Are Audi jockeys the new Volvo Drivers?

[Knuckle Dragger]

First a confession.  I rather enjoy waching Boob-Tube videos around the "bikers vs angry motorists" theme.  There's literally dozens of 'em. 

Some things I've noted:  many bikers are extremely angry, arrogant & selfish about their personal entitlement to use their particular lane of traffic.  Given that the average multi-wheeled vehicle will sustain mostly minor damage (if any) in a collision with a bike, whereas the latter will almost inevitably receive life-threatening injury in the exchange, it's in some way understandable to jealously guard a safe buffer space around the bike, it's probably a behavioural response born(e) of repeated near-misses.

Many road users are inattentive (telephone users are particularly at fault here), lazy and irresponsible in not clearly signalling intent (lane changes etc.) with indication & brake lights, and all too willing to turn at intersections without either a proper look or in a safe & judicious manner.

Yet I also see many bikies ignoring the life-saving "invisibility" principle.  That if you can't see a driver's eyes in their mirrors when following, that you also can't be seen.  I also see many bikies travelling on the extreme outside of their roadway/lane; almost an open invitation for larger vehicles to overtake closely/unsafely.  Many also seem "surprised" when vehicles turn in front of them, rev-bombing, hurling abuse and unseemly gestures at the perp. with little consideration of the other party's particular (possibly mitigating) circumstances or their own contribution to the incident.

Excessive speed is often a contributory factor for many of these close-calls, & doubtless quite a bit of injury & death too.  As is the bikie's tendency to "duck 'n weave" between lanes at speed and without adequate indication.

To the vehicles involved:  I see quite a lot of arrogance/ignorance/selfishness on the part of ute drivers in the Americas & Oz.  In Europe the likely perps are the ubiquitous "white van man".  Of passenger vehicles, I see an overwhelming preponderance of Audi & BMW drivers displaying bad road manners & behaviour.  Why is this?  In fact, it seems that the more expensive the vehicle, the worse the behaviour and inattentiveness of the driver.

I've had a couple of Audis myself.  Crap vehicles in my opinion.  The former had an irredeemably insatiable appetite for clutch cables, and with the latter extraordinarily high maintenance and overall running costs.  The last straw for me was the $3000+ bill (& 3 visits for repair) for a freakin' POWER STEERING HOSE!  No lie!  Never again.

But what in particular is it about Audi pilots that makes them such crap drivers?  Van, lorry & ute jockeys (I include myself here) at least can claim in (partial) mitigation that they're somewhat "vision & performance restricted" by the vehicles' architecture, GVM &/or load, but that's generally irrelevant to your average car, Range Rover et. al.  In fact, the bigger "monster truck" SUV are both renowned & marketed as having superior road vision. 

What are the worst fellow road-user subgroups that others have encountered?  I find the mobile "speed bumps" (my personal collective noun for them) of selfish, arrogant & argumentative road-hogging cyclists on my own country roads pretty irritating at times too.  Yet they in turn are probably some of the most potentially vulnerable road-users out there.

[Smithy]

Subaru drivers are the new Volvo drivers...

[reidy]

Funny you should say that as I had the exact same thought today.
I also heard an acronym for AUDI the other day.
A - you can choose your own suitable word, I wont suggest a word as it may offend.
U- usually
D - drive
I - it

Steve
 

[fossil]

Well, this is funny. I am German, living in the Audi (and BMW) homeland. And I have a real hate on the drivers of black Audis (are they available in colours too?) in the meantime. They are arrogant, agressive, outright dangerous, red traffic lights and speed limits means nothing to them. It may be this is because driving an Audi is equally exciting as painting a plain wall white. Dead steering, bad suspension, mostly bad sounding Diesel engines. When I have to drive an Audi this is extremely unsatisfying. So I also tend to drive them fast so I at least sense something. Extremely different from my very old well maintained Mercedes, more different from a Jaguar or (surprisingly) the new Mazda 3. I think Audi drivers are very disappointed. But those cars are expensive, and in several circles it is "in" to drive an Audi as status symbol.

Just imagine driving in France. 130 kph are allowed, all are driving with 145 kph (indicated) one after another for hours. Without overtaking. A look in the rear view mirror shows a car approaching fast. Of course a black Audi A6 (the worst of all). I experienced it quite often, driving a BMW 3 series...

