The most aggravating things about being a driver 17. People who complain about your driving. There is a false stereotype that pizza drivers are bad drivers. That is simply not true. They are, in fact, the safest people on the roads. Most drivers have thousands of hours in road experience driving through residential neighborhoods. Almost all the driving we do takes place on residential streets. In more than ten years of experience, it does not happen that a driver in the store causes an accident. When people exaggerate an insignificant detail and draw ridiculous attention to it (like to a rolling stop) it only serves to inflate the false stereotype. It seems like everyone wants to be a driving instructor when they see the pizza driver on the street. If they saw another car do the same thing, they wouldn't care. This is prejudice. There is a popular myth that pizza drivers are teenagers. The truth is so far to the contrary, the average driver is 28 years old. The majority are in their 20s and 30s. It is not uncommon for people in their 50s to deliver pizza. This job creates experienced motorists in a short time. Pizza delivery drivers spend 9 times more hours behind the wheel than the average American, and accidents are unheard of. We who drive for a living are not inexperienced motorists. Do not treat us like teenagers. The popular misperception is so bad, some people become fearful or paranoid when they see the store sign on our cars. It's like a knee jerk reaction. They become extra critical about inane details. Some people call the store to complain. They nitpick us over a nothing issue. Unless the driver does something serious like a hit-and-run, they have no business complaining unless they are police officers. Almost all traffic complaints made to the store are laughed at by management and ignored. You can report the license plate to the police if you want, but it won't do any good. The police treat it as hearsay. The claim can't be validated. Police can't do a thing unless an officer can witness it. Police officers are the only people with authority to judge moving violations. People complain every day about speeding by less than 10 over, rolling stops, lane violations, failure to use a turn signal, cutting in, improper passing, improper parking, and other trivial infractions. They complain I drove too fast or too close to a child who was playing on the street, even though I slowed down or the child was already off the street. Some people even complain about things that aren't illegal, such as residential U-turns and parking on the left. Give us a break! The sign on the car means they can drive like normal people. Treat them like anyone else. Besides, how someone drives is really none of your business unless you're a police officer. These complaints are insulting. How would you like it if someone tried to get you fired from your job just because you rolled a stop sign? It's insane. You would think they were belittling you. Nobody should live under someone else's microscope. Even the cops generally overlook such trivialities. The pizza driver does not have a chauffeur's license. They are not expected to drive like one. The car sign does not say, "How's my driving?" They are naturally in a hurry and imperfect. Please treat them as you would any other driver on the road. That's all we ask. Some people are paranoid. They have no way to measure my speed, but when I do 25 in a 25 zone, they assume I was speeding. I can drive down a straight and level wide street with no congestion doing 25 in a 25 and people from the sidewalk will yell, "Slow down!" complete with rolling hand gesture. Just because it's the pizza guy. Some parents are over-protective. When I pass a group of children playing on the street not blocking traffic and I slow to 10 mph, they complain I was going too fast. Is 10 mph too fast for you? Even at 10, if a kid is stupid enough to dash out in front of me, my tires will screech at any speed. It does not mean I was driving recklessly. Often, the real fault lies in the parent for letting their kid play on a dark street. Sometimes they think I drove too close to the child simply because their kid was on the sidewalk. No ma'am, you don't have to worry about me driving on the sidewalk! I have on several occasions driven by children on the street who waved me through after I had stopped and yet drew a complaint from an over-protective parent. The sound of the engine does not indicate speed, yet someone on a residential street will complain about speeding if the engine sounds too loud. You can drive 10 mph and still be loud. People just assume you were speeding. The driver's car could have a rough idle. There might be a mechanical problem. The engine might be designed to be loud. Hit the gas at 10 and accelerate to 20 and some people think you did 45. The way to measure speed is through visual observation. Not by how the car sounds. It gets even worse. When the pizza driver was next to someone who drove recklessly, some people blame the pizza driver. I was only next to that car. A motorist behind me didn't like how slowly I drove when I looked for house numbers. They rudely passed me with revved engine and screeching tires. Someone down the street looked over to see what it was. By the time they could look, the other car was long gone and I was the only car left, so they thought it was me and yelled at me and tried to get me fired. Some people blame their own inattentiveness on the pizza driver. They did not pay attention to traffic and failed to notice my approach. By the time I get close, they suddenly see me and assume I must have sped to get there. This is nothing but prejudice. Sometimes other motorists treat the pizza guy horribly. They don't respect the driver's right-of-way when it's legally there. Heckling. They honk their horn, swerve wildly, flash their headlights, yell and otherwise behave aggressively when they see a pizza driver on the road next to them. They mess with you just for fun, such as deliberately slowing in front of the pizza guy. If I eventually manage to get around these idiots that do 5 or 10 mph, they complain to the store about my driving. They didn't like it when I escaped their rolling roadblock. Some ultra slow pokes have the nerve to accuse me of wanting to speed, not that I actually did. Their roadblock was to prevent me from doing whatever they imagined might happen. Those self-righteous jerks interfered with my job. When the flow of traffic was 10 over the speed limit, they complain I was going 10 over. The complaint is absurd. Some people complain because they want to scam a free pizza. This applies to pedestrians as well as other motorists. A few people follow the driver to complain directly. Don't ever do that! Don't take what you think is the law into your own hands. For one, following is considered stalking which is a felony in most states. An alleged moving violation is insignificant next to this. You can serve jail time for stalking. Second, drivers are alert that people will harass, vandalize, rob, assault, and even murder them. Delivery is a dangerous job and we are always on our guard. When someone follows, the driver anticipates the worst. You have no right to follow. In fact, it's against the law. We don't have to stop for you, hear you out, agree with you, or acknowledge you in any way. Most drivers will prosecute. Harassment and stalking are crimes. We don't have to take abuse. Last updated: June 9, 2010 return to top