That is most certainly true and something that many, if not most folks, do not practice.
However, 100% compliance with that does not wholly resolve the LLC situation because when traffic volume is above a certain point, all 'non-rightmost' lanes must be used for passing. In that case, you sometimes have "glacial speed" passing, which often is inconsiderate. Which, btw, is what CantPassTruck-itis is.
If differentiation in speed kills, then that is a PERFECT argument to get rid of ALL commuter lanes!!
Whew! Then it must be an even more perfect argument to get rid of all 2 lane blacktop roads at 55. 110 is pretty hurtful.
Actually, it's a lousy argument for both, since risk can be minimized, but not eliminated and incurring risk reasonably is not the same as incurring it mindlessly or at least unreasonably.
Speed differential is certainly the truer measure of potential collision risk, there's no arguing with physics.
I am not sure how you got that I went 40-45 mph in the #1 lane (passing lane or left lane) when I specifically said I was in the EXTREME RIGHT LANE? Shall I just say.. your other left?
If you want to do 125 Lemmer...I have no problem with that. There are several open sections of highway in Ga where you can "safely" run 125 for miles on end and not pass anyone. Just don't do it during rush hour.
This is response is a bit belated, but regarding the different kinds of bad driving...
For the reasons already discussed, that's why I try to go easy on bad drivers on the road. An incident of bad driving does not bring down my wrath. Now REPEATED incidents of bad driving by one driver DOES piss me off.
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red...
I don't think I'd be comfortable driving at 40-45 mph on an interstate, even in the slow lane. Unless it was rush hour or some other circumstance and that just happened to be what the prevailing speed was!
Well I got to tell you, I really don't ever remembering going this slow, this much during 39 years of driving, except for towing in the military. It was definitely a "brave" new world for me.
After the initial 100 or so cars that pass you, it is actually quite, how would you say comfortable... I can now understand more fully (at this speed) how folks can eat their lunch, shave, put on make up, change clothes, watch DVD TV and movies, talk on the cell phone, read the book "War and Peace", work on the internet, beat their wife and kids, etc etc. The thing I fight the hardest is utter boredom that can lead to SLEEP...
I went to college in Atlanta. I would go see my girlfriend in Alabama on the weekends - and drive home Sunday night as fast as my 78 Scirocco would take me on I-20. It was great until I got hauled into court in Douglasville by the local cops.
I am much more conservative in my middle age, and to keep on topic, I always try to be a considerate driver.
..."This is response is a bit belated, but regarding the different kinds of bad driving...
For the reasons already discussed, that's why I try to go easy on bad drivers on the road. An incident of bad driving does not bring down my wrath. Now REPEATED incidents of bad driving by one driver DOES piss me off.
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red..."...
I would agree with an whole lot of the above post! Lord knows I would not like to be "punished" for the mistakes I have made!!?? And truly I am thankful to folks who have "cut me some slack, berth etc etc. Those folks I tend to try to acknowledge with wave honk flash of lights etc.
As a result I do tend to give folks a lot of berth and the benefit of the doubt as in the above quote I like to not get into the position of "seeing" red so I do that look ahead gig that I do. It is designed to pre empt any possible confrontation by being several steps ahead. I think that truly most folks dont really act, that safe driving is about a whole lot of empty space (space cushion in the venacular) in case things go south and having that important: "way out".
I find the look ahead approach useful. Of say 100 left lane campers I would say the majority do not move out of the way. So the good news/bad news is that 10-15% do surprise me and move out of the way. Even rarer is the driver who really knows how to drive and has seen me coming up on him and moved out of the way when I am in legal/safe etc distance. Those folks I like to wave at, blink or honk. As soon as I am passed them and it is safe, I like to acknowledge their courtesy and MOVE out of(their way) the passing lane...SO if they wish to pass me, they at least won't have me in front of them.
I think if people would just use their turn signals and wave, flash their lights, or tap their horn as a "thank you" for things, the roads would be a much happier place to drive.
This morning a Hyundai Santa Fe was trying to merge onto the road, and was actually making a fairly reasonable attempt to speed up. Had its blinker on, even. I backed off so that he'd have enough room to come over, but I think he was still a bit too cautious/unsure, so I flashed my lights for him to come over. He did, and quickly sped up to the flow of traffic (which was only about 35 mph at this point), and waved and gave a quick tap on his horn saying "thank you".
I would agree, if anything it gives the person a chance to at least acknowledge. To my mind also it takes the BP spikes out a bit and caps the escalation situations! You might even feel good about humanity!
For the reasons already discussed, that's why I try to go easy on bad drivers on the road. An incident of bad driving does not bring down my wrath. Now REPEATED incidents of bad driving by one driver DOES piss me off.
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red..."...
I agree , gambit....all should be given the benefit of doubt...but there are a few people who have no clue and should only be allowed on bumper cars or be given Disneylands Autopia licenses only..... ;-)
Hiya Ruking !! that is awful nice of you. I see a lot of road rage for simple things that other people do not mean to do... or are unaware...
so a few freebies are right.. IMO.
with andre ,gambit, you and others...the roads would be a lot safer....