I observe the new Audi drivers here are the Skoda drivers (ok, technically the same cars...). BMW drivers on the Autobahn are much more docile than in the years before, although still a few of them top any other driver in agressive stupid behaviour. Volvo drivers come next behind Skoda. And Porsche sportscar drivers here are outright peaceful...

[wyno]

Here in Geelong, it seems Mercedes are the vehicle of choice for bad driving behaviour, especially failing to use indicators. Referring to your comment about "speed bumps". The ones who ride on the Great Ocean Road are among the worst. They quite often ride 2 or 3 wide on a road that is barely wide enough for two cars and has no ground beyond the white line at the edge of the road. They travel at speeds often 50 to 60 kmh below the speed limit and wobble all over the road. I have been doing the 80kmh limit and come around a blind uphill bend and suddenly found that there were a group of cyclists riding  3 abreast at 10kmh. If you toot your horn to let them know that you are behind them, they will (and have) give you the finger and swear at you for infringing on their right to hog the road. I find some cyclists to be very good, but from what I have seen myself, most of them flout the road laws and behave in a very arrogant manner.
Sorry for the rant, but they are not only endangering others but also themselves riding on a road that is not suitable for them.

[fossil]

Indicators? Do newer cars have  indicators?

[Kev m]

Jeremy Clarkson pointed out on his final season at top gear that once you couldn't drive a BMW unless you were a cock, but that all the cocks had more recently discovered Audi.

It's probably a self selecting bias, but it could have a footing in reality, that the brand image appeals to a number of entitled twats.

[larrys]

Fat moms in minivans are the primary road menace around here. Blue hairs who can barely see above the steering wheel are a close second. YMMV.
Larry

[Vagrant]

It's the old "I found the down payment to put one in my garage so therefore I am better than you"!
Show me the man with one that he paid cash for and I bet he's a reasonably good driver.

[Two Checks]

Didn't Cadillac and Lincoln fall into this category 50 years ago?

[oldbike54]

 <sigh>

 Dusty

[LowRyter]

Built To Lease

[sib]

Fat moms in minivans are the primary road menace around here. Blue hairs who can barely see above the steering wheel are a close second. YMMV.
Larry

To each his/her own.  In neighboring RI, the culprits are beat-up old pickup trucks driving 30 mph, oblivious that they're holding up traffic.  Eventually, patience is lost and they get passed even on narrow roads, and they never pull over into the right portion of their lane to give a motorcycle a chance to pass safely.  Add to that the fact that most RI drivers don't know what a turn signal is, so you never know whether the slow pickup in front of you is about to make a left turn or a uey.  Rant over.

[jbell]

Blame it on Jason Statham and his "Transporter" movies.  He's probably responsible for putting more Audis on the road than all their other advertising combined and making the drivers feel competent and invincible.  I also believe a lot of riders forget or don't even realize that jumping on a bike is akin to putting on a Harry Potter "invisibility cloak."  It ain't fair but it's just part of the package.

[john fish]

Around here, Audis and BMWs are just normal bad.  Top of the idiot pile are giant SUVs and pickup trucks.  That ridiculous Ford Raptor thingy seems to be #1 on the douchebag list.   Diesels who "roll coal" are #2.

[tetarabra]

Audi (and BMW ) owners are not simple drivers , they are often unrecognised high potential pilots.
We should feel honored to be allowed to share their roads.

[PeteS]

Around here, Audis and BMWs are just normal bad.  Top of the idiot pile are giant SUVs and pickup trucks.  That ridiculous Ford Raptor thingy seems to be #1 on the douchebag list.   Diesels who "roll coal" are #2.

Pretty much the same here. Most drivers of European cars are fairly sane here. Kids in Japanese sport sedans like to drive fast at least where the road is straight. Then its all brake lights in the turns. Still few are intentionally homicidal, more like manslaughter with their incessant texting.

Pete

[stormshearon]

Around the Microsoft campus in Redmond\Bellevue area, it seems to be:

1. Anyone in any type of minivan
2. Any Audi
3. Followed by BMW and Merc

But that is just my NSHO 

[Mr Pootle]

I've given myself a one week ban on criticising Audi drivers, after one let me out of a difficult junction last Tuesday. Next Tuesday I'll be free to post about the way the average Audi driver behaves here in the UK.

