One example I can think of , when we were kids Mom would say NO cookies before supper,and then catch us stealing a cookie, she would scream I told you no ,why did you take a cookie?
All we could mumble was I don’t know, the honest answer was gee Mom I thought I could get away with it but ya caught me.

The honest answer may hurt.

Sometimes the honest answer just makes people look stupid. That’s why you often won’t get one.

I do the honest answer thing.
It gets people upset.

@SQUEEKY2 Sounds like the movie “the invention of lying.”

I would just like to know what is going on in a stupid persons mind when they rush in to do something stupid.
Another example is when traffic is stopped because of an accident and some moron comes screaming around every one just to be part of the accident.
What is that driver thinking?? Man look at these idiots stopped, now I can get ahead, OH shit!!! CRASH!!!

@squeeky I think most of the time, especially with traffic situations, people do stupid things because they didn’t think.

They just want to get to their destination and they really don’t regard anyone else. Also, people never believe that their own driving abilities are bad, and they don’t think that they will ever cause an accident.

It’s a lack of thought, not that they set out to cause an accident with some diabolical plan. They do stupid stuff because they don’t think.

I think you are right for the most part @Kardamom , so what is it going to take to get these stupid people to start thinking, especially when it comes to driving?

@SQUEEKY2: You seem to have missed @Kardamom‘s point. The people aren’t stupid. They do stupid things because they didn’t think. The smartest people get into auto accidents and the smartest people may not even be at fault if they’re involved in an accident. Also, people get stressed out and may involve themselves where they don’t have to be.

I was at a light a few months ago and an oil tanker decided (I’m guessing) he was too far into the intersection and so he backed up into me. Not may fault at all. Maybe not even something he could have avoided because he probably couldn’t see me in his mirrors. I don’t think of him as a stupid person and I wasn’t to blame at all so my intelligence had nothing to do with it, and yet there you have it, over 1000 dollars in body work.

After he became an adult I asked my son why he did some of the stupid things he did as a kid. I asked “What were you thinking when you did them?”. His reply was that he wasn’t thinking, he acted first because that is what he wanted to do and then tried to find a way to deal with whatever consequences resulted.
I think this may be true for many of us.

@jca Instead of saying I missed the point, I did understand at what she said by that people didn’t think of what they were doing.
I am guessing you think I missed the point by calling the people that didn’t think stupid.
And I never called the non-fault people stupid.
But we can’t keep making excuses I was stressed, tired, had my mind on other things,sorry about that you will get used to being dead or in a wheel chair.
We HAVE to start thinking about driving and what is going on around us.
Next time you pull up behind a semi, I bet you will be just off to his/her drivers side just a bit to make sure the driver can see you in their mirror ,right?
We all do stupid things from time to time, the difference between intelligent people and stupid people when it comes to these stupid actions is the stupid people keep making them over and over NEVER learning from them, an intelligent person thinks “Boy that was stupid”, I won’t do that again and never does.

So I guess the answer to my question wether or not the person is stupid, the answer would be I wasn’t thinking I just wanted to do it.
No thought process involved , no regard for anything or anyone, I just wanted to do it and went for it.
Or did I miss the point as I so often do?

I think part of the challenge with the “what were you thinking?” question, at least every time that I’ve heard it, is that it already assumes that the person in question wasn’t doing what they should have been doing, or wasn’t thinking about the issue like they should have been. It’s always seemed more like a reprimand than a genuine question to me, and I think that’s because it’s a question that already assumes that whatever answer the person in question offers as an answer won’t be a sufficient answer. It’s a question that primes the asker to be disappointed by the answer.

Someone rides a bike without a helmet and falls and gets a concussion. Or just gets a bit banged up. Someone else asks them, “What were you thinking?” The cyclist thought they wouldn’t fall. But the asker seems to really be asking, “How, with all of the bike safety information out there today, did you think that a helmet wasn’t worth the effort?”—Well, again, because the cyclist thought they wouldn’t fall. But that’s not the kind of answer that the question really wants, which makes it seem like a bad answer…. Cue the shrug, cue the “I dunno.”

I had a cousin die before I was born because they weren’t wearing a seatbelt. I had a bad fall on a tricycle when I was three or four, hitting my head on playground asphalt of a nearby playground. I had been wearing a helmet, and the size of the dent in the helmet suggested that, if it hadn’t save my life, it had at least saved me a trip to the ER for stitches. When I was eight or so I was riding a scooter indoors and hit my head on a corner, splitting open the skin above my right eye—that time I did have to get stitches (okay, a single stitch). Because of all of that, I never feel like falling off a bicycle is improbable. But I know people who don’t have the same background with vehicular accidents, who just find my adamant use of a helmet amusing… Meanwhile I stare at them bug-eyed and think, What are you thinking?

