Scaring the passenger

[Steve Dallas]

OK, first of all, I have been in an accident in over 20 years, EXCEPT for the one recently where my camaro was hit while I was stopped at a light.

Meaning, I haven't caused an accident since my high school days (1981) when I rear ended someone (not hard) because I wasn't used to driving a heavy truck compared to a car. I've been in two other accidents many years ago that were other's fault.

I don't drive like a grannie, but I am defensive in my driving and always situationally aware. Most people I have as passengers don't seem to have a problem with my driving.

So, over the last 4 months, I've been carpooling with someone here at work. He's not a car guy, and has mostly ridden the bus till I started using him to help pay for my gas for the commute. He owns a Ford Taurus that barely runs.

Anyways, in situations that other passengers I've had might do nothing, this guy tenses up and sometimes goes almost into the fetal position. I'm serious. He'll lift up both legs, and tuck up...and it's kind of distracting.

Now, I have had a few situations where other drivers have pulled boneheaded moves such as changing lanes without looking into the carpool lane while I'm next to them. I've seen it coming and avoided that accident by moving over towards the median. When that happened, I swear to god the guy tucked up into a ball.

The problem is, this also happens during normal driving conditions. Example. I was in the right lane, and the guy ahead of me was turning into a driveway. I slowed, and as soon as the car ahead of me's rear end cleared the lane, I was accelerating past him and probably had about 3 feet between my right front bumper and the cars left rear corner. Still, this guy was curling up into a ball.

I've driven once in this guys Taurus, and he's one of the worst drivers I've ever been with...doesn't know how to change lanes, totally unaware of people around him, etc.

I'm not sure what to do. I'm afraid this guy is going to get a heart attack driving with me. (Maybe I can record it somehow and post stuff to YouTube)

So...

Do I keep scaring the crap out of him by driving the way I always drive

or

Find a way to not carpool with him anymore. Did I also mention he occasionally has a major BO problem?

[brandotron]

The BO would be the dealbreaker for me. I say drive crazier and scare him back into taking the bus

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by brandotron

The BO would be the dealbreaker for me. I say drive crazier and scare him back into taking the bus

My problem is...I'm a nice guy and I work with him. I did, however, consider sending him a B.O.-Gram from the internet, lol. It's not been an issue for the last 2 months.

[highmark]

Tough call , but I would just come out and ask this guy if your driving bothers him(and makes him sweat) Does he flinch when his wife raises her hand in the air real fast.
I am an aggresive driver but drive all day long and know my limits. To some others that may seem reckless as they are not as sure of themselves. Good luck.

[skuttduck]

I'd simply ask him, "is there something about my driving that frightens you" and see what it is.

My brother used to tailgate people, and do stupid stuff, and I never liked riding with him.
A lot of times when he was driving, had it been wet or snow, he would have hit the person ahead of him.

[RedJewelSS]

it wouldnt be the curling up or bo that did it for me. the curliing is kind of funny and the bo sounds like its getting better. i wouldnt want to ride with the guy if he is a danger to others on the road. it sounds like he's the guy who everyone on this forum complaines about.

[Steve Dallas]

That's the thing...I have asked him, and he's said there's no problem.

I don't know if he was in an accident once or what. It may be his entire personality is that way. If I was to describe him, I'd say his biggest personality trait is that he's very meek.

[ArkySS]

ROFL dude you can't make that stuff up...

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by RedJewelSS

it wouldnt be the curling up or bo that did it for me. the curliing is kind of funny and the bo sounds like its getting better. i wouldnt want to ride with the guy if he is a danger to others on the road. it sounds like he's the guy who everyone on this forum complaines about.

Fortunately, I don't ride with him. I do all the driving as far as the commute as he is on the way in to work for me. He'd have to drive out to me. That's obviously to my advantage.

The reason I was a passenger in his car was when my car was finished being repaired from getting hit, I asked him if it was a problem to take me out to where the car was. I said it was a long drive, but he doesn't really have a good persepective of distance here in Washington so I don't think he realized it was an hour drive out to where my car was. I have other friends and had I known what I'm about to describe, I would have just asked them because they have reliable cars.

