Don't be in such a hurry!

[flyingcheesehead]

Sometimes, when we are in a big hurry, we aren't very smart about our driving. We drive aggressively in an effort to get someplace we think is important.

I implore you, think about how important it really is that you save a few seconds and forego safety. You may think that every second is important, but if you're one minute late it probably won't make that big of a difference. (Try leaving 5 minutes earlier next time if it was really that important).

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to pull out in front of someone rather than waiting for them to go by. Yesterday, someone in Harrodsburg, KY was in too big of a hurry and they pulled out in front of a JB Hunt truck loaded with over 40,000 pounds of paper rather than waiting three seconds for it to go past. That mistake likely cost them their life - I don't know for sure, but they got T-boned by the truck hard enough that the driver's side door was pushed out the passenger side window.

Next time you're in a hurry, remember to stop and think: Is three seconds worth the rest of my life?

 

[JasonCT]

Wise words! and in the grand scheme of things -- What's the rush?

 

[KennyFlys]

Kent, dude I can't agree more. It's not so much faster driving. It's the aggressive driving. It's the lack of attention to what's happening around you. It's the cell phone glued to the side of your head, having tunnel vision and ignorant of your surroundings. It's the cell phone you're so intent on holding onto that you'll lose control of the vehicle instead. It's the lack of use of turn signals so others know your intentions. It's trying to beat the light or the other vehicle through the intersection or get around your own blocked lane and jumping out in front of another, faster moving vehicle in that lane.

That last one happen to me today. I wasn't much faster than the slower lane but I had no warning. No light, no hand signal, nothing. It was a commercial vehicle, a straight flatbed truck. I didn't get the number or I would have reported him to his own company.

I do that every at every opportunity. Most safety departments are glad to know when they have problem drivers. They know well having decent drivers of their own on the road is their best defense against the idiot four-wheelers out there.

But, the saddest part I've found... the least receptive supervision of problem drivers are law enforcement agencies. Last week, I was being tailgated by a sheriff's deputy from another county, at ten miles over the limit becoming twenty miles over the limit as we entered a construction zone at my exit. His only goal was to pick up a prisoner. I guess that trumps the safety of others on the road. His county supervisors couldn't care less.

/rant

 

[drafttek]

Alot of drivers see it as some sort of competition, a race of sorts. Better hurry up to get in front of the other guy. Wouldn't want to be car #1,463 in line when you could be #1,462. Best one is when they cut in front of you and proceed to drive slower than you would be going youself! Or when you move to pass a slower car and they speed up! Real men don't get passed. Right.

 

[Dave Siciliano]

Over and over someone careens around me; comes within a car-length going much faster and changing lanes frequently. At the next stop light, they are parked next to me, or, if I anticipate reasonably, I creep ahead of them in a lane that isn't as full. It not only shows how incourteous they are; it demonstrates how they aren't anticipating the flow of traffic ahead or they would move to the shortest line of traffic at the light before I got there.

Best,

Dave

 

[Pi1otguy]

Last week, I was being tailgated by a sheriff's deputy from another county, at ten miles over the limit becoming twenty miles over the limit as we entered a construction zone at my exit. His only goal was to pick up a prisoner. I guess that trumps the safety of others on the road. His county supervisors couldn't care less.

/rant

That is normally a trick they use to get you to speed and then pull you over. It happened to my dad one day when he was tailgated by a bike cop and then pulled over for speeding. I learned that one should clean the rear window in the mornings and ID the guy behind you before speeding up.

WRT "agressive driving" we should all be courteous on the roads but there are times when getting there one time is almost as important as getting there at all. The morning drive to my previous job was such a case in which I did drive fast but never faster then I could see & avoid and always signaled before my lane changes. Since I'm not a morning person DST made it difficult to get on the road a few minutes early. Therefore I made it up on the road because getting to work on time was more important then anything else. The trick to it is going only as fast as conditions allow and being nice (i.e. change lanes w/o impeding anyone's progress).

 

[Pi1otguy]

BTW, I know that studies say you only save a few minutes for speeding, but those 2-10 minutes (ie making the light, passing a few cars) makes all the difference for jobs that count attendance more then performance.

 

[Tom-D]

Sometimes, when we are in a big hurry, we aren't very smart about our driving. We drive aggressively in an effort to get someplace we think is important.

