General Rudeness

[Ice Baby]

Warning - venting post
In the nearly 6 months of driving my camaro, I have seen a lot of the general rudeness of other drivers. I don't seem to have this issue when driving my 15 year old blazer. Hmmm, coincidence?

There have been several "near misses", had I been going faster or not paying attention, would have been hit. One lady blew a stop sign and thank goodness, swerved around me. Everyone pulls out in front of me or takes my lane. This week, I had a hot shot crotch rocket take my lane so he could weave back and forth and look cool. Really?

3 more for the books.......was pulling out of the driveway and this car came down the street, pulled up along side and starting swearing at me, then drove off.
At a stop light, guy flicking his cig at me and giving me that look. (Closed the windows)
A big pickup truck turning into the right lane, was about an inch from the car's side.

Well you get the idea. It's quite sad to see this. Apparently, people assume that if you have a nice car, you have tons of money, which is the the usual case. I am just an ordinary person driving an extraordinary car.

It just can't be me. I wonder if all camaro/corvette/mustang/challenger drivers encounter this.

Thanks for listening. Vent over.

[pickwithaustin]

I have driven every kind of cool, sports, and muscle car imaginable over the past 35+ years and never really noticed any difference from people around me. I have some "regular" daily chase around vehicle's too (including my 15 year old Blazer which I probably drive the most) and don't notice any difference at all. Perhaps in the different car you are just more aware, or perhaps your driving habits differ depending on the vehicle. Only once in my life did I have any kind of an encounter... I was at a stop light and a rice burner pulled up beside of me and was quite obviously challenging to drag when the light turned green. He thought he'd win, but I didn't pay it any attention because I had already won. I was in the Corvette.

[ChrisBlair]

Ice, there will be people here that will tell you it's your fault. What did you do to deserve it? Did you cut somebody off? Did you speed through their neighborhood? Did you squeak a tire in front of their house?

There will also be people that tell you nothing's different. Same old same old, no matter what the car is. That's what they have seen, so it's probable for you too even though they don't live in your area and drive your route at your time of day. They don't consider that maybe you're driving past a bunch of tech firms that are having layoffs and people are in bad moods, or similar, or that (like in my area) road construction and infrastructure renewal like bridge construction has made so many detours over a long period of time that the viable routes are jam packed at 5:45am and at 2:45 pm, thus making everyone irritable behind the wheel as they make another 40 mile trip that takes 2 hours on a bright sunshiny summer's day...and now it's schooltime, and the buses are in the mix too. Awesome.

Some people will tell you they have 3 billion miles driven and that's the proof of what they say, so they know better than you, you've only driven .9 billion miles, newbie.

All of that is great but what that has to do with what you see and they don't is anybody's guess!

You can't make other people's mistakes. Be aware that these yahoos are out there- and the roads do feature angry inconsiderate yahoos that don't like you having nice things- and do your thing.

[Iron Lung Jimmy]

If people act like that because Camaro then people who drive actual expensive cars like Mercedes and Porsche must live a life of motoring hell.

[ssrs2lt]

Ice I've had people almost wreck into me when I was driving the 2ss..yeah be careful, and I do agree people have gotten more rude

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

If people act like that because Camaro then people who drive actual expensive cars like Mercedes and Porsche must live a life of motoring hell.

You don't drive in his area, on the routes he takes, at the time of day he takes them. Anyone who feels it's 'because Camaro' has a screw loose, but at the same time if anyone feels that other drivers do not make stereotypical assumptions based on car type, well, then I'm glad they live in a place free of bias and miscreants that don't bother to even get a driver's license. Clean, pretty car means driver cares, most likely, correct? Well, that's a stereotypical assumption that usually holds true, and believe me, other people make assumptions about you because of your car, right or wrong, when they are driving. It would be nice if they didn't, but we work with what we have.

