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Today I saw a large box truck pull over on a winding hilly road and let traffic move past, nicely considerate. The slow turners around here aren't considerate - you're not going to tip over in your RAV4 or other box if you turn at more than 5mph. Also, Oregon's obsolete 55mph limits on state highways are kind of dumb, but most seem to go 65 anyway, with little to no enforcement.
Those Oregon limits do seem too low in many rural parts of the state. It was the same in the UP, but up there you couldn't see very far for the trees and there were lots of deer. I caught myself spacing out and going 90mph on one stretch of rural two lane in eastern Oregon one time back in the Boise years.
An oddity around here are the 25 mph zones with the flashing lights. They aren't for schools though, but for hospitals. It's not like there's a lot people wandering around trying to cross the four lane collector road on crutches or wheelchairs. I don't get it.
Fun! You should have a great time. Watch out for frost and/or ice/snow in places. It's not uncommon this time of year along the Alaska Highway.
yeah, skeeters are pretty much gone now. I remember having to wear a gauze mask so I wouldn't inhale them in the bush. Sometimes, we'd just take the plane to higher altitude to get relief from them (and from work). Open the cockpit door and watch hundreds of them drop dead.
I loved driving in Alaska. Whenever you had a problem, someone would ALWAYS stop to help you. Once in a snowstorm, a truck passed me and the snow spray obligerated my windshield for a few seconds---and I drove right into a snowbank.
Damned if he didn't turn the rig around some miles down the road, come back, and chain me out!
Not as common as it used to be, but there are still those of us around.
Caught off guard, I just smiled. The driver punched it and all I saw was the rear tail lights of a Mustang vanishing into the horizon.
Distracting and inconsiderate?
I don't think so! :-)
Lots of speed-variers on I5 the past couple days - I might be the only one who uses cruise. I get a little irritated when the same idiot passes me, then slows, then passes me, and so on.
Fast forward to Saturday night when we were having dinner with a close friend and his wife. Tom somehow brings up the story that I told him about getting flashed.
From across the table I get a GOTCHA look from my wife. No words were required, I was busted.
Tom is a good friend, but sometimes he really talks too much.
I don't know if anything actually broke on it, but it was weighted down so much that the rear tire was rubbing on the metal of the wheel opening. I'm guessing it had a cubic yard of dirt in it, which is how they sell it at that place, and it probably weighed about 2800 lb. At least, that's what they told me when I made the mistake of trying this same stunt a few years back with my '85 Silverado, which is only a half-ton as well!
In my case, I lucked out though. Got the first load home, and when I dumped it out, I saw how little a cubic yard really was, so I went back and got another. And then, another. However, that third time, I was tired, so I just let it sit and took a break, deciding to shovel it out later. And then, while I was having a beer, I heard two snaps. Turns out my truck had settled down just enough that it put a strain on the exhaust, which was already rusty in places, and the tailpipes both snapped off at the muffler. I ended up getting a new exhaust, from the catalytic converter back, for about $300 I think. If that.
And I learned that the next time I needed dirt, to just get it by the dumptruck load. Even 14 cubic yards doesn't go *that* far! And it's worth the $75 or whatever they charge to deliver it!
Idaho Home To America's Rudest Drivers, But Where Do The Nice Ones Live? (thecarconnection.com)
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
in the back of my little Nissan pickup. They each weighed probably 75 pounds.
As I drove over the Vincent Thomas Bridge my steering was as light as a feather and I realized that my front tires were close to being off the ground! It scared the heck out of me!
I quickly found homes for those jacks!
Perhaps somewhat ironically, the stretch from the border to Tok was the polar opposite of the Canadian side in the late nineties (e.g., absolutely terrible road), but since then it is a decent-to-excellent road.
If you're on your way in, let me be the first to say.... "Welcome to Alaska!"
Well, over some break...either the Friday after Thanksgiving, or a Friday around Christmas, we moved. Only problem...the movers showed up that morning, drunk. They backed the truck in behind the building, kind of cock-eyed, put the ramp down. But then, while one of the guys was standing on the ramp, they moved the truck. Pulled forward, so the edge of the ramp dropped off the curb, and then backed up, and when the edge hit the curb, the ramp, well it kind of popped upward, and threw that guy off. At that point, the doctor sent them on their way, and we just rounded up a bunch of pickup trucks to do the job.
Granddad let me borrow his '85 Silverado...the one I still have, and that I overloaded with dirt a few years ago, overheated it in DC, pulled out a tree stump with, and did other abusive things to over the years. Back then, it had a camper shell on it, which meant that, while you couldn't dump dirt in it, you could pile things higher, than if it didn't have that shell.
