By accessing this website, you acknowledge that Edmunds and its third party business partners may use cookies, pixels, and similar technologies to collect information about you and your interactions with the website as described in our
Privacy Statement, and you agree that your use of the website is subject to our
Visitor Agreement.
Comments
Here's one thing you could always do. Okay, so the speed limit's 65, right? However, that doesn't mean there's a law saying you HAVE to go 65 mph. You can go slower if you want, right? Just blow past the guy and then get in front of him, and drop down below 65 and give him a taste of his own medicine! Unfortunately if he flashes you, I don't know any finger gesture that would easily communicate "65 is the fastest legal limit, but I can go this speed if I want to". :shades:
About a month ago, I was going up to PA for a car show (can't remember if it was Carlisle or Hershey now). Anyway, on I-83 just south of York, there was this old guy in a fairly new Taurus who wanted to cruise at around 60 in the left lane. A few people had to pass him on the right. Speed limit was 65. When it was my turn to be behind him, I flashed him. My routine though, is to turn the low-beams on and off, not use the flash-to-pass, which activates the hi-beams. Even in the daytime, hi-beams can blind you if they catch you just right.
Anyway, this had no effect, so as soon as I had the opportunity I blew past him on the right. When I got back over in front of him, I rolled down my window and motioned to the right lane. He then got miffed and floored it in a lame attempt to scare me. Umm, when the person you want to intimidate is driving an Xterra, don't think your Taurus is going to do the trick!
Anyway, I don't know how close he thought he was going to get to me, but I probably made him load his Depends when I covered the brake with my left foot, while maintaining my speed.
A couple times he'd drop back and then try to come up fast a moment later trying to pass me on the right, but he'd always do it just as I was overtaking a slower moving car, so he'd inevitably get himself boxed in. Then, finally, he got stuck behind someone brave enough to take a Model-A Ford on the interstate, and the traffic in the left lane was going too fast for him to cut back over.
I was actually surprised this old guy would suddenly get that aggressive. While I did describe him as old, he wasn't THAT old! Basically, old enough to know better, but not so old that he forgot!
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Does that mean I can slow down to 1 MPH and show him one finger?
In reality why play their silly little games? Just pass and move on, it makes for a much happier life.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
She put her "power" SUV in gear and went forward to go over the tail of the sidewalk on out the backside entrance. She forgot there are concrete-filled metal poles sticking up in front of each car. I heard the impact. She stopped (of course) and sat for a second. Then put it in reverse, backed up, and went around the sidewalk end with it's handicap ramp builtin.
She never looked around to see if anyone was watching her bang up her nice black bumper! I describe it as "power" because of her body language as she carried her cup of coffee and got into the car. There was an attitude. She's not one of the regulars at 7:30 am.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Technically I guess you could, but just make sure you have your flashers on. I have seen signs in some areas that say "use flashers below 40 mph" :P
In reality why play their silly little games? Just pass and move on, it makes for a much happier life.
If someone's left-lane camping and I can get around them easily, usually that's what I'll do. If they've annoyed me enough though (an arbitrary thing to be sure), then sometimes after I've passed them I'll get back over, roll down my window, and motion them to the right lane. Believe it or not, I've actually found it to work about 50% of the time! The other times I'll usually get no response at all, or occasionally a flash of the brights (which is actually illegal to do within so many feet of another car in Maryland...300 I think. So "flash to pass" is technically breaking the law if it uses the high beams, as many do). Sometimes I'll get the "1 mph salute", even though they're going a bit faster.
I have a new Subaru WRX (5-speed manual). With 230 turbocharged horses under the hood, I'm at no loss for power. Although at the time this happened, I still had my 2000 Maxima, which also knew how to dance.
My first car was a V6 Buick Skylark (very torquey). Every car I've owned has had an abundance of power, so sometimes I forget what it's like driving an average little 4-banger. Then occasionally I have to rent a car, and I feel your pain!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I made a point to keep the car 5 under the SL in most cases, so it was a little slicker than normal.
