Check this dash cam video out from today........
 

In my truck and on the way home today, my neighbor who lives around the corner happens to be in front of me and I couldn't believe how many times they veered into the opposite lane. I'm not going to get into any personal details here but my goodness - once again my trusty dash cam captures just another goofy scenario in what I observe on a daily basis around here.

Drunk, distracted....or both?

(I was towing my single axle trailer and in the end you'll see me backing into my front drive where I keep my trailer)

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You need to get your brakes fixed. Every time you post one of these you just roll right through a stop sign. You're not even in Cali.

Unless you know that your neighbor is a drunk or too old and feeble to be driving, my guess is that they were dicking around with their phone. I see that crap all of the time. It's one of the few things that makes me wish I had a horn on my car off of a freight train.

Is it legal in Florida to not stop at a stop sign? SmileWavy

Guys - I didn't want to reveal this because it might sound like I'm bragging but I have the highest rating possible for peripheral vision, according to my optometrist. No kidding. I can keep my head in a straight ahead position and see both ways left and right. But beyond that......there is no reason to bring my vehicle to a complete stop - instead of the 1 MPH creep you are seeing - when there are no other vehicles at the intersection.

I mean...if you want to do that....have at it.

BTW....those intersections you are seeing in the video are all 3 or 4 way anyway - and the speed limit only 25 MPH.

The way things have become here it's every man for himself on the roadways. People get in their golf carts/4 wheelers and bring an entire line of cars to a snails pace. On this road, it's one mile to my house - 25 MPH speed limit - and no passing. I'm cool with that - but when you see another vehicle veering into the opposite lane and almost creating a head-on collision - somehow a 1 MPH stop sign creep just doesn't seem like "the safety issue" here.

As a motorcyclist, I find that behavior particularly distressing.

We are not yet taking this seriously enough. Distracted drivers on cell phones, whether speaking or texting, now kill and injure more people than drunk drivers. We've been very successful in reducing drunk driving injuries and fatalities, through both education and some pretty strict enforcement. It's time we treat drivers distracted by their phones in a similar manner. Custody offense, vehicle impounded, cell phone held for evidence until the trial date. If found guilty, same penalties as a DUI.

I sometimes decline to come to a technically dead stop at stop signs. Sometimes I drive 61 mph in a 60 mph zone.

Driving skill has eroded somewhat over the years, overall. Almost nobody ever turns into the nearest lane. They always swing wide. And let's not even discuss passing lane campers.

This is the one big reason I’m glad I don’t ride motorcycles anymore. I think texting (or whatever on the phone) is worse than drunk driving.

Bazza, know the room. :D More comments will be about your driving rather than the one you’re posting about. Jus sayin’

My turn, your following distance is much too close. You’re less than 1 second away far too often.

Your neighbor, yeah, their awareness is not very sharp.

But answer this, is it possible they were focused on how close “that truck pulling a trailer” is following?

Whichever it is, their driving is on them. Even with a tailgater ( not saying you in this case, just in general ), the driver should take action to remove the distraction. But by no means “brake check”...ever.

Increasing your following distance to 4 seconds is immensely more peaceful than you can imagine.

Though it is not a safety issue, I think the fine for driving alone in an HOV lane should be $5000. It is a deliberate, selfish act that brings a small fine, if caught, so it makes sense to ignore the law. If you have commuted on I5, you surely noticed all the single passenger cars in the HOV lane.

Let me be the first to say:

I turned the video on to see what was playing on Baz's car radio!!! :D:D:D

(yeah, and in my part of the county, the guy in the wrong lane happens WAY to much..although once, I caught up to someone. Drunk? Texting? Nope. They were stuffing their face with doritos!)

edit- Munchies perhaps?

well said

Entitled Floridian?

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I vote drunk Baz, and I never come to a full stop at a stop sign.:D

The driver of the MB would have to be the worst I've seen.

I'm guessing an older woman with FU blood sugar. :(

It's a couple and she's the one who drives the Benz. He drives a Corolla.

I sent the video to a friend whose parents live across the street from them (my friend stays there a few days a week) and he said they are drunk all the time.

It's sad because I have known them for most of the years I've been here. They had a daughter with some issues who ended up dying before she even reached 30, which may have something to do with their drinking - don't know.

They own a local restaurant here that is very popular so I don't know they could be drunks and run their business at the same time. Good managers, I guess.