I didn't even think about it, but when it came time to move all the dog and cat food over, we just kept piling it in the back of the truck. And piling. And piling. And not even keeping track of how much weight was going in back there.
When it came time to drive it over to the new store, I noticed that the steering felt funny...way too light. The exit from that shopping plaza was down a fairly steep hill, and then there was a right turn out onto the main road. I remember going down that hill, and the truck seemed to over-ride the brakes. And going around that turn, I swear it felt like it was going to tip! I got scared at that point, put on the flashers, and limped over to the new store at a snail's pace.
After we unloaded the truck, I took a tally of everything, and added up all the weights. Looking back, I wonder if I goofed somewhere, but I came in at 5,000 lb! In retrospect though, I wonder if that was anywhere near what it was. Personally, I'd think that for any given volume, dirt would weigh more than dog and cat food. But, when they dump a cubic yard in an 8-foot bed, it doesn't fill the whole thing up. The peak of the pile is above the top of the bed rail, but then it tapers out to the sides, and front and back. In contrast, we had that dog food packed in there tight. And to the ceiling of the camper shell.
Also, more food for thought...when I overloaded the truck with dirt, I really didn't notice much difference in the way it handled. It didn't list like the Andrea Doria when I made a turn. It wasn't any harder to stop. Steering felt about the same. And while I was gentle taking off with the load of topsoil, the extra weight didn't seem to strain the truck any. So I'm pretty sure that dog food load, if not 5,000 lb, was definitely heavier than the 2800 lob of topsoil. Plus, I guess the camper shell would have added what, maybe 200 lb or so? And that would've helped make it a bit top heavy.
Regardless, I always kept my mouth shut to Granddad, and never confessed to him about overloading his truck!
Saw numerous big trucks and SUVs tailgating, going 10+ over, passing on the right, weaving around. I still see no reason that vehicle class shouldn't have a license endorsement. I need one for a 150cc Vespa, but not for a 42ft motorhome towing an Excursion, or for a lifted Suburban. Makes sense, we don't want to limit freedom.
Other winners - Camry (of course) speeding up while being passed, Escalade pickup going straight in a turn only lane, and several "drivers" making last second dart across all lanes exits. The lowest common denominator at work.
Ah, how I love driving during this time of year!
I had a diverse wardrobe in those days!
Well, this morning, as I'm going to work, I noticed the police had the intersection blocked off, so you couldn't go straight across or make a left turn. I was okay, as I make a right turn at that intersection. Anyway, it was blocked off, because an '08-12 Malibu was getting winched up onto a rollback wrecker. it had a huge cave-in at the back door, one that seemed to fit the shape of one of those traffic light poles.
So, either it managed to hit one of the poles, or whatever hit it was already towed away. Kinda makes me wonder though, if this new traffic light is going to kill more people than it saves?
About 5 1/2 years ago, I went to a community meeting where they had a county official there to give a dog and pony show and answer questions. The subject of traffic safety in general came up. He was hemming and hawing about a lot of issues, and I finally got fed up, stood up and asked "So, how many people DO have to die at an intersection before you finally put in a traffic light?!" He got mad and tried to sidestep the question, but it actually stirred up the crowd a bit, and some of them applauded me.
Oh, and when I went home for lunch today, I saw that someone had clipped one of the reflector poles along the road in front of my yard, that are there to keep people going into the ditch. The pole was bent back at about a 45 degree angle, and there was some black plastic and a piece of chrome plastic from a car's fascia. I couldn't tell what kind of car it was from, though. Anyway, it wasn't there when I went to work. Oh well, at least it kept them out of the ditch
Thirty minutes ago, some guy was texting and idling in his F-150 in the parking space next to one of the community grills. I was cooking some so-so salmon for ten minutes but he wasn't stinking me out in his gasser. Kind of odd; it's not really that hot, there's a nice breeze out and he was idling under some covered parking.
The other say I saw a sign, something to the effect of "Speed Laws Strictly Enforced". Well I guess if the protectors and servers are going to fail at enforcing distracted driving laws, lane discipline laws, crosswalk laws, turn signal laws, et al, they might as well at least pretend to enforce something well.
there is no middle-ground for many of the northeast USA drivers.... texting-while-driving seems more prevalent in the northeast than anywhere else along the east coast from what I've seen so far. SUV drivers seem to text with the most impunity while driving, maybe because they think nobody can see that they are doing it.
"OK for me, but not for thee"...
