Holiday drivers

[Sakura]

Monday is a national holiday, so in Japan you end up with three days off when you include the weekend. These long weekends happen often here, and they usually bring out all kinds of crazy drivers.

I normally avoid driving during these periods, but I did not want them to dictate my habits. So I took the car out today and went shopping.

I drove carefully, stayed within the speed limit, and minded my own business. On the way to the mall, an old BMW suddenly swerved back and forth between the main lane and the passing lane. For a moment I thought he was going to ram me. He did not, but the driving was so erratic that I honestly thought he might have been drunk.



On the way back home, I ran into a crazy Prius that kept changing lanes without using turn signals. When I tried to pass with my signal on (I usually signal very early, about three seconds before changing lanes), he immediately moved into the passing lane to block me. I ended up passing on the left and speeding up just to get away.



I think inflation has people stressed, and they take it out on nicer cars. Stay safe out there!

 

[Luzifer]

Monday is a national holiday, so in Japan you end up with three days off when you include the weekend. These long weekends happen often here, and they usually bring out all kinds of crazy drivers.

I normally avoid driving during these periods, but I did not want them to dictate my habits. So I took the car out today and went shopping.

I drove carefully, stayed within the speed limit, and minded my own business. On the way to the mall, an old BMW suddenly swerved back and forth between the main lane and the passing lane. For a moment I thought he was going to ram me. He did not, but the driving was so erratic that I honestly thought he might have been drunk.

View attachment 1172

On the way back home, I ran into a crazy Prius that kept changing lanes without using turn signals. When I tried to pass with my signal on (I usually signal very early, about three seconds before changing lanes), he immediately moved into the passing lane to block me. I ended up passing on the left and speeding up just to get away.

View attachment 1171

I think inflation has people stressed, and they take it out on nicer cars. Stay safe out there!

That's insane, people are jealous or bad drivers! So I guess you always to have to be in front of them, you know what that means.

Last summer there was a guy "swimming" in traffic, he was inches from hitting a curb over 100 km/hr.

If it gets so bad you'll have to become a chameleon.

 

[efg2014]

To avoid the nuts, go early(7am) for a drive. Peaceful quite and little worry of running into other cars.

 

[Sakura]

Following the advice of @efg2014, I went out for an early Saturday drive and everything was calm and enjoyable.

Later I parked in my usual indoor parking and went shopping. At a crosswalk in the busiest part of town, a McLaren came through revving loudly and drawing attention. I am pretty sure it is the same guy who used to do the same thing in a Gallardo a few years ago. Constant revving in crowded streets just to be noticed. Total poser behavior. Fine by me as long as he keeps his distance.

When I came back to my car, the exact same McLaren was parked right next to it, even though there were plenty of empty spots nearby. My spy cam shows him squeezing into the space extremely tightly, risking my bumper for no reason. When he got out, the metal buttons on his jacket hit my car repetitively. I can clearly hear the metal contact on the recording.



Him trying to squeeze through:


So what would you do next time you run into a poser like this who clearly has no respect for other people's cars?

On the other hand, a couple was astonished seeing a Lambo, this loser's McLaren, and a Bentley (the car across) in the same parking section. You see this everyday in Tokyo but not in this small town.

 

[efg2014]

Sakura that is a hard one. You need to go even earlier because this poser is still going to be sleeping.
One trick is to park far from everything. Most humans are lazy and won't want to walk another 100+ steps.
I must say one time I was driving at about 7am on the 280 freeway in my neighborhood. There were a total of 3 vehicles on the road.
My Murci, a pickup truck escorting me on the left and a car on the right slightly behind me. I guess they were curious and I understand. After a few miles they left. It was surreal that the entire freeway was empty yet I was being crowded. A few years back on the same free way I was in my F430 around 9am, so the traffic is much heavier and a pickup truck cut in front of me, literally less than 10 yds to get a better look.

 

[6102Perf]

Forgive my ignorance on the topic as I'm not familiar with all the international standards for various countries/manufacturers, but @Sakura how come your Lambo is LHD? I always associate Japan with RHD vehicles. Are most Italian exotics in Japan LHD? Did you consider finding a RHD example or did you want the wheel on the left side?

