Philosophy about bad drivers

mudduc

mudduc

Joined
Jun 12, 2008
Messages
311
Age
60
Location
Minnesota
Bike
2005 Honda ST1300
When I was younger, bad drivers would make me mad. I had to adjust my philosophy or I'd be in a bad mood all the time.

Consider how your bad mood effects the bad driver...not at all. You get to be pissed off and have a lousy day which has no effect on the other guy at all. Same can be said about holding a grudge against someone who did something wrong to you. That effects your mode not the "wrong doer". Learn how to forgive and your life will improve.

Anyway...

Bad drivers no longer make me mad. I even enjoy the real-life video game aspect of saying alive while controlling my actions through traffic to allow me to survive when other drivers are being stupid. You can't get mad at things stupid drivers do, that's just what they do.

It makes no more sense than getting mad at the rain because it is making you wet. There's no reason to be mad at the rain, making you wet is the rains nature, it can't help it, that's just what rain does.

"One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour. A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything. "
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo (from The Hagakure: A code to the way of the samurai)

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota
Remember, ride like you are invisible. Better yet, ride like they can see you and want to kill you. Then, make sure they can't.
 
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You sound a lot like me.

In youth, I got annoyed by bad drivers. These days, I know I'll probably get there before them anyway, and if I let them go in front of me when they're wanting to push... at least I'm in control of the situation.

A good book on this topic that I read not too long ago was "The courage to be disliked"
 
mudduc said:
When I was younger, bad drivers would make me mad. I had to adjust my philosophy or I'd be in a bad mood all the time.

Consider how your bad mood effects the bad driver...not at all. You get to be pissed off and have a lousy day which has no effect on the other guy at all. Same can be said about holding a grudge against someone who did something wrong to you. That effects your mode not the "wrong doer". Learn how to forgive and your life will improve.

Anyway...

Bad drivers no longer make me mad. I even enjoy the real-life video game aspect of saying alive while controlling my actions through traffic to allow me to survive when other drivers are being stupid. You can't get mad at things stupid drivers do, that's just they do.

It makes no more sense than getting mad at the rain because it is making you wet. There's no reason to be mad at the rain, making you wet is the rains nature, it can't help it, that's just what rain does.

"One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour. A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything. "
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo (from The Hagakure: A code to the way of the samurai)

Later,
Kent Larson in Minnesota
Remember, ride like you are invisible. Better yet, ride like they can see you and want to kill you. Then, make sure they can't.
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I live in Boston and get screwed with every day. It's just part of riding a bike in the city. People here drive over 80 year old bridges that are too narrow for a truck at 70 mph while texting. I get cut off and tailgated constantly. Bicycles have some weird belief they own the road. People don't wait for the walk signal either! Distracted drivers are a danger on a bike. What I think tho, is that I'm on two wheels with a ton of power. I could easily be much more dangerous than a knucklehead in a car. It serves no purpose to ride mad. I just remember the mistakes I've made, sometimes over and over, and remember that people make mistakes.
I watch the DanDan the fireman vids a lot!
 
When I left a job 15 years ago that involved a daily commute and then switched to another job involving many hours of travel per month, I too came to the realization that I had to adjust my philosophy. People often ask me how I am so calm after 4~8 hours on the road, and I reply very much like you have described it Kent.:shrug1:
 
My philosophy is you're on two wheels, you're far more aware and have way more alternatives; make a smart choice, don't follow too close, let them and their inevitable debris field proceed, avoid a problem, and a lot of them or little more than that.
 
Yep, I apply the same logic to my golf game…..…..”That ball wanted to land in the middle of the pond”!
 
[QUOTE="mudduc, post: 2351501, member: 13942"
"One must know the so-called 'lesson of a downpour. A man, caught in a sudden rain en route, dashes along the road not to get wet or drenched. Once one takes it for granted that in rain he naturally gets wet, he can be in a tranquil frame of mind even when soaked to the skin. This lesson applies to everything. "
- Yamamoto Tsunetomo (from The Hagakure: A code to the way of the samurai)
[/QUOTE]
As I recall, there is a debate (and a physics problem) over whether you get wetter running in the rain or walking. I am, of course, ignoring your point, though I agree with you. You state the ideal that is far harder to practice than describe. I noticed an article in the paper this morning (have not read it yet) titled "Why holding a grudge is so satisfying". It is probably pertinent to this discussion.

Philosophy so early in the morning? Where's the daily cafe post with coffee?
 
Yep... the sky is blue, water is wet, women have secrets, and there bad drivers...
 
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Good stuff. I’m 46 and may be considered young to some here or maybe middle aged. However it may be, I’ve been riding motorcycles for 35 years. And that’s a lot of avoiding 4-wheelers on the road. Agreed we have to ride like we are invisible. With my current job, I drive 700-900 miles a week sometimes to go see customers. Nothing makes me smile more than some one passing me on the highway like an idiot only to find out I am behind them at the next stoplight, or when they catch up to traffic and they look in their mirror and all they have done is drive like a maniac to only get in front of me for the next 25 miles on a 2 lane highway with no where to go because we are behind a truck doing the speed limit and there are 15 cars behind him Including the idiot that raced around me 5 minutes earlier.
 
There are times thar there IS an idiot in front of you that can’t maintain a reasonable speed range.Or swerving,on cell phone.
l’ll gladly pass ‘em,let them be someone else’s problem.
 
GryST said:
You're missing the point. It's not about being there sooner... It's about the riding style, or maybe not camping behind a slowpoke, or maybe about having some fun after all.
So you just interpret it wrongly. This "idiot" is really ok with you catching up on a red light. As long as he knows what he's doing, live and let live.
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What? :confused1: I’m referring to cars/ pickups I deal with on a daily basis. Not a motorcyclist.
 
GryST said:
You're missing the point. It's not about being there sooner...
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In urban traffic it is, and more...
Like when I and the 10~15 cars behind/aside me won't make the next 4, 5, 6, etc... traffic lights over such a dawdler in front of me... fuel consumption, emissions, waste of time and another dozen of cars piling up behind while we all didn't make it through green... :rolleyes:
Driving pace is supposed to be swiftly, fluent, rational and safe...
 
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