Lady driving a Sentra. It was a 5-speed, because I could see her shifting. She had the head cocked to the side holding her cell phone between her head and shoulder. She was doing all of this while holding and smoking a cigarette with the other hand. She was behind me, so I was watching all of this in my rear view mirror. Sheesh...How many things can a person do while driving??? I kept waiting for a hamburger and a makeup brush to appear. I sure was happy when it went to 4 lanes, and I was able to get out of her way.
Sunday on Rte. 50 west-bound approaching Annapolis, MD, across the Severn River bridge, I believe I was behind her twin! Similar car, same MO, except she was LLC'ing, and speed was varying from 45 to 70, head cocked dramatically to left side. As I got closer, saw the cell phone, so I backed off. Traffic is fairly heavy, and the left lane traffic is being passed regularly by the two right lanes. There is also a fourth right lane, marked "Exit Only".
Anyway, we are fast approaching this right hand exit, she realizes she wants that exit, so, she simply cuts the wheel to the right and tries a lane change--but big white box truck was there. Next thing you know, she has right hand thrown up in the air (never lost the phone though!) and is glaring at traffic to let her in. Steering with her knees maybe? Anyway, no blinker, no signal, nothing. Miracles do happen--she got over two lanes without an accident, but I do believe she was oblivious to the couple of near-misses, brake slamming that went on behind her until...
young guy in a late-model Integra paces her in the exit only lane she is trying to get into now (still talking on the phone) and well, we'll just say she missed her exit. Big grins on several drivers all around who witnessed this, and of course the Integra continues off the exit, and I can't remember seeing a bigger smile!
I'm not saying I condone such actions, but I sure smiled for several miles as I continued on my journey.
"US Route 301 Southbound at Route 3 Accident. Stopped traffic: SOUTHBOUND RT 3 AT THE NORTH INTERSECTION WITH RT 450 (JASPERS)---ALL LANES ARE BLOCKED EACH WAY--TRUCK CROSSED FROM NORTHBOUND INTO THE SOUTHBOUND LANES--TAKING DOWN THE SIGNAL LIGHTS--NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC MUST TURN RIGHT ONTO RT 450--"
Wonder if it was caused by an inconsiderate driver? So, anybody in the Maryland area that might be affected by this...take heed!
I see an article at drudgereport that cellphone jammers are becoming popular undercounter sales items in NYC. Smaller ones have a 50-200 foot range.
Could have used one for the inconsiderate drivers tailgating Friday eve as I drove across Ohio on I70. One lady never gets out of left lane at 67. On cell phone even through construction zone -- I was alongside her in the zone since I was in the right lane and she slowed down -- she had her baby in the back seat!!!
I suppose those jammers would give some purpose to the millions of phone boxes that were installed shortly before cell phones became popular. Some public planner out there will feel vindicated.
What really drives me crazy about cell phone users is that their speed will vary so much. I realized I used to do the same, and that helped convince me to stop answering my phone on the road. It's surprisingly hard to keep a steady speed.
I was among the seemingly very small number of folks who did NOT have a cell phone until early this month when we bought a Tracfone to have in the car for emergency use. The wife commutes about 40 miles to her office and also spends a fair amount of time on the road, so we decided it would be a safe thing to do. I carried the phone on the Philly Auto Show trip to learn how to use the sucker and just in case there was a problem on the road. I really don't like cellphones (NOBODY needs to be in touch THAT much) but I found my initial reactions to having one in the car very interesting. I now know for a fact that I could not place a call safely while driving, and taking a call is suspect as well. Mind you, I've always considered myself a decent multi-tasker behind the wheel, but the cell phone sucked so much attention that control of my vehicle definitely suffered as a result. Hands-free... MAYBE, but from what I've seen of people walking around with cell phones, their electronic conversations suck up all their attention and generally make them oblivious to what's around them. There's no way cell phone conversations aren't affecting driving performance. In any event, the cell phone stays with the wife's car and is NEVER going to travel with me. My road safety kit is always with me... hands to wave down a passing car if I get stuck and feet to walk me to the nearest phone.
I bought a Tracfone in September just for minimal use. I had a Nextel from work for a couple of years and could tell it really distracts you when you get calls on the way home from work or return a call about work. I have bought another tracfone. Onstar cell service is being terminated.
The safe way to make a call is pull over. Even the right lane is a problem because you have to drive unless there is minimal traffic and you can use cruise control.
I keep thinking of the mother in her minivan on the cellphone on the way home from Indy. Traffic in front of her slowed down at I70/75 so she switched to left lane, apparently cutting in quickly like many drivers do, only her cell phone distraction kept her from noticing the semi stopped in the left lane. She went under it talking on her cell phone less than 5 miles from home.
