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This is an invitation to 'wrestle with -kindley-'. And he loves to get dirty!
*Walk on the right side
*Yield/Merge when coming out of a store onto a busy sidewalk
*No LLCing, let someone by if they want to walk faster than you
*No parking in the middle of the road, if you need to stop pull over to the side
Pedestrians are twice as inconsiderate as drivers. Or maybe I'm twice as neurotic as the average joe!
While not a scientific study, my observation after a couple of trips through the area is that 40 to 50% of the drivers either are blind, can't read, or chose to not obey a law. I suppose I SHOULD be encouraged that 50 to 60% of us had our lights on, but I'm not...
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If the US of A was a true democracy, the interstate highway speed limits would be higher. Why, you ask? Because the majority of drivers have "voted with their right foot" for higher limits. Kinley is just trying to stuff the ballot box for compliance with posted limits, regardless of whether or not they are reasonable.
-james
I fear we have now reached a point where the impossibility of complying with the myriad of laws is engendering indifference. Or was it evidence similar to the one that led us to have DRLs in the first place? (Interesting editorial in Car & Driver on that one some time ago.)
Whatever happened to switching on the headlights in poor visibility and leaving it to the driver, who, after all, has been deemed trustworthy to drive by law? Now we are told we must do it with wipers, with work zones, etc etc. What's next: flashing strobe lights at all corners like garbage collection trucks? Of course we will back to the same level of individual visibility once everybody is in a six foot high vehicle with flashing lights everywhere.
In upstate New York, some people are now using full brightness high beams during daylight dawn and dusk to increase their visbility and perceived saftety, oblivious to blinding other drivers.
Sorry for the rant, but why is our system of government on a downward spiral in trying to meet an ever dropping lowest common denominator when it comes to driving skills?
Well duh....
"You have a vehicle that's very unforgiving when it's on the edge of instability"
Then don't buy it! Get only what you can handle. It is a truck fer cryin' out loud.
"It's easier to make vehicles more stable than it is to make better drivers."
This is the sort of crap that gets me. Let's just legislate our way out of a mess since that is easy. Why the hell won't we make the effort to improve drivers? The only way to make an idiot-proof system is to remove the idiot.
"No moment of inattention should result in your death."
Well, in a moment of inattention, I might get my foot chopped off by my lawnmower, or my hand by my snow blower, or bleed to death while fileting a fish, ( and a million other examples) but while driving, oh no! I should be safe from my own stupidity, and of course I need these well meaning politicians and bureaucrats to watch out for my safety! (Most of this crap is either for re-election, or for raising revenue or a power ploy something similar cloaked as safety improvements.)
Well if we all thought that driving is a serious activity requiring our attention in order to ensure our and other's safety, we will pay attention to it.
What a moron.
Remember, this is about SUVs. Maybe we need some people like him to pay attention to driving standards.
Were you not aware that when you toss your fast food bags into the bed of the pickup that the winds in the bed will pick it up and deposit it on the side of the road? I know the intentions are good - you'll throw it away when you get home, but haven't you noticed that your truck bed is surprisingly free of trash when you finally GET home? Keep it in the cab, like most us car drivers do.
I like the expression of "voting with the right foot". Most people just understand that for today's vehicles these limitations are irrelevant. However, they get it so wrong on other factors (tailgating, misusing headlights/turn signals/whatnot) that it gives an excuse to the government for keeping those stupid limits. And said government doesn't do anything to make better drivers either. Paradox.
"Blew through" at 75 mph the other day on a 55mph limited road in front of a laser radar... I wasn't pulled over. Duh. Maybe they were just calibrating?
Update on inconsiderate parking: I REALLY REALLY HATE Hummer H2 drivers now. Not only is it a big, fat, piggish, yuppie status symbol, toy of a vehicle that takes serves no purpose other than to take up space, but the one in the airport parking lot has been occupying two spaces for a FULL WEEK NOW and Im starting to think this ditz deserves to at least spend a little time reinflating a tire after a nice, long flight. Anybody know if those things have that central tire inflation system like the regular Hummers? Id never slash it, just let the air out. If you are going to ivnest 40 grand in a gargantuan SUV, why not learn how to maneuver and park it properly? OR does the very fact that they bought such an idiotic thing indicate that these drivers have more money than taste or common sense?
The latter.
-james
I notice Ford Ranger pickup coming up fast from behind... tailgating... no-signal lane changes. I'm in left lane... I pass an 18 wheeler... signal and move right. He follows. Two cars ahead of me signal for right turns. Ranger switches back to left lane anticipating a slow turn-into-parking lot slowdown in right lane. There is a separate right turn lane, so slowdown doesn't happen. Ranger now trapped in left lane and has lost several "positions in the grid".
Approaching a traffic light on red... several cars stopped in each lane. I see the Ranger fly past in the left turn lane. "He must be trying to make the light", I think, but a glance at the light shows that it is red as he approaches at speed (maybe 50 MPH or so). The light for through traffic was green, and the cars that had been stopped at the light were just getting rolling as he hit the intersection in the left turn lane and slalomed to the right, to continue straight through the intersection: ahead of the pack and unencumbered. SIMPLY AMAZING !!!!!