He picked me up in his Ford Taurus, and explained that the power steering wasn't working and must be doing so because it was low on fluid. Shortly thereafter as we were driving, I heard the fan belt squealing. My thought was that the fan belt was either not tight or something else was causing the belt to not work properly. He said he thought it was due to the power steering pump.

About 5 minutes away from the destination, he sees that the car is starting to overheat. We pull off and let the car cool down a bit (for about 1/2 hour). I've pretty much decided the water pump was bad was why everything else the belt was driving was failing or not working properly. We wait and finally make the short drive to the shop. The owner of the shop was really nice about it since I had just had $11,000 worth of work done, so he's ok with the guy leaving his Taurus there, though he did immediately wash the car because it has so much mold on it "out of principle" (LOL). And, the next day he let the guy come and do the repair, though he and another person in the shop had to help a lot in getting the water pump replaced. It had a bad bearing on the pulley, and had pretty much dumped all the water on the road.

So...THAT is why I found out how bad a driver he was...also not one to invest much money or time in his car

[SleepWarz]

Just keep a plastic bag down on his seat. =p

[RedJewelSS]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

Fortunately, I don't ride with him. I do all the driving as far as the commute as he is on the way in to work for me. He'd have to drive out to me. That's obviously to my advantage.

The reason I was a passenger in his car was when my car was finished being repaired from getting hit, I asked him if it was a problem to take me out to where the car was. I said it was a long drive, but he doesn't really have a good persepective of distance here in Washington so I don't think he realized it was an hour drive out to where my car was. I have other friends and had I known what I'm about to describe, I would have just asked them because they have reliable cars.

He picked me up in his Ford Taurus, and explained that the power steering wasn't working and must be doing so because it was low on fluid. Shortly thereafter as we were driving, I heard the fan belt squealing. My thought was that the fan belt was either not tight or something else was causing the belt to not work properly. He said he thought it was due to the power steering pump.

About 5 minutes away from the destination, he sees that the car is starting to overheat. We pull off and let the car cool down a bit (for about 1/2 hour). I've pretty much decided the water pump was bad was why everything else the belt was driving was failing or not working properly. We wait and finally make the short drive to the shop. The owner of the shop was really nice about it since I had just had $11,000 worth of work done, so he's ok with the guy leaving his Taurus there, though he did immediately wash the car because it has so much mold on it "out of principle" (LOL). And, the next day he let the guy come and do the repair, though he and another person in the shop had to help a lot in getting the water pump replaced. It had a bad bearing on the pulley, and had pretty much dumped all the water on the road.

So...THAT is why I found out how bad a driver he was...also not one to invest much money or time in his car

in that case i personally would be ok with it as long as the bo doesnt come back.

[v6sonoma]

I'd give him a reason to be scared.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by v6sonoma

I'd give him a reason to be scared.

On the second day he was riding in the car, I made a wrong turn, so I turned into an empty parking lot to turn around. It was raining. The parking lot was wet.

I turned pressed and held "the button". I'm sure he had no idea what was coming. I executed a perfect 180 degree burnout turnaround. Yeah, it was wet, which made the maneuver much easier than on dry pavement...but any other person in the car might have been impressed that I ended up facing exactly where I wanted. There was no stain on the passenger seat...which is a good thing.

[RedJewelSS]

Originally Posted by Steve Dallas

On the second day he was riding in the car, I made a wrong turn, so I turned into an empty parking lot to turn around. It was raining. The parking lot was wet.

I turned pressed and held "the button". I'm sure he had no idea what was coming. I executed a perfect 180 degree burnout turnaround. Yeah, it was wet, which made the maneuver much easier than on dry pavement...but any other person in the car might have been impressed that I ended up facing exactly where I wanted. There was no stain on the passenger seat...which is a good thing.

i could have so much fun with this guy.