I saw a really annoying tailgater. 4-lane divided road with lots of traffic lights and cross traffic, and plenty of commercial zones such as shopping plazas, offices, gas stations, etc. IMO, definitely NOT a place where "Keep right except to pass" or "slower traffic keep right" would apply.
Anyway, traffic was heavy, but moving, around 40-45 mph. And the speed limit was only 45 mph, anyway. It wasn't raining at the time, but the roads were wet. I was in the right lane, and in the left lane just up ahead, I saw an Isuzu Amigo flash its lights as it rode up on the rear bumper of an Altima. There was a van about 100 feet ahead of the Altima, and plenty of traffic ahead of that. I guess that Amigo driver just wanted that lane to magically clear, though!
She rode about 15 feet or less off that Altima's bumper for about a mile. Finally, traffic broke up some as my turn-off came up, and I saw her shoot past him on the right.
Now, I know I've griped in the past about left lane campers, but IMO this case was different. First off, the left lane campers I gripe about are the ones that are on interstates and other limited-access highways, that want to go slower than the flow of traffic in the passing lane. They end up holding up traffic and creating bottlenecks, and force people to change lanes more often than necessary. And in general, just create a nuisance and a danger.
But somebody like the driver of this Altima wasn't holding up traffic. He was just going with the flow on a crowded road, and maintaining a safe distance.
Oh yeah, on Monday, on several occasions on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I did see a left lane camper holding up traffic. Going slower than the flow of traffic, and often even slower than the speed limit. Weaving around a bit, and just looking distracted in general. And each time, the driver was yakking on a cell phone!
I know for a fact that I don't drive as well when I'm on the phone as I do when I'm off of it, so I try to keep my conversations to a minimum when I'm driving.
If things are too congested, or there's too much going on around me, I'll either pull off somewhere and continue the call, or wrap it up really fast. Otherwise, if it's safe to do so, I'll just stay in my own lane, at a reasonable speed, with plenty of distance behind the car in front of me. And no, I don't do this in the passing lane on the interstate!
Weekends and late evenings have gotten really bad with the ladies and teenagers yakking away with their free nights and weekends minutes. No limit--and some try to work toward infinite time on the cellphone all the while disturbing traffic flow.
Stop in at the chat tonight. It's a great place to take some of these topics live... and with the amount of material "out there" for this topic, I expect that more than a few of us will have stories to share!
Same thing happened to me this am. I'm out in the left lane, passing at round 70, and traffic slows to 50-55. There are 3 other cars ahead of me in my lane, and the two lanes to my right are all pacing us at the same speed. Up ahead of the pack, I see a county cop in the middle lane, leading the parade. Nobody wants to pass him.
Some numbnuts in a Kia Sedona comes rolling up behind me and flashes his headlights. He starts tailgating me at about 3 ft off my bumper! OK, so you're much more important than I am and of course you are in a much bigger hurry to get to work. Guess I should yield to your greatness and just move out of your way;>
The cop couldn't see it or didn't care. He was happy causing the jam. I would have pee'd on the Sedona,(windshield washers) but we weren't going fast enough for them to reach him.
Back in my pizza delivery days, I kept a spotlight in my car to find addresses on houses. On the way back to the store one night, I was on a twisty country road, doing about 10 over the limit, when some guy came up behind me and flashed me. There being no other lanes to go to, I kept up what I was doing. Then he flashes me again - enough that I knew he wasn't a cop. So I flashed him back with my spotlight. I didn't want to blind him so he'd crash, but I was able to make him back off. I don't recommend it to anyone, but it did the job for me back then.
Back in the days of the Dodge Charger with the airfoil, there was one being tailgated on I75. He turned on rear-facing bright lights. There must have been four of them. So bright I couldn't see anywhere in that direction. But the tailgater backed off!!!
I've often thought of doing that with my car along with a fine pressure sprayer for oil that goes into the air stream under the car so it would pick up and hit the windshield of a tailgater. Then their wipers go on, and then they slow down.
Everybody wants to do the exact opposite of what you need them to do? Just got back from DC yesterday. Lemme try to summarize my experiences by saying this is what you can assume will happen in a given situation in that place.
1) If you are trying to change lanes to get in front of someone, they will speed up.
2) If you are waiting for someone next to you to move past you so you can slide in behind them, they will slow down and match your speed.
3) If you're trying to merge, everybody in the lane you're merging into is doing 75 and refusing to move over and make room for you to enter traffic.
4)Once you actually do merge over, these same people will slow down to 50 mph.
5) If you're trying to pass slower traffic in the passing lane, the person in front of you wants to match speeds with traffic in the next lane over.
6) If you suddenly move over to the middle lane and try to sneak by on the right he will suddenly become a speed demon again.
7) The passing lane alternates. For 10 minutes at a time it is the far left lane, until you reach a long line of traffic formed behind an LLB. At that point, move all the way over to the far right lane, which will invariably stay totally clear for the next 10 miles.
8) If someone signals before moving into the lane in front of you, you should assume they've lost their minds.
