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Posted: October 14, 2005 2:57 pm
by The Lost Manatee
CaptainP wrote:
Brown Eyed Girl wrote:I see it all the time too...and it p*** me off. A couple months ago there was a horrendous accident in SoCal as a result of a driver not yielding for a fire engine. If I'm not mistaken, at least one firefighter died. :x :(

I keep wondering when they changed the rules for certain people...like the ones who don't stop at a red light or stop sign when turning right. :x :evil:
We live in a "Me First" society. Common courtesy is becoming increasingly rare.
Regretfully it's really has become Uncommon Courtesy. :evil:

Posted: October 14, 2005 3:03 pm
by UAHparrothead
It is now state law in Tennessee to slow down and also to change lanes if you can one a 4 lane highway. One state trooper was killed and another almost was killed on the interstate while assisting anoter motorist.

Posted: October 14, 2005 3:09 pm
by Jahfin
UAHparrothead wrote:It is now state law in Tennessee to slow down and also to change lanes if you can one a 4 lane highway. One state trooper was killed and another almost was killed on the interstate while assisting anoter motorist.
That's also now an active law here in the North Cackalack too. I always changed lanes and slowed down if I saw a trooper, wreck, etc.. Always thought that was one of those "unwritten" laws, now they're strictly enforcing it. As they should.

Posted: October 14, 2005 4:02 pm
by Alan11
Speaking of being rude found this on Cnn.com when I got home a few minutes ago.

I was brought up to hold the door open for folks say please and thank you and so on, if I didn't my mama would beat my ass black and blue for not respecting other people and trying to help them. Nothing p*** me off worse than someone out in town bumping into me saying "excuse you" instead of excuse me.

Kids who no parental control run wild in the store and slam into me or my wife with the shopping cart. Where is mom or dad either yapping on their cell phone or threatining to kick your ass for yelling at their kid they couldn't control.

I had a guy blow the horn at me once for pulling over for an EMT on the way to the hospital it was a country two lane road and the guy coming the other direction stopped to let it through as well. You can't wait 5 extra minutes yuppie boy.

Blowing a gasket having to wait in line is another pet peeve of mine, when I am at Wal-Mart or anywhere for that matter and they overcharge me 5 bucks for an item your damn right I am going to let them know it was wrong. I once had a guy threaten to push me out of line if I didn't hurry it up, he went as far to get in my face until other people behind him got mad for him breaking in line :D

Poll: Americans becoming ruder in hurry-up world

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Americans' fast-paced, high-tech existence has taken a toll on the civil in society.

From road rage in the morning commute to high decibel cell-phone conversations that ruin dinner out, men and women behaving badly has become the hallmark of a hurry-up world.

An increasing informality -- flip-flops at the White House, even -- combined with self-absorbed communication gadgets and a demand for instant gratification have strained common courtesies to the breaking point.

"All of these things lead to a world with more stress, more chances for people to be rude to each other," said Peter Post, a descendent of etiquette expert Emily Post and an instructor on business manners through the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vermont.

In some cases, the harried single parent has replaced the traditional nuclear family and there's little time to teach the basics of polite living, let alone how to hold a knife and fork, according to Post.

A slippage in manners is obvious to many Americans. Nearly 70 percent questioned in an Associated Press-Ipsos poll said people are ruder than they were 20 or 30 years ago. The trend is noticed in large and small places alike, although more urban people report bad manners, 74 percent, then do people in rural areas, 67 percent.

Peggy Newfield, founder and president of Personal Best, said the generation that came of age in the times-a-changin' 1960s and 1970s are now parents who don't stress the importance of manners, such as opening a door for a female.

So it was no surprise to Newfield that those children wouldn't understand how impolite it was to wear flip-flops to a White House meeting with the president -- as some members of the Northwestern women's lacrosse team did in the summer.

A whopping 93 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll faulted parents for failing to teach their children well.

"Parents are very much to blame," said Newfield, whose Atlanta-based company started teaching etiquette to young people and now focuses on corporate employees. "And the media."

Sulking athletes and boorish celebrities grab the headlines while television and Hollywood often glorify crude behavior.

"It's not like the old shows 'Father Knows Best,"' said Norm Demers, 47, of Sutton, Massachusetts. "People just copy it. How do you change it?" Demers would like to see more family friendly television but isn't holding his breath.

Nearly everyone has a story of the rude or the crude, but fewer are willing to fess up to boorish behavior themselves.

Only 13 percent in the poll would admit to making an obscene gesture while driving; only 8 percent said they had used their cell phones in a loud or annoying manner around others. But 37 percent in the survey of 1,001 adults questioned August 22-23 said they had used a swear word in public.

Yvette Sienkiewicz, 41, a claims adjustor from Wilmington, Delaware, recalled in frustration how a bigger boy cut in front of her 8-year-old son as he waited in line to play a game at the local Chuck E. Cheese.

