Edmunds Members - Cars and Conversations

houdini2 · January 2019

stickguy said:
I don't even think a rotary phone works any longer. Maybe with an adapter. I have not seen one in use in many years.

Shoot, I go back to the pre rotary days. "Number please".

ab348 · January 2019

In the late '60s we had a place in the country and it had a party line.

oldfarmer50 · January 2019

The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further.

On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident.

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

venture · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further.

On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident.

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

Most people don't know and it's not enforced.

snakeweasel · January 2019

ab348 said:

In the late '60s we had a place in the country and it had a party line.

my sister in rural Colorado had a party line in the early 80's. It's my understanding that the las party lines were deactivated in the mid 90's.

qbrozen · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further. On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident. This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

I like the intersections that have curved dotted lines to show people what lane to turn into. Interestingly enough, there is one not far from me where 2 lanes are turning left onto a 6-lane road and the far left of the 2 lane has a dotted line leading to the middle lane of the 3 lanes. WTF?

snakeweasel · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

I have to agree with you on this. Now while I can handle them going into the wrong lane it's how they cut the corner that at times gets me. Instead of pulling straight into the intersection before making the turn they cut the corner starting the turn at the first possible moment. Doing this often puts the turning vehicle partially in the oncoming traffics lane for a moment. I dont know how many times I have approached a red light and had to avoid a left turner that partially crossed my lane.

Mr_Shiftright · January 2019

stickguy said:
I don't even think a rotary phone works any longer. Maybe with an adapter. I have not seen one in use in many years.

Yeah, they can work with an adapter. My friend has one of those old solid black rotary phones.

fintail · January 2019

Same here, I see it virtually every time I drive. Maybe the only bright spot is that the wide turner is also often slow (as drivers tend to be in the PNW), so when they turn wide, I can turn properly, and zip around them.

Apparent zero enforcement is behind this idiocy, methinks.

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

tjc78 · January 2019

Remember years ago when TouchTone first came out there was a little slider on the phone (T-P) to be compatible with old rotary phone systems?

Mr_Shiftright · January 2019

It's called "Lane Discipline" and it doesn't exist in America.

andres3 · January 2019

venture said:

oldfarmer50 said:
The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further.

On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident.

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?
Most people don't know and it's not enforced.

If the violation is safety related it often goes unenforced.

Too busy? Sounds like a joke of an argument when you have the new as of Jan 01 "too loud exhaust - subject to law enforcement's judgement" on the books in CA seems to be getting a lot of attention and enforcement.

andres3 · January 2019

Need the Wisdom of this Forum to come through on these new topics:

1) Did you hear/read about the story of the grieving parents suing Tesla for quote "making an unreasonably unsafe car" that their son crashed at 116 MPH and then it burned up in flames (fatalities). Tesla's defense is that gasoline cars still have a higher rate of fire than their batteries do, and that no car would allow you to survive a crash at 116 MPH (similar crash). Apparently the tech removed the speed governor the parents set at something under 116 MPH. Seems like a frivolous case to me.

2) I took the worst medical/dental advice of my life just before the Holidays. I let a Dentist sell me on getting rid of a 20 year old filling and getting a new crown ($200 off today only; it's the last day! ACT TODAY) salesmanship was used, along with fear mongering (if you wait to treat it the decay will get under your filling "gaps" and cause you to need a root canal. Well, I went ahead with the recommendation to fix what wasn't broke (at least according to me; no pain, no issues with the filling). It has been A BIG pain ever since, and pains in my mouth go straight to my brain and cause headaches. Ibuprofen is like magic on this type of tooth/crown pain, but I've been having to take it for a long time, which isn't good for you. Once I decided I was going to waste 3 hours in the dental office to save $200 on a fine Friday afternoon, they added at the very end "by the way, 10% of these fail." I was shocked at the extraordinarily high 10% failure rate for something that costs 4 figures (insurance only covered 33%, so still 4 figures). However, they told me so late in the game my mind was already made up, and I was committed to getting it over with. One of the biggest regrets of my life. Since then, I've had the bite adjusted 3 times. Wishful thinking. It is still hurting (though not quite as bad), and sensitive painful to cold and hot, and pressure (when eating). One x-ray picture might show the crown isn't properly cemented adhered, but that information didn't come from my dental Office. All I know is in 2 weeks I have an appt. with the other dentist in the office to talk about the solution, a root canal. Seems like I've gone down a rabbit hole. I feel like I was given medical/dental malpractice bad advice, and should become rich from this in a lawsuit. However, this is a big office that makes you sign 5 things electronically every time you visit; probably an uphill battle.