9) If someone signals, moves into the lane in front of you, and than matches or exceeds the speed you were moving along at instead of immediately slowing down by 10 mph, assume they are not DC natives.
out in front of my house a kid on a dirt bike with no tags on it almost wiped out. I heard a school bus going past, and heard it slow down really fast, so I looked out the window to see what was going on. Apparently the bus was going too fast to begin with, and shot over the blind hill that my house sits on. Only problem was something was coming up the other side, and the buses usually have to slow to a crawl if there's something coming the other way. Well, I looked out in time to see the bus already stopped, and another car behind it stopped. Kid on the dirt bike lost control and slid sideways, but didn't flip. And another car behind the dirt bike had to stop pretty quickly.
And, the speed limit along this stretch of road? Well, the whole road is 30 mph, but right at the top of the blind hill is a 10 mph warning sign, with an S-curve warning as well. So basically we had a nice variety of inconsidate driving here. Speeding, tailgating, driving an untagged vehicle (the dirt bike), etc.
was just sent out in a mass email from someone here at work, who happened to catch it on some internet site. I'm not sure where she got it from, though. I went back in my work email to see if I still had the message, but I had deleted it.
If I find out any other info though, I'll let you know!
I saw a real winnner. A true combination of talent, stupidity, and luck. We had about 5 inches of snow yesterday, but by this morning, the road outside my house was mostly clear. It was wet and slushy, which meant you had to get pretty stupid to wipe out. And, considering the speed limit is only 30 mph anyway, and this is coming out of an S-curve with 10 mph warning signs, and there's a section where the road just drops about 5 inches, like a reverse speed hump, you'd think there wouldn't be a problem. Plus, the road only has a 30 foot right-of-way. Now that's not to say that the road is 30 feet wide. That's 30 feet that the county has, which includes the road, telephone poles, fire hydrants, etc. In some areas, the road's only like 20-25 feet wide!
Well, I was getting dressed for work when I heard a car go sliding past my house. I looked out the window to see a red '92-95 Honda Civic coupe sliding down the road, spinning almost like what you'd see on a cartoon! It barely missed two telephone poles, my fence, my mailbox, 2 mailboxes across the street, a wooden trash box, an embankment on the other side of the street that probably wouldn't given it some air time, and, ironically enough, a 30 mph speed limit sign! Basically, the car slid, out-of-control for most of the width of my property, so I'm guessing at least 200 feet.
I would simply LOVE to know what was going through this idiot's brain, and how fast they were actually going!
is something that's better done on a closed course or an empty parking lot, and my understanding is that it's more easily done in a RWD car although it's certainly possible in FWD.
I've never done it, but I think it's basically getting the car to break loose when cornering, but still keep it under control. It's a very fine line between keeping it under control and losing it totally though, which is why it's best left to empty parking lots, courses set up for it, the football field of your local high school after hours, etc ;-)
and I didn't take this pic this morning (actually took it about a month ago), but this is about how the road looked this AM:
Clear, but wet, and not totally plowed to the edge of the pavement. Now I'd guess there was maybe 18 feet, if that, of pavement that was actually plowed, side to side. But somehow, when that Civic spun out, its wheels didn't even disturb the unplowed part of the snow on the pavement!
I know this is evil of me, but I was almost hoping that they'd hit the telephone pole and speed limit sign, just to teach them a lesson! By the time the car slid down past that pole, it probably wasn't going more than a few mph, so it's not like the hit would've hurt anyone.
when I pulled into work this morning, I saw a red '92-95 Civic 2-door pull in and park as I was walking toward my building. At first I thought, "what a coincidence", but it didn't dawn on me that it could be the same car, especially since it most likely would have gotten to work before me.
But now that I think back on it, when the driver parked, they were going awfully slow, and when they parked they started up and moved a bit, then moved again. Almost like someone who was either scatterbrained, or shook up. And this car had big rims on it, and tinted windows.
On a whim, I just went outside to see if I could find that car, and I wrote down its tag #. Tomorrow morning, around the same time, I'm going to keep a lookout and see if it's the same car that goes through again. Traffic on my road is annoyingly predictable, with the same cars going through at the same time every day.
If it turns out to be the same car, maybe I should leave a note on it saying something like "thanks for not taking out my mailbox/front yard/etc with that stupid stunt you did this morning. Maybe that will teach you to drive a bit more respectfully through my neighborhood next time". Or would that be too evil?
If nothing else, we do have this dip in the road that's getting worse by the day, as it continues to sag. And this Civic appeared to be lowered, riding on 17" aftermarket rims, and tires that had the aspect ratio of a flat tire. A few high-speed trips over that dip will take care of it, eventually. In fact, I wonder if it was the dip that might have made them lose control in the first place?
I just recently returned from a 2100 mile road trip to Disneyworld. I suffered the horrible realization that my father in law is a horrible and moderately inconsiderate driver.
First and foremost he is a LLC!!! AAAauugh!!! Next, he is a tailgate passer...he reachest tailgating distances before he moves over to pass.