[canuck750]

Worst for entitlement and aggressive behaviours are the quad cab 4 x 4 pick up trucks, all with a wheel, tire and lift kit, and these are the most popular vehicle in these parts, the downturn in the oil sector doesn't seem to have slowed sales as much as most thought it would. Why any young guy thinks a $80 ~ $90K pick up is a wise purchase is beyond me. The required accessories are white sunglasses and baseball cap worn backwards and for good measure a giant Harley Davidson sticker on the back window and the kid peeing on the other truck brand, so classy!

For plain garden variety twats nothing seems to attract them like the Mazda 3 (a fine car in my opinion), don't know why it is but the young guys who drive them think they are in a Ferrari on a closed track.

Audi drivers aren't an issue, BMW has become more of an old guy car (why I own one) and the young bucks drive Lexus or Infinity.

[Canada72]

BMW’s slogan should be, “For those with a sense of entitlement”. Most aggressive and thoughtless group of drivers on the roads in my area, hands down.

Not sure where the Audi hate is coming from, but everyone has a different experience.

I always liked the saying: “The cheapest part on a Moto Guzzi is...the rider”. This forum definitely backs that up! 😆

[Antietam Classic Cycle]

"Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones".

Yeah, all of you are World Rally Championship level drivers and never turn a wrong wheel. 

[Rick in WNY]

Where I live, there aren't a lot of Audi's, BMWs, or Mercedes riding around. However, those that are must be trying to take up the slack caused by the low numbers.

However, the greatest vehicular issue I face... grey vehicles. See, I live in the NY Finger Lakes, up between Keuka and Seneca. Pretty country, just ask the tourists. But, because of the geography here, I live on a ridge. However, most roads are down in the valleys. Spring, summer, and fall, we get warm days, and cool nights. With the proximity of the lakes, it's quite humid, but not bad as long as the wind is blowing. At night, this moisture laden air cools, and condenses into amazingly thick banks of fog down in the valleys.

This morning, started my commute, and it was sunny and clear... up on top of the ridge. I dropped down into the valley and... into the fog. Now, New York has a small rule on the books where you are required to turn your lights on in times of reduced visibility. Rain, fog, snow, darkness, yes, even darkness... you are required to turn your lights on. Personally, I think it would be just common courtesy to do so, but that's me. It bothers me how many vehicles I see running in heavy fog with no lights on, and by far the worst offenders are grey vehicles. I see more grey cars without lights on than any other color... but that could just be a regional thing.

[kidsmoke]

To each his/her own.  In neighboring RI, the culprits are beat-up old pickup trucks driving 30 mph, oblivious that they're holding up traffic.  Eventually, patience is lost and they get passed even on narrow roads, and they never pull over into the right portion of their lane to give a motorcycle a chance to pass safely.  Add to that the fact that most RI drivers don't know what a turn signal is, so you never know whether the slow pickup in front of you is about to make a left turn or a uey.  Rant over.

stands to reason. They can't even spell "Road' correctly, after all.

[Guzzistajohn]

Beemer parking only 

[Two Checks]

We are talking cars, not bikes, so its Bimmer.

[LowRyter]

They're all Beemers to me. 

There were bikes here before there were cars.

[canuck750]

One thing about driving a BMW is there are always dedicated parking stalls open for you no matter where you end up

[roadscum]

Young kids on sport bikes are the biggest problem here. They tale gate, pop wheelies at 55 in traffic,  pass on the right or left shoulder, lane split at 70 miles an hour cutting off riders and/or driver when pulling in, never signal a turn and  have removed the turn signals, use dark smoked tail/brake light lens that are useless in the bright Florida sun.  Here in SW Florida they're likely to have their helmet dangling off the rear frame above the axel, wearing shorts and a t-shirt or no shirt, and in sandals. They'd make great organ donners but when the crash at high speed they become a soft glob of mush, danm it. 

Paul

[John Warner]

 Volvos (or rather their drivers) gained their bad reputation in the late 70s ~ early 80s, because they were touted/promoted as the 'safest' cars (for the driver), due to their design and equipment.
If you put someone in a car that's so 'safe' for the occupants, where they're surrounded with crash bars, airbags, crumple zones etc, etc, then in many cases, they're less likely to be so cautious or attentive.

Once every other car manufacturer caught up, then that meant there were dodgy drivers in all sorts of cars, as we now see every day.