Lit Candle In Car Sparks Fire At Gas Station (Consumerist)
The best part is the reactive-defensive rebuttal that speedtrappers often give warnings. I wonder how many civilians get warnings for 80+. Or are allowed to go home after being stopped for driving drunk, etc etc etc.
And the worst part is that no doubt the majority of cops are decent, but a few make them all bad - and their rabid union fratboy mentality stops anyone from answering to anything.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've been in eastern BC for a few days now - I've only honked once, at a woman who was dawdling at lights because she was texting. I've noticed people speed more on the highways here than in western WA, along with very little enforcement. Maybe they are just finding a speed that is superior to the lowest common denominator limits, and population densities make speedtrapping difficult. Soon off to Vancouver, where the traffic is just like at home.
Just got back from a short trip to Los Angeles and got reminded of just how terrifying the freeway are down there. I guess I used to drive like that myself but, seriously I don't think I could venture out on an L.A. freeway today.
Took super shuttle from LAX to San Pedro and was a nervous wreck when I got to the hotel. Tailgating at 75 MPH, constant lane changing, nearing running into the back of a semi and watching people merge with two feet of clearance.
The shuttle ride back was even worse. A motorcycle going at least 80 MPH passed us by lane splitting with inches of clearance. I watched the motorcycle zig zag through cars and large trucks. I was so happy to get to the airport!
Maybe I'm just getting old?
I do hate those motorcycles. I almost got one as I was switching into the carpool lane last Friday - the idiot was in my blind spot and moving 20 miles faster than traffic. I barely caught a glimpse of his headlights as I was beginning the turn, and managed to avoid the problem. Technically the lane splitting is not supposed to happen a higher speeds - it is designed for gridlock - but no one ever checks.
I remember driving in LA last year - I treated it like a battle. But sometimes, it's just easier to move over a few lanes and dawdle, especially if on a holiday trip where you don't have a tight schedule.
Lanesplitting is fine in places with drivers who receive first world training. Unfortunately, that doesn't exist on this continent.
Her kids attend two different schools and all three play multiple sports, so there was at least one practice or game (usually two or even three simultaneously) every evening. My primary function was driving the kids to/from school, friends houses and extracurricular events and I spent four to six (or even more) hours driving every day!
I've lived in Atlanta all of my life, so I am very comfortable driving in traffic and dealing with gridlock. In my 24 years of driving, I've even managed to survive Atlanta traffic with only manual-transmission vehicles (never owned an automatic....yet). I've also driven numerous times in D.C., Chicago and even in a few European cities. So I am a fairly seasoned city driver and I usually have little trouble finding my way around major cities with heavy traffic. But NOTHING can quite prepare you for driving in Los Angeles!!!
The first time I went out in 2009, I arrived three days prior to my cousin starting chemo. She wanted to spend at least a day or two showing me how to get the kids' schools (two different ones, located about 10 miles apart) and where their various sporting events and practices would be. Several of the places I would be driving involved getting on "the 101" and (far worse) "the 405"!
I think she was impressed with how well I handled driving bumper-to-bumper at 80+mph with the countless other cars. But I made my first mistake within 30 seconds of getting on the 101. As I worked my way over to the faster-moving left lanes, I signaled my lane change just like I would at home or anywhere else. Apparently, in Southern California, use of a turn signal to merge or change lanes (or turn, for that matter) incites aggressive behavior from all surrounding drivers! Anyone in the lane that I was trying to move into would rapidly accelerate at the first flash of a signal indicating that I was planning to get in 'their' lane!
Luckily, my cousin has a Lexus GX470 SUV so it's larger (especially taller) than most other cars on the road. So I quickly learned not to signal until I was already half way into the lane I wanted to be in then they would back off because I was bigger than them! And it was also great at forcing all of those slow-moving Prii (plural for Prius) out of the left-most lane! I fully expected to pull back into the driveway one day only to find a Prius stuck to the grille...but it never happened. Other than the sheer size of the GX, the 4.7L V8 had enough power to accelerate much quicker than most other drivers would expect. So if I saw a gap in traffic that I wanted to squeeze into, I could floor it then bully my way into the opening.
So now I drive like almost everyone else in L.A. The only issue I have is re-programming myself when I get back home to Atlanta. For the first few days after each trip, I tend to drive more aggressively than usual without realizing it.....
OK I have to ask, did you check the tires to see if there was a Smart car smashed in between the threads.
2011 Hyundai Sonata, 2014 BMW 428i convertible, 2015 Honda CTX700D
Back in Seattle and back to the local fun - people braking for tunnels, bridges, curves, rain, sun, on-ramps, 5 mile backups because of a small fender bender, etc.