My kid’s just finished the classroom part of driver education and it prompted a discussion of crazy things we’ve seen other drivers do.
The craziest thing I saw, many years ago now, was I came up behind a guy driving a Ford Ranger pickup and could see through his rear window that he was doing tricep extensions with a dumbbell in his right hand. I was more surprised as I passed to see he was shaving with an electric razor in his left hand. I don’t really know how he was steering.
Kiddo said they were told personal grooming was the fourth leading cause of accidents.
Shoutout to that influencer who was pulled over for drinking Raising Cane’s dipping sauce while driving, cuz someone thought it was Jell-O shots and called 911 on him.
I remember seeing an article years ago about a person who baked a bunch of cellphone shaped cookies, got pulled over while holding it, and then ate it once the cop came to the window.
I’ve always wondered what would happen if you drove along drinking a 0% alcohol beer, and got stopped. Feels like the police would arrest you just for being a PITA.
I once got pulled over for drinking a can of Arizona sweet tea. Drove past a speed trap while taking a drink. They lit me up, and I was confused as to why because I wasn’t speeding.
Cop gets to my window and immediately asks if I’ve been drinking. Not even a “do you know why I pulled you over” or a “how are you tonight?” Just straight to “are you drunk?” I was confused, (and a little offended,) but answered no. He shined his flashlight into my car and asked what was in my cup holder. I turned the can around so he could see the label, and went “Uhh… Tea?” He deflated, have me a curt “have a nice evening” and turned on his heel to head back to his cruiser.
He 100% thought it was a beer can, and had hyped himself up for the easiest arrest of the evening.
Ha, so the lesson there is decant your beer into a tea can and you might get away with it…
(Not really, please people don’t drink and drive)
Was at a red light with a cop behind me. Some guy rolls up behind them, braking just late enough that the front bumper of his car love taps the rear bumper of the squad car.
Both officers immediately jump out and open fire on the poor guy. He was hosed after a couple of rounds. The cops just casually get back in and drive off like it was nothing.
This was in Los Santos btw.
The fact that I could believe it right up until the moment they just drove off is telling…
I watched a guy eat a meal while driving a van.
In itself that’s not crazy, but it is when you’re holding a knife and fork, and you’ve got a plate of…something on your car dashboard.
I’ve seen a lot of bad things. But one that has always stuck with me was a guy studying.
I’m not talking about glancing down at a book. He had a textbook propped up on his steering wheel and was using a highlighter to mark in the book.
Watch Lord of the Rings on a phone mounted on the steering wheel. I called the police immediately.
As you should. That movie deserves a bigger screen and decent sound setup. Watching it on a phone is criminal.
Shockingly, watching videos while driving is not illegal in many US states (some it’s ambiguous, others there’s simply no law that actually bans it)
Strange. In the Netherlands you get a big fine even for talking on the phone without any screen interaction. Just holding it to your ear is already forbidden.
I was rear ended while waiting to make a left turn on a rural highway. We got out and look at the car behind us. The windshield is completely splattered in red. It was two guys eating chips and a bowl of salsa.
Drinking red wine from a wine glass as they were making a right turn (US) on a 40 mph street.
Oh, how gauche, everyone knows it’s white wine for a right turn.
Just last week, a car had missed their turn on the motorway, so decided to REVERSE up the hard shoulder.
I see this shit far too often. It makes me wonder if they’re aware their gps can get them rerouted without having to risk their or anyone else’s necks.
On Sunday there was a crash blocking an Autobahn. 50 cars turned around and drove back to the nearest exit, on the emergency lane kept free for the ambulance.
I’ve seen elderly folks do that a few times. Not on the shoulder, but still in their lane, backing up into oncoming traffic. (Yes, I did spend some time living in Florida.)
Reminds me of a saying I heard: “Good drivers sometimes miss their turn. Bad drivers never miss their turn.”
Having a slap fight with the passenger in the back seat. On the highway.
Was also in a car where the driver was rolling a joint while steering with his knee.
While stopped at a red light, a taxi casually got onto the right sidewalk and drove on it to get to the front of the line.
Had a guy pass me on the right going 20+ over the limit while taking a bong hit.
One of my friends(absolute stoner who smokes every day) went 70kmh over the speed limit(170kmh) while smoking a joint.
Dutch? I’m guessing because the speed limit. That’s insane though, 170 is flat out in most cars.
German. We drove on a random street between cities where you’re allowed to drive 100 kmh
Oh right you drive 100 there, forgot about that. That makes it even more insane!
I was with my uncle (ca 1990) when he confidently took an offramp and got onto the I5 freeway going the wrong direction in an RV.
Bad enough with the wrong way, but in an RV is so much worse!
Someone curling their eyelashes while driving 65mph
Driving super drunk. Like, super drunk. I saw the guy getting pulled over and the officer helping him out of the car. The guy literally just folded down to the ground and passed out. I have no idea how he was moving the steering wheel and stepping on gas and brake because he seemed to have no control over his limbs.
I know a guy who got pulled over drunk as fuck, and told the cop “you don’t want any trouble officer, get back in your car and drive away”. The cop told him to get out of the car, so he opened the door, forgot to unbuckle, and did a faceplant on the asphalt with his ass still in the car seat. Then he told the cop to drive away again. Needless to say, he got a DUI.
Locally it’s not uncommon to find a vehicle abandoned on a Saturday or Sunday morning after being involved in a single-vehicle accident, usually because the driver was drunk and snuck off to sober up before collecting their vehicle and figuring out their consequences. Drinking culture and driving culture are a very deadly combination of course
What’s this from? Zelda CD-i?
During morning rush hour (a near-standstill occasionally broken by brief periods of 10mph movement), I once saw a woman eating a bowl of soup/oatmeal/whatever while steering with her elbows.
It seemed to be a regional norm to eat breakfast in the car because a 20 mile commute generally took 1.5-3 hours and often moved slower than a walking pace, but that was the only time I’d ever seen someone eating food that required a dish and utensil.
Sounds like the kind of commute where an ebike would be life changing in time savings