When not using the cruise control his speed varies by as much as 15 mph. And when cruise is used, he doesn't tap the breaks to disengage, to slow gradaully. No...he hits the breaks with moderate force to slow down, all but having to jam on them at the end. This also scares the crap out of anyone behind him, thinking there is a true reason for an emergency like stop.
He was constantly drifting from side to side. It usually took some of those "Bots Dots" to help him correct his direction of travel.
He left his blinker on all the time. Since I was riding shotgun the whole way, I would let him know. Also would tell him when traffic was stopping or near stopped ahead. Then his reaction times almost always created a near emergency stop type manuver.
Like a good son in law, I held my tongue. But the next time we go on a serious road trip, I'm driving, or we are taking 2 vehicles. I apologize to any of you who may have suffered from father in law's LLCing or other poor habits.
Oh yeah, also found out that mother in law is the absolute worse back seat driver I have ever experienced!!! She was constantly nagging about changing lanes. Why are you changing lanes? Stop doing that, I don't like changing lanes...blah blah blah.
Her long distance driving is very limited. So he slowed to the slowest speed on highway, and kept to it for an hour, following a putt putting rig. Then she started to ask why we were going soooo sloooow.
At least the Chebby Express had a 350 under the hood, so we weren't holding up traffic when merging.
There were a few drivers that tried to merge into our lane with out signal or clearing the spot first. Most of them were on the phone. Some we passed back and forth constantly(so annoying.).
I was all set this morning to keep an eye out for that red Civic to see if it came through again. I got up a little extra early though, and figured I'd go for a walk. Yesterday that Civic came through around 7:15, and it was only about 6:40 or so, so I figured I had plenty of time. Well, lo and behold, the second I walked out onto the road, a red '92-95 Civic comes flying over the hill. It bottomed out as it hit the low spot in the road, scraping its body spoiler.
And it was a different Civic, dangit! This one just had black steel wheels with no hubcaps, no tint, and, the clincher, a different license plate from the one I saw in the parking lot at work.
Now, I'm sure there's a slight chance that both of these Civics are coming through in the morning at different times, and the one that spun out yesterday WAS the one that I saw at work. But I doubt it. I have a feeling that this particular one just happened to come through later yesterday because of the weather. And judging by the way he hit that depression in the road, he didn't learn his lesson!
maybe I'll check outside around 6:40 or so every morning, and witness the progress on this Civic's body spoilers, as the road continues to dip.
And this dip in the road isn't going away anytime soon. Our stretch of road really needs to be overhauled seriously, or have some speed bumps put in to slow down traffic. However, the county said that the only way the road will be altered is if a developer comes in and buys up all the land to put houses on, and pays for the improvements to the road.
Eventually they might come by and patch it, but then it'll be raised up, and with time will sink, peel off, etc, and we'll be right back where we started. So one day I have a feeling this buffoon will lose his spoiler or crack a rim or something fun like that. Just as long as he doesn't take out my mailbox when he loses control again!
You've seen them in offices. They have the words spelled out in red lights that move across a black screen. I'd love to have one of these in my rear window that I could flash the words "back off" on whenever someone is tailgating me. I drive between the speed limit and 5 MPH over the speed limit, but that's not fast enough for people around the Dayton, OH area. They have to drive 10-20 MPH over the limit and if you're in front of them, they're going to ride your bumper until they can get around you. I'd love to do the oil spraying thing, but this would be dangerous and I don't want anyone to get hurt. I just want them to get the message that they're violating my personal space and I don't like it. Can you buy these billboards for cars? If so, where?
Also, one thing I've noticed about people who don't use their turn signals. More than 90% of the people I've seen not using them was because these people were gabbing on cell phones. Steering wheel in one hand, cell phone in the other, doesn't leave any hands free for turn signals. I'm sorry, but the use of cell phones while driving needs to go.
My commute to work requires me to travel about 15 miles on a 2-lane road. The speed limit is 45, and it is patrolled heavily. I typically cruise along at about 50. Probably twice a week, I get tailgated. One tailgater in particular is a young lady that drives a small SUV. She has tailgated me several times over the past year, often so close that I cannot see her headlights. Well a couple of weeks ago, I had had enough. I could tell that her SUV was pretty shiny and clean, and mine was dirty, so I decided to do a nice, long drawn out window cleaning. I squirted washer fluid on the windshield as well as the back window for a good 30 seconds. I noticed that she backed off rather quickly, and a I saw her windshield wipers come on at one point as well. Mission accomplished.
Comments
That is most certainly true and something that many, if not most folks, do not practice.
However, 100% compliance with that does not wholly resolve the LLC situation because when traffic volume is above a certain point, all 'non-rightmost' lanes must be used for passing. In that case, you sometimes have "glacial speed" passing, which often is inconsiderate. Which, btw, is what CantPassTruck-itis is.
Ooooo...I see posts must have titles now.
Whew! Then it must be an even more perfect argument to get rid of all 2 lane blacktop roads at 55. 110 is pretty hurtful.
