Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

snakeweasel

In mid to the end of May how much snow is there still left on the roadway?

Well here in Northern IL the latest I have seen it snow is mid June. However that was light and melted on contact with the ground. The latest I have seen enough snow to cover the ground (several inches) is during the first week of April.

So in May you should be OK.

backy

Lucky for you that your power was on so your cell phone could be recharged. I've had a few multi-day power outages in the past 10 years, and the land line came in handy since wireless phones were out and cell phone batteries eventually gave out.

snakeweasel

I think the longest power outage that I could remember was about 14-16 hours in 1983. Since then I would say there were a couple of times where it was up to 4-5 hours and maybe a dozen (give or take) that were less than an hour. I usually recharge my phone every night so not having power for a day or two wouldn't be an issue phone wise.

Never had an issue with cell towers being out.

stickguy

if it goes on that long that the cell is dying, just plug it into the car to recharge.

backy

So much for making/taking a call while in the house... while the phone is recharging...

Obviously some of you have never lived through a multi-day power outage. Hope you never have to.

jlflemmons

Land line systems are supported by massive lead acid battery banks and diesel powered back up generators. -48VDC for the technically curious, with that doubled during a "ring" signal.

If you ever cut a phone line and decide to splice it back together yourself, be very careful. Saw a neighbor do this while squatting in mud just after a rain. Someone called his number and knocked him on his [non-permissible content removed]. The infrastructure still has the ability to ring the old style mechanical bells that were used in our grandparents phones. Yee haw!

As long as the phone lines are intact, odds are very good that the phone system will be running.

jensad

Thanks to all of you responders re: snow in May. My wife retires in early May and we have always wanted to drive across the country, and visit with our son and his family in Roscoe. Just in case, I will take chains with me but it looks like a clean drive and I appreciate all of the responses.

Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad

stickguy

some day in the future I actually want to do that. Pack up and take a month just wandering the country and back.

xwesx

A couple of years ago my family did a Fairbanks to Erie (PA) and back run. It was the most casual trip (time-wise) we have ever taken - it took us nearly 10 days each way, with the return journey being a bit longer in that we drove all the way to Portland (OR) and Seattle before finally turning north.

I love road trips; there is some amazing diversity on this continent. I hope you have a fantastic (and casual!) trip, jensad.

loncray

A month or two ago, a local (Washington DC Metro area) serial burglar was caught because he'd left his cellphone behind at a house he was burgling. See, power was out in a large area including his house and had been for a few days, and he needed to charge it, so he took it with him when he was out burgling in an area with power. The owner came home early and he left out a window. The phone became the evidence that got him arrested.

xrunner2

Land lines most reliable and very unlikely to drop a call. Don't know why some people abandon land line in their home for an unreliable cell.

On N Illinois, not uncommon to see temps in 80's in last two weeks in May. However, there is still possibility for frost until true Memorial Day, which starts planting season for delicate plants by home gardeners.

stever

The other advantage is that it's hard to be inconsiderate and chat on the phone while driving using a land line.

tjc78

Just need a realllllllllllllly long cord :P :P

snakeweasel

Don't know why some people abandon land line in their home

Simple, its not cost effective to have a landline and a cell phone unless that landline is dedicated for something other than phone calls.

People tend to gravitate to the cell phone and use a landline less and less. We dumped the landline when we realized that the only time we used it was when telemarketors called us. Everyone that I know that does without a landline tells me the same thing.

Got rid of my landline nearly a decade ago, never missed it.

stever

Just need a realllllllllllllly long cord

Well, your EV will already have one, so just combine 'em.

Going to be inconsiderate if your cord winds up taking out a pedestrian or two though.

(yep, another nudge about the topic - surely Fin has a story?).

fintail

A few people who fly contrary to evolution today...

First, Honda Pilot that slams on its brakes near a red light. Sadly, the red was for the adjacent lane, and he had a green turn arrow. I am suspecting "new resident" issue via looking at the driver and passenger. I was nice and didn't honk. Then he got going, up to about 20 in a 30, I pass on right and he starts moving into my lane. So I lay on the horn, he veers back into his lane, then speeds up and camps out in my blind spot for awhile, seemingly intent on irritating me as I was going 5-10 over and he earlier showed no desire to speed. I later lost him in traffic. It would sure break my heart if he rolled that thing.

Second one - yuppietastic stereotype in a white Q5 who came close to rear ending an Avenger rental car that dared to stop for traffic in front of it.