I implore you, think about how important it really is that you save a few seconds and forego safety. You may think that every second is important, but if you're one minute late it probably won't make that big of a difference. (Try leaving 5 minutes earlier next time if it was really that important).

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to pull out in front of someone rather than waiting for them to go by. Yesterday, someone in Harrodsburg, KY was in too big of a hurry and they pulled out in front of a JB Hunt truck loaded with over 40,000 pounds of paper rather than waiting three seconds for it to go past. That mistake likely cost them their life - I don't know for sure, but they got T-boned by the truck hard enough that the driver's side door was pushed out the passenger side window.

Next time you're in a hurry, remember to stop and think: Is three seconds worth the rest of my life?

And sometimes it is just plan old suicide by truck.

 

[KennyFlys]

That is normally a trick they use to get you to speed and then pull you over. It happened to my dad one day when he was tailgated by a bike cop and then pulled over for speeding. I learned that one should clean the rear window in the mornings and ID the guy behind you before speeding up.

I've actually had that happen though I didn't realize it before I got the ticket. All I saw were bright lights tailgating me and no clue it was a cop. I tried to pull away and and they speed up. With my luck, had I slowed down he'd probably accuse me of C&I driving in some fashion. It was a ticket I should have fought. That was a long time ago... 1993.

With cameras in most all patrol cars today, I could probaby beat it given his actions.

 

[fgcason]

BTW, I know that studies say you only save a few minutes for speeding, but those 2-10 minutes (ie making the light, passing a few cars) makes all the difference for jobs that count attendance more then performance.

By the time you add all the lights and conjestion in, going near wide open throttle, extremely hazardous maneuvering, light running, etc doesn't give much of a useful advantage in town. Doing 20 miles and that only gains maybe a couple hundred feet of walking distance at the destination parking lot. Woopie...except for the lethal hazard to others in the process.

For that matter, long distance driving doesn't gain much. I ran at 50-55mph this summer in the RV. It was amusing to be lumbering along and keep seeing the same sports car pass me again and again at 80-90mph. After about 4 times of that, I was ready to bet good money that I could beat him in the 1000 mile trip without going faster. He was going about twice my speed but I was convinced he couldn't have beat me by more than an hour at most.


Driving is not the competition that drivers think it is. That behavior would get all us pilots pinned to the wall with a nail gun for careless and wreckless. The only thing that's being accomplished is deliberate premeditated attempted murder and/or suicide.


One other point that makes me want to go on a witch hunt crusade: Motorcycles are NOT just automated type objects on the road. Under that cold insensitive inhumane stormtrooper outfit is a real people just like everyone else that's riding around in their cages. Riders get hurt when someone pushes them off the road or puts them down. Even a minor low speed tumble off can be lethal. Please, please, please PLEASE, look twice carefully then verify again before pulling out, quit running the redlights and stopsigns and stay the heck away from us. If anything goes wrong or if we are touched, we don't have those happy steel cages wrapped around us. WE are our own crumple zones. It's not an woopie doo who cares, the insurance will take care of it thing. We get seriously hurt when we go down. (Sorry for the rant but I've been deliberately put off the road and down once because someone thought it was a funny game to run the motorcycle off the road. It frigging sux to no end to be on the receiving end of a face plant even when wearing the proper gear)

 

[Everskyward]

I never gave much thought one way or another to impatient drivers, in fact I could have sometimes be accused of being one, until one day about 5 years ago when I had slowed down to make a left turn on a two-lane road. The car behind me with two young guys decided to pass on the right. They lost control in in the shoulder and went head-on into a cement mixer. My car was close enough to get showered with glass. Luckily I had the windows up. I can still remember the sound of the impact, though, and my amazement as I watched it happen. The driver was killed instantly but surprisingly his passenger more or less walked away after they extricated him from the car. Since then I have had a slightly different attitude toward being in a hurry.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

Sometimes, when we are in a big hurry, we aren't very smart about our driving. We drive aggressively in an effort to get someplace we think is important.

I implore you, think about how important it really is that you save a few seconds and forego safety. You may think that every second is important, but if you're one minute late it probably won't make that big of a difference. (Try leaving 5 minutes earlier next time if it was really that important).

Whatever you do, don't be tempted to pull out in front of someone rather than waiting for them to go by. Yesterday, someone in Harrodsburg, KY was in too big of a hurry and they pulled out in front of a JB Hunt truck loaded with over 40,000 pounds of paper rather than waiting three seconds for it to go past. That mistake likely cost them their life - I don't know for sure, but they got T-boned by the truck hard enough that the driver's side door was pushed out the passenger side window.