I can cite example after example of people trying to cut me off in classic car/sports car/new muscle car and its because they think they can intimidate me with fear of accident damage: when I drove my beater car (and I drive the same way regardless of car, thanks ) that didn't seem to be the case. In my neck of the woods, that's par for the course. There are aggressive, careless drivers here in droves. I can also recall driving in Corondo CA, and nice cars were pretty much the norm. Expensive cars were not uncommon. And the people drove atrociously: it's no biggie to them. Fender bender, oh well!

But to be completely objective, the dollar value of the car means nothing re: "a motoring hell" and my last example touches on that. If you drive a 100K Merc the same way you'd drive a 10K Toyota and you don't give a tinker's damn about either car, then you're probably oblivious to other drivers' tendencies in the first place. If you saved your paper route money since you were 12 and you bought a new Camaro and it's your baby, you might take a closer look at the people trying to take advantage of you behind the wheel. As in most things, perception is key.

[1Coopgt]

Originally Posted by Ice Baby

Warning - venting post
In the nearly 6 months of driving my camaro, I have seen a lot of the general rudeness of other drivers. I don't seem to have this issue when driving my 15 year old blazer. Hmmm, coincidence?

There have been several "near misses", had I been going faster or not paying attention, would have been hit. One lady blew a stop sign and thank goodness, swerved around me. Everyone pulls out in front of me or takes my lane. This week, I had a hot shot crotch rocket take my lane so he could weave back and forth and look cool. Really?

3 more for the books.......was pulling out of the driveway and this car came down the street, pulled up along side and starting swearing at me, then drove off.
At a stop light, guy flicking his cig at me and giving me that look. (Closed the windows)
A big pickup truck turning into the right lane, was about an inch from the car's side.

Well you get the idea. It's quite sad to see this. Apparently, people assume that if you have a nice car, you have tons of money, which is the the usual case. I am just an ordinary person driving an extraordinary car.

It just can't be me. I wonder if all camaro/corvette/mustang/challenger drivers encounter this.

Thanks for listening. Vent over.

I haven't encountered any of the issues you have since getting my Camaro . I'm getting the impression that the drivers are pretty crappy at driving in your neck of the woods.

If you don't mind me asking ... how old are you? If your driving and the speed limit says 25 ,30, 45, 55,65 how fast are you going for each of those speeds if no one is in front of you ? When you pull out of a drive way do you take your time without a care in the world or do you pull out like you mean it . If someone is coming when you pull out do you expect them to slow down for you and you pull out anyways .

[Iron Lung Jimmy]

Originally Posted by ChrisBlair

You don't drive in his area, on the routes he takes, at the time of day he takes them. Anyone who feels it's 'because Camaro' has a screw loose, but at the same time if anyone feels that other drivers do not make stereotypical assumptions based on car type, well, then I'm glad they live in a place free of bias and miscreants that don't bother to even get a driver's license. Clean, pretty car means driver cares, most likely, correct? Well, that's a stereotypical assumption that usually holds true, and believe me, other people make assumptions about you because of your car, right or wrong, when they are driving. It would be nice if they didn't, but we work with what we have.

I can cite example after example of people trying to cut me off in classic car/sports car/new muscle car and its because they think they can intimidate me with fear of accident damage: when I drove my beater car (and I drive the same way regardless of car, thanks ) that didn't seem to be the case. In my neck of the woods, that's par for the course. There are aggressive, careless drivers here in droves. I can also recall driving in Corondo CA, and nice cars were pretty much the norm. Expensive cars were not uncommon. And the people drove atrociously: it's no biggie to them. Fender bender, oh well!

But to be completely objective, the dollar value of the car means nothing re: "a motoring hell" and my last example touches on that. If you drive a 100K Merc the same way you'd drive a 10K Toyota and you don't give a tinker's damn about either car, then you're probably oblivious to other drivers' tendencies in the first place. If you saved your paper route money since you were 12 and you bought a new Camaro and it's your baby, you might take a closer look at the people trying to take advantage of you behind the wheel. As in most things, perception is key.

That's a long quote just to highlight the last sentence... but oh well

Perception... exactly.