And does having your wheel on the left present additional challenges in your country? For example, guys who buy JDM RHD cars in North America have issues going through drivethrus, parkades etc. as everything is set up for LHD vehicles.

 

[Luzifer]

@efg2014 No matter how far you park there's always those who want to do a statement "Hey I was parked beside a Lambo or Corvette". I've been targeted so many times in both cars when I'm all alone far back.

@Sakura There's only so much you can do. You could leave a note under a wiper blade to this idiot not to do that again and his button came into contact with your car.
Next you can try to find a spot where it would be impossible for someone else to park beside you.

 

[Sakura]

Sakura that is a hard one. You need to go even earlier because this poser is still going to be sleeping.
One trick is to park far from everything. Most humans are lazy and won't want to walk another 100+ steps.
I must say one time I was driving at about 7am on the 280 freeway in my neighborhood. There were a total of 3 vehicles on the road.
My Murci, a pickup truck escorting me on the left and a car on the right slightly behind me. I guess they were curious and I understand. After a few miles they left. It was surreal that the entire freeway was empty yet I was being crowded. A few years back on the same free way I was in my F430 around 9am, so the traffic is much heavier and a pickup truck cut in front of me, literally less than 10 yds to get a better look.

I suppose I could go even earlier, maybe at 6am LOL.

Based on my spy cam, that dude showed up around noon, so there's really nothing that would stop him from doing it again. I’ll try to park in the far end, away from everything.

That was a scary encounter. Most cars like to sit in dead spots to get a better look, but they have no idea how risky that actually is.

 

[Sakura]

Forgive my ignorance on the topic as I'm not familiar with all the international standards for various countries/manufacturers, but @Sakura how come your Lambo is LHD? I always associate Japan with RHD vehicles. Are most Italian exotics in Japan LHD? Did you consider finding a RHD example or did you want the wheel on the left side?

And does having your wheel on the left present additional challenges in your country? For example, guys who buy JDM RHD cars in North America have issues going through drivethrus, parkades etc. as everything is set up for LHD vehicles.

I think most imported cars here are LHD, with only a few available as RHD, like some McLarens. Tons of Porsches with LHD. Unless you place a special factory order, dealer stock for Italian cars is almost always LHD. I bought mine new straight off the dealer floor. I honestly do not want to wait a year for someone to build my toys.

Driving LHD in Japan is actually much safer in my opinion. You can clearly see bicycles and small bikes on the left side of the road, and those are the most dangerous because they often make sudden and unpredictable moves. Most accident news I see involves bicycles or small bikes, usually with RHD cars.

At intersections, all you need to do is lean slightly to the right to check for incoming traffic from the right. That is all.

The only real inconvenience is valet parking in smaller cities, where the ticket machine is usually on the right side. That said, every parking facility in Tokyo that I know of has ticket machines on both sides.

Are you planning to drive in Japan? The roads are narrow, but they can be fun!

 

[Sakura]

@efg2014 No matter how far you park there's always those who want to do a statement "Hey I was parked beside a Lambo or Corvette". I've been targeted so many times in both cars when I'm all alone far back.

@Sakura There's only so much you can do. You could leave a note under a wiper blade to this idiot not to do that again and his button came into contact with your car.
Next you can try to find a spot where it would be impossible for someone else to park beside you.

I will park farther away next time. If it happens again, I will report it to valet security, and if it keeps happening, I will report it to the local police as a stalking issue. If I run into him again, I might just ask him if he has small weeny.

I checked my spy cam more closely. It looks like the guy showed up with his girlfriend and was clearly trying to impress her, proving that he belongs with the "cool dudes", whatever that means. I am pretty sure it was either the metal buttons on his girlfriend’s jacket or her handbag that kept hitting my car. Over and over again.

He almost rammed a Bentley in front of him and nearly rear ended a Lambo while squeezing into that tiny spot. Very strange behavior. He clearly is not local despite having a local plate, because that valet parking setup cannot safely fit supercars next to each other. It works fine for a supercar next to a normal car, but not supercar to supercar.

From his looks, he looks like a Caucasian with short hair, very pale skin, and tiny dark sunglasses. He sits pretty high inside. Honestly, he looked like one of those villains from the Matrix movies.