Next time you're in a hurry, remember to stop and think: Is three seconds worth the rest of my life?

Here's how I look at it. I drive about 50 miles a day. At 60 mph, that's 50 minutes. At 70, it's 42 minutes. At 80, it's 38 - a saving of only 12 minutes. 12 minutes...whoopdy-freakin-doo.

The difference between 60 and 80 is huge, and not just in terms of safety. I drive over the Continental Divide everyday, so when going up to it, obviously my car is in 4th instead of 5th. Between 60 and 80, the difference in rpms is less than 2500 to about 3500. The gas consumption difference is huge. The wear and tear on the car is huge.

Thus, you gain a lot more than safety by driving a little bit slower. I take a lot of flack for driving the speed limit on the highway. But I also have a 4runner with over 100K miles on it, and the valves aren't even clicking yet.

 

[AdamZ]

Kent, my guess is that we are all guilty of being in a rush and being a bit dull witted from time to time when drivng. So Thanks for the reminder. Its a good point and may save a life. Thanks

 

[flyingcheesehead]

By the time you add all the lights and conjestion in, going near wide open throttle, extremely hazardous maneuvering, light running, etc doesn't give much of a useful advantage in town. Doing 20 miles and that only gains maybe a couple hundred feet of walking distance at the destination parking lot. Woopie...except for the lethal hazard to others in the process.

For that matter, long distance driving doesn't gain much. I ran at 50-55mph this summer in the RV. It was amusing to be lumbering along and keep seeing the same sports car pass me again and again at 80-90mph. After about 4 times of that, I was ready to bet good money that I could beat him in the 1000 mile trip without going faster. He was going about twice my speed but I was convinced he couldn't have beat me by more than an hour at most.

Amen Frank!

There's no "2-10 minute" savings. It's literally seconds most of the time. And, I see the same thing when I'm on the road, going 65 and seeing the same people pass me over, and over, and over...

Today, I take my trainee into snow for the first time. This should be entertaining...

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

...

Today, I take my trainee into snow for the first time. This should be entertaining...

I assume you're talking about your son/daughter? Good luck!

 

[flyingcheesehead]

I assume you're talking about your son/daughter? Good luck!

Nope, no kids... I train truck drivers for a living. So, we're gonna do some "ground school" on jackknife recovery and have at it.

 

[Obi Heed Kenobi]

Nope, no kids... I train truck drivers for a living. So, we're gonna do some "ground school" on jackknife recovery and have at it.

Now that sounds like fun!

 

[Pi1otguy]

Amen Frank!

There's no "2-10 minute" savings. It's literally seconds most of the time. And, I see the same thing when I'm on the road, going 65 and seeing the same people pass me over, and over, and over...

I'll have to disagree with that. I've been on the recieving end of those extra minutes in a previous job and know they exist. Obviously it doesn't really pan out in really thick or congested traffic, but it used to work for me, and no, I didn't pass the same cars over and over.[/quote]

Today, I take my trainee into snow for the first time. This should be entertaining...

Good luck. I OTOH do not do snow. Even rain seems to be an obstacle around here. (prepares for "Storm Watch '08")

 

[sba55]

There's a lot of roads out here where the speed limit just doesn't make sense. Take I-5, for example.

It's nothing but almost completely straight, with generally rather little traffic. When you're on that road, chances are you're going to be on there for a while. So there can easily be a 1 hour difference between going 70 and going 90.

In those situations, I think everybody would be much safer if they established a reasonable speed limit (like 90 or 100), rather than telling everyone to go 70.

-Felix

 

[flyingcheesehead]

There's a lot of roads out here where the speed limit just doesn't make sense. Take I-5, for example.

It's nothing but almost completely straight, with generally rather little traffic. When you're on that road, chances are you're going to be on there for a while. So there can easily be a 1 hour difference between going 70 and going 90.

In those situations, I think everybody would be much safer if they established a reasonable speed limit (like 90 or 100), rather than telling everyone to go 70.

-Felix

I'd agree if there were no trucks on the road, it was impeccably maintained and smooth, and people would get off their cell phones.

However, the first step out there needs to be abolishing the split speed limit (California speed limits are 70 for cars but only 55 for trucks.)