tjc78 · January 2019

If you really think you have a case go to an ambulance chaser that works on contingency. You have nothing to loose.

Personallly I think you are SOL. Certainly does suck and tooth pain is the worst.

qbrozen · January 2019

I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.

henryn · January 2019

I have been going to the same dentist since 1985, and I trust him completely. He has never steered me wrong, and does a great job.

I can't imagine going to a dentist and allowing him to jab needles halfway through my head, and use high speed drills within the confines of my mouth, if I didn't have absolute trust and confidence.

I'm dreading the day he retires.

andres3 · January 2019

qbrozen said:
I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.

Won't the "hole" eventually fill-in? Is the "hole" painful when eating? For me, it's my rear-most bottom left molar.

xwesx · January 2019

ab348 said:

explorerx4 said:
@ab348,
What is your point by posting this?
I’m not sure I understand your question. It was news I got in my inbox this AM similar to what I got from them about Ghosn and GM’s plant closings. It seemed to be something people here would be interested in.

Yes, indeed!

It's a tough time for them, and for the auto industry in general, but then these things come and go in cycles (and somewhat regular cycles, at that). Also yesterday, I saw that Motley Fool issued a "sell" recommendation for Ford stock.

Maybe foolish, but I'm keeping mine. If it goes a little lower, I'll likely also buy more.

henryn · January 2019

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:
I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.
Won't the "hole" eventually fill-in? Is the "hole" painful when eating? For me, it's my rear-most bottom left molar.

The "hole" is basically a hole in the (usually) solid wall of teeth, not really a hole in your gums.

Yes, to start with there will be an indentation in your gums, but that does grow back in. If the tooth in question is in the middle of a row, then you have to worry about the teeth on each side starting to "lean" into the gap. For the "rear most tooth", not so much of a problem. As long as you can still chew well, no problem.

laurasdada · January 2019

I saw a similar article on Ford, but it also included jobs downsizing at Jag Land Rover.

ab348 · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

My older brother who is in his 70s and has been driving for over 50 years (even raced sports cars on road courses back in the day) was unaware of this rule of the road. I learned this recently when he recounted a story of seeing a police car pull over a lady who did exactly what you describe, left turn into the rightmost lane. I told him what I thought was the reason for it and he was astounded. "But I've always done that! It is the most efficient way to get into the lane you should be in!". It was hard to make him understand why it could be a problem.

qbrozen · January 2019

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:
I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.
Won't the "hole" eventually fill-in? Is the "hole" painful when eating? For me, it's my rear-most bottom left molar.

Mine is the rear bottom right. I concur with Henryn's answers. The dentist did claim that someday, sometime, eventually, in the distant future, the opposing tooth would descend since there is no tooth to keep it from doing so. I kind of find that hard to believe, frankly, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. It is not a tooth I would miss if I had to remove that, as well.

xwesx · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further.

On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident.

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

Yes, this one is rampant. I do like you, and I flat out ignore anyone who does differently. So far, they have all yielded rather than risk an impact; at least they aren't completely lost when it comes to doing *something* correct on the road.