"It wasn't my thing to say something to the little boy," said Sienkiewicz, who remembered that the adult accompanying the child never acknowledged what he had done. In the AP-Ipsos poll, 38 percent said they have asked someone to stop behaving rudely.

More and more, manners are taught less and less.

Carole Krohn, 71, a retired school bus driver in Deer Park, Washington, said she has seen children's behavior deteriorate over the years, including one time when a boy tossed a snowball at the back of another driver's head. In this litigious society, she argued, a grown-up risks trouble correcting someone else's kid.

One solution for bad behavior "is to put a kid off in the middle of the road. Nowadays all people want to do is sue, to say you're to blame, get you fired," Krohn said.

Krohn, who often greeted students by name and with a hearty "good morning," once was asked by a child if she got tired of offering pleasantries.

Sienkiewicz, whose job requires hours in a car, said she tries to avoid rush-hour traffic because of drivers with a me-first attitude. The most common complaint about rudeness in the poll was aggressive or reckless driving, with 91 percent citing it as the most frequent discourtesy.

Margaret Hahn-Dupont, a 39-year-old law professor from Oradell, New Jersey, noticed that some of her students showed little respect for authority and felt free to express their discontent and demand better grades.

Close on the heels of the baby boomers are the affluent teens and young adults who have known nothing but the conveniences of computers and cell phones, devices that take them away from face-to-face encounters and can be downright annoying in a crowd.

"They got a lot of things and feel entitled to get a lot of things," said Hahn-Dupont.

Bernard F. Scanlon, 79, of Sayville, New York, would like to see one railroad car set aside for cell phone users to ensure peace and quiet for the rest. Amtrak has taken a stab at that by banning cell phones and other loud devices in one car of some trains, especially on chatty Northeast and West Coast routes.

But if those trains are sold out, the Quiet Car service is suspended and anything goes.

How rude.

Posted: October 14, 2005 8:19 pm
by tikitatas
It is the LAW to pull over for emergency vehicles in Nova Scotia, and people are prosecuted for ignoring it.

Quaint as it may seem, people pull over for funeral processions, too. Even in cities.

Posted: October 14, 2005 8:32 pm
by creeky
CaptainP wrote:
Brown Eyed Girl wrote:I see it all the time too...and it p*** me off. A couple months ago there was a horrendous accident in SoCal as a result of a driver not yielding for a fire engine. If I'm not mistaken, at least one firefighter died. :x :(

I keep wondering when they changed the rules for certain people...like the ones who don't stop at a red light or stop sign when turning right. :x :evil:
We live in a "Me First" society. Common courtesy is becoming increasingly rare.
Generation Y .....

I personally sh*t myself when one comes up behind me and have ended up on the sidewalk :lol:

Posted: October 14, 2005 9:51 pm
by sonofabeach
I see it all of the time....people pulling over that is, including me

Posted: October 14, 2005 10:24 pm
by ParrotHeadDeb
Drives me nuts to see people ignoring emergency vehicles! However, I have seen situations where traffic was heavy & people were not able to move over, but they did at least stop. That way the ambulance was able to maneuver through the traffic (usually down the center lane) I get over as quickly as possible!

Posted: October 14, 2005 10:29 pm
by redwinemaker
Here in good old fashioned Napa Valley, virtually everybody pulls over for emergency vehicles. Its a diffetrent story in the more urban parts of the Bay Area.

Re: Why don't people pull over for emergency vehicles anymor

Posted: October 14, 2005 11:19 pm
by prrthd1987
Tiki Bar wrote:Drives me nuts!! Back in the day, we learned that when an emergency vehicle approached with it's lights on, either behind you or oncoming, you pull over on to the shoulder.

Seems like every time I see one lately, with lights and sirens and the whole shot, very few people pull over... many continue driving, pass the pulled over vehicles, and make the ambulance or fire truck go around them! :x Is their music too loud, their talking on the phone, or otherwise distracted? Do they not care? I just don't get it!
I watched this happen a few weeks ago... it was during a heavy rain, one fire engine goes by, and the people behind me pulled over, but when a second came, they flew on by! Needless to say my horn was blowing and they got the one finger salute :lol:

Posted: October 14, 2005 11:25 pm
by Mr Play
I haven't noticed the problem around here. Believe it or not, a lot of people pull over and stop for funeral processions in the rural areas.

Posted: October 14, 2005 11:26 pm
by captainjoe
sy wrote:
balcony girls wrote: side question , here. .

since the " YIELD " sign is on the on-ramp . . .and not on my part of the freeway . . .

what makes people think I should go from 65 to 37 mph in order to let them to pull into traffic . .? ?

does that make anyone else crazy . .or is it just me . . ? ?

:o :evil:
Oh that's got to be my number one peeve right underneat people riding my bumper.

and I actually asked a PA state trooper this one. If someone hits me while they're merging because I 'wouldn't let them in', it's their fault because yield means yield, I'm not under any obligation to let them in, especially if that means I need to slam on my brakes.
What did the state trooper say? or did you just answer it and I am completely blind?

