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Comments
I know what you meant about the contrast between LV and the Navajo nation areas, we stayed in Tuba City, and although the hotel area was fine, it was really neglected a few streets away...
At the time, we felt a bit unusual because there were far less foreign tourists than we were expecting, as a result of 9/11 I suppose - in fact we were determined to go to US for that holiday because of that, in a way, really to show that we weren't going to be put off travelling by lunatics.
I can honestly say I have seldom been to a more friendly part of the world, and we are going to get back in a couple of years....
On the other hand, I do trust people I'm riding with, assuming they're not just learning to drive. And I've ridden with people who push their cars way, way harder than I push mine (and I do have fun with my WRX).
I've realized part of the reason passengers get so cagey is that the driver can directly predict the physical forces resulting from his/her actions. The passenger might see the driver jerk the wheel or plant the throttle, but the feedback is less visceral than if you're actually manipulating the controls yourself.
A good example: any car feels a LOT more powerful if I'm the passenger and the driver floors it, as opposed to if I'm driving the same car. When I'm behind the wheel, my body anticipates the physical feedback, and it feels less intense as a result.
So when I'm a passenger, I remind myself everything is getting amplified for me, and if I'm driving a nervous passenger, I calmly explain this to him/her while he/she is sitting there screaming hysterically. (Slight exaggeration maybe.)
So when I'm a passenger, I remind myself everything is getting amplified for me, and if I'm driving a nervous passenger, I calmly explain this to him/her while he/she is sitting there screaming hysterically. (Slight exaggeration maybe.)
Exaggeration. Hah. :P
YES! I have noticed that sometimes I've depressed the throttle just to the point before it would unlock the torque converter and it doesn't seem to be doing much. But my passengers tell me we're accelerating quickly. Go figure.
I understand the issue now, and the reason I didn't before, is that I tend to be a backseat driver. So I'm expecting most everything the driver does as if I was driving myself.
Exaggeration. Hah.
It's not always an exaggeration. I sometimes drive my Dad around and he has Alzheimer's. So that entails increased fear and anxiety, as well as a mis-perception of reality. And it's unpredictable, sometimes he's not like that. So on the way into Phoenix, I can make a half-dozen lane changes passing people and then on the way home, I'll make two at a mere 5 MPH over the limit and he tells me I'm going way too fast and to quit weaving.
Anyway, I got really badly lost just east of Tucumcari. I ended up wandering around these weird back roads -- lots lot of little hills and dales -- and got to the point where I wouldn't have been able to retrace my steps and get back to Tucumcari even if I wanted to. But it was daylight and I had plenty of gas, so I just kept going, and I finally picked up a state route in Texas like 35 miles later.
I passed quite a few houses on the trip, but I only saw some kids playing in the lawns of a couple of them. I bet it was the first and last time they saw a car with CT plates -- a VW, no less.
Sounds like my wife. Just a few lane changes and she starts telling me to stop changing lanes. When I keep up with traffic she yells "slow down". :sick:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Wonder if they have a word or two programmed and available for use when a cell phone driver is following.
Another company offers a scrolling message that can be displayed by a device in the rear window. Hopefully, the message(s) are canned and can't be typed in by driver while driving.
Wonder who will be first car driver that will flash "Idiot" to an 18-wheeler following too closely. We will probably get an account of this on FOX or CNN.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Regarding, "
Wonder who will be first car driver that will flash "Idiot" to an 18-wheeler following too closely. We will probably get an account of this on FOX or CNN. ", depending where he/she flashes the message, may get him/her shot at.
Over the years in the San Francisco/Oakland area, drivers have been shot at by other drivers. Scary to see communications between cars increase. Bad enough when people give the "finger" to other drivers. JMO, the world is becoming more intense and insane.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jenad
Unfortunately, jensad is right on target with his assertion. More often than not, the other drivers are viewed with a statically hostile eye... These are the enemy, they think, and they must be treated as such.
I was driving on a 4-lane (each way) highway during morning rush hour... only to find that there were 6 lanes of cars. (pull-over lane? you mean you can't drive on that?)
And at the same time, the 3 cars in front of me all tried to drive on the divided line separating the passing lane from the one just to the right of it.
Which meant, of course, that both lanes were rendered unusable, as they straddled both.