Even after that, most trucks can only go 65-70 so unless you build them a separate road, you'll still have problems.

 

[gismo]

Kent, I've been watching this thread trying to resist adding my 3 cents (inflation ya know). I'm definitely one of those drivers who will attempt to make better progress than the slowest drivers on the road but I like to think I can do this safely. That means I will change lanes if I see an advantage but I check and double check for clearance and never just "butt in". When I'm on the road, and especially if I'm driving "aggressively" I put a lot of mental effort into keeping aware of the traffic around me and planning my next "move" instead of just "cruising along" on autopilot like I see the vast majority of drivers out there. From my perspective it's the people who consider driving to be something requiring very little attention and a casual attitude who cause most of the problems.

 

[sba55]

I'd agree if there were no trucks on the road, it was impeccably maintained and smooth, and people would get off their cell phones.

However, the first step out there needs to be abolishing the split speed limit (California speed limits are 70 for cars but only 55 for trucks.)

Even after that, most trucks can only go 65-70 so unless you build them a separate road, you'll still have problems.

Yes, I agree with that. Especially the cell phone part.

Compared to Europe, we have much less of a "split" speed situation on freeways. Over there, there's usually a lot more trucks (yeah, hard to believe), and you've got the trucks doing 60 and everyone else doing 90.

I don't think speed makes much of a difference on freeways. What's much worse is people's driving behavior. If we got rid of all the crazy tailgating, we'd be a lot safer. People driving within 1 yard of my bumper at 70 mph is a much bigger problem than going 70mph.

-Felix

 

[KennyFlys]

The speed is not the problem. It's the aggressive, uncoordinated changes with no notice to others. I'd equate it to flying with this...

You can certainly land a C-152 touching down at a hundred knots with a safe outcome. But if you make rapid changes and force the situation, there are going to be some less than desirable results.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Kent, I've been watching this thread trying to resist adding my 3 cents (inflation ya know). I'm definitely one of those drivers who will attempt to make better progress than the slowest drivers on the road but I like to think I can do this safely. That means I will change lanes if I see an advantage but I check and double check for clearance and never just "butt in". When I'm on the road, and especially if I'm driving "aggressively" I put a lot of mental effort into keeping aware of the traffic around me and planning my next "move" instead of just "cruising along" on autopilot like I see the vast majority of drivers out there. From my perspective it's the people who consider driving to be something requiring very little attention and a casual attitude who cause most of the problems.

Right on, Lance...

Note that there's a big difference between going fast and being in a hurry. The accident I referred to in the original post, the car had just pulled out from a stop sign. Not going fast at all, but in WAY too big of a hurry. I drive like you describe in my car, and I'll speed too... Speed in itself isn't so dangerous, it's the hurry that leads to poor decision making that's really dangerous.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

Yes, I agree with that. Especially the cell phone part.

Compared to Europe, we have much less of a "split" speed situation on freeways. Over there, there's usually a lot more trucks (yeah, hard to believe), and you've got the trucks doing 60 and everyone else doing 90.

I don't think speed makes much of a difference on freeways. What's much worse is people's driving behavior. If we got rid of all the crazy tailgating, we'd be a lot safer. People driving within 1 yard of my bumper at 70 mph is a much bigger problem than going 70mph.

-Felix

Yup.

Actually, I find it quite easy to believe there are more trucks on the highways in Europe. Well, not so much more trucks as fewer cars. Europe has an excellent rail system and cars are quite expensive to operate there. Plus, things are laid out differently so cars aren't quite as essential and simply aren't used as much.

(I lived in Wageningen, NL for a year. Loved it there!)

 

[Ghery]

One other point that makes me want to go on a witch hunt crusade: Motorcycles are NOT just automated type objects on the road. Under that cold insensitive inhumane stormtrooper outfit is a real people just like everyone else that's riding around in their cages. Riders get hurt when someone pushes them off the road or puts them down. Even a minor low speed tumble off can be lethal. Please, please, please PLEASE, look twice carefully then verify again before pulling out, quit running the redlights and stopsigns and stay the heck away from us. If anything goes wrong or if we are touched, we don't have those happy steel cages wrapped around us. WE are our own crumple zones. It's not an woopie doo who cares, the insurance will take care of it thing. We get seriously hurt when we go down. (Sorry for the rant but I've been deliberately put off the road and down once because someone thought it was a funny game to run the motorcycle off the road. It frigging sux to no end to be on the receiving end of a face plant even when wearing the proper gear)

I rode in college (a loooong time ago). But, can I join you on the witch hunt? Motorcycles just don't seem to register with car drivers. They're invisible. Perhaps we should require that you ride for 2 or 3 years before you're allowed to drive a car? If you survived you'd be looking for motorcycles for the rest of your life. I know I don't have any trouble spotting them.