Actually, it's a lousy argument for both, since risk can be minimized, but not eliminated and incurring risk reasonably is not the same as incurring it mindlessly or at least unreasonably.
Speed differential is certainly the truer measure of potential collision risk, there's no arguing with physics.
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For the reasons already discussed, that's why I try to go easy on bad drivers on the road. An incident of bad driving does not bring down my wrath. Now REPEATED incidents of bad driving by one driver DOES piss me off.
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red...
After the initial 100 or so cars that pass you, it is actually quite, how would you say comfortable... I can now understand more fully (at this speed) how folks can eat their lunch, shave, put on make up, change clothes, watch DVD TV and movies, talk on the cell phone, read the book "War and Peace", work on the internet, beat their wife and kids, etc etc. The thing I fight the hardest is utter boredom that can lead to SLEEP...
You know, all the things I think are verboten.
I am much more conservative in my middle age, and to keep on topic, I always try to be a considerate driver.
For the reasons already discussed, that's why I try to go easy on bad drivers on the road. An incident of bad driving does not bring down my wrath. Now REPEATED incidents of bad driving by one driver DOES piss me off.
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red..."...
I would agree with an whole lot of the above post! Lord knows I would not like to be "punished" for the mistakes I have made!!?? And truly I am thankful to folks who have "cut me some slack, berth etc etc.
As a result I do tend to give folks a lot of berth and the benefit of the doubt as in the above quote I like to not get into the position of "seeing" red so I do that look ahead gig that I do. It is designed to pre empt any possible confrontation by being several steps ahead. I think that truly most folks dont really act, that safe driving is about a whole lot of empty space (space cushion in the venacular) in case things go south and having that important: "way out".
I find the look ahead approach useful. Of say 100 left lane campers I would say the majority do not move out of the way. So the good news/bad news is that 10-15% do surprise me and move out of the way. Even rarer is the driver who really knows how to drive and has seen me coming up on him and moved out of the way when I am in legal/safe etc distance. Those folks I like to wave at, blink or honk. As soon as I am passed them and it is safe, I like to acknowledge their courtesy and MOVE out of(their way) the passing lane...SO if they wish to pass me, they at least won't have me in front of them.
This morning a Hyundai Santa Fe was trying to merge onto the road, and was actually making a fairly reasonable attempt to speed up. Had its blinker on, even. I backed off so that he'd have enough room to come over, but I think he was still a bit too cautious/unsure, so I flashed my lights for him to come over. He did, and quickly sped up to the flow of traffic (which was only about 35 mph at this point), and waved and gave a quick tap on his horn saying "thank you".
Too bad more people can't be like this!
I had a lowered 77 scirocco...and loved the car....though it lacked many things that the prelude had....
I got a few tickets in that car also.... :-(
So basically everyone is sorta allowed one or two freebies with me. Cut me off? Sure okay, whatever, maybe didn't see me. Cut me off and then slowed down? Grr... alright, I'll let it slide; maybe the guy isn't from around here.
Cut me off, and then slowed down, and then changed lanes again, and then tailgated me, and I've seen you driving around here before... now I'm starting to see red..."...
I agree , gambit....all should be given the benefit of doubt...but there are a few people who have no clue and should only be allowed on bumper cars or be given Disneylands Autopia licenses only..... ;-)
Hiya Ruking !!
that is awful nice of you. I see a lot of road rage for simple things that other people do not mean to do... or are unaware...
so a few freebies are right.. IMO.
with andre ,gambit, you and others...the roads would be a lot safer....
:-)
Anyway, we are fast approaching this right hand exit, she realizes she wants that exit, so, she simply cuts the wheel to the right and tries a lane change--but big white box truck was there. Next thing you know, she has right hand thrown up in the air (never lost the phone though!) and is glaring at traffic to let her in. Steering with her knees maybe? Anyway, no blinker, no signal, nothing. Miracles do happen--she got over two lanes without an accident, but I do believe she was oblivious to the couple of near-misses, brake slamming that went on behind her until...
young guy in a late-model Integra paces her in the exit only lane she is trying to get into now (still talking on the phone) and well, we'll just say she missed her exit. Big grins on several drivers all around who witnessed this, and of course the Integra continues off the exit, and I can't remember seeing a bigger smile!
I'm not saying I condone such actions, but I sure smiled for several miles as I continued on my journey.
Accident. Stopped traffic: SOUTHBOUND RT 3 AT THE NORTH INTERSECTION WITH RT 450 (JASPERS)---ALL LANES ARE BLOCKED EACH WAY--TRUCK CROSSED FROM NORTHBOUND INTO THE SOUTHBOUND LANES--TAKING DOWN THE SIGNAL LIGHTS--NORTHBOUND TRAFFIC MUST TURN RIGHT ONTO RT 450--"
Wonder if it was caused by an inconsiderate driver? So, anybody in the Maryland area that might be affected by this...take heed!
