The Worst Driving Habits of Reddit’s r/cars

Everyone has bad driving habits. Ironically, a situation in which one should be most alert is often when many people choose to be the most distracted.

You’re hurtling down a concrete road at 70 miles per hour, and that’s when you choose to text, eat a burger, put on your makeup, change pants and start up a game of Jenga. Of course, if you have a self-driving car, none of this is a problem.

But for the majority of the population that doesn’t dive out of bed into a comically large pile of gold (which would cause so much pain, by the way), distracted driving isn’t even a remotely good idea.

That being said, many Reddit users took to their keyboards to craft some responses to my question, “What’s your worst driving habit?” 886 people responded, actually. I’ve shifted through them and found some of the best, worst, and most amusing. Here we go:

Bad Answer

“I mistakenly expect competence, or at least a basic understanding of the rules of the road, from my fellow drivers.”

This is just a way of saying “well, I sure don’t have any bad habits, but other drivers do so I’m blaming them for everything.” We get it dude, other drivers suck. But this answer is like saying your biggest weakness in a job interview is “I try to hard and foolishly expect others to do as good as work as me.” You’re not fooling anyone.

Headlights

“I have a terrible habit of staring into the headlights of cars in oncoming traffic because I’m trying to see if it’s a police vehicle or not. I’ve tried to stop so many times but I just can’t.”

Texting and driving is bad enough, but starting deeply into the eyes of some headlights can go from a bad habit to deadly habit pretty quick.

Get Some Sleep

“I get really sleepy while driving on freeways. I have to catch myself and pull off the freeway, it gets that bad sometimes.”

It’s understandable if you’re on a long road trip and you become tired after a while, but you really should be more aware of how tired you’re likely to get before you hit the road. Scientists have tested humanity’s capacity to drive while sleeping, and the results weren’t favorable.

So You’re THAT Guy

“If someone is blocking the left lane, I intentionally cut them off as close as I can.”

Yeah, a good idea to get back at somebody is to nearly cause an accident. Good call.

Break Check

“I lightly brake check tailgaters and spray washer fluid at them.”

Getting brake checked is a horrifying, albeit momentary, experience in and of itself. Nothing is more terrifying than feeling the panic that jolts your system as you prepare to smash your rolling, two-ton metal machine into someone else’s rolling, two-ton metal machine.

But to add insult to injury, this person is also sprinkling the victim with washer fluid. They’re stopping so abruptly that it flings washer fluid 10 feet back.

The lesson here? Don’t tailgate.

Under the Speed Limit

“I get irrationally angry at drivers who drive well under the speed limit on a two-lane road who refuse to use turnouts. If I’m stuck behind someone for more than a mile or two and they pass perfectly safe places to pull over, I will find a way around them and will make my dissatisfaction obvious, usually in the form of a rude hand gesture.”

Many of you can surely relate to this feeling. On the road, everyone becomes hyper-aggressive and extremely bold. Very rarely will someone make a “rude hand gesture” at a complete stranger while walking down the street. But cut someone off on the road, and you’re about to see some birds fly.

That being said, it’s super annoying when someone drives slowly in the fast lane, seemingly unaware of anything going on around them.

Even Numbers

“My worst habit is making sure the radio volume is an even number. I have taken my eyes off the road at dangerous times for this. I cannot break this stupid f****** habit, and still do it to this day. It’s horrible.”

That’s… an odd one.

At Least They Have A Plan

“When people don’t get out of the fast lane:

• Put on left turn signal to make them aware of me, for 5-10 seconds
• Flash brights a couple times, wait 5-10 seconds
• Flash brights a few more times, wait 5-10 seconds
• Lay on horn while flashing brights

Drives my girlfriend insane. Sorry. I hate dumb people. Move over.”

This is slightly better than the people who just jump to the last step.

Yikes. Pay Attention. 

“Autopiloting to a destination. I routinely miss my street destination if my destination falls along a familiar route. Also: distracted driving. Not because of phones/occupants, because I will get lost in my own mind while driving and not pay attention to my surroundings. I have run more than one stale red light full on because my mind was elsewhere and the intersection was clear (just not my lane was going). It’s really bad. I scare myself sometimes.”

It’s one thing to be slightly daydreaming, but that takes it to a new level.

Take A Chill Pill

“Anger. I get very angry, very often, and will sometimes go out of my way to piss off the driver who angered me. I know it’s a terrible habit, but F*** THAT GUY!”

I think this one could have been a lot of people’s number one choice. Road rage is scary.

So there you have it. For a subreddit that will call out even the slightest thing somebody did wrong in a video, they seem to all have their share of problems too.

Oh, and if you’re wondering… my bad habit is driving while using my knee to steer. For awhile I got really good at it, but I’ve pretty much stopped. Not the worst habit to have, but still not a good one.

Stay safe out there.