 

[fgcason]

I rode in college (a loooong time ago). But, can I join you on the witch hunt? Motorcycles just don't seem to register with car drivers. They're invisible. Perhaps we should require that you ride for 2 or 3 years before you're allowed to drive a car? If you survived you'd be looking for motorcycles for the rest of your life. I know I don't have any trouble spotting them.

A bit of a thread drift starting but agreed.

We are invisible because they don't know to look for us. Just exposure to the 2 wheel environment would help a lot.

Case in point: I have a friend that would ride next to or close to motorcycles and not look both ways in a way that I consider sensible to detect motorcycles (look left, right then left again then start out then clear right and all the time watching for opposite direction traffic) Her driving was typical of 80% of the drivers on the road. The answer to 'back off the motorcycle' was "I see it." So one day I put her on the back of the motorcycle for an hour mostly on low use roads and ended up in traffic on the way home. The lesson she learned was knowing that we feel naked in the middle of the street and every vehicle close to us wasn't just an object, it was a lethal block of steel trying to kill us. That stopped in the middle of the street with lots of cars around effect was the turning point. That was over a year and a half ago and 40 miles total. She actually spots motorcycles in traffic and leaves a big huge gaping hole around them now.

That's all it took to eliminate one driver as a high probability threat.
Now if we could get the other half a trillion drivers to do that...

 

[jesse]

I really don't have too many close calls with cars on my motorcycle these days. I think the biggest problem I have is people merging into me. I do my best to avoid being boxed in and this problem mostly goes away.

I've found it is a lot easier to just assume that every vehicle has no person in it looking. Predict the worse thing that the car could do and eliminate it by repositioning, accelerating, or braking. If you don't give them an opportunity to kill you--you don't get killed.

 

[JasonCT]

Alot of drivers see it as some sort of competition, a race of sorts. Better hurry up to get in front of the other guy. Wouldn't want to be car #1,463 in line when you could be #1,462. Best one is when they cut in front of you and proceed to drive slower than you would be going youself! Or when you move to pass a slower car and they speed up! Real men don't get passed. Right.

Doug you sure your from MA lol

 

[flyersfan31]

Kent, you are 100% flat-out correct.

I see it all the time too - but folks are usually luckier than the ones in your story. What really infuriates me is seeing people fly into a right-on-red as if it were their birthright, while talking on the cellphone.

 

[KennyFlys]

Kent, you are 100% flat-out correct.

I see it all the time too - but folks are usually luckier than the ones in your story. What really infuriates me is seeing people fly into a right-on-red as if it were their birthright, while talking on the cellphone.

Something I see all too often are people on a cell phone sitting next to a sign at a turn or top of the off-ramp what says, "Keep Moving". They barely look to the left at traffic that's not even a factor. Eventually, they go after the non-factor traffic has passed.

Then, they go to the next light and run it after it has turned red.

 

[gismo]

Right on, Lance...

Note that there's a big difference between going fast and being in a hurry. The accident I referred to in the original post, the car had just pulled out from a stop sign. Not going fast at all, but in WAY too big of a hurry. I drive like you describe in my car, and I'll speed too... Speed in itself isn't so dangerous, it's the hurry that leads to poor decision making that's really dangerous.

OK. I misunderstood what you meant by hurrying. Sounds like we're closer on this than I thought.

 

[Ghery]

I really don't have too many close calls with cars on my motorcycle these days. I think the biggest problem I have is people merging into me. I do my best to avoid being boxed in and this problem mostly goes away.

I've found it is a lot easier to just assume that every vehicle has no person in it looking. Predict the worse thing that the car could do and eliminate it by repositioning, accelerating, or braking. If you don't give them an opportunity to kill you--you don't get killed.

Merging into me wasn't the problem. Running a stop sign at 30 mph and hitting our motorcycle broadside when I couldn't get out of his way was a problem.

Jesse, just assume that you're invisible and they're trying to kill you anyway. Works well.