Could have used one for the inconsiderate drivers tailgating Friday eve as I drove across Ohio on I70. One lady never gets out of left lane at 67. On cell phone even through construction zone -- I was alongside her in the zone since I was in the right lane and she slowed down -- she had her baby in the back seat!!!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
What really drives me crazy about cell phone users is that their speed will vary so much. I realized I used to do the same, and that helped convince me to stop answering my phone on the road. It's surprisingly hard to keep a steady speed.
In any event, the cell phone stays with the wife's car and is NEVER going to travel with me. My road safety kit is always with me... hands to wave down a passing car if I get stuck and feet to walk me to the nearest phone.
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The safe way to make a call is pull over. Even the right lane is a problem because you have to drive unless there is minimal traffic and you can use cruise control.
I keep thinking of the mother in her minivan on the cellphone on the way home from Indy. Traffic in front of her slowed down at I70/75 so she switched to left lane, apparently cutting in quickly like many drivers do, only her cell phone distraction kept her from noticing the semi stopped in the left lane. She went under it talking on her cell phone less than 5 miles from home.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
Anyway, traffic was heavy, but moving, around 40-45 mph. And the speed limit was only 45 mph, anyway. It wasn't raining at the time, but the roads were wet. I was in the right lane, and in the left lane just up ahead, I saw an Isuzu Amigo flash its lights as it rode up on the rear bumper of an Altima. There was a van about 100 feet ahead of the Altima, and plenty of traffic ahead of that. I guess that Amigo driver just wanted that lane to magically clear, though!
She rode about 15 feet or less off that Altima's bumper for about a mile. Finally, traffic broke up some as my turn-off came up, and I saw her shoot past him on the right.
Now, I know I've griped in the past about left lane campers, but IMO this case was different. First off, the left lane campers I gripe about are the ones that are on interstates and other limited-access highways, that want to go slower than the flow of traffic in the passing lane. They end up holding up traffic and creating bottlenecks, and force people to change lanes more often than necessary. And in general, just create a nuisance and a danger.
But somebody like the driver of this Altima wasn't holding up traffic. He was just going with the flow on a crowded road, and maintaining a safe distance.
Oh yeah, on Monday, on several occasions on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, I did see a left lane camper holding up traffic. Going slower than the flow of traffic, and often even slower than the speed limit. Weaving around a bit, and just looking distracted in general. And each time, the driver was yakking on a cell phone!
If things are too congested, or there's too much going on around me, I'll either pull off somewhere and continue the call, or wrap it up really fast. Otherwise, if it's safe to do so, I'll just stay in my own lane, at a reasonable speed, with plenty of distance behind the car in front of me. And no, I don't do this in the passing lane on the interstate!
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
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Some numbnuts in a Kia Sedona comes rolling up behind me and flashes his headlights. He starts tailgating me at about 3 ft off my bumper! OK, so you're much more important than I am and of course you are in a much bigger hurry to get to work. Guess I should yield to your greatness and just move out of your way;>
The cop couldn't see it or didn't care. He was happy causing the jam. I would have pee'd on the Sedona,(windshield washers) but we weren't going fast enough for them to reach him.
I've often thought of doing that with my car along with a fine pressure sprayer for oil that goes into the air stream under the car so it would pick up and hit the windshield of a tailgater. Then their wipers go on, and then they slow down.
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
1) If you are trying to change lanes to get in front of someone, they will speed up.
2) If you are waiting for someone next to you to move past you so you can slide in behind them, they will slow down and match your speed.
3) If you're trying to merge, everybody in the lane you're merging into is doing 75 and refusing to move over and make room for you to enter traffic.
4)Once you actually do merge over, these same people will slow down to 50 mph.
5) If you're trying to pass slower traffic in the passing lane, the person in front of you wants to match speeds with traffic in the next lane over.
6) If you suddenly move over to the middle lane and try to sneak by on the right he will suddenly become a speed demon again.
7) The passing lane alternates. For 10 minutes at a time it is the far left lane, until you reach a long line of traffic formed behind an LLB. At that point, move all the way over to the far right lane, which will invariably stay totally clear for the next 10 miles.
8) If someone signals before moving into the lane in front of you, you should assume they've lost their minds.
9) If someone signals, moves into the lane in front of you, and than matches or exceeds the speed you were moving along at instead of immediately slowing down by 10 mph, assume they are not DC natives.
And, the speed limit along this stretch of road? Well, the whole road is 30 mph, but right at the top of the blind hill is a 10 mph warning sign, with an S-curve warning as well. So basically we had a nice variety of inconsidate driving here. Speeding, tailgating, driving an untagged vehicle (the dirt bike), etc.
If I find out any other info though, I'll let you know!
Well, I was getting dressed for work when I heard a car go sliding past my house. I looked out the window to see a red '92-95 Honda Civic coupe sliding down the road, spinning almost like what you'd see on a cartoon! It barely missed two telephone poles, my fence, my mailbox, 2 mailboxes across the street, a wooden trash box, an embankment on the other side of the street that probably wouldn't given it some air time, and, ironically enough, a 30 mph speed limit sign! Basically, the car slid, out-of-control for most of the width of my property, so I'm guessing at least 200 feet.