However, the one I find most annoying in this situation is when there are two left turn lanes, and the driver next to me fails to maintain his lane: Eg., I'm on the right, turning to rightmost lane (on the left), and the drive to my left also pulls into the rightmost lane, or I'm on the left and the driver to my right pulls into the leftmost lane. I think, "Seriously, people!!!! It is NOT THAT DIFFICULT!!!" Hahahha

xwesx · January 2019

qbrozen said:
I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.

At the very least, you should have the bone graft done. The loss of a tooth will start a process of the bone in your jaw disintegrating, which just leads to more problems down the road. You're too young for missing teeth!

xwesx · January 2019

andres3 said:

2) I took the worst medical/dental advice of my life just before the Holidays. I let a Dentist sell me on getting rid of a 20 year old filling and getting a new crown ($200 off today only; it's the last day! ACT TODAY) salesmanship was used, along with fear mongering (if you wait to treat it the decay will get under your filling "gaps" and cause you to need a root canal. Well, I went ahead with the recommendation to fix what wasn't broke (at least according to me; no pain, no issues with the filling). It has been A BIG pain ever since, and pains in my mouth go straight to my brain and cause headaches. Ibuprofen is like magic on this type of tooth/crown pain, but I've been having to take it for a long time, which isn't good for you. Once I decided I was going to waste 3 hours in the dental office to save $200 on a fine Friday afternoon, they added at the very end "by the way, 10% of these fail." I was shocked at the extraordinarily high 10% failure rate for something that costs 4 figures (insurance only covered 33%, so still 4 figures). However, they told me so late in the game my mind was already made up, and I was committed to getting it over with. One of the biggest regrets of my life. Since then, I've had the bite adjusted 3 times. Wishful thinking. It is still hurting (though not quite as bad), and sensitive painful to cold and hot, and pressure (when eating). One x-ray picture might show the crown isn't properly cemented adhered, but that information didn't come from my dental Office. All I know is in 2 weeks I have an appt. with the other dentist in the office to talk about the solution, a root canal. Seems like I've gone down a rabbit hole. I feel like I was given medical/dental malpractice bad advice, and should become rich from this in a lawsuit. However, this is a big office that makes you sign 5 things electronically every time you visit; probably an uphill battle.

Not a good situation on the tooth for sure. However, dental work like this (crowns) often causes discomfort for an extended period of time, though yours, indeed, may be a little extreme even so soon after the work was done. First step I recommend is going to a different dentist for a separate opinion, and choose the doctor based on word-of-mouth that you trust! As with most such doctors, it takes a truly awful dentist to be poorly rated, but cold-turkey asking people will usually get a pretty honest assessment.

It's possible that they delved too deeply on setting the core of your tooth with the crown, or that they did not properly apply the nerve desensitizer when whey were doing the work, etc.

venture · January 2019

andres3 said:

qbrozen said:
I had a root canal and crown done a couple of years ago. Went through similar issues where I needed to have it readjusted a couple of times and once it even fell out. Gave me pain for the longest time. After a few months, either it settled in or my teeth adjusted. Fast forward to last month when it fell out AGAIN. This time I went to a different dentist. They informed me the crown would never hold and I needed to get the whole tooth removed, a bone graft done, and an implant made and installed. $4,000. So I asked how much to pull what remained of the tooth and leave a hole. Dentist was rather surprised and confused at my request. Nurse looked up through my insurance and they came back with $0. I said "yup, let's do that." So far, I'm please with my choice.
Won't the "hole" eventually fill-in? Is the "hole" painful when eating? For me, it's my rear-most bottom left molar.