This morning it was about the same, but I could tell that a good number of drivers were so focused on the road ahead that they were oblivious of everything else. At one point, there was a driver behind me (in a Chevy Lumina) running with his brights and a driver ahead with no lights (dark outside at 0820) and a left turn signal in perpetuity (driving an 00-04 Subaru Legacy sedan). So, the Lumina is right behind me as I am driving 50 and passing the 40-and-under crowd. After the right lane cleared, I pulled in there and of course the Lumina never passed. So, I slowed down a bit and let the Lumina ahead, then pulled in behind and gave him a quick triple-flash to notify of the annoying brights. I am not sure if he dimmed them though, as I never passed him again. For the Legacy, after passing it, I had fun just randomly turning on and off my left and right turn signals, thinking this driver would "get it." No such luck, and when I slowed to make a sweeping right turn, she passed me and I saw that her nose was about 3" from the steering wheel. She had this look of abject terror/concentration on her face like if she even blinked it would all be over! Hahaha.... oh, there is no substitute for a little competency.
Ah well. No other issues to report. All in all it is a very enjoyable time to drive - the more inclement the weather, the more I enjoy the challenge.
I've wondered if anybody besides me had ever tried this trick.
Right after I posted this last night, I drove home and witnessed another great case. A big Ford van was dawdling along in the left lane. Eventually I passed on the right. I kept tabs on the situation in the rear-view mirror, though.
Some small pickup passed the van on the right, then got in front of it, and slowed down (only slightly). In a moment of stark irony, the van let loose on the truck with the high beams! Such hypocrisy -- "oh, YOU can clog up the lane, but nobody else can?" Although I generally don't "approve" of dangerous games on crowded highways, I must admit I was a bit amused.
It gets better, though. Up to this point, I didn't know whether the truck was doing this intentionally, or just being another left lane hog. Well, the van tried to pass on the right, and the truck sped up to box the van in! Then the van got behind the truck with another display of high beams, and the truck slowed down again.
This process repeated several times. The van just couldn't muster the power to get around the truck on hilly 280, and continued delivering a regular high beam serenade the whole time.
Now, when a tall vehicle like a van lets loose with the high beams -- especially when the beams stay on, even as the vehicle attempts to change lanes and pass -- there is a lot of collateral damage. My auto-dimming rear-view mirror eliminated most of the glare, but a lot of people were getting showered by the unceremonious display.
The van continued to hover in the left lane for a while, but for some reason, turned on its hazard lights and slowed down noticeably. Maybe blew the tranny trying to pass the truck. Haha..
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Now, I recently got to drive a Cadillac CTS rental with the 3.6L 255 HP V6. That thing can move! :surprise: 75->100 MPH in no time flat (it doesn't even feel like you are going that fast).
Yeah you should try it with a V8.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Just like any AMG car. 100mph is like the car is idling, you can pass anything.
FWIW they offer the 6.0 liter Corvette V8 in the V series.
BTW the one you rented I take it it was an auto?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
A Focus Wagon. Even so, I can usually pass when I want to. Most people don't play games, but many will (unconsciously I believe) speed up a little when being passed.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Be careful out there. The leaves make your pavement extra slick in this weather.
The weather is an interesting tangent...
Yesterday my evening commute was in the rain, but traffic wasn't too bad. However, I got behind this CTS-V that wouldn't go over 30 - in a 40. So I go around him at about 40, I barely had to slow as there was a nice big gap in traffic. After I got past, I waited a bit and then got back into the lane...and then he speeds up and gets right on my butt, so close I couldn't see his lights. I was SO tempted to brake-check. After a short while he turned. What was going on? He didn't speed up as I passed, I didn't go back into the lane until I was a good 10 car lengths ahead. What?
Yet here in northern California, the infamous rainy season arrives with November and sticks around through February, sporadically through the end of March. The rest of the year, you typically won't see a single drop of precipitation. This has two main effects:
- The roads are incredibly slick the first few times it rains (until all the many months' worth of accumulated oil gets washed away).
