(NA) Driver & Road Work Soapbox (NA)

ARFlyer

ARFlyer

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ARFlyer
So I have noticed again today that people will wave safety over saving a minute worth of time. On my way to pick up lunch today I passed a convoy of county mowers and a work truck. With out realizing it I forgot about a section of road that I would meet them at on my return trip. This section of road is what us locals call the hollow. It's a stretch of a few miles of hilly and densely wooded country road that sits in a low valley.

Well come to find out I met up with the convoy in this section of road. There is no way to pass with three mowers and a work truck. There is not enough line of sight before a hill or turn. Well I proceeded to wait 10 minutes until a opening between the mowers formed and passed the first two guys. About 10 cars blindly followed me. However I saw that I could not safely pass the last two mowers. We were still on a straight stretch but about 500 in front of us was a dipping turn in the road. Because i know that everyone drives 60+ in this area with the limit at 45 I proceeded to wait until at least one mower was on the hill or I could see the other side. :yesnod: This evidently annoyed everyone behind me. I just sat there as everyone honked and yelled to move it. I even pulled over some to let them by but when they would try to pass they would chicken out. :lol: After about another 10 minutes I was able to proceed around and on to my house. I noticed as a pulled into my driveway people drove by flipping me off and yelling that I need to learn how to drive. :nonod:

To add to this madness the County does not use flaggers for mowing jobs. So the oncoming traffic have no idea and are still driving at 60mph.:yikes: :mad2:

Do people not understand the risk of passing, from a almost dead stop, a 1000'+ of workers on a blind road?
 
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I think you know the answer to your own question.

I used to be one of those people, but as I age, I become less smart.
 
It's irrational and childish, but I really want to mount a train horn on my Yukon from hornblasters.com


I'd get a ticket. I know I would.

I'd also scare some sense into some soccer mom with a 4 cylinder engined minivan full of kids, who pulls out in front of my 6000 lb vehicle without looking while I romp on the ABS and pray there's enough room to stop or an open hole in the lane next to me.

(Please recall the altitude at which said 4-banger is wheezing along at up here...)

Nevermind, she'd just go home and tell hubby that some madman in a White Yukon almost "ran her off the road" and if she really did jerk the wheel and crash the minivan and hurt the kids, I'd never forgive myself.

Plus I have custom ham radio plates. I'm way too easy to find.
 
I must say, where I live now, bad drivers are a relatively rare phenomenon, and rude ones even rarer. Neither are sighting of The Bird a common experience up here. In fact, I don't believe I've seen The Bird up here once since I left The City.

Neither my little car nor myself like speed as much as we did when we were younger. Nor do I actually have to get anywhere by any particular time these days, and traffic jams are a rarity. The attached "rush hour" photo was taken a few months ago during what would be "rush hour" in places where such a thing actually exists.

That particular road, by the way, is under construction. It's being upgraded from a State Highway to an Interstate, and there are various things that have to be done to bring it into compliance with Interstate standards. The highway workers usually work on one lane at a time in each direction, the speed limit in the work zone is reduced to 55 from 65 while the guys are working, and people actually drive at 55 in work zones.

When the highway workers have to do blasting, they just route both directions of traffic to the opposite side of the divider from the one they're blasting on, and again, reduce the speed limit to 55 in the blasting zone. The speed reduction for the mile or so of construction is trivial and adds mere seconds to one's journey, so traffic delays are essentially non-existent here.

The combination of my car and I agreeing that rattling our respective chassis apart serves no useful purpose, the absence of any need to get anywhere by any particular time, and the non-existence of traffic delays, has solidified my status as an "old man wearing a hat" like the ones I used to swear at when I was young, foolish, and always in a hurry. I putt along in the right lane at or near the speed limit, singing along to 1960's tunes (or occasionally bluegrass) on my Sirius radio.

Despite this, and amazingly (to me, at least), I've had nary a Bird sighting since I moved up here. Certainly there are plenty of people who prefer driving at 75 or 80 MPH to the posted limit of 65 at which I typically putt along, but they simply pass me -- sometimes even smiling and waving as they do so.

At first, I thought they were crazy.