Posted: October 14, 2005 11:39 pm
by Elrod
I was an EMT and Paramedic for 9 years and a firefighter for 3 years in Missouri. I worked in the city of St. Louis and in a rural county an hour west of there.

We didn't have time to take down license plate numbers in the city because we were too busy looking for the next idiot that was trying kill us.

Out in the boonies, it was another story. People were more inclined to yield to emergency vehicles. If they didn't, there was a real good chance that they would still be standing alongside the road in handcuffs when my partner and I were on the way back from the hospital. 8)

Posted: October 15, 2005 12:27 am
by carolinagirl
tikitatas wrote:It is the LAW to pull over for emergency vehicles in Nova Scotia, and people are prosecuted for ignoring it.

Quaint as it may seem, people pull over for funeral processions, too. Even in cities.
Same here in Georgia, on both counts. Another reason why I'm glad I live in a small town in the South. Rudeness is rare because you usually know the other person on the road with you, or in that ambulance or funeral procession. People about kill each other trying to be the first to pull over when an EMS vehicle is coming through. :) They don't even have to hardly slow down in the intersections because of the parting of the waters before them. (I was doing a ride-along in an ambulance once, when they got a call, and that's what it was like, traffic parting in front of us and going 60 mph through red lights!)

Posted: October 15, 2005 8:54 pm
by unclejohn
When I was a paramedic that really bothered me when people wouldnt get out of the way. They would also try to hurry and beat you through the intersection. We actually got in an accident once when we were running with lights and sirens, and some drunk yay-hoo thought he would be able to pull out of the parking lot and make it across the street, he didnt make it, and hit us.

Posted: October 16, 2005 5:42 pm
by msu#1
Failing to pull over for a emergency vehicle or moving over an slowing down for one on the side of the road with lights on is a major fine in Michigan and has been for years. Even tow trucks count as emergency vehicle.

Posted: October 17, 2005 1:11 am
by Gypsy In The Palace
The other day, I witnessed something really odd happen. I was sitting at a red light in the "straight" lane. In the left turn lane, there was one car stopped waiting for the left turn arrow. Then, an ambulance pulled up behind him in the turn lane with the siren blasting. There was nothing coming in the opposite direction, and the ambulance started blowing the horn at the first car in the turn lane. He did not move. Obviously, if that car hadn't have been there, the ambulance could have run the light and turned because they don't have to obey the signal. I don't know if the guy who was the "lead" car in the turn lane didn't hear the ambulance or just was afraid to run the light.

All that I could do from the other lane was sit there and watch the whole thing unfold. But, I can tell you this: If that would have been me, I would have run the light (after I double checked to be sure nothing was coming) so that the ambulance could follow me. Then, I'd pull over as soon as I got the chance to let him pass me. If a police officer would have pulled me over for running the light, I would have said, "Look. I may have saved a life by running that light. If you want to give me a ticket, the fine is worth it knowing that I did everything I could to help save a life."

Posted: October 17, 2005 2:45 am
by Sam
Gypsy In The Palace wrote:The other day, I witnessed something really odd happen. I was sitting at a red light in the "straight" lane. In the left turn lane, there was one car stopped waiting for the left turn arrow. Then, an ambulance pulled up behind him in the turn lane with the siren blasting. There was nothing coming in the opposite direction, and the ambulance started blowing the horn at the first car in the turn lane. He did not move. Obviously, if that car hadn't have been there, the ambulance could have run the light and turned because they don't have to obey the signal. I don't know if the guy who was the "lead" car in the turn lane didn't hear the ambulance or just was afraid to run the light.

All that I could do from the other lane was sit there and watch the whole thing unfold. But, I can tell you this: If that would have been me, I would have run the light (after I double checked to be sure nothing was coming) so that the ambulance could follow me. Then, I'd pull over as soon as I got the chance to let him pass me. If a police officer would have pulled me over for running the light, I would have said, "Look. I may have saved a life by running that light. If you want to give me a ticket, the fine is worth it knowing that I did everything I could to help save a life."
Even running code ( lights and/or sirens) Emergency vehicles must still slow down and stop if neccessary and check, BEFORE crossing or proceeding through the intersection.... They still have to respect the same laws as you and everyone else does. Within reason of course...this is for SAFETY....mainly the idea is to safely get to where ever the accident scene or hospital or the scene of a crime in progress may be or wherever. Getting involved in an accident on the way is not going to do anyone anygood, possibly require more ambulances, police, and other workers and further tie up traffic, etc.....
The bozo in the turn lane should have went if the traffic was clear and pulled over as you said...I doubt any self respecting patrolman would have said or done anything.....perhaps maybe gave them a thank you or asked why he waited so long to get the bleep out of the way......granted it is the law ( in most if not all states and elsewhere) for people to pull off the road to make a clear path for the emergency vehicles...but the driver of the EV has the responsibility to take neccessary precautions to prevent causing an accident....