Photo: Fender bender at Main and Center

Howard LOVES when news happens right outside of his window!!

As I drive through Batavia routinely, I can't help but notice how badly people drive. They drag race from light to light and dart in and out of lanes trying to jockey for the "me first" position. They do not look to the left or right or behind them before proceeding forwards.

They're also not very considerate. I've tried merging into a lane and actually had the person to my right or to my left attempt to prevent me from doing so by tailgating the person in front of them. They won't even make eye contact. WT frig is up with that?

Just the other day I was at Movies in Motion on East Main St to return a rental DVD (Kalifornia..very creepy flick). I was on the motorcycle and as I eased into the west bound right lane while leaving and after looking over my shoulder to make sure all was clear, some guy driving a Dodge pickup, obviously way over the speed limit, jammed around me on the left. He dived back into the right lane and had to jam on his brakes to prevent himself from crashing into the cars stopped at the light at the intersection of Harvester/Elm/Main. He tailgated the cars in front of him as if to say they were going too slow for him. As he turned on his right blinker I eased into the left lane to continue west. I took a look at him as I went past and he was inside the truck screaming at me while making his turn onto Vine St.

I'm amazed at the mentality of some of my fellow community neighbors. Would he have yelled at me like that for anything if he had to do it from outside the security of his vehicle? I doubt it.

People, please slow down. You're not going to get there any faster by driving like an idiot. You'll only look like an idiot. To the people that I see daily, texting while driving, put down the damn phone. Girls, please don't drive with your legs crossed. Keep your feet near the pedals where they just might be useful.

Yes, I see girls driving with their legs crossed or one foot tucked up underneath the other leg. To the girls stopped at a red light fluffing their hair and are still fluffing their hair long after their light has turned green, please forget about your hair and remember that you're driving in traffic with other lives around you. PAY ATTENTION! Nobody gives a cr*p that your hair isn't fluffed.

To the boys who have their seat so far back that they have to stretch to reach the steering wheel, please sit up so you can see over the dash. You don't look cool. You do look foolish.

Nobody rear ends another vehicle unless they were tailgating, going too fast, weren't paying attention or a combination of those things.

Doug - you are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT. Two of MY pet peeves happens out in the country - a LOT. I'm following a car, and have other cars behind me. The car in front of me wants to turn left, but has to wait for traffic. I stop behind him/her. The cars behind ME start blowing their horns now because I'M stopped - or worse yet, tear around and start passing on the RIGHT of me, and act like I'm the idiot because I'm waiting.

OR - a car coming toward me, is turning right and is slowing down to do so. Do the cars behind him slow down and wait for him to turn ? NO - they go around him, and come over into MY lane, and get all pissed off, and blow their horns because I didn't go into the DITCH to let them get by - rather than just slow down and let the guy get around the corner and stay in their own lane.
Can't TELL you how many times this has happened to me.

God forbid they EVER use their brakes and WAIT for traffic - as my father used to say - " They think they can control the car with the horn, instead of the brake. "

I think the worst one everyone forgets about is drive right pass left on a double lane road two people going the same speed next to each other is just ignorant, not everyone want to go 20-25 mph, its safer to move over then have someone riding your bumper!

Steve, that's actually a peeve of mine on the thruway. Some dolt in the left lane is always pacing the vehicle next to them in the right lane and there's a line of cars a mile long behind them. They're oblivious to the problems they're causing.

Of course, another peeve of mine is the Troopers that love cruising at any speed they'd like and then they turn around and give you a ticket for doing the same thing.

I got on the thruway one time in Buffalo and was headed for the Henrietta exit. In front of me was a trooper and of course I decided to stay behind him. I actually had no choice as I was pacing him @ speeds exceeding 110 MPH all the way to the Henrietta exit. Yeah, I traveled from Buffalo to Henrietta behind a trooper going that fast. There was no emergency at all. I did make great time though.

Truckers have got to be the worst drivers ever. I've traveled in almost every state and all over Canada in my 32 years of driving and truckers SUCK! They tailgate and drift and often play that side by side game on the thruway. FFS get TF out of the way! If you don't have enough HP to get around the other trucker or your truck is governed @ 65MPH, get back into the right lane, PLEASE!