- People collectively forget how to drive in the rain over the course of the summer.
You put it all together, and the result is collective paranoia behind the wheel, as well as some initial slips and collisions that further enforce this paranoia.
It took me about 40 minutes to drive 5 miles last night...
I was about ready to detonate the entire bay area.
Maybe it depends on what part, because where I'm from (upstate NY), the population is low and the driving is altogether much more courteous/considerate, and skilled in inclement weather driving, than it is out here.
Even rural parts of California I've visited are overloaded with people and cars, so you get much the same effects as in the bay area.
A person driving like that would have been pulled over.
In this area a rural, rural township officer pulled over a high schooler who flashed bright headlights at him because the officer had left his on. Probably intentionally.
Same area known for speed trap on old US route that runs through their juridiction. Friend of ours had to use her "get out of jail free" card. Officer was not happy with her.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I might move back there, and sadly, various overcrowding effects (including traffic) are a big contributing factor.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Of the recent past, I went from Boston, MA to Newport RI (no schedule or appointment) during RUSH hour. AH another BIG MISTAKE. The trip which felt like 70 miles? took 3.5 hours. It was raining in July.
After three years of living, working, and socializing here, I do believe there is a certain detached selfishness endemic to California which exacerbates overpopulation, and makes driving even worse. But that's a tangent for another conversation.
I agree that weather does deserve due consideration in overall driving stress, even in lightly populated areas like upstate NY. Rain was never too much of a problem (it happens several days a week all year anyway), but I had some interesting experiences in the snow over the years. A few times, my front-drive Buick Skylark couldn't even make it up some hills in Ithaca.
Probably the best was the time I drove from Ithaca to Binghamton to see my family on Christmas. It was snowing VERY heavily and in all honestly, I probably shouldn't have even been on the road. I'm not easily spooked by slippery conditions, but I drove very slowly that day, even on I81. The usual 1-hour drive took about 3 hours. Given that I was on break at college and had all the time in the world, though, I somewhat enjoyed the challenge.
When I bought my WRX recently, in the back of my mind was the car's AWD all-weather expertise. I've driven my mom's Forester in the snow, so I'd feel pretty confident driving this little gem back home in the winter.
They could have saved all of that weaving and just turned their lights on and cleared the left lane. Unfortunately, I never got close enough (I didn't dare go fast enough to do that!) to get anything to identify it, such as a license plate or car number. Oh well. :sick:
Not very often. Awhile ago we had a Chandler police officer doing 100+ MPH on a 45 MPH city street chasing after someone. He ran a red light and crashed shortly thereafter. They knew he was going that fast since he went through a red light camera intersection with radar. It took all of that and the associated publicity for them to do anything.
Then there is this:
http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/index.php?sty=70176
So the police got an free pass to speed on the 101. Commuters couldn't go 76 MPH but cops could go 117. Makes a whole lot of sense. :confuse: At least they are reconsidering it.
I recall all the people in this area with police FOP and FOPA medallions on their license plates. They typically were the tailgaters and fearless speeders. Many are the metro police department rather than the suburbs.
A friend of ours has used her "get out of jail card" twice in the last 4 months. Each time she tells the officer first that she has a permit to carry and has a gun in the car. I believe the first officer already knew it because he had called for backup before approaching her car!!!
I asked if she could get me a "get out of jail free card."
Decades back I lived near a rural city with a State Patrol headquarters. We'd often see speeding highway patrol cars. They'd be at headquarters or at the nearby top quality home cooking restaurant eating. What was the emergency for 10 and more over the speed limit?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I once lived in a small town with a volunteer fire dept. One of the members owned a bar for one of his "REAL" jobs. He was known for so called specials, ie, venison stew!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
#1 was a guy in front of me on an entrance ramp, in the ending lane, wasn't all the way in front of me and then decided to step on it to clear me. Well, the cars were slowing down in front of him for the ramp meter, so then he gets right on the bumper of the car in front of him and slams on his brakes, instead of smoothly speeding up and down, the whole way until I passed him, all down the ramp and through stop and go traffic, he kept surging and stomping his brakes.
