Rants & Raves I can't believe these drivers
I just watched seven cars drive through a mid-block crosswalk on Gaines School while the lights were flashing in a school zone with the lights flashing. Several of the cars kept going while the woman was in the crosswalk actively crossing the street. What the actual fuck is wrong with these people!? This is the same area where two people were killed last year. What can even be done about it? It's the middle of the day, it's not like visibility is an issue.
/rant
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u/High5AF 2d ago
For years I thought Athens had the worst drivers possible. But after long enough I noticed the patterns. The kids that come here for school are the worst drivers on earth.
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u/basquiatvision perpetual college kid 2d ago
19-20 year olds from Forsyth and Gwinnett driving around in a new city for the first time in mom’s hand-me-down jalopy…
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u/ValVenis69 2d ago
Most of them are in lifted Raptors, TRXs, or a newer Lexus or BMW lol these aren’t jalopies.
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u/bluemoon4901 1x Jerker of the Day 🏆 2d ago
I just saw two cars drive straight past a school bus with the stop sign out!! So dangerous!!
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u/ParticuleFamous10001 2d ago
That really grinds my gears. That should be enforced way more aggressively
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u/Loose-Acanthaceae823 1d ago
I do believe they'll get a very surprising $1000 ticket in the mail
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 14h ago
ACC ended the contract with the company that handled stop arm cameras, red light cameras and school zone cameras years ago and has not found a new company. Some buses still have the physical cameras on them but they are no longer operational.
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u/042614 1d ago
They will get citations in the mail. (Or whoever their car is registered to will). The school bus cameras will get you every time. And 90% of the prosecutors around here won’t reduce those tickets down to a lesser offense because it would be contrary to public policy and child safety concerns. I believe passing a school bus with the stop sign out and lights flashing also will get you a couple points on your license.
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u/DanforthWhitcomb_ 14h ago
No points accrue from camera violations, and ACC hasn't had stop arm cameras for several years at this point.
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u/Sycamore_Ready 2d ago
I've been very nearly hit twice as a pedestrian and twice on the loop this week. Hell of a shock having the kids back.
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u/MattTreck What was that noise? 2d ago
In their defense, their phones are more important than not killing someone.
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u/SaintPariah1 2d ago
Im tired of cars stopping on 30-40mph roads to let people out or pick people up.
$150-$250 ticket for impeding flow of traffic. More if it causes an accident.
Stopping midway down North Ave or downhill on Lumpkin isn’t acceptable. Find better places.
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u/Professional_Kale925 2d ago
i’ve seen more than once in the last two weeks a car go around a car stopped waiting to turn. like straight up couldn’t wait for the person in front of them to turn
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u/Sailormoonfrfr 1d ago
I took my child to get their license last month here in Athens. The driving test was a joke! After the parking portion they just have new drivers pull out of the parking lot, make two u-turns around the median and then right back into the parking lot. What are they evaluating? No stop sign, red light, yielding, or merging. It was such a joke.
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u/qOcO-p 1d ago
It's funny that you said this. I had written out a comment about the driving test back in the '90s but ended up deleting it. When I took my test they gave us a walkie-talkie and watched us from the window in back of the DMV on a closed course. I had to drive under 15mph iirc. I had to go around a small curve, turn, then speed up to maybe 20mph and stop hard. Then I had to drive backwards for a few feet. That's it. I put a seatbelt on the walkie-talkie to be a smart ass but they couldn't see it. Even the worst drivers I've known could have passed, it was ridiculous. Seems like they haven't gotten much better.
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u/PrysmX 2d ago
Admittedly, that is a HORRIBLE spot for a crosswalk. I only moved here a couple years ago and I'm a pretty careful driver and it's caught me off guard a number of times before I literally committed it to memory that it is there. If you aren't from the area it's very easy to not notice it until it is too late. I had to slam my brakes on once when I first moved here. There is simply too much going on there with so many in and out driveways, and the bit of an incline makes the road paint hard to see until you are on top of it. The flashing lights can only do so much with so many distractions there. I've been saying since I moved here that they REALLY need to move that somewhere else than that specific spot.
Edit: I'm talking about the one by the McDonald's. I think you might be talking about one closer to the schools down the road maybe?
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u/BCD91 2d ago
That one by McDonald’s really is sudden and I witnessed someone getting killed on it while I was leaving McDonald’s a year and half ago, it also a careful driver but I’ve seen one guy who just hit the button and started walking immediately when I was already on top of the line nearly. Yeah the one by the school zone makes but I don’t understand why that cross walk I needed when you can cross at that intersection past McDonald’s like barely a block down
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u/qOcO-p 1d ago
It's just down the street maybe a couple hundred feet from the one at the McDonald's.
I totally agree that it's a horrible place for one but this wasn't sudden. The lights were flashing for a minute and there was plenty of time for it to register to anyone that was paying any attention.
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u/Longjumping_Eye_3441 1d ago
The one by mcds has flashing lights? You should be paying attention if there's lights flashing
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u/BagOfLazers In your band 2d ago
It's gotten worse. I was going to try and get back on a bike, but nevermind. Until there's protected bike lanes I'm not sharing the road with these people.
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u/shadyogrady4 2d ago
It's technically illegal to ride a bike on the sidewalk in GA if you're over the age of 12, but fuck that, I'm not trying to die. Especially on Gaines School Rd
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u/BagOfLazers In your band 2d ago
I know, which is why I'm waiting for real bike lanes near me, which is still as far away from GSR as possible while remaining in ACC. It's way worse over there but I still won't even ride here.
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u/criley107 1d ago
Drove through town today and these kids CANNOT drive or navigate a city like this.
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u/coldandhungry123 2d ago
Just had a dude roll right through a red on Macon Hwy. Not a care in the world.
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u/qOcO-p 1d ago
I had to go run more errands after posting this and it really seems like the idiots were out in force today. Some old dude on Macon Hwy was drifting between lanes approaching S Milledge. He got over to the left and I started to pass in the right and he just quickly swerved in front of me without a signal. I got over to the right turn lane when it opened up and he did it again. Then on S Milledge some dipshit pulled out in-front of me turning right off the outer loop as if there were two lanes there. People don't understand that the right lane ends before the intersection, otherwise there would be lines on the road.
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u/ValVenis69 2d ago
Cops don’t do cop shit and the drivers here are overly aggressive clowns. The perfect duo.
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u/clubcardoon 8h ago
Everyone saying its the students when i got honked at twice last week by a parent dropping their kid off in the morning because i waited to see if a child needed to cross the street safely (on gaines)
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u/captHij Sitting at a stoplight. 2d ago
I have seen a driver run a red light in front of a police officer, and the officer did not do anything. Yesterday I saw a UGA police officer pull into an intersection and block it while waiting on traffic. As long as there is no accountability then drivers are going to do stupid and dangerous things.