The lady in the Corvette

[BowserKoopa1]

I was delivering pizzas and came to a 4 way stop sign. The Corvette was across from me. I got there just a couple of seconds before she did. I went and then she pulls out. Our cars did not come close to making contact, but we both had to break. I tooted my horn twice, reminding her that I was first.
When I got back to the store, a supervisor said that the lady in the Corvette had called the store and complained, saying I ran the stop sign and that I nearly hit her car. Both were totally untrue. He was not mad at all, he was just getting my side of the story. I thought that was the end of it.
But later on, the store manager talked to me and said that he had had 1 other complaint before on me about my driving. I calmly explained my side, but he said, "Well, why would the customer call and complain then?"
Let me intervene here to verify that she was just another driver, not a customer. She had not ordered anything from us.
Anyway, I told him I didn't know why, and reminded him that I had been working for the company for a year and had no problems. I also let him know that I had not had an accident in 13 years (my only accident was getting rear-ended by some stupid tail-gater) and that I had not gotten any tickets either (that part I lied about to sound more innocent, but I actually only had 3 since that time). He proceeded to tell me that if it happened again, I would be let go. I have since called one of our managers who works at Corporate and let him know what happened. He said my job was safe.
I don't know what to think, but I am sure that all of us know that there are a lot of crazy drivers out there on the road who will totally flip out if they think you cut them off. What happened to me that day, could have happened to anybody. I have since then been driving even more cautiously than ever, but I'm afraid of some stupid driver calling in on me and complaining. And then my idiot manager will believe him and not me, and I will wind up getting fired.
One question I have for you guys.... what the f*** gives these other drivers the right to play traffic cop with me?! Why don't they mind their own dam business?!
On a side note, my other complaint was from another driver who said I was driving recklessly just because I passed them, and they were driving down the middle of a 2 lane road!

[IT Grunt]

I /hate/ stop signs. We have one that leads to downtown from the Interstate, and at the bottom, it's clearly marked, but for some people the concept is just too difficult to grasp. I'll try to explain it as best I can:

You have a two lane road that is becoming a 4 lane right at this point. Cars coming from town have to either get onto the interstate, which becomes an on-ramp from the one lane, or continue down the road where it becomes a 2 lane. Cars coming into town can either remain on the lane they are in, or change lanes where the new one begins.

The new lane begins where cars coming off the interstate cross the median and bear left. Cars getting on the interstate have to stop in the median (and there is a painfully obvious stop sign right there), and then cross over to the on-ramp, which joins in with the ramp formed from the lane coming from town.

Inevitably, the following happens. The signs are clearly marked as '2-way' stops. Cars coming out of town have the right of way (cars coming into town are in a separate lane, so cars getting off the interstate don't have to yield to go left). Cars at the stop signs, as traffic laws obviously spell out, take turns, starting with who stopped first. However, those coming towards town and pull into the median to cross over to the on-ramp either do one of three things:

1) Blow through it like it's not there.
2) Stop, then gun it to get across when the guy on the off ramp is about to take his turn.
3) Be behind someone who's stopped, and when that car goes, they go.

Pisses me off to no end. I've had all three happen to me personally. One of them saw me calling her a 'bitch' and mouthed 'f*** you!' back to me after she did #3, and to top it off, she was on a cell phone. Had a guy do #1, and I had to slam on the brakes to avoid hitting him, and he actually had the balls to stop like he was going to get out when he saw me cussing him out. I just shook my head at him like "what kind of a freaking moron are you?" and went on. Then just this morning, a guy did #2 to me.

Karma bit one of these people though, and I couldn't help but laugh myself silly. I pull to a stop at the bottom of the ramp behind three other cars. I can see a Ford Ranger coming along from town, and this Jeep Cherokee pauses, not a stop, but a pause, then pulls out right in front of the Ranger. BANG! Total T-bone, the Ranger got both doors on the Jeep. Just made my day. I felt sorry for the guy in the Ranger though, he wasn't doing anything but just driving along. (Both drivers were fine, BTW.)

[BookstoreEscapee]

4-way stops were never very common in my area but there's a few that were put in during the last 10 years or so. People still don't seem to know how to use them! One of the ones near me, though, is at an intersection on a side road, and all the times I've stopped at it, I don't think I've ever seen another car there at the same time

[ToasterQueen]

Ugh.