Irene, I hate that too! Instead of thinking ahead and slowing down enough so that they can time the other driver's right hand turn, they tailgate him/her and swing wide to the left around them into oncoming traffic. There's never a cop around to see that happen!

Another one is left turn lanes. I'll use the westbound, main street to Oak street left turn lane as an example. Directly in front of the Holland land office there are yellow stripes panted at the head of the left turn lane. Traffic supposed to flow to the end of those yellow lines and THEN merge into the left lane safely. Drivers following the rules shouldn't have to worry about some idiot ignoring the SOLID YELLOW LINES and driving around everyone else on the left across those lines! They risk slamming directly in the drivers door of people waiting to merge left when they're supposed to!

I witnessed it happen the other day at that intersection. I wish I could pull those people over and write them a big, fat ticket. I also witnessed two women slam head-on into each other on main street a couple weeks ago. One was turning left to go west from Oliver's candy shop and the other woman was turning left out of the Hess station to go east. Neither one of them were paying attention and WHAMMO..right into each other. I was on the motorcycle and it happened directly in front of me. TERRIBLE DRIVERS!

Hey, Doug…I love the way Angry Guy in your story is “jamming” everything in his apparently irrational fit, while you “ease” from lane to lane in tranquility. You must have been the picture of Zen calm while he blew blood vessels for no reason.

Thanks, you gave me a good laugh. :)

"Truckers have got to be the worst drivers ever." Nope sorry, Doug that distinction belongs to women in SUV's, I'm sure I'm going to catch hell for saying it, but if you don't believe me, just look back on all the accident reports right here on the Batavian.

Cars suck. Walk or bicycle, it will bend your mind in a good direction. Trust me.

I want one of those things you stand on with wheels and hold onto an upright bar. It goes slow and you can use it on the sidewalk. Why doesn't anyone use those?
I'm told the guy who invented it accidently drove over a cliff and was killed, which is stupid because it's supposed to be so easy to stop. I wonder how they are powered and how much they cost.

Hey Bille I always wanted one of those things too.....maybe we can start a carshare like program with those things....of course they would probably have to be Non smoking segways though to make council happy.

Segway; http://www.segway.com/index.php I believe they are Electric powered. When my wife and i were in DC in April, we saw Segway Tours you could take, them things were everywhere. We didn't try them. I was afraid of too many bear on a unicycle comparisons

Gee, Dave, bear-on-motorcycle comparisons didn't occur to me. I guess you'd be a moving target for those barbs, but that's nothing compared to how dorky anyone looks riding one. I'm dorky enough not to care and would ride one. I remember the word Segway now. An apt name. Yes, I want one, but I'd have to trick it out with a shopping basket and a whippy flag of some sort.

OR, you could get one of these

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Billie; Of course you'd look great on a Segway I'm sure. My big butt however.............

No, the motorized skateboard would not do. Firstly, it's too cool. Secondly, it doesn't have something solid, like a roll bar, for me to glom onto. And I was serious about a basket of some sort being attached, for my purse, cell phone, purchased items, and more. Maybe Pachuco could trot his 167-pound butt beside me, something the guy at Adam Miller says I should not do on a bike.

I got it!!!!!!!!! Here ya go
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HAHA Julie..that's how I drive the motorcycle in the city, in Zen fashion! I'm actually a very calm guy and it takes quite a bit to break me out of my subdued composure :-)

He really was having a stroke, it looked like! I do make every attempt to paint a pretty picture.

Dave, you are onto something there.

You have all forgot to mention what I think is the worst light in city for people blowing through a red light-the one in front of monument-Ellicott & Main. Each time I go through there,there is someone "following" a tractor trailer or other vehicle WAY after the light has turned red. Howard,if your in your office someday early in the morning(around 4am-6am)-peek out your window and watch the light at center-it's terrible-red on Main,turns green,then by time you get under light if your second in line it is turning yellow already-then the crosswalk timer to cross main starts counting down from 20 again-this is w/ no vehicles on Center or Bank St....

Forget the Segway, now I want the Terra Bike to ride with Pachuco!