I would simply LOVE to know what was going through this idiot's brain, and how fast they were actually going!
What does drifting mean?
2014 Malibu 2LT, 2015 Cruze 2LT,
I've never done it, but I think it's basically getting the car to break loose when cornering, but still keep it under control. It's a very fine line between keeping it under control and losing it totally though, which is why it's best left to empty parking lots, courses set up for it, the football field of your local high school after hours, etc ;-)
Clear, but wet, and not totally plowed to the edge of the pavement. Now I'd guess there was maybe 18 feet, if that, of pavement that was actually plowed, side to side. But somehow, when that Civic spun out, its wheels didn't even disturb the unplowed part of the snow on the pavement!
I know this is evil of me, but I was almost hoping that they'd hit the telephone pole and speed limit sign, just to teach them a lesson! By the time the car slid down past that pole, it probably wasn't going more than a few mph, so it's not like the hit would've hurt anyone.
But now that I think back on it, when the driver parked, they were going awfully slow, and when they parked they started up and moved a bit, then moved again. Almost like someone who was either scatterbrained, or shook up. And this car had big rims on it, and tinted windows.
On a whim, I just went outside to see if I could find that car, and I wrote down its tag #. Tomorrow morning, around the same time, I'm going to keep a lookout and see if it's the same car that goes through again. Traffic on my road is annoyingly predictable, with the same cars going through at the same time every day.
If it turns out to be the same car, maybe I should leave a note on it saying something like "thanks for not taking out my mailbox/front yard/etc with that stupid stunt you did this morning. Maybe that will teach you to drive a bit more respectfully through my neighborhood next time". Or would that be too evil?
If nothing else, we do have this dip in the road that's getting worse by the day, as it continues to sag. And this Civic appeared to be lowered, riding on 17" aftermarket rims, and tires that had the aspect ratio of a flat tire. A few high-speed trips over that dip will take care of it, eventually. In fact, I wonder if it was the dip that might have made them lose control in the first place?
First and foremost he is a LLC!!! AAAauugh!!! Next, he is a tailgate passer...he reachest tailgating distances before he moves over to pass.
When not using the cruise control his speed varies by as much as 15 mph. And when cruise is used, he doesn't tap the breaks to disengage, to slow gradaully. No...he hits the breaks with moderate force to slow down, all but having to jam on them at the end. This also scares the crap out of anyone behind him, thinking there is a true reason for an emergency like stop.
He was constantly drifting from side to side. It usually took some of those "Bots Dots" to help him correct his direction of travel.
He left his blinker on all the time. Since I was riding shotgun the whole way, I would let him know. Also would tell him when traffic was stopping or near stopped ahead. Then his reaction times almost always created a near emergency stop type manuver.
Like a good son in law, I held my tongue. But the next time we go on a serious road trip, I'm driving, or we are taking 2 vehicles. I apologize to any of you who may have suffered from father in law's LLCing or other poor habits.
Oh yeah, also found out that mother in law is the absolute worse back seat driver I have ever experienced!!! She was constantly nagging about changing lanes. Why are you changing lanes? Stop doing that, I don't like changing lanes...blah blah blah.
Her long distance driving is very limited. So he slowed to the slowest speed on highway, and kept to it for an hour, following a putt putting rig. Then she started to ask why we were going soooo sloooow.
At least the Chebby Express had a 350 under the hood, so we weren't holding up traffic when merging.
There were a few drivers that tried to merge into our lane with out signal or clearing the spot first. Most of them were on the phone. Some we passed back and forth constantly(so annoying.).
And it was a different Civic, dangit! This one just had black steel wheels with no hubcaps, no tint, and, the clincher, a different license plate from the one I saw in the parking lot at work.
Now, I'm sure there's a slight chance that both of these Civics are coming through in the morning at different times, and the one that spun out yesterday WAS the one that I saw at work. But I doubt it. I have a feeling that this particular one just happened to come through later yesterday because of the weather. And judging by the way he hit that depression in the road, he didn't learn his lesson!
And this dip in the road isn't going away anytime soon. Our stretch of road really needs to be overhauled seriously, or have some speed bumps put in to slow down traffic. However, the county said that the only way the road will be altered is if a developer comes in and buys up all the land to put houses on, and pays for the improvements to the road.
Eventually they might come by and patch it, but then it'll be raised up, and with time will sink, peel off, etc, and we'll be right back where we started. So one day I have a feeling this buffoon will lose his spoiler or crack a rim or something fun like that. Just as long as he doesn't take out my mailbox when he loses control again!
Also, one thing I've noticed about people who don't use their turn signals. More than 90% of the people I've seen not using them was because these people were gabbing on cell phones. Steering wheel in one hand, cell phone in the other, doesn't leave any hands free for turn signals. I'm sorry, but the use of cell phones while driving needs to go.