My rear most bottom right molar is gone. Has been for many years. I can, and do, chew peanuts on the gum.

ab348 · January 2019

xwesx said:

However, the one I find most annoying in this situation is when there are two left turn lanes, and the driver next to me fails to maintain his lane: Eg., I'm on the right, turning to rightmost lane (on the left), and the drive to my left also pulls into the rightmost lane, or I'm on the left and the driver to my right pulls into the leftmost lane. I think, "Seriously, people!!!! It is NOT THAT DIFFICULT!!!" Hahahha

My pet peeve is this intersection a few blocks from my house. As you see it has a rightmost bus-only lane (that nevertheless often finds vehicles in it, usually large pickups for some reason) two straight-on travel lanes, and a dedicated left turn lane:

The two straight-ahead lanes are the problem, specifically the leftmost of the two. I cannot tell you how often I see a vehicle in that lane drift right when crossing the intersection trying to get into the right-hand travel lane. No reason to, and in fact I have seen vehicles do that and then change lanes back to the left further up the hill since that is where most traffic needs to go. It seems to happen close to 50% of the time when I am there. I think it is because of the small angle that the road on the other side takes. Naturally it causes lots of problems since this is a busy spot. Then you have the pickups, etc improperly using the bus lane trying to jam their way into the right travel lane because the bus lane ends in a ramp to a bus terminal, along with an occasional moron who decides they don't want to be in the left-turn lane after all and tries to force their way in from the other side. It simply baffles me how bad some of our drivers here are. Of course there is zero enforcement of anything at this spot.

stickguy · January 2019

That intersection will be vastly improved by painting dotted lane marker lines through it until you get to the normal lanes on the other side. I can see with the curve how some people might just straighten it out otherwise.

For the Tesla, blame the kid for being reckless.

Teeth? Well, the end molar is next to the wisdom teeth, and those get taken out all the time. I have a few crowns, and thankfully a good dentist. All came out fine, though it varied how long it took for each one to settle in so I stopped noticing.

oldfarmer50 · January 2019

snakeweasel said:

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

I have to agree with you on this. Now while I can handle them going into the wrong lane it's how they cut the corner that at times gets me. Instead of pulling straight into the intersection before making the turn they cut the corner starting the turn at the first possible moment. Doing this often puts the turning vehicle partially in the oncoming traffics lane for a moment. I dont know how many times I have approached a red light and had to avoid a left turner that partially crossed my lane.

That’s called “squaring your corners” and was something if you didn’t do it during school bus recert you would get points taken off for. What you describe is also lazy driving in my opinion.

When I taught my niece to drive the last thing I told her before her road test was to square her corners. She passed on the first try and the examiner complemented her turns.

oldfarmer50 · January 2019

andres3 said:
Need the Wisdom of this Forum to come through on these new topics:

1) Did you hear/read about the story of the grieving parents suing Tesla for quote "making an unreasonably unsafe car" that their son crashed at 116 MPH and then it burned up in flames (fatalities). Tesla's defense is that gasoline cars still have a higher rate of fire than their batteries do, and that no car would allow you to survive a crash at 116 MPH (similar crash). Apparently the tech removed the speed governor the parents set at something under 116 MPH. Seems like a frivolous case to me.

2) I took the worst medical/dental advice of my life just before the Holidays. I let a Dentist sell me on getting rid of a 20 year old filling and getting a new crown ($200 off today only; it's the last day! ACT TODAY) salesmanship was used, along with fear mongering (if you wait to treat it the decay will get under your filling "gaps" and cause you to need a root canal. Well, I went ahead with the recommendation to fix what wasn't broke (at least according to me; no pain, no issues with the filling). It has been A BIG pain ever since, and pains in my mouth go straight to my brain and cause headaches. Ibuprofen is like magic on this type of tooth/crown pain, but I've been having to take it for a long time, which isn't good for you. Once I decided I was going to waste 3 hours in the dental office to save $200 on a fine Friday afternoon, they added at the very end "by the way, 10% of these fail." I was shocked at the extraordinarily high 10% failure rate for something that costs 4 figures (insurance only covered 33%, so still 4 figures). However, they told me so late in the game my mind was already made up, and I was committed to getting it over with. One of the biggest regrets of my life. Since then, I've had the bite adjusted 3 times. Wishful thinking. It is still hurting (though not quite as bad), and sensitive painful to cold and hot, and pressure (when eating). One x-ray picture might show the crown isn't properly cemented adhered, but that information didn't come from my dental Office. All I know is in 2 weeks I have an appt. with the other dentist in the office to talk about the solution, a root canal. Seems like I've gone down a rabbit hole. I feel like I was given medical/dental malpractice bad advice, and should become rich from this in a lawsuit. However, this is a big office that makes you sign 5 things electronically every time you visit; probably an uphill battle.

