that around here....they test how much pep their engine has and no matter how slow the speed limit is or despite the next stopandgo light being just one block away, they gun it full force the second the light turns green, and they slam on the brakes right before the line (of course, usually ending up well ahead of the line) at the red.

It's so stupid.

[Kogarashi]

Frequent occurrence around here too, with similar results. I can never be sure if someone's going to actually stop for that sign/red light or not, especially since they do like in Blas's neighborhood and end up stopping with their rear wheels on the wrong side of the stop line. And then they give me a look like it's all my fault their light is red.

And then there's this one intersection on the way to pick up my daughter at school where I'm always leery of going once my light turns green. See, at this light, there's a brief moment between when Major Street goes red and when Side Street (the street I'm on) goes green. People on Major Street seem to take this as invitation to run the yellow, run the red, and run the red a lot more. So my light is green for a good while before people stop running the red on Major Street.

[mikoyan29]

People do that around here too and I usually slow down because people also have a tendency to just pull out when they feel like it. Stop signs and red lights being mere suggestions rather than hard and fast laws.

[TowelKing]

And that's why I have a Badass steel bumper on my truck. Your car gets written off, mine needs a paint touchup
Of course, it's not something I do on purpose, but I've had it happen when somebody was stopped at a red light, and right as I went through my green he punched it through his red.

[LillFilly]

I like to coast to a stop and apply the brakes lightly; it's not like hitting them hard is going to make the light change any faster, and it's a miracle for engine life, gas milage and brake life. Oh, and getting to speed slowly uses less gas too. Silly people, they could be getting 33-miles to the gallon if they slowed the eff down.

[Kogarashi]

Silly people, they could be getting 33-miles to the gallon if they slowed the eff down.

Well, we can't, but we have a super-heavy '95 Jeep. 33's just impossible. But you're right in that we still do maximize our gas mileage for it by not slamming the pedals down.