And the best, a woman who made an abrupt unsignaled lane change at high speed with a phone to her ear. I look at her as I got beside her at a light - it's a middle aged manager where I work. She's very known to be flighty. Her questionably large salary must have her feeling invincible.

stever

'bout time you came through.

I spent 4 hours in the car today and the only idiot I saw was a semi driver taking a sharp curve into a small town at ~50 mph (limit was 35). He had 3 wheels over the yellow line and I was on the shoulder when he passed by. Should have called it in but I think they've shut down the trooper office over there.

fintail

Must be nice in the land of no population density :shades:

Speaking of semis, here's a good local one from yesterday...speeding, from what I heard on TV

stever

"Crews are on scene removing the debris, and in the mean time, drivers going both directions on I-405 can merge using the gore point to access I-90".

Is that "g" supposed to be capitalized or are the roads out there so bad that you actually have gore points?

And yeah, I'm getting spoiled by no traffic, no lines at the stores or the pumps, no one on the beach, no rushing around. Net access is nice and fast though.

fintail

Isn't a gore point just that triangular no mans land where roads split?

No traffic, no lines, but no jobs unless you are service or public sector, either. Tradeoffs... :shades:

stever

Ah, always learning something around here - "a gore, gore point, or gore zone is a triangular piece of land found where roads merge or split."

And yep, no jobs unless you can work online. Got a neighbor who teaches and got their layoff notice two weeks ago (a union requirement to meet a future deadline to keep the school district's options open, but some job cuts are likely).

imidazol97

>Isn't a gore point just that triangular no mans land where roads split?

That's what Mrs. Gore must have thought in the divorce--no man's land, no Al for her. And their roads split. He went to a beach house where the global warming and rising sea level will flood his house, maybe, if warming is real...

fintail

So what line of work are you in, anyway?

Not that the UP would really attract me...cheap housing is nice, but the winters and being light years away from some amenities might get old.

fintail

Well, he needs a scenic place to do his thinking...internets don't invent themselves you know

stever

I'm in "community". :-)

Stuff like trying to keep people a little bit off politics and a little bit on cars.

The way that's going, maybe I need a new line of work? :P

backy

Didn't you know, many new cars today do not come equipped with lane change flashers. I've noticed that, surprisingly, it's mostly expensive cars/SUVs that tend to lack this important safety feature. I would think the NHTSA would do something about that. Heck, even my first car, a 1966 Coronet with no carpets or radio or power steering, had them!

fintail

Sounds like a tough gig. What are they going to do, fire ya? :shades:

Does your town even have a stoplight?

fintail

I can deal with people not using a signal - so long as they look before they move. In my region, that's the epidemic - just moving on over. Sometimes they even signal and then move, but don't look. The same mentality that has people pulling out from side streets in front of swiftly moving arterial traffic, no doubt. There's definitely a vehicle type and often more of a demographic who seems prone to it.

stever

Don't go giving anyone any ideas now.

And I'll have you know we do have a light.

Although, it just flashes.... No worries about red light cameras around here.

Not exactly inconsiderate, but if I'm cruising (aka Sunday driving) and going 55 (the speed limit here, except on the Interstates), it's typical for someone to come up behind, floor it and pass like a scalded dog. About five or six car lengths up, they settle back down. The first few times it happened I thought I was going to have to pass them back, but they always get back up to speed and wind going 4 or 5 miles over the limit and ease ahead.

Haven't been stuck in a "Michigan funeral" for months now - maybe that's a summer tourist thing.

fintail

I like to floor it when I pass, airs out the car :shades:

At least you don't behave like a passive-aggressive PNW local and speed up while being passed...I've experienced that numerous times.

tjc78

I like to floor it when I pass, airs out the car

Me too!

Last time I was in Montana I had a brand new Maxima. The two laners out there had speed limits of 70. I had to pass a semi, that VQ "aired out" nicely

stever

Flooring it is fine, but folks here seem to let off the gas in just a few car lengths after they pass you. I like to get a little more distance even after I've moved over. Not inconsiderate so much as just different - maybe there is a cop hiding behind every bush but I don't see many.

ruking1

I'm sure it is a common pet peeve: making an effort to pass some one, and then either cut them off or slow down after the pass.

So as a result, I also like to get more distance, after I pass someone.

imidazol97

>Although, it just flashes.... No worries about red light cameras around here.