I went to a cut rate national dental chain for a root canal once and got the laundry list of services upsell. I said in no uncertain terms to only do the one root canal. After the Novacane wore off I discovered that against my wishes they capped the adjacent tooth as well. I told the dentist I considered this malpractice and never went back.

xwesx · January 2019

ab348 said:
I think it is because of the small angle that the road on the other side takes. Naturally it causes lots of problems since this is a busy spot.

That's exactly what it is, and is a sure sign of people doing pretty much anything other than actually driving! During winter here (when the lines are not completely visible), people are absolutely horrid in their lane discipline. Even though you can still see the lines on the road as they peek out of snow covering where drivers pilot there vehicles poorly, they still refuse to use any lane discipline.

I actually have people honk at me regularly for using the lanes instead of wandering all over the road with the rest of them. In this case, I love to disappoint them, because I have too much respect for driving to be willing to fall into their undisciplined ways.

The worse in this is when they will park half-way in a left turn lane and half in the straight (intending to go straight), which then triggers the left dedicated signal light so that everyone has to sit around waiting on nobody turning. OR, there IS someone wanting to turn, but they cannot go because doofarse is blocking the lane. I really, truly, do not understand the mindset.

And, all this driving stuff is making me sad because we're not using the Inconsiderate Drivers thread!

xwesx · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
When I taught my niece to drive the last thing I told her before her road test was to square her corners. She passed on the first try and the examiner complemented her turns.

I used to have issues with "cut corners" by other drivers all the time at on intersection in particular. The painted lines demonstrated the appropriately squared turn, but people still cut them (and frequently took out the front end of vehicles waiting to make a left). When the lines were last painted, they were actually painted with the crap-turn in mind, along with the "stop line" for the left turn lanes painted a car-length back from the crosswalk.

While furious, I just laughed and said, "OMG, look at that! Even the traffic engineers gave up!"

Since then, the entire intersection was redesigned and dumbed down to *try* to keep up with the rapid mental deterioration of the driving populace here.

ab348 · January 2019

stickguy said:
That intersection will be vastly improved by painting dotted lane marker lines through it until you get to the normal lanes on the other side. I can see with the curve how some people might just straighten it out otherwise.

Myself and many others have suggested that to our municipal alderman, who bounced it to the municipal traffic engineers, who are supposedly doing a study. That will probably take several years and odds are they will come back with a "no".

It is tempting to go there around 4AM some summer night with a narrow paint roller and do it myself.

[Deleted User] · January 2019

carnaught said:
@tyguy, did you buy rather than lease?

Hi Carnaught. I've actually never leased a vehicle, and with Tesla currently there are no leasing options. In a few years we'll turn over the Outback to either our daughter or my mom, and we'll go 100% EV at our home.

explorerx4 · January 2019

I take a left at a light onto a road with 2 lanes in each direction.
If possible, I just get into the far right lane right away.
If there is another car turning the same way they usually pass me, so I figure I'll make it easier on them.
Then, when they are stopped at the next light, when I get there I can just roll through since I have it timed.
If I take a right, I definitely get into the right lane when making the turn.

xwesx · January 2019

When I was in Morgantown, West Virginia, in 2011, I found an interesting phenomenon: They had vertical lines in many of their intersections! In this, I mean that where the painted lines are normally found, they instead had same-colored mini-pylons in close proximity that were about 30" or so tall. The design, I imagine, is that these keep traffic in the correct lane through the distance of the intersection.