And let's not forget the buses... ping-ponging across all the lanes of traffic like tennis balls. Cutting off or better yet, forcing cars off the road at random.
But then, this is considered proper driving procedures over here in the 'ever-so-wonderful' paradise of Seoul, South Korea.
:sick:
I can see it now... Driver 'A' sees driver 'B' talking on her cell phone and starts typing in the message "Get off the phone, pay atten.." just as driver 'B' rearends driver 'C'
and, when he grows up, he'll never be able to merge
his car onto the freeway.
If enough parents teach their children to be polite and courteous, merging problems would diminish greatly. Merging, gridlock, societal decay.... :sick:
Around here it's the passive aggressive disease...they will calmly merge on to I-90 at 35-40mph, but they will speed up if you pass them on a 2 lane road.
You would.... *gulp*.... pass them on a 2 lane road?! How dare you! :P
Who else hates the thing when your waiting behind someone at a stop sign and both drivers are waving the other on like "you go first" and the other driver does the same thing and then nobody goes because they are both too polite to go first. And then one driver starts to go and the other does the same and then both stop again and the game starts over again
I have noticed that, most commonly, the "no, you go" problem occurs when a driver on the right tries to cede right of way to a driver on the left when right of way, by default, belongs to the driver on the right, or when two drivers pull up across from each other and one of them (usually the one arriving first) wants to turn left. The overly timid person person in the second scenario being the one turning left! The funniest (most annoying) part is that when the "we both go" false start happens, the drivers get even more timid about attempting to go again! :P
If I am waived through (first, second, or tie), I take it - no sense in arguing, the other driver just gave me right of way! If I arrive second, I will give the driver a moment to take the proper right of way (usually will even signal to the other driver), but if that driver does not respond within about 2 seconds or waives me through after I have already signaled, time's up! I go.
There is no place for hesitation/indecision on a roadway. Courteous and assertive; I think that is the proper way to drive.
1.) last car in a bunch of cars going through a green light. i am a bit behind the car in front of me but not to far and the light stays green for us as I entered the intersection. Yet a car coming the other way couldn't wait for me to go through and turns left right in front of me. Good thin my brakes are good.
2.) a little while later I am again the last car in the group but we are all stopped at a red light. I look in my rear view mirror to see a huge Dodge pickup behind me in a panic stop and veering off into the on coming traffics lane in an attempt to miss me.
3.) A little while later i am the only car on a two lane (in each direction) road going through an intersection having a green light. Just as I entered the intersection some clown decides to make a right turn on red. Luckily I had a lane to move into to avoid him.
4.) not a mile later on the same road off from a side street two cars pull onto the road just as I approach the intersection. One takes the left lane and the other the right and me right behind them doing 45-50 MPH standing on my brake pedal.
Gee I must be invisible today.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Were you driving the Elantra? If so, maybe that car is invisible! You are going to have to get rid of it just to save your skin! :mad:
#2 and #4 sound like the worst of the bunch, though if #3 had happened up here, the bozo would have pulled directly into the left lane, so you would have smacked it anyway! :sick:
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
If he were to come to a complete (or near complete) stop, he would have to yield. But by running the sign, he steals the right of way, by being first into the intersection. It makes perfect sense. His time is more important than everyone else's. :sick:
james
Get yourself an old full-size pickup, at least 15 years old, maybe red, with nice dents and scrapes and rust, jack it up with a suspension mod, get some big wheels/tires, put a light bar with 4 big lights on the roof, put on loud mufflers, put on tow rig in back and leave in a long extended bar/ball, drive it around in the mud for a while and don't wash it (ever). Then, if you wear a red tie, tug on it a little bit and say that you "got no respect" in the former Elantra and park it. Now, you are ready to use the pickup. There should be no problem in people staying out of your way and giving you respect.
The ones that annoy me are when they do the "rolling stop" and go while the person with right of way is already in the intersection (if, of course, there are directional conflicts!). Especially if it is a 2-way stop intersecting a main road, as in those situations a delay in crossing or turning could create a potential T-bone collision situation with vehicles on that main road.
That's why the ticket states, "Failure to Yield Right of Way."