 

[KennyFlys]

Jesse, just assume that you're invisible and they're trying to kill you anyway. Works well.

People think I'm joking when I say I'm looking forward to a day when all I'm doing is teaching a student who may be trying to kill me.

At least I can watch the student and have some predictability with them. I don't have a clue with the person in the vehicle next to me with a cell phone glued to their head.

 

[SCCutler]

Couple of things.

First, foremost: Slower traffic keep right.

Simple, succinct, and (in one form or another) the law in most states. One of our principal problems (perhaps the biggest single problem) on the Interstate Highways and other major divided roads is that this fundamental principle has been lost. The reason you can have substantial speed differences in Europe without blood rolling in the roads, is that there is a reasonable degree of predictability to the way traffic flows.

I am amazed (I guess I should not be) at the proportion of putatively-educated people who either know nothing about this basic right-of-way rule, or misconstrue it to their chosen meaning.

Most common misconception: "If I [believe I] am going the speed limit, then I need not yield to overtaking traffic. To these people, I say, "If you want to be a traffic cop, go to the academy and get a badge." The pig-headed practice of clinging to the left lane in a multi-lane road, to the detriment of all traffic behind, causes substantial congestion and is frequently a producing cause of accidents. These "left lane bandits" (credit to Csaba Csere for the term) not only impede the flow of traffic, but they make necessary the unsafe practice of passing on the right. In conversation with folks who think this behavior is acceptable, I most often hear the excuse, "Well, I am going fast enough, they should just slow down to the same speed I am going...," thus utterly disregarding the mayhem they are creating behind them.

You need only fly along above a heavily-traveled highway (say, I-35 between Dallas and San Antonio), to see the long, serpentine back-ups caused by these people, and you can actually watch the traffic disruptions and near-accidents caused by rippling waves of brake lights as a minor hitch works its way back through the line of frustrated drivers.

All because some nimrod at the front of the line is too selfish to move over, and let traffic go by.

By the way, I freely admit that I have been one of those who tries to go very fast, but the stress associated with that is just too much. In most open-road situations, I try to set the cruise at 75-78 MPH, a speed at which I make good time, get good mileage (27.5 mpg in my Caddy, as long as my gasoline is not contaminated with ethanol; 22-23 mpg if it has been so tainted). At this speed, if I do not encounter a conga-line of left-lane bandit victims, I can serenely make my way along, using the left lane only for passing, signaling for all lane changes and rarely having to even touch the brake pedal.

But all it takes to mess it up, is one selfish jerk at the front (bumper sticker: "Ask me about my grandbabies").

Second, and a corollary to no. 1 above: Use the brake pedal (and the gas pedal) less.

There has been research done showing that most brake pedal applications are unnecessary, and my real-world experience has borne it out for me. For the vast majority of drivers out there, any time they see traffic ahead slowing, they immediately apply the brakes, sometimes just enough to light the brake lights; the majority of drivers behind them will then, assuming that the car ahead is slowing, put on their brakes, causing that same wave-action to ripple through the traffic behind, in most instances without any slowing actually required.

Try it yourselves. When you see brake lights ahead, don't just jump on the brakes- be ready to brake if needed, but just lift off of the gas. In most instances, you won't need the brakes, and you'll be able to proceed back on the gas (less than you would have needed had you actually braked) in a brief moment.

Our pathetic driver "training" practices are largely to blame for this; I still recall being told to "tap" my brake pedal to turn on the brake lights as a "signal" to drivers behind me, even where no brake application is being made. Stupid. One should be able to presume, when seeing brake lights, that actual braking is occurring, but this inane practice of using the brake lights as some sort of semaphore (i.e., lighting them when actual and substantive braking is not occurring) should be put to pasture. The net effect would- could- be that roads could carry more traffic, at higher average speeds, with a lot less stress.

I dream again...

 

[ScottM]

Yesterday I was driving back to the west coast of Florida from over on the east coast. I drive back roads the whole way as it is by far the nicer way to go. The speed on the two lane (one lane each direction road) is 60mph. There are about 10 stop lights the whole way and two little towns. I can make the 180 mile trip in 3.5 hours driving.

Well I was just cruising along at 62mph on the cruise control and this silver car came screaming up behind me with two young girls in it. They started flashing their lights wanting me to go faster, I just ignored them, so they wiped around me and then the car in front of a ways. 45 seconds after that the DeSoto Sheriff pulled them over. I waived when I went by. Gawd I love when that happens!!!