Seems like a bit of a maintenance nightmare, TBH. I strongly suspect that drivers here would likely just run them all over after the first snowfall "because they were down the middle of the lane."

oldfarmer50 · January 2019

When did dealership become tax experts?

Just saw an ad from J D Byrighter (don’t know if that’s a national chain) which stated: “bring in your pay stub and we’ll estimate your refund”

How accurate would you expect a car salesman to be?

driver100 · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that too many drivers do. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?

Having taught high school driving that stupid, lazy, thoughtless move really irritates me. Now, what I do is turn and go into my proper lane but, I watch the guy behind me in my rear view mirror.......if he tries to skirt around me by going into the right lane then I straddle the dotted line enough so he can't get by, then I move into the right lane in front of him. If he stays in the left lane I signal and move over first chance I get.

driver100 · January 2019

ab348 said:

oldfarmer50 said:

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?
My older brother who is in his 70s and has been driving for over 50 years (even raced sports cars on road courses back in the day) was unaware of this rule of the road. I learned this recently when he recounted a story of seeing a police car pull over a lady who did exactly what you describe, left turn into the rightmost lane. I told him what I thought was the reason for it and he was astounded. "But I've always done that! It is the most efficient way to get into the lane you should be in!". It was hard to make him understand why it could be a problem.

One reason it is a problem is because a car going in the opposite direction (South on that map) SHOULD be able to turn right when the other car is turning left. I don't do it, because too many morons go into the right lane - but, technically, you should be able to turn right when the other car turned left.

driver100 · January 2019

xwesx said:

oldfarmer50 said:
The crazies were out again this morning. First, as I made a left out of a gas station a woman in a minivan doing twice the 30mph speed limit raced up and sat only a few feet from my bumper. Very aggressive. I assumed that when we both entered the interstate she would blast by on the left. Nope she flew into the left hand lane as we turned but then just loped along off my back corner. Fortunately, I exited a mile later and didn’t have to ponder her motivations further.

On the way home I made a left onto a two lane. As the law requires I turned into the closest (left hand) lane and then signaled to move right. The guy behind me turned left into the far right lane and tried to pass me on the right as I was moving over. I accelerated to avoid contact but so did the numbskull. It was as if he was trying to cause an accident.

This is one of my pet peeves and one that almost every driver on the road today does. It’s lazy driving and it’s getting to the point where for my own safety I’m thinking of starting to do myself. Why obey the traffic laws when everyone else is ignoring them?
Yes, this one is rampant. I do like you, and I flat out ignore anyone who does differently. So far, they have all yielded rather than risk an impact; at least they aren't completely lost when it comes to doing *something* correct on the road.

However, the one I find most annoying in this situation is when there are two left turn lanes, and the driver next to me fails to maintain his lane: Eg., I'm on the right, turning to rightmost lane (on the left), and the drive to my left also pulls into the rightmost lane, or I'm on the left and the driver to my right pulls into the leftmost lane. I think, "Seriously, people!!!! It is NOT THAT DIFFICULT!!!" Hahahha

Difficult to see the little dotted lines when your roads have 10 inches of snow on them

I will say, if someone goes out of their lane that is one time I would lean on the horn....might make them think next time (though I doubt it).

explorerx4 · January 2019

@fintail,
You mentioned looking at getting a G class.
Here's your opportunity to get a Brabus really cheap.

https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/d/ludlow-mercedes-brabus-g63-g55-grand/6792725690.html

Mr_Shiftright · January 2019

explorerx4 said:
@fintail,
You mentioned looking at getting a G class.
Here's your opportunity to get a Brabus really cheap.
https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/d/ludlow-mercedes-brabus-g63-g55-grand/6792725690.html

I just read the ad and the entire story behind it. You know, if I was writing a horror novel, I'd use that ad for the first paragraph. "Oh, the G63 at the old Johnson place? Some say it got flooded. Some new people bought it, put a lot of money into it. The story about town is that it's haunted. You're gonna buy it, you say?"

berri · January 2019

More than a few dentists are now in mass clinic settings focusing on upsells unfortunately. Also, more and more stuff is being done by dental technicians while the dentist deals with 4,5, 6 or more chairs each hour. So I'm not surprised.