Doesn't flashing red mean stop? I'm always confused in my visits to lower Michigan with their green lights with flashing red or flashing amber left turns lights. They could always get people who don't make a complete full stop. Think how much money they could make for the government that way.

stever

Ah, Michigan signal lights. I had them figured out last fall when we spent a few weeks in Port Huron, but I've forgotten already. Our light flashes yellow; guess I'll have to bike over there and look again. Not real sure what intersection it's supposed to be protecting.

hammerhead

The less time I have to spend in the opposing lane during a pass, the better. Driver's ed teacher way back when suggested best passing speed was +15, and don't reclaim your own lane until you can see front bumper of the car you're passing in your inside mirror.

stever

Oh yeah, I remember oncoming traffic back when I lived in Idaho. Not much of that up here.

stickguy

with the congestion in NJ, I have maybe passed on a 2 lane road 5 times n the last 15 years. Just not very common around here (the passing zone, and especially no oncoming traffic!)

the_big_al

Ive always understood that to be the rule too... I generally floor it, keep it floored till past the car I'm overtaking and I can see his front end in my rear-view mirror. Sometimes, that "flooring" takes me up and beyond 15+ what they are going by the time I am past them, but it also allows me to just let of the gas and coast back down to my comfortable 5-10+ MPH depending on what road I am traveling.

backy

I typically find that not looking goes with not using a lane change signal.

Some cases of not using a lane change signal could be due to some drivers having a tendency to NOT let someone change lanes when they signal, as in "Ha ha ha, that guy is NOT going to get in front of ME!!!", and instead of simply letting the other car merge in, they speed up.

shrifty

"Some cases of not using a lane change signal could be due to some drivers having a tendency to NOT let someone change lanes when they signal, as in "Ha ha ha, that guy is NOT going to get in front of ME!!!", and instead of simply letting the other car merge in, they speed up."

Sounds like you are driving in Maryland, this happens all the time. My advice would be to use the opposite turn signal to throw them off

fintail

That's probably right, I think many jerks pull that trick.

I'll admit I don't signal every lane change, especially if on an empty road.

stickguy

but today's winner, that was almost the proud owner of the front end of an Accord, was an old lady in a older taurus, with handicap tags.

at an intersection with 4 lanes my way, left 2 are LT only, onto a 2 lane each way road. LT arrow only. Nasty intersectin, with the turn being kind of tight, but not unmanageable. And to make it easier, they painted dotted lines to follow to mark out the lanes to follow as you turn.

Granny (could have been gramps actually, but real short) was in the left lane, I was in the 2nd to left. So, arrow comes one, we both go. I follow my dotted line markers (putting me in the RH lane on the new road. Granny though decides that is not good enough, so she swings wide to go straight into the RH lane also.

doing the math, 2 does not go into 1. If I had not nailed the brakes, it would have been ugly.

She continued on her way, oblivious.

backy

If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around, does it make a sound?

snakeweasel

If a man says something in a forest and there is no woman around is he still wrong?

backy

Of course he's wrong, because he's goofing off in the forest by himself instead of attending to his wife/girlfriend, and he'll catch heck for it when he gets home.

oregonboy

She continued on her way, oblivious.

There is a button in the center if your steering wheel that could have alerted her to her dangerous behavior. :P

jensad

Listen, the man in the forest is just trying to follow directions. His wife is outside the forest and is loudly communicating directions via a bullhorn to her husband who is lost in the forest but willing to follow directions.

When he begins to assert himself and make his own decisions, then his wife will get lost in the forest, they will find each other, and they will hold hands and stay in the forest, yet still in love with each other. Thats when they can then tell the forest from the trees....

Good luck to all and stay safe - in the forest and on the roadway. (Its been a long day but a fun day too. Hope it is for the reader too.)

jensad O O
U

stever

What We Have Here.... (Straightline)

(Jensad, glad you weren't driving this month - we had a couple of inches of heavy wet stuff this morning).

jensad

Thks Steve

We will be leaving CA, er, "happy valley usa" probably around May 18th and travel north to Yellow stone then east across the USA. My wife has never been across the country and I traveled by train to Indiana via a train in 1950. People have told me that drivers in the mid part of the country are more courteous than out here in Ca. I'll try to verify that.

I remember in Indianapolis the 'White Castle burgers". Again looking forward to try them again. Probably be different now.

We will wind up in Rockford ill/i.e. Roscoe Ill and enjoy our son's family and see the beauty of the mid west.

Good luck to all and stay safe.

jensad