I get where you are coming from @Soubresaut but when it comes to personal safety such as a bike helmet the only person that is going to suffer if they crash is themselves.
Unlike motor vehicles if some one does something thoughtless( notice I didn’t say stupid) someone else’s life could be totally ruined.
Just because they had to cut in front, get that text, or anything else that distracts them from driving.
AS @Kardamom no one set out with a diabolical plan to have or cause an accident by doing something stupid, they just want to be first, and don’t think why is all the traffic stopped, oh shit it’s an accident CRASH!!
And totally agree with the last part of your answer WHAT are you thinking? and I guess the answer is they simply were NOT, and it’s sad that the person they hit just killed a kid and put another in a wheel chair for the rest of their lives , but they were not stupid just not thinking because of a number of reasons, but oh well shit happens and after all I was in a hurry and that is fine.

@SQUEEKY2: The oil truck’s insurance paid for my full repair plus premium rental (meaning SUV or better quality car) for the whole time my car was at the body shop. At no time did they imply that I was to blame for the tanker backing into me. If I were to blame in any way, the insurance wouldn’t have paid 100% plus rental. I didn’t pay a dime toward anything. I wasn’t near the truck when I stopped my car.

@jca You’re missing the point did I once say you were at fault in any way?
But I have no doubt he couldn’t see you in his mirrors, that is why I stated next time I believe you will be just off a touch to the drivers side so he/she will have no problem seeing you in their mirrors.RIGHT?

@SQUEEKY2 : When I stopped, I was nowhere near that guy. Not near his drivers side, not near his passenger side.

What is no where near him, 2 car spaces,3, 4, I have had small vehicles directly behind me as far as 6 and couldn’t see them at all, hence maybe a good idea to be just off a touch to his drivers side NO matter how far back you think you are so they can see you..
Or maybe I am missing the point again?
Remember this if YOU can’t see his drivers mirror there is a very good chance he can’t see you.
And your last answer said it all you were directly behind him, and while not your fault in the least you did make it hard for him to see you, now do you get MY POINT!

@SQUEEKY2: Where on here have I said I was directly behind him? I said from the beginning that he probably decided he was too far into the intersection.

Uh the one right above mine,“When I stopped, I was nowhere near that guy. Not near his drivers side, not near his passenger side.”
What else does that say?^^ And nowhere near ?How many car lengths were you? You won’t say, and I still not indicating anything your fault, just saying makes sure the big truck can see you in their mirrors wether it’s 10 feet or a 1000feet.

@SQUEEKY2: Offhand I don’t remember how many car lengths behind him I was. I wasn’t up his ass if that’s what you’re thinking. I was far enough away that when he put it in reverse I saw it coming “Whoa!” A truck next to him was honking his horn but the guy kept coming. The continued questioning about where I was in relation to him gives me the impression you think I could have avoided getting hit. My point is if I were in any way responsible, the truck’s insurance would not have paid out 100%.

Your missing the point, and I never said you could have avoided it, and glad to hear at least another driver has on his horn.
What I am saying and you said it yourself you were not on his drivers or passengers side. and I pointed out I have had a small vehicle as far as 6 car lengths behind me an I couldn’t see him in my mirrors, and all I am saying is the next time you pull up behind a semi I bet you will be just off enough on the drivers side so you know full well he/she can see you in their mirrors,regardless of the distance.
The driver was in the wrong for backing up in an intersection, that’s why there was no argument on their behalf, you make it sound like he backed up 50 plus feet which I highly doubt if he was that far advanced in the intersection he should have just proceeded even if the light was turning red he would have had time before the other side turned green.
And before you get in a huff I know you never said 50 feet but that is what you make it seem like it was.
He was in the wrong I GET THAT, what you don’t get is and I know you were not sitting on his bumper but even just a few car lengths behind and as you said not to his left or right HE DIDN’T SEE YOU ! He is still in the wrong, and maybe next time when you pull up behind a large truck you will be sure he can see you in his mirrors, get it now!!

@SQUEEKY2: I’m not in a huff.

Glad to hear it, but do you understand about making yourself seen by the big trucks, so many car drivers don’t.
There is quite a bit of space behind a big truck that a small vehicle can’t be seen by the truck driver from the drivers seat.
Don’t get me wrong there are a lot of bad truck drivers, but if car drivers became more aware of what the truck driver has to do, see, ect , they would be more understanding.
Like cornering in city traffic car drivers seem to never understand we HAVE to take the corner very wide or our trailer(s) will go in the ditch, or way up on the curb but when they see us swing out to take the corner they see it as an opportunity to seek in for some reason and then get squeezed and hit by our trailer..
Another you would not believe how many car drivers will just sit next to our drive tires for miles on the freeway for some reason, not a good place if it wasn’t for our round convex mirror they would totally be in our blind spot, and what if one of those retread tires blew it could rip the roof right off a small car, if the car drivers knew that I doubt they would do it, and yet it goes on.