I mean, seriously, who smiles and waves while they pass a grey-bearded old fart wearing a hat on the highway? Only crazy people. Normal people flip you The Bird and swear at you. But The Bird was not to be found.

This wasn't the case when I lived in The City. Bird sightings were a regular occurrence there. When traffic conditions actually allowed for the possibility of speeding on, say, the Long Island Expressway, drivers who wanted to speed would get very angry at me for driving "slowly" (that is, at the speed limit or 5 to 10 miles over it), in the right lane, ignoring their flashing lights, tailgating, and pantomimed expressions of exasperation and rage.

Eventually, the drivers behind me would resign themselves to the fact that I wasn't going to move any faster to accommodate them. Rather, they were going to have to suffer the piercing indignity and grave hardship of changing lanes to pass me. It was then that avian sightings were the most abundant, The Birds often appearing in flocks from multiple windows of the vehicles, sometimes including even very little Birds who I would have thought too young to fledge, and often accompanied by cacophonies of unintelligible vocalizations -- The Bird's song, as it were.

Such is not the case here. Rarely are drivers in any hurry, and when they are, they don't expect everyone else around them to be. Most of the secondary roads are two-lane highways (that is, one in each direction with few opportunities to pass), and yet insanity doesn't overcome drivers when they encounter a farmer driving a 1950's-era tractor and pulling a trailer load of unidentifiable decaying organic matter, a county worker mowing the grass, a highway worker repainting a white line on the crumbling soil that we jokingly call a shoulder, or a deputy sheriff supervising a dozen or two inmates enjoying a bit of freedom under the guise of picking up what little litter can be found.

In fact, both the drivers and those whose activities are slowing them down sometimes smile and wave at each other; and The Bird whose specie was so abundant when I lived in The City is apparently kept away by the hawks, falcons, and occasional bald eagles who rule the skies over the roads up here in the country.

For a while, I was worried. I thought The Bird may have wound up on the Endangered Species List, so rare was its appearance. Like the snail darter and the kangaroo rat, even unappreciated species like The Bird are entitled to protection, are they not?

But then two weeks ago, I had to drive to The City (actually, through The City on my way elsewhere), and I was relieved to find that The Bird is alive and well there -- and may even have increased its numbers in the time that I've been gone. Or maybe I was just more attuned to its presence, having not seen The Bird for a while.

Once assured of its continued abundance, however, I must admit that I tired of The Bird very quickly.

In fact, although it may reflect some insensitivity on my part, I frankly don't miss The Bird at all. I am unable to discern what role it plays in the ecosystem or what purpose it serves in the bigger scheme of creation. Indeed, it seems to me to be an invasive specie of some sort, even more of a nuisance than the pigeons whose poop is the scourge of statuary and sculpture in cities across this great nation.

And yet, like the pigeon, The Bird seems to have captured the hearts of people in urban areas -- and drivers in particular.

I suspect there must be some symbiosis going on that is beyond my feeble understanding of ecology. But be that as it may, again, I don't miss The Bird at all. I much prefer the majestic raptors that rule the skies up here to The Bird I have known since my youth.

-Rich
 

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Morons. Now we know why we aren't in such poor shape as a country, and culture.
 
Shall we talk about those that get into a rain shower on the interstate (speed limit 65) and slow down to 25, while turning their flashers on (as if THAT makes it OK)? Thereby frustrating the folks behind who want to go 75 - the entire mix of speeds makes it even mre hazardous.

The ones in the left lane are afraid to move to the right, and the folks that are scared to drive in it won't simply pull over to the side.

We're not talking about orange-cone zone here....
 
Let me tell you about the highlight of my morning commute:rofl:

Nearly every morning I pass a pedestrian walking along the bike trail of a 35 MPH road. Every time I see him he rips his phone out of his pocket, throws it to his ear with out pressing any buttons and yells at me to slow down.

Through careful experimentation I have determinded that my speed and/or rate of acceleration do not affect this concerned citizen. I have passed him at speeds ranging between 20 and 40, and the only thing that will get me yelled at for going to fast...

what gear I'm in. Today is the perfect example, saw him as I was turning onto the road so I left the car in first a little longer, then in second...

I got yelled at while the TDI Jetta in front of me went wizzing away:lol:

So am I a jerk for downshifting when ever I see this guy?
 
