stupid drivers, and who are they?!!

[MUSKOKA800]

Originally Posted by voodoo22

We will never agree on that point and if you did my commute everyday you might think differently as I used to drive a lot differently under different circumstances.

One thing which we can't dispute is people going over 100 km/h are breaking the law. People going 80 km/h are not.

People passing on the shoulder or on the right, going from the express into merge lanes through solid lines to cut in front of traffic, not signaling lane changes, tail gating, weaving in and out, and driving slow in any lane other than the right lane are all breaking the law. People driving 80 km/h in the right lane on a 3 lane highway are not breaking the law.

I can't control how fast those idiotic people on the road want to drive who think the MAXIMUM posted speed limit is a suggestion, but I can control how fast I am going when/if things go wrong.

I choose to greatly increase my statistical chances of avoiding or surviving an accident by driving slower, using proper tires in the conditions (this means winter tires in the winter) and driving defensively, because I know I am not a perfect driver and I need to be vigilant about safety for mine and others sake.

People can be too timid to drive, but that is not the largest problem on our roads. It's the people who are too confident about their own abilities as a driver who think they can control any situation and need not worry about the laws of physics or the highway.

It has even been proven by traffic flow experts that if people drove slower that highway congestion would go away. Instead everyone is speeding up to go no where and clogging it all up. I often do not touch my brakes on my entire 50 km one way trip on the 401. You can think I'm being too cautious, or that I'm too timid, but that's just one more misconception that you share with other people who think they don't have to follow all of the rules on the road.

I'm sure people drive with reckless abandon in Ontario simply because our police dwell on speeding only. I'll bet 99% of OPP tickets are written for speeding while not a kilometre passes without seeing drivers who are too lazy/inconsiderate to use their signals for turns and lane changes, making double/triple lane changes, making left and right turns clear across multiple lanes, usually with no signal, yakking on phones and texting, obstructing the PASSING lane etc, etc, etc...
The only time we hear of any other infractions being ticketed is when they have the long weekend blitzes on the 400 series highways (do they still have those since the camera loving Cam Woolley retired). Too bad they ignore the chaos that goes on the other ~355 days of the year.
I agree we also badly need re-testing every 10 years of so. This should be followed by unanimous video surveillance and immediate licence suspension those who pass then return to their sloppy driving habits.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. Far too many abuse the privilege.