Hevz

Or doesn't hold the door open for you and you're only two steps behind them with a buggy

PeanutBean

Some more from me, drivers who:
don't indicate;
drive too close behind me;
force their way down a hill when the blockage is on their side and I'm coming up it and was there first so there is no doubt at all I have the right of way;
do an emergency stop in front of me because they aren't looking;
and the worst of all, undertake me on the motorway when I've been passing a lorry at 80mph and am about to pull back in after passing it but they are too impatient and have been up my arse the whole time and so pull into my blind spot - it's a good job I always look carefully before moving in.

Sarahkka

Calgary drivers!
Calgary drivers quite literally grind my gears. If one more shit-head in a huge, gas-guzzling, planet-poisoning, dick-enhancing pick-up truck rides my ass in traffic, I will slam on the brakes, get out and use my old field hockey stick to spell out the words "I'm a tail-gating asshole!" in dents on his shiny chrome bumper!!!!
Do you think that would get the message across? Or am I over-reacting?
Traffic has been absolutely brutal in this city for about 2-3 years now. We've been here for 8, and have seen such a miserable difference since a big growth spurt the city started in '06. We had an oil boom and our city grew by a couple of hundred thousand people in the space of two years. The roads and infrastructure just can't handle the huge volume of traffic on the roads. And to top it off, the general driving attitude is "F##k you! I'm first!", taking really bad manners to very dangerous territory.
And we do have a lot of accidents.
Speeding and tail-gating are so rude and dangerous. I get absolutely livid when I have someone on my ass like that.
I want to put the following on large billboards all over the city:
Newsflash! The laws of physics apply to everyone. If you are going too fast and you have not left enough space between yourself and the car in front of you, you will not be able to stop in time if something happens. I don't care how fast you think your ninja-reflexes are, you ignorant pricks. You will cause an accident, and as you are driving a mammoth vehicle (that you don't really need), you will probably injure somebody very badly. Drive safely or get off the road!!!
Aaaah.
That feels better.
Can you tell I had such an experience at 6am this morning as I was dropping my husband off for his shift?

rae05

I have HEARD about this!!!!!! Calgary is supposed to be horrible!! And apparently there are a lot of drunk drivers up there too?!? Drunk men operating heavy machinery. My uncle's niece was stopped at lights up there, and some asshole in a freaking bulldozer or something came up behind her, didn't stop, and ran right over her car. Her whole face is being held on with pins now, thanks to that.

I can understand!!

PeanutBean

Oo, yes, big 4x4s! Sorry if this offends anyone but mothers who drive the hugest vehicles for their one kid and can't handle it because all they do is drive round the corner to drop their kid off at school and pick them up again. And bullbars, because there is really a need for them here, in danger of that small boy damaging your headlight when you hit him and pulverise him? Why do people have them? I do hate all 4x4s on the roads though. And even more I hate the arrogant way people defend them as their 'right'. Oo Sarahkka, you've got me started on the eco warpath now!

Sarahkka

Rae, Calgary traffic is brutal. Alberta traffic in general is brutal, to be honest. Our stats show a traffic fatality every 23 hours. That is really shocking considering the population of our province is about 3.5 million people. We have traffic accidents every 11 minutes. And yes, the DUI rate is terrible.
My brother worked a construction gig one summer and finally quit because he was not going to trust his safety to the crackheads and alkies that he had to work with. Booms (gold, oil, or otherwise) just suck. They bring a lot of greed, a lot of money, and a lot of substance abuse problems, and they drive the cost of living through the roof. You should check out our lovely gang problem, too. It's just peachy.
Not really a place I want to raise my child. If we could get equivalent jobs in a small town, we'd be out of here pretty quickly.

Sarahkka

Ah yes, the incredibly stupid trend of dropping your kid off at school when we have a childhood obesity epidemic and these kids NEED the exercise of walking to school quite desperately. On top of which, the increased traffic around the school zones is a huge safety threat to kids - statistically far greater than any perceived "stranger danger" that paranoid parents use as an excuse to justify the massive SUVs and off-road vehicles.
Look, you need a big truck if you are a contractor and are hauling supplies - that I can understand. The huge vehicles for city living - even in a city like Calgary that does get some bad weather - are just not justified.
And when you combine the huge vehicles with bad driving, my risk on the road (as the driver of a small, fuel-efficient vehicle) goes way up.
So pardon me if I don't think the crazy high gas prices are all that bad. It took a lot of gas guzzlers off the road and that is just fine by me.

PeanutBean

God yes, the awful school drop-off zone! A few years ago I worked for a local authority road safety team looking at starting up school travel plans aiming to reduce the dependency on cars. I totally know where you are coming from. The other day I was passing by my first schools (which are across the road from one another) and was unlucky enough to have to travel at morning drop-off time. Having battled up the road, parked up on both sides with parents, the car in front suddenly stopped dead on the yellow zigzags next to the zebra crossing with the lollypop lady to drop their child off at the door! I nearly went into the back of her she manoevered so suddenly and without indicating, she blocked the whole road and the crossing by stopping where she did. I'd bet any money she'd say "but it's not safe for my child to walk from further away because of the traffic". It's unreal!

And I'm with you on the fuel prices. It's rubbish that as always it hits the poor more than the rich but in a capitalist world that's all we can expect. If it keeps people off the roads more and encourages them to drive more slowly to save their pennies then I'm with you! Roll on the days post-petrol!

Sarahkka

Peanut -
True on the poor being hit hardest with the gas, but in all honesty - if you are driving a small, fuel-efficient car to begin with - the fuel hike really wasn't that bad. Our little Toyota was still only around $45 to fill up - and the gas lasts us about 10 days of city driving (we average 550km per tank, way more if we are highway driving).
July and August were full of people in North America desperately trying to sell their big trucks and SUVs. Used car sales lots were refusing to take them because they couldn't move them. They were always expensive to own and drive - the gas hike just made them ridiculous to the point of no longer being an option for the average joe. I get cleaner air and safer roads as a result. Like I said - no tears here.

oOKayOo

I hate HATE when i phone up somewhere like banks or anything to do with phones or odering things most of the people can barely speak english.
I spend atleast half an hour longer asking wtf they are saying.

I hate wednesdays as its market day as my pet peeve is old ladies gathered in a group in a middle of a path. Or they are in the middle of town and wont move for you even when there is no way around them very hard with a pram!!!

Also snobby people that look down at me because im classed as a young mum.. oh go fuck a duck.

Loud speakers , my friend has such a loud voice and its so embaressing going around town or anywhere public as when she talks its like she is shouting it!

When you order things and it arrives late! I pay for 1-3 day dilervery because??