Maybe an intervention is in order......what I saw today was no bueno, that's for sure....

Baz I would suggest you phone up the police and get them charged before they kill somebody. Just do it anonymously or keep your name out of it. :)

I guess there are just things that some folks are happy/comfortable with and other folks aren't.

I ALWAYS come to a complete stop.
I'm almost always speeding (except in a school zone, that's a never).


Right, that's a law in FL. In Texas it is absolutely legal to turn into whatever lane you feel like. When I moved here, I checked and double checked that. The really crazy thing is that they often have dual turn lanes here, and I've been hit once and almost hit or run off the road several times in the past 26 years that I've been here. I usually try to ensure that I'm at least partially in front of someone when on the outside of a dual turn lane so they see me. The times that I haven't been in front of someone are the times that I've either been run out of my lane or hit.


That's another one. I've checked, and as far as I can tell, it's not illegal to pass on the left in Texas AS LONG AS THERE IS A LANE FOR YOU TO DO IT IN. If you pass on the left on the shoulder, THAT'S ILLEGAL. If you're on an interstate and there are 4 lanes going your direction, I haven't been able to find a law that says that I can't go around someone as long as I'm in one of the lanes.

Wow, that's a bummer and kind of surprising. Most of the time when i see folks like that they are on the phone. It sucks that it sounds like a high possibility that she was drunk, and it may be a habit.

I mean, it IS Florida....

Look at all those none CA drivers. We would have gone around that dude in seconds and down the road going about 45 on a road like that. Gone, long gone.

Yeah, the stuff he listens to are the songs they have on the late night infomercials.

Exactly my thought! We must have a lot of 10 and 2 driving 5 under the speed limit types around here!

I have a cousin that drives like that when she is sober and paying attention to the road. Some people just suck at driving. She once met a tractor that was on the shoulder on the other side of the road and she spun her truck into it trying to avoid it.

He should send them the video. Wait, nevermind... :D ;)

That's texting.

Hey, she didn't take out any mailboxes.

I thought the same thing. STOP does not mean the same to everybody!SmileWavy

Baz...it's all part of the price for living in paradise!

I would suggest you give this to the cops, they can determine who was in the car pretty easily.

If the cops choose not to do anything, I’d have a sit down intervention with the woman that was driving and tell her that if she doesn’t knock it off, the next time you’ll just dial 911.

She’s going to kill somebody one of these days.

Watch some tail of the dragon (which I drove last week!!!) videos of cars and bikes crossing the center line. Scary stuff.

About 10 years ago a student of mine was trying to get his licence... He had 8 attempts at the test but couldn't pass. I tried to teach him some basics in a shopping centre car park but he was utterly hopeless. Eventually he just gave up.

I don't mean to be derogatory to Chinese people but he was an early 20s Chinese guy from Hong Kong. (Super rich parents)

Same here.

I'm sure the MB pilot will tell you that people should not text while driving, but that HE is better at it than most.

Fancy way to say you don’t thinks too signs apply to you Baz. All I’ll say is that you better hope you never cream someone at an intersection, because that defense won’t hold up in court at all. 😉

Yep, that's scary. If/when I play, I stay in my lane. I understand the desire to pretend you're Andretti or Schumacher and take the whole road, but if you're on the road, that's usually dangerous and stupid.

I have an email subscription to the local PD's Patrol Log. I read it every day.

Look what showed up from yesterday's log. Around 7:52 pm. Probably coming home from the bar.

This is the husband of the driver in the video I shot.

We all suffer the consequences of who we are.

CASE NUMBER: 210600300

TIME OCCURRED: 1952

SYNOPSIS: Felony Arrest – North Causeway Bridge – A 74 year old male, (name deleted), was arrested for Driving while Under the Influence and Battery on an Elderly Person. He was transported to jail.

battery on an elderly person? Did he run into someone with his car or smack his wife around or...

Thank goodness he was caught. Hopefully, it helps, but seems pretty unlikely to make much difference at his age.

I would think if it were his wife, the charge would be domestic battery.

Speculating.....could have happened at the place of business before he left. Cops called and alerted he was drunk and driving, as well as the battery. Boom.

I hope it helps him/them somehow.

I don't think they are "bad" people. They lost a daughter a few years back - I dunno - maybe that triggered something - or accelerated what was already there.

Hopefully his license will be revoked for a while. We'll see......

If he is 74 and charged with battery on an elderly person they must have been as old as dirt!