What a bold and audacious move! What timing, what grace and good fortune! And had it not quite worked out, what a glorious collision! And had a cop been present, what a magnificent citation.
The sad part is that this joker was undoubtedly enormously pleased with himself and will brag to all his buddies, which will encourage them (and himself) to attempt to repeat such public highway foolishness.
-james (drive quick, but drive safe)
so i merge on to the 4 lane road, and the vw is right behind. i switch over to the left lane for 2 reasons, to pass the slower guy in the right, and because i will be making a left hand turn about a mile down anyways. well the VW follows me. we go through one light all fine and dandy, then as we approach the second red light, there is a car in front of me, and a car in the right lane almost between where my car is and where the car in front of me is, so we're staggered.
well this guy behind me doesnt LIKE that we're slowing down, and so he proceeds to pass all of us by driving in between the two lanes! like there is some magical third lane that only he can see. what makes this even worse though is that the ONLY progress he gets is that he can be at the red light first in front of the guy in front of me. what an idiot! was it really worth it? but i guess driving a beater lets you do whatever the heck you please right? sheesh!
Anyone familiar with I-76 in Philly where it branches off onto Route 1 knows what Im talking about. 2 lanes continue as I-76, two branch off to the righ onto rt 1. NEver fails, there's always a long line of stupid idiots who need to continue in the two left lanes, but those are always the slower moving lanes. So these idiots will keep going in the two right lanes until right where the highway separates, and then come to a sudden complete stop and block traffic behind them that wants to continue onto route 1 while forcing cars to their left to stop while they bully their way in. 9 times out of ten I will be a meanie and block these people out. If I have to be patient and wait in line, I could care less if you dont want to. But dont expect to cheat and bully your way through and then slide in front of me.
<<<<<heavy sarcasm>>>>>>
Now I love sport compact cars and I love the whole stigma of the car mod scene (I own a celica), but I am starting to see lots of stupid and dangerous actions on the streets.
About a week ago, we were heading down a two lane highway in my gf's jetta. Out of the blue, two racers (eclipse and civic?) flew up from behind. Since our car was "in the way", the eclipse chose to pass us to the right, using the shoulder. We didn't even see them until they were "around" us. They continued at around 85-95, weaving in and out of other cars.
It's okay to have some fun, but NOT when it's taking stupid risks, and NOT when it's endangering the lives of other motorists. I drive my celica pretty tamely, but this will hit me anyways, b/c cops will inevitably become more agressive with ticketing as a result of the FnF wannabes.
Now that's "a crisis"
Fortunately, so far the 4 year old takes her queue from dad, and realizes that even she is much bigger than that scary little bug 8^)
TB
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He was given a prison sentence for his inconsiderate habits..
Later, he was killed by the other inmates on "all you could eat" night.
This could happen to other distracted, inconsiderate drivers.
http://somethingawful.com/articles.php?a=1443
As I pass the truck, I see the driver is a 20-something blonde female. What's she doing? She's flipping through a stack of 35mm prints, driving with her knee! I've seen people reading, picking their nose, talking on the phone, drinking coffee, etc. instead of driving but this was a first.
I mean really, people. Is it too much to ask that you pay at least token attention to the road as you barrel down it in your 6000 lb. monster truck?
-Jason
The second guy probably could have gotten away with a half ton, but at least he did have one horse and a small trailer, as well as a couple acres of land.
The third guy was a complete and utter poseur. He jacked his truck up something like 6", even though he admitted it would never go off road. He ostensibly needed something to tow his (small) travel trailer, and then sold the trailer for a down payment! He lives in my neighborhood, on a .2 acre lot. He has a couple of dirt bikes but they don't fit in the truck, because he got the short bed so it would fit in his garage. He got it because it looked cool and would seat 6. In other words, because he didn't want a minivan.
<sigh>
-Jason
Anyway, I dislike anyone who drives any SUV, truck, or minivan when they never or rarely use its towing/carrying capabilities. They are nothing more than mobile obstructions in that case.
Once, I saw a guy eating a bowl of soup, holding the bowl in one hand and the spoon in the other, driving with his knees in 45-50 mph traffic. I had to check it out twice, it was so hard to believe.
Fortunately it's the short chassis, not the long one, but still. What use is that?
Bah.
I still can't comprehend anyone buying a large and tall (especially tall) vehicle, without the intent to really fill it up with stuff, just because they think it's "cool" or something. It's not cool -- if anything, they are ugly (some much more than others), and should only be purchased for reasons of necessity. I must say that I find the rather grotesque Avalanche to be strangely attractive, though. If I ever need a pickup, I'll get one of those.
I once saw a guy "driving" a crappy old car down a crowded freeway while reading a thick, oversized book laying on and completely covering his steering wheel.
He managed to beat the woman blow drying her hair with the AC ducts I saw a couple of month previously.
Massachusetts drivers.......every time you see em you have to wonder how they survive.