Creepers

[indigo_rose99]

You know them. They are the cars in front of you at the red light that keeps inching forward.  They are the cars in the left lane at the red light when you are in the right turn only lane that keep inching forward to block your view of oncoming traffic.    You inch forward just enough to see that car coming and before it passes in front of you... the car in the left lane moves forward that foot to block your vision.

Why do they do that?

Don't they realize that they are at best annoying and at worst actually endangering others?  I refuse to creep and have actually had other cars in other lanes decide to cut in front of me WHILE WE WERE ALL STOPPED AT A RED LIGHT!!!  *grind teeth*

It drives me crazy!  I try to remember that most people do not drive standard transmissions and it is so easy in an automatic to simply let up on the brake and inch forward.  But to follow them in my usual standard is a complete pain!  I have shift from neutral into first gear, let up on the clutch and push down on the gas.  Three tasks instead of one, all feet and hands involved!  And if I'm on an incline and do it wrong, I can drift backward into the car behind me!  *grind teeth*

To all you creepers out there... STOP IT!

Comments

[thebroomecloset.livejournal.com]

Don't they realize that they are ...

No. IMHO, that's one of the big problems today with people and society. There are so many people out there that just don't think about how their actions affect those around them. They just think about how to maximize their experience or the benefit to themselves.

[sclatter.livejournal.com]

I very rarely shift into neutral at stoplights as I was taught it is dangerous. If someone runs up behind you it is better to be in gear so you have a chance of escape. Of course, it is annoying to keep the clutch in all that time.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

When I'm at the front of a line waiting on a red light and one of those creepers is beside me, I quite enjoy it when I'm the first one to get going once the light turns green.

I tear out first, so I'm the winner. But then they easily pass me with their terrible gas-guzzling acceleration. Still, the whole point of inching up is to be ready to go when the light turns, and they're so NOT.

P.S. Yes, I do check that cross traffic has stopped first.

[pamwheatfree.livejournal.com]

I mostly drive for a living now. The other day, I followed a car that didn't go when his light first changed to green. Then he ran a red light that I could tell, he never saw, then he stopped for the second red light and illegally turned on the red. I see it every day. I am used to it now. However, I have made a decision not to move once I am stopped at a light until the light changes. This way I don't have to shift and if there is a creeper in front of me, no problem. If someone creeps behind me and they get too close, it is also their problem. I find that my forward movement is sometimes the cue used by the person in front of me to know that the light has changed. Most people will sit there until they see some movement around them. They don't turn on their signals until they are actually turning. And they really have no clue about what the color of the lights mean.

[livingdeb.livejournal.com]

Definitely some people space out at red lights. Movement snaps them out of it. Another reason why creeping is dangerous--a space cadet beside them may think it's time to go.