I live and work in Detroit, Michigan, and we have probably the worst drivers on the planet. It's a filthy city with a terrible poverty rate, and most of the drivers don't have licenses, let alone insurance or proper registration. This leads to two scenarios:

1: They're overly cautious and paranoid about the police.
2: They're overly reckless, because they MUSTN'T be caught, and of course speeding like a demon and being overall awful will keep the police two steps behind. (Not. Detroit police are -vicious.-)

Stop signs are the worst, especially when they're next to an off ramp, as was said. Every day when I come home, I have to get on an off ramp that runs parallel to a large road. The road has a stop sign to yield to those getting off the off-ramp, but most people just blow through it.

Which is terribly dangerous when the light is only 100 yards ahead and I must cross four lanes of traffic in order to turn right.

I've seen an accident at that intersection where two cars collided so hard it cracked the rims of the car at fault.

[MystyGlyttyr]

We have a WEIRD problem with our intersections. We have a four way with only two stop signs...one is a semi-major street and the other is a little side street, so that's the street where you should stop and check before you go. I take this side-street regularly so I know where all the stops are...and I know it's a cop-infested area so I obey them.

WITHOUT FAIL, though...the only people who brake are the ones who have the right-of-way...and the ones who never do are the ones with the stop signs! I always stop and if there's some car coming, they will SLAM on their brakes, stare at me for a full minute, get pissed when I don't go (I HAVE THE STOP SIGN NOT YOU), then peel rubber and take off. And then when there's no one coming but I stop anyway (because HELLO I have a stop sign), some idjit almost always comes within inches of rear-ending me and then honks like a maniac when I take my sweet time making sure there are no cars coming. Believe me, it's not all clear, you have to LOOK to make sure you're safe to go!

[tollbaby]

Well, unfortunately, your place of employment was obvious from the vehicle you were driving, and she took advantage of that to make you pay a bit. Not right, but it happens. On the plus side, the corporate person said your job was safe, so you should be ok? (perhaps in another location...)

[BowserKoopa1]

I should hope so. I dare say that the Store Manager has complete authorization to terminate anyone.
Just put yuorself in my shoes, even if you aren't a delivery driver. You're having a normal day and not doing anything wrong. Then the manager calls you into the office to talk with you. They tell you that you got a complaint and you try to explain your side of the story, but the manager does not believe you, even though you are telling the truth. Then he/she tops it off by saying next time you'll be canned. How would you feel?
As for the Corporate Manager I talked to, he did say he would talk to the Store Manager and that my job was safe. However, in my experience, Corporate Office backs up any and all managers and support their decisions. I've never really called Corporate Office to protest my case after getting fired for something I felt wasn't my fault. But most of the people I talk to who have been fired for something they didn't do did just that.... they call Corporate Office and try to get their job back, but they are told that the Store Manager has the right to fire anyone he/she feels like.
Also, does anyone have this stupid law.... I live in Texas, and in this state you can get fired by whichever manager (in the stroe that is) makes the final decision, and they can fire you for any stupid reason. Simply put, if you are a black for instance, and the manager is racist, he can come up with a good excuse to fire you, or in some cases they simply pull you into the office and politely tell you they have to let you go.
I should be ok at my job though. But something tells me if it boils down to me or my manager getting fired, it'll most likely be me.

[Reyneth]

Yeah, that's not fair with the way people have road rage nowadays.

People can be total jerks driving and deserve to recieve consequences for their recklessness but never do thanks to only being an "average joe."

And then there's the other drivers having issues with not being able to drive correctly but blame you - because driving is part of your job - and know how to "get revenge" even though you actually did nothing wrong.

That's not fair, and I'm sorry - I hope better heads at corporate will prevail.

[Ljt09863]

i think its wrng to do that. it was a simple mistake(on HER part) and nothing went wrong, so why complain? although..i did do somthing like that before, although it wasn't a lie. fiancee and i were driving down the a side road, and a local pizza place delivery truck flew across the intersection we were just about to go across. problem was, he had a stop sign that he didn't stop for, and we didn't have a stop sign, but had to stop so not to hit him. its one thing, if people stop, and obviously think we have a stop sign as well, which you can usually tell because the start and then stop again once they realize, but to just run a stop sign? and this guy was flying. we were in a residential area, and he was going well over the speed limit. did i mention a school is just a few blocks down? lucky, there werent any kids around.

