Historicist: "The city that nobody loves"
Elsewhere in the Ist-a-Verse
If Torontoist had our druthers when on the road, we'd outfit our vehicle James Bond-style with a laser death ray for vaporizing the bad drivers in our path. Whether it's the arrogant jackass weaving and deeking through QEW traffic at breakneck speeds or the dear old bluehair oblivious to the space around her, it only takes a bad driver or two to really make commuting around the city a white-knuckled experience.
Everyone who drives even occasionally can relate to the frustration, which is why bitching about bad drivers never gets old. Now Canadians can redirect their road rage toward the freshly-launched PlateWire Canada; a website where victims of aggressive drivers can vent about the incident and post the plate number of the offender.
Not all is negative, though: submitters can also commend other road rangers for exceptional driving, warn someone of a burned-out taillight or even make a potential love connection.
There are four categories of "wires." A green star is awarded to a thoughtful or courteous driver; a red flag warns of a rude or careless driver; an orange hazard sign indicates a physical problem with a vehicle, and a pink "wink" is for flirting with another driver you've encountered. We wonder if we can also wink at drivers we see joyfully singing at the top of their lungs to their car stereo, or post red warning flags for stoplight nosepickers.
Though the Canadian version of the site is still young, there is a certain sympathy one has rubbernecking through the wire reports. On Christmas Day, for example, a red BMW (plate DREWVILL) allegedly got antsy with slow-moving southbound traffic on Highway 50 and kicked into the northbound lanes to pass everyone. Another submitter found the driver of a grey Camry (plate AMYE 012) "quite a handsome man" and would like to contact him.
The voyeuristic schadenfreude extends to other provinces as well. "Take your precious, pathetic Xterra and find the nearest cliff!" growls a vexed B.C. driver. The plate may say "Friendly Manitoba," but a Brandon resident has serious beef with a couple of seniors. "Head back to the home and wait 'til Sunday. Thxs."
Someone behind the wheel in Ottawa even had a few words for the public transit drivers in our Capital, claiming that they are among the most disrespectful drivers he's ever seen. We can think of a few lead-footed or brake-pumping TTC bus drivers who could use an entry too, as can motorists who don't stop for the streetcar doors. Some of our taxis could take up an entire category by themselves.
PlateWire was started in May by Mark Buckman, a Fairfax, VA commuter who admits that most bad drivers will never see the rants about them. He does plan to expand awareness of PlateWire enough that the shaming becomes a significant deterrent of poor driving habits. Like similar site AboveAverageDriver.com, the primary satisfaction comes from merely having a place to vent.
Of course, if a driver sees something illegal or dangerous, the first step should always be to call the police and make a report. Ontario also has the Road Watch program, and the Ministry of Transportation presents some advice on dealing with angry or aggressive motorists.
Related on Torontoist:
Hummers and the Handicapped
An Open Letter to Toronto Drivers
Someone Needs Remedial Driving Lessons
Vehicle and Star Trek licence plate images by Marc Lostracco
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This is amazing...like a passive-aggressive Craigslist Missed Connections for drivers. I was on the road today and let a middle-aged lady through driving along Queensway at around Islington. As I was stopped to let her into the intersection, another guy barelled by me and cut her off again. She rolled down her window and angrily flipped him off as he passed, shouting something, and then, as she passed by me, switched moods immediately, smiled, and calmly mouthed "thank you." Drivers are weird. And this site is awesome.
One of the things that irks me the most are the lane drifters who don't use their signals. It's totally arrogant and annoying to just assume that everyone will move to accomodate you. Note to drivers: signals are for the sole purpose of letting other people know what you plan to do. Just last weekend I was making a lane change into the centre lane as another car drifted over into the same spot. I had no idea that he was going to suddenly switch with lanes without warning, nor did he particularly seem too aware of my own signal.
An absolutely mind-boggling thing I've seen a few times is people reversing on exit ramps when they accidentally left the highway. As for those who cross three lanes in one fell swoop to make an exit: it's not that big of a deal to take the next exit and backtrack if you miss yours. One of the first things I learned at sixteen from my Young Drivers of Canada instructor is to keep going and deal if it looks like you might miss your exit.
Last night I saw two cars driving the streets of Toronto with all of their lights off. Doesn't the dark instrument panel indicate that your headlights are off (they were older cars that don't have the usual DRLs)? Speaking of lights, bicyclists who ride in the dark without lights and especially reflectors are goddamn idiots (and I'm a cyclist). I'm amazed at how many people do this, and how invisible they are when I'm driving a car.
Isn't the title of this article the premise of a Seinfeld episode?
Uh, let me see.... Yup. The episode is "The Good Samaritan."
http://wave.prohosting.com/tnguym/Scripts/TheGoodSamaritan.html
s/b "Dekeing"