Skylane81E said:
Let me tell you about the highlight of my morning commute:rofl:

Nearly every morning I pass a pedestrian walking along the bike trail of a 35 MPH road. Every time I see him he rips his phone out of his pocket, throws it to his ear with out pressing any buttons and yells at me to slow down.

Through careful experimentation I have determinded that my speed and/or rate of acceleration do not affect this concerned citizen. I have passed him at speeds ranging between 20 and 40, and the only thing that will get me yelled at for going to fast...

what gear I'm in. Today is the perfect example, saw him as I was turning onto the road so I left the car in first a little longer, then in second...

I got yelled at while the TDI Jetta in front of me went wizzing away:lol:

So am I a jerk for downshifting when ever I see this guy?
Click to expand...

You need a train horn. ;)
 
Skylane81E said:
Let me tell you about the highlight of my morning commute:rofl:

Nearly every morning I pass a pedestrian walking along the bike trail of a 35 MPH road. Every time I see him he rips his phone out of his pocket, throws it to his ear with out pressing any buttons and yells at me to slow down.

Through careful experimentation I have determinded that my speed and/or rate of acceleration do not affect this concerned citizen. I have passed him at speeds ranging between 20 and 40, and the only thing that will get me yelled at for going to fast...

what gear I'm in. Today is the perfect example, saw him as I was turning onto the road so I left the car in first a little longer, then in second...

I got yelled at while the TDI Jetta in front of me went wizzing away:lol:

So am I a jerk for downshifting when ever I see this guy?
Click to expand...

At this point I would slow down to a crawl and see what he yells! :rolleyes2: Maybe he will change it up and yell that your going to slow! :lol:

denverpilot said:
You need a train horn. ;)
Click to expand...

I had a friend with a loud speaker under his hood. That gave us a many of nights worth of entertainment in our small college town.

"Hey you, Yeah You. Do you like tacos? Hey don't give us that look!"
 
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Saw my buddy again today. Think he might be on to the fact I'm screwing with him. Smile, wave, rev...

"What the F!"
 
wsuffa said:
Shall we talk about those that get into a rain shower on the interstate (speed limit 65) and slow down to 25, while turning their flashers on (as if THAT makes it OK)? Thereby frustrating the folks behind who want to go 75 - the entire mix of speeds makes it even mre hazardous.

The ones in the left lane are afraid to move to the right, and the folks that are scared to drive in it won't simply pull over to the side.

We're not talking about orange-cone zone here....
Click to expand...

This. Drivers around here are terrible. 55 mph is merely a suggestion and the real posted speed should be like 83 mph. Those same buggers flying in the dry suddenly slow to a crawl in the lightest of rains.

Listen, if your car has tires good enough to handle 83 mph plus aggressive lane changes, the tires can certainly handle the rain. I drive at precisely 7 to 9 over the limit regardless of road conditions. My tires have plenty of tread, I know the car's limits, and all extra safety systems are on and work just fine (I test them occasionally). Thus, I get irritated when I'm stuck behind a bunch of slowpokes in a light drizzle when I can still be whizzing at my normal speed.

ARGH DRIVING IN DC SUCKS
 
HerrGruyere said:
This. Drivers around here are terrible. 55 mph is merely a suggestion and the real posted speed should be like 83 mph. Those same buggers flying in the dry suddenly slow to a crawl in the lightest of rains.

Listen, if your car has tires good enough to handle 83 mph plus aggressive lane changes, the tires can certainly handle the rain. I drive at precisely 7 to 9 over the limit regardless of road conditions. My tires have plenty of tread, I know the car's limits, and all extra safety systems are on and work just fine (I test them occasionally). Thus, I get irritated when I'm stuck behind a bunch of slowpokes in a light drizzle when I can still be whizzing at my normal speed.

ARGH DRIVING IN DC SUCKS
Click to expand...


Not for nothing but from your post you have stated that you don't believe the speed limits are valid for you but you have decided that anyone who does not share your opinion of what speed they should be driving is wrong? If you drive the speed limit then you have a right to complain about others speeding but if you ignore them then you have no room to complain that anyone else ignores them.
 
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