Turn into wrong lanes is as common as the multi-lane, zigzagging interstate cowboys. Throw in our current gov functioning and we sometimes appear to be headed downward into a third world country

qbrozen · January 2019

xwesx said:

At the very least, you should have the bone graft done. The loss of a tooth will start a process of the bone in your jaw disintegrating, which just leads to more problems down the road. You're too young for missing teeth!

Really? Why would it disintegrate? They made no mention of that.

oldfarmer50 · January 2019

explorerx4 said:
@fintail,
You mentioned looking at getting a G class.
Here's your opportunity to get a Brabus really cheap.
https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/d/ludlow-mercedes-brabus-g63-g55-grand/6792725690.html

Wow, $40k for 14 years old and flooded. What did it cost new?

Left the sunroof open? Probably in a hurricane and the gators chewed up the seats.

driver100 · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
When did dealership become tax experts?

Just saw an ad from J D Byrighter (don’t know if that’s a national chain) which stated: “bring in your pay stub and we’ll estimate your refund”

How accurate would you expect a car salesman to be?

They probably have someone who can estimate refunds....and then apply the refund to a new car. The scamsters are always thinking these days.

driver100 · January 2019

explorerx4 said:
I take a left at a light onto a road with 2 lanes in each direction.
If possible, I just get into the far right lane right away.

Not sure if it is illegal but it isn't proper. I don't think you would pass a drivers test if you did that explorer.
The guy opposite you should be able to turn right when you re turning left....most rules are made to keep the flow of traffic flowing......not made so you can swing into whatever lane you want to get into.

driver100 · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:

explorerx4 said:
@fintail,
You mentioned looking at getting a G class.
Here's your opportunity to get a Brabus really cheap.
https://nh.craigslist.org/cto/d/ludlow-mercedes-brabus-g63-g55-grand/6792725690.html
Wow, $40k for 14 years old and flooded. What did it cost new?

Left the sunroof open? Probably in a hurricane and the gators chewed up the seats.

I love those G wagons but I don't trust this guy, just reading through his ad;
1) I BOUGHT THE G63 NEWER VERSION THATS WHY IM GETTING RID OF IT
Getting RID of it!

2)I'LL HELP U TO SAVE ON TAXES WITH THE GIFT FORM , TALKING ABOUT $3000 IN SAVINGS
This sounds very illegal

3)I CAN ALSO HELP YOU GET A LOAN FROM CREDIT UNION THAT FINANCES REBUILT TITLE CARS
Now it is a rebuilt car, and what credit union would take the chance?

xwesx · January 2019

oldfarmer50 said:
When did dealership become tax experts?

Just saw an ad from J D Byrighter (don’t know if that’s a national chain) which stated: “bring in your pay stub and we’ll estimate your refund”

How accurate would you expect a car salesman to be?

Accurate enough to make a sale!

xwesx · January 2019

driver100 said:

Difficult to see the little dotted lines when your roads have 10 inches of snow on them

I will say, if someone goes out of their lane that is one time I would lean on the horn....might make them think next time (though I doubt it).

I am more patient about it when there are no reference points available, but 90% of the time it is just old snow/ice on the road. We don't get a lot of snow here; we just keep it a long time!

As such, there are clear areas where past traffic traveled and cleared the road. When those drivers were "off" in their alignment, lots, and lots, of lines are exposed on the road. So, current drivers really have no good excuse for NOT driving in the proper lane. Some may say that if they just follow the clearings, and so does every one else, then all is good. Well, not so much for the guy who breaks down or must make an emergency stop, and they don't have a shoulder to use because somehow it is now in the middle of a "lane."

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