[BookstoreEscapee]

When I was 17 I went to my parents' work one day (they worked in different departments in the same building) to meet them and then we drove out together to the beach for my mom's department picnic. There was a pizza delivery guy behind us for a few miles at least, tailgating so close that I couldn't even see his license plate in the rearview mirror. We went through 2 passing zones that were perfectly clear for him to pass me, but he just stayed on my bumper until we got to a light where we went straight and he got in the turn lane. He was probably a college kid. My mom looked up the pizza place later and called, talked to the manager and described the kid and the car he was driving. The manager told her it was the second (or maybe third, it was a long time ago) complaint he had gotten on this kid in the past week. I wonder how long he kept that job...

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I believe Johnny Carson once said the worst drivers in the U.S. are in Wisconsin, and I'm inclined to believe him.

We got the red light runners, the whitehairs who can't see over their steering wheels and drive all of 10 miles per hour with their left blinker on, the Fibs who think the speed limits are merely suggestion, the left-lane freeway cruisers and the California Stoppers, just to name a few.

And none of them know how to handle a 4-way stop either. There are roundabouts starting to be built in some intersections, but people fight them tooth and nail. To me they would seem much easier to negotiate.

Another thing that shreds my cheese...in Milwaukee (not quite as bad as Detroit but getting there very quickly) they have these dumb-ass contraptions called "metered ramps". They're basically a stoplight at a freeway entrance ramp. During rush hours the meters are set to allow only one car onto the freeway at a time. It's stupid because once you get the green light, you have to floor the accelerator so you can get up to speed, lest you get creamed by the traffic coming full speed ahead behind you.

I was delivering pizzas and came to a 4 way stop sign. The Corvette was across from me. I got there just a couple of seconds before she did. I went and then she pulls out. Our cars did not come close to making contact, but we both had to break. I tooted my horn twice, reminding her that I was first.

Yeah, last time I checked the car that gets to the intersection first gets to go first. Nuts to people to screw up but know who to complain to so it makes it look like you're the one who messed up.

Lastly...I am reminded of a bumper sticker my uncle used to have on his truck: "How's my driving? Call 1-800-EAT-SHIT"

[CrazedClerk]

I believe Johnny Carson once said the worst drivers in the U.S. are in Wisconsin, and I'm inclined to believe him.

yeah I've seen that one before, one of my favourites.

There's a 4-way stop very close to my house and I see near accidents there virtually every day. To me it seems so simple to figure out a 4-way but I guess some people are just in too much of a rush.

[friendofjimmyk]

I don't know what to think, but I am sure that all of us know that there are a lot of crazy drivers out there on the road who will totally flip out if they think you cut them off. What happened to me that day, could have happened to anybody. I have since then been driving even more cautiously than ever, but I'm afraid of some stupid driver calling in on me and complaining. And then my idiot manager will believe him and not me, and I will wind up getting fired.
One question I have for you guys.... what the f*** gives these other drivers the right to play traffic cop with me?! Why don't they mind their own dam business?!

Working in roadside assistance with a fleet of trucks that have the number of the company on the side of them we run into this all the time! ALL THE TIME!! People call and say things like...

"Your driver was driving really fast and swerving in and out of traffic"

"Your driver ran a stop sign/red light/railroad crossing"

"Your driver is speeding down the highway. He's in truck #blah and he is tall, short hair..." (These crack me up because that means you are speeding down the highway next to him, looking at him and not the road!

You know what happens to these complaints?!?!! NOTHING! The drivers are for emergency roadside assistance, the cops don't even stop them. The only time they are reprimanded is when they cause accidents and that is not very often. (Knock on wood!)

[Imogene]

Also, does anyone have this stupid law.... I live in Texas, and in this state you can get fired by whichever manager (in the stroe that is) makes the final decision, and they can fire you for any stupid reason. Simply put, if you are a black for instance, and the manager is racist, he can come up with a good excuse to fire you, or in some cases they simply pull you into the office and politely tell you they have to let you go.

Great... I didn't know that law existed here.
No chance then that we (being my family) should hire a lawyer for the 'wrongful termination' suit my parents seem to think I should bring on Firehouse Subs...

[Auto]

I live in Texas, and in this state you can get fired by whichever manager (in the stroe that is) makes the final decision, and they can fire you for any stupid reason.

You can't be fired for your race (and a handful of other things) Beyond that, management can fire you for any reason or no reason all.

I'm guessing your manager thinks that if a non-customer bitches about your driving, then you must be really really aggressive. and that it's just a matter of time before you get into an accident that's your fault and the other driver decides to sue the company because that's where the big money is. and if it comes out that he didn't act on the many "reports" of your aggressive driving, then the company was clearly negligent.

so that manager may be just covering his own ass.