Begin RANT:

Tailgaters Suck
According to the year-end traffic report here, 43% of all traffic accidents in the area are rear-end collisions... I wonder why the 30% of the community here that make up the tailgaters haven't taken the hint that tailgating is bad. I get on the average 10-mile drive, two to three different tailgaters that come within 10 feet of my back bumper at 45-55 mph. About twice a week, I get someone in an SUV, van, or hideously large pickup truck who stays within a meter of my back bumper. WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING??? Assuming that they -did- have time to see that I was stopping before hitting me, my car will stop a hell of a lot faster than their 2-ton trendy gas-guzzler.

What really gets me, are these people who seem to think that travelling close enough behind a large vehicle is going to save them gas money, even though their BRAKES are on 25% of the time to avoid HITTING the other vehicle.

Old People Suck
And let's not forget the old-granny factor. Why the hell are we allowing these people to keep their licences when they are COMPLETELY OBLIVIOUS to what is in front of their car? Also according to the report, 57% of the residents in my town are over the age of 65. 57%!! That's more than HALF! AND WE DON'T HAVE RELIABLE PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION, BECAUSE MOST OF THEM WOULD RATHER DRIVE! These are the people who don't look behind them while backing up, or fail to notice another vehicle or pedestrian until they're within 20 feet of the front of their car. These are also the people who NEVER look to the right when turning right onto a road, and frequently endanger pedestrians or parked cars because of it.

Running Red Lights is the Spectator Sport of Choice (The U.S.'s Laws Suck)
From a newspaper article:
This month, the county installed red-light cameras at Lockwood Ridge Road and 17th Street - the third most dangerous intersection - and also at Jacaranda Boulevard and Commercial Court/Executive Drive.
State law prohibits ticketing drivers caught by red light cameras, so the county will send offenders a copy of the photo showing their car running the light and a letter encouraging them to obey traffic laws.
"Maybe it will make people pay more attention," Hoang said.

This is what I hate about America... It's illegal to ticket someone caught breaking the law and endangering other drivers, simply because a squad car wasn't right there when it happened. WTF is wrong with these people in congress? I mean, these privacy laws are USELESS when the government can disobey them anyway... and don't even get me started on THAT.

It's a state law. In my part of the country you are sent a lovely front and profile photo of yourself running the light - and a fat ticket.

I think habitual red-light runners should be flogged.

Can you get those in 8X10s?

Tailgaters are one of many reasons I think I should legally be allowed to equip my car with rocket launchers and mines.

Too close to my bumper? *klunk* *BLAM*

Going 30mph slower than the speed limit on a nice, clear, sunny day? *fwooooosh* *BOOM*

I love going fast. But my POS manual tx Ford Contour usually doesn't let me. It's fun in traffic jams, oh yes.. and THAT is when I wish for my unlimited ammo swarm-launcher to clear a lane for me.

<sigh> I never tailgate, tho, that's how I've gotten in 5 wrecks (2 where I was tailgating as a young driver, three where others were tailgating me.) Tailgating sucks. Old drivers suck, and purposefully slow-driving people suck.

Last weekend I crossed over to the US to do some light shopping and on Interstate 8 I'm passed by this metallic grey pick up; no big deal. About a hundred yards ahead of me there's this small red sedan, however, and the pickup begins to tailgate it real close, almost threatening, since then transist on the other lane became very heavy (trailers and semis mostly). The two cars traveled like that for a LONG time, until finally the exit to town came up. Guess what? the tail gater still stuck to the little sedan, and when they finally reached a two-lane street where the pickup could pass it, there was a patrol car nearby, who saw everything and promptly stopped the pickup. I laughed all the way to the store.

That's called luck.

There's some theorem out that pretty much states that the more urgent the issue, the less likely a cop will be around to see (and stop) the problem.

... oh wait. That's a law of nature. My bad. >_>;

That's the law of MURPHY, MSKanaka.

No...

Murphy's law is different: "If something can go wrong, it will and in the worst possible way."

This law is:

Urgency of issue = constant
Cop Availability

While we're on the subject of piss-poor driving..

<rant>
Constant Lane Changers, or CLaCkers as I call em.. all they do is cause traffic snarls.. Every time someone cuts another person off, and that person hits their brakes, what do you think the person behind him is gonna do? Hit his brakes. And the person behind HIM? Hit his brakes. and so on down the line.. one asshole cutting some poor schmuck off, and we now have about 20 cars having to hit their brakes because the person in front of them did.. and traffic slows to crawl, as there are many idiots doing this.. and the worse the traffic gets, the more these idiots do it, and traffic gets even worse as a result.. "Oh noes! Theres a truck in front me of me!" Zip, zip "There, now hes behind me.. oops theres my exit" Screech! (Sound of truck driver slamming on brakes to avoid making a pancake outta the idiot)</rant>

<FYI> Just so you know, truck brakes are air brakes.. the more he hits his brakes, the more air he uses, until.. hes out of air and cant stop.. also.. air brakes arent nearly as fast as hydraulic brakes (the kind in your car) as it takes a little longer for the air pressure to increase as compared to hydraulic pressure... So, why cant we just use hydraulic brakes? well... how would we hook up the brakes on the trailer? if you allow any kind of air into a hydraulic brake system, they wont work.. so .. we just have to deal with the "brake lag" of the air brakes..</FYI>

break19 aka Eize Ryda (ingame) aka Mr Hollywood (on the CB)

MSKanaka:
your forumla doesn't work... for the relationship you're suggesting, it would have to be

_ k (constant) _ = Cop Availability
Urgency of Issue

Even so, that is covered under Murphy's law, which is a lot further-reaching than simple misfortune.

Break19:
I hate that... today I had some crackhead waiting at an intersection whose lane was getting a slow start off the block, take the fact that I was following a full 3 carlengths behind the guy in front of me as an invitation to shoot out of his own lane and cut me off, making me slam on my brakes and miss the light... he had to wait anyway, but then so did half a dozen other people who may have made that light had he not performed that little stunt of his.