#2 was actually four cars in front of me. Almost at the same time they moved from the middle lane and each cut someone off in the left lane. The crazy part? You could clearly see that that lane was coming to a stop. :confuse:
#3 was a semi in this traffic. Turns out he was causing most of the stop and go. I got into the right lane and found he was speeding up and down for no reason. The traffic was 1/2 mile in front of it and wasn't doing nearly the amount of speeding up and down.
#4 was a truck that wanted to go zooming at 95 MPH through traffic. Once it finally hit a clearing, it was off. I caught up a mile later in the next traffic jam, only to find it making repeated lane changed into lanes that were stopping. He kept going from lanes that were moving into those that were stopping. He was in a truck, so it wasn't like he couldn't see.
#5 was another truck. I'm following close to the car in front of me (not tailgating) and this Dodge Ram cuts me off. I'm rather frustrated with traffic so I flashed my lights. Ram decides he's going to brake check me, so I simply change lanes and pass him. Another nut that left his smooth moving lane for one that was going slower. So I start to pick up speed and I see the front end of his truck lift up and his engine roar, but he doesn't stand a chance. I'm in a clear lane going about 20 MPH faster than him and he has traffic in front of him.
#6 Now trying to get away from #5, I picked up the pace to 85 MPH (in a clear spot of traffic) and lucky me, there is a car in front about 3 seconds ahead going 85. So I look up and there is #5 closing on me, going about 100+ MPH. But not to be out done... (at this point, #6 looks normal, but you'll see...)
#7 cuts over from the right lane, cuts off #5 and flies up on my bumper. So now I'm about 1.5-2 seconds behind #6, #7 is right on my tail (can't even see the lights) and #5 is on his tail. Now #6 decides to go very quickly from 85 to 55 way ahead of the 55 zone. So I slam on my brakes, and we almost have a three car pile up. All the while, #5 is made about 4 lane changes trying to get behind me.
#8 is a small old Honda. Can't decide if it wants to go 7 under or 3 under. Slams on its brakes randomly (I'm not tailgating, but the cars behind me still are). Finally we clear a construction zone and just as a spot opens in traffic, it decides it wants to go 10 over, 75 MPH. Lucky for me (again) I've already planned for it and I've got my OD off and I'm going about 80, so I have no hassle passing it. At this point, #5 gave up trying to keep up with me and I lost #7 in the sea of headlights after it made a bad lane change.
#9 Was a Nissan Armada a good 8 (probably more) seconds behind traffic in front. Every time their brake lights came on, so did it.
#10 Was an old lady in a Toyota Camry. We're at an intersection. There are two cars coming and they are both in a right turn only lane with their blinkers on. A little ways down the road are more cars coming. We're trying to make a left on to this road. Rather than legally making the turn (law says to turn into the closest lane to you, so left and right and turn at the same time onto a two lane road and that is how almost everyone here does it), she decides to coast at 2 MPH through the intersection. This confuses the other drivers who make their turns extra slow.
What a drive! I'm glad to be home.
Snow tires aren't that expensive when you factor in what *could* happen. Like the guy in the Subaru Outback who spun out and went down an embankment last night, gonna cost him a lot more than it would have for snow tires just to get the car back on the road. He's lucky that nobody was coming around the curve when he crossed into the southbound lane, could have been much worse.
Ok, off my soapbox now.
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=maricopa,+az&ie=UTF8&z=11&ll=33.131226,-- - 111.94519&spn=0.266229,0.865173&om=1
It's a mostly flat, straight highway with an absurdly low limit of 65.
a state trooper enters from the right and gets behind me. i signal, move to the right and slow to 65.
the trooper goes by me and few seconds later there is a kia rio right behind him. after a minute or so, the trooper signals and moves into the middle lane! the rio stays in the left lane, but still right behind the cruiser.
a few minutes later the rio move over 2 lanes to the right and PASSES the cruiser.
of course, it was pulled over immediately!