I have to wonder whether intersection collisions that result from one driver passing through the intersection on an early red (so, basically should have stopped at the yellow, but either mis-judged it or tried to beat it) while another driver approaching the same intersection (not stopped yet) flies through on an early green are cited as the red-runner's sole fault, or if some fault is issued to both drivers for failure to exercise due caution. Obviously, the red-runner would still likely receive a "failure to stop on red" citation. But the point is that such collisions are usually the result of both drivers being careless in some way.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I once blew the horn, got half a Peace sign so I stopped and said to the punk. "I won't drive on the sidewalk if you won't amble down the street."
The kid's father phoned me at the office asking why I was giving his kid a bad time. Oy Vay! :P
Did you ask him why his kid was blocking traffic?
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Today I am out, and a VERY old man in an Outback (maybe civil war vet) pulls up from a minor side street to the 40mph road I am travelling...I was quite close to the intersection...he makes a California stop and dawdles out into the road directly in front of me, and proceeds to go about 25. I had to swerve around him, and got to lay on my horn. His gaze was fixed straight ahead, oblivious to the world around him.
It sounds like your most fortunate to get to work and back without losing your life due to this influx of discourteous slugs that have no concept of driving safely.
I am glad you are ok and not injured.
Good luck to all and stay safe.
jensad
From what I understand, some feel that if they are going the speed limit and everyone else is exceeding it, then their behavior is justified and perfectly OK. The speed limit on that road where you got cut off wasn't by any chance 25, was it? :-/
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
This is another reason why I think cops show boat when they pull folks over for speeding. The real reason is the 100's to 1,000's of folks who see the scenario. Is it really worth the risk to life and limp both to the officer and that officers' "customer"? They could escort them OFF the freeway, but again you would lose that show boat affect/effect.
Ok I am driving through this residential area doing maybe 25-30MPH and some Lexus SUV gets behind me like I am not going fast enough. Keeps right on my tail way to close (even at 30MPH) like they are trying to push me. Well we get to the end of the road (still in a residential area) at a 'T' intersection and this guy squeezes into the right side as I am turning left.
Well the road we took (me one way him the other) is basically in a 'U' shape and comes out at the same two lane (one in each direction) road. The way I took is quicker to it but brings you further back than going the other way.
So I get onto this other road and pass the other end of that 'U' shaped street. About a few blocks after that point guess who came up real fast behind me? yep that Lexus :confuse:
I would have loved to know what he was thinking when he came up behind me again.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Seems most everyone around here has been behaving themselves lately. Breakup is in full swing here, so most of the roads are dry, some of the in-town roads have huge puddles of water (30-40' long, maybe 6" deep) that are great for a *little* splashing, and my residential street is laden with about 6" of heavy slush, but it should be gone in a few more days.
My most likely time for finding inconsiderates is my weekly drive to "game night" on Saturday nights. I was forced to skip it this week because my wife's old dog (16 y.o. Shepherd mix) decided it was her night to expire. So, that cut my chances dramatically!
This morning, though, there was a Chrysler that was oblivious. It came up on me (I was going 60 in a 55) and just sat there on my bumper with no other traffic around. I let off the gas and slowed to about 50, it sat there. I dropped into 4th and slowed a wee bit quicker, and the driver puts on a blinker, changes lanes, and passes. No other problems. There was an old sedan that *somehow* managed to spin out and wipe itself out on a very mundane portion of road. It was well off the roadway though, so no obstacles presented and a Trooper was on scene.
So true. The road I drive every day people pull out in front of traffic that is going...are you ready for this...70-80 MPH faster than them. The road has a 55 limit that goes up to 65 immediately after the T-intersection, but traffic goes through the whole thing usually about 65 and 70, which is safe, so long as traffic doesn't start streaming out from the side road. Some go 80, which is definitely not safe. But I kid you not, if there is more than a 500 foot break in the highway's traffic people will ignore the stop sign and start streaming out onto the highway and then slowly get up to 55-60 MPH. So traffic on the highway slows for these yahoos and then the morons on the side road take that as an indicator for them to not only pull out, but get into the left lane so they can pass the slow accelerator in the right lane.
Well all of a sudden the brake lights of the car in front of me come on and a deer runs across the road. A few seconds later I am at that point slowing down because there usually are others and guess what, another deer makes a dash across the road.
Guy behind me couldn't stop in time. :sick:
Don't worry, barely could tell he hit me.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D