Seriously you are perfectly right. There is no need to drive like a fool cutting in and out of traffic, you are not getting more than a minute or two ahead at the most, but you are really reducing your safety margin.

 

[fgcason]

At least I can watch the student and have some predictability with them. I don't have a clue with the person in the vehicle next to me with a cell phone glued to their head.

I've been on 2 4 and 6 wheels (8 if you include the trailer) with drunks. I'll take a drunk over a cellphone or in-car yakking/cd player session anyday. Put a drunk driver in front of you where you can control separation and they're surprisingly predictable. They wander all over the road and if they miss their turn, they kind of meander to the next street and sort it all out in their drunken stupor. The inattentive drivers on the other hand tend to get beyond the missed turn point and grab a handful of steering wheel and yank while clamping on the brakes with no warning and without looking. Drunks really aren't that bad of drivers and when they are bad, they seem to do the single vehicle semi-controlled-run-into-stationary-objects routine.

The ones that get me, or at least try to anyway, are the typical drivers that are turning onto a cross street. For some reason there is a big tendency for people to turn the wrong way before making the turn. I.E. established in the right lane then maybe 20ft before the intersection swerve back into the left lane next to them (often halfway into the lane) THEN they make the right turn onto the side street WITHOUT LOOKING TO THE LEFT. The same goes for left turns. Swerve right then make the left turn. I have NO clue why they do that. I understand a tractor/trailer doing that onto a narrow side street. They're trying to clear the rear wheels and the trailer itself from the corner. A subcompact car or even hummer on the other hand is completely out of line doing that because they will not hit the curb even if they tried. A 15ft long car doing that? WTF? I mean I'm 41ft plus change long and 8ft wide in the RV with the trailer and don't have to swing wide at all unless the street I'm turning onto is an obstructed single lane type situation. If I can miss the curb without leaving my lane, anything on 4 wheels definitely can miss the same curb.

I write 50% of the problems off to aggression and me-itus. The other 50% off to a complete total lack of driving education by the system. Drivers licenses are nothing more than cracker jack box formality prizes and do not reflect what they're meant to be.

 

[KennyFlys]

First, foremost: Slower traffic keep right.

I second that one! I could be headed home at 2AM on I-985, a two-lane spur off I-85. Traffic could be a half-mile or more apart and people will still sit in the left lane. It's even worse early on with heavier traffic. the right lane is going 60 and there's some jerk in the left lane doing that or slower. The speed limit is 70.

I cruise right at ten over the limit, wherever I'm at.

Second, and a corollary to no. 1 above: Use the brake pedal (and the gas pedal) less.

I agree. I can't tell you how many times I see someone with even a couple hundred feet of separation slam on their brakes just when they see brake lights ahead. Then the person tailgating them hits their brakes and a rear-ender is almost certain at some point.

If there's an accident with slow-moving traffic somewhere on the route, plan on a second accident just as I described.

 

[Bill]

Try it yourselves. When you see brake lights ahead, don't just jump on the brakes- be ready to brake if needed, but just lift off of the gas. In most instances, you won't need the brakes, and you'll be able to proceed back on the gas (less than you would have needed had you actually braked) in a brief moment. ...

I love doing this, properly done, one can drive both swifty and with great efficiency. Each brake application takes your money and converts it into lost heat.

A long time ago I remember a really blissful late Sunday night blast down the NY thruway coming back from skiing in VT. 6" of fresh unplowed snow on the highway, no cars, an old Jetta with snows on all four corners. Let it loose down the straights at 70 or so, see an upcoming corner in the distance, lift off the gas, don't touch the brakes, car slows to get thru the corner, next straight, light pressure on the gas, slowly get back up to 70, rinse, repeat. Great fun, but only possible because most of the cars were already off the road...

 

[jesse]

Merging into me wasn't the problem. Running a stop sign at 30 mph and hitting our motorcycle broadside when I couldn't get out of his way was a problem.

Jesse, just assume that you're invisible and they're trying to kill you anyway. Works well.

When I was around 5 years old my dad was in a pretty serious motorcycle accident. It was as you describe above. His girlfriend was killed. Neither of them were wearing helmets.

Because of that, I have had it in my head to not let that happen to me. I have never not worn a helmet and I think about my options and maneuver to decrease the chance of a collision if a vehicle doesn't stop.