People do not drive differently around different cars. I don't think the mouth breathers take the time to think "oh, nice car. I can take advantage of it." They just always drive like that around whatever car they happen to be near. It's just that if you are driving a car you aren't all paranoid about then you don't notice it. It's normal.

But in a car you are paranoid about, then everything is a threat and everybody is after you.

Here's what I think happened to OP...

1.) He pulls out of his driveway and since rear visibility is so atrocious he pulled out in front of someone and didn't even notice. So that person was pissed.

2.) The guy flicked his cigarette out of his window and OP was looking for people who are looking at him and the guy in the truck is like "WTF are you looking at?"

3.) That happens to me all the time. The PU driver was texting. It's not because there was a Camaro next to him.

[Ice Baby]

Yes I do mind......but, I am quite the defensive driver, always aware of what's going on. Re speed limit question, 5 over....10 max at times.

After reading the responses here, I think all of it becomes magnified because of the car and also because my driving experience will be 6 years in November.

[Mr. iNCREDIBLE]

never have an issue other than texters and cell phone talkers that are oblivious to everything around them.

but I tend to ignore other drivers, don't really give a rats ass what their problems are or what they are doing, if they feel the need to zip in and out of traffic so they can get to the next red light ahead of everyone else that's their problem.

[PsychoZL1]

OP, I notice people driving aggressively around me all the time. However I do notice that people are definitely driving more aggressively when I drive my Camaro than when I drive any of my other vehicles. I too have had people cut me off, tailgate me, won't let me in a lane when I signal to change lanes, etc. I try not to let it bother me.

However, tailgating is the thing that irritates me the most. Everybody thinks that because I'm in a sports car I should be doing 5-20 mph over the speed limit and when I don't they get pissed at me.

The way I look at it is this, if I go the speed that the morons are happy with I will be the one that ends up with the ticket not them in their vehicle. So I say f 'em and they can go around me and go whatever speed they want! Just drive like everyone is out to kill you all the time, which they are, and enjoy your car!

[ChrisBlair]

Originally Posted by Iron Lung Jimmy

People do not drive differently around different cars. I don't think the mouth breathers take the time to think "oh, nice car. I can take advantage of it." They just always drive like that around whatever car they happen to be near. It's just that if you are driving a car you aren't all paranoid about then you don't notice it. It's normal.

Glad you had a laugh.

You make it seem as if people stop paying attention if they drive a crummy car. Speaking from personal experience, that's not true at all. I don't have two modes- careful driving mode for a nice car and 'don't pay attention much' mode for driving a crummy car. That's pretty bad driving habits: you feel that when you're not driving a car you care about, you don't notice other drivers' behavior.

You've never driven in Boston; the stereotype about Boston drivers is truer than people realize unless they drive here for a while. These things don't just happen to me- when I was driving my classic car, or my sportscar, or my Camaro, or even the nice luxury car I used to have. I also see it happen to others. People don't even have to be in a car. Go to Newbury street- I've seen this too- and the pedestrians all jaywalk all the time. But in a really nice car like a Lambo? Oh man, it's like the dare the driver to hit them. They will flock to go in front of a really nice car: the odds are better. The nice car driver is more likely to let the other pedestrian, bicyclist, or motorist go. Let's not even talk about passive-agressive bicyclists; they seem to be on the lookout for a car to challenge. Or a trolley.

That's why I can say that people will say it doesn't happen. People will say it becasue of the person noting the phenomenon. It doesn't happen every mile or every minute but it does happen. Perception is key: you haven't seen it. OK good. I hope you never do. To you it's a theory or just some kind of strange inability on my part to understand something that's very clear and simple to you. That's your perception.

[b4cz28]

Nope I get all this crap all the time. Just look at the number of post like op's on this board I get tailgated non stop. I feel you op...our cars can be shit magnets.

[VTSummit]

I drive a wide variety of cars, from my 14 year old van we use to tow a trailer to classics and exotics and everything in between. People absolutely treat you differently on the road depending what you're driving. For some reason, people from the shallow end of the gene pool like to try to make people with nice cars fear for the safety of their car. Like it's funny to cut off closely to make you anxious.