American drivers!!

[_RaT_]

I'll add the classic moron that hits his brakes to slow down when he sees a squad car on the side of the road. Hey idiot! If he wants you, he already has you and your car nose divign for the pavement may make him decide to stop you when he wasn't going to. If you are 'going with the flow' it is highly unlikely you will be picked out of the herd no matter what your speed is.

Harry K

As one who lives with a cop and has plenty of cop friends, its not as ridiculous as you think. Cops will use their judgement and may forgo giving you a ticket when you are willing to slow down instead of arrogantly flying by. My wife and other cops say that when someone does not slow down when its obvious they are right there gets a ticket without exception, those who do, may get let off the hook. Something to think about. There are no shortages of speeders, cops can be pretty selective who they want to ticket.

 

[czechsonofagun]

As one who lives with a cop and has plenty of cop friends, its not as ridiculous as you think. Cops will use their judgement and may forgo giving you a ticket when you are willing to slow down instead of arrogantly flying by. My wife and other cops say that when someone does not slow down when its obvious they are right there gets a ticket without exception, those who do, may get let off the hook. Something to think about. There are no shortages of speeders, cops can be pretty selective who they want to ticket.

Just a side note - the speed limit in US is rudiculous.

Anyway I know what you mean and it is all about respecting the cop - he flashes the light, I slow down to show him what a good boy I am and he is happy. Got many warnings like that over the years.

My commute to work last 8 miles is on Loudon County Parkway and for the cops this is like hunting valley, they are there every day in different places. While driving I watch for brake lights - if cars hit brakes for no apparent reason, there is a cop round the corner. Nowadays they are getting those new Ram Chargers and I am not used to it - I always pick up Crown Victoria as possible cop car from the crowd, but I really have to train my eyes for thses new cruisers now

Don't get me wrong, I respect the law and I never speed.

 

[Jagmandave]

I have a 20 mile each way commute to work, 19 of it is on a nice 4 lane hiway. I set the cruise at 72 and I never pass anyone! I used to ride the *** of whoever was in my way in the left lane, but I finally got over that, now my ride to and from work is just time to relax and unwind...........can't understand why people are in a hurry to get to work! (unless it involves some seat time!)

 

[cp1969]

Nor can I understand why people feel they must bolt from work at the earliest possible moment and drive 80+ mph on their 5-mile commute. What are they afraid of? That they might miss the first five minutes of Oprah?

Dave, I live close to you. My solution is to take the back roads and leave 435, I35, and 69 highways to those in a BFH.

 

[_RaT_]

I have a 20 mile each way commute to work, 19 of it is on a nice 4 lane hiway. I set the cruise at 72 and I never pass anyone! I used to ride the *** of whoever was in my way in the left lane, but I finally got over that, now my ride to and from work is just time to relax and unwind...........can't understand why people are in a hurry to get to work! (unless it involves some seat time!)

Amen Jagman. Cheers to you!

 

[dbdartman]

-All tag's should be the owner's cell phone number. Then you could call them and tell them they are being a jackass.

-How about the people (on a two lane road), that when making a left turn, come to a complete stop before doing so? I mean, make the dang turn already...you're not going to roll it.

-Another one of my favorites...at an intersection...you are turning left, the light turns green, but you have to wait for the person coming at you to get by...but then they make a left turn too! THEY DIDN'T USE THEIR SIGNAL! I guess they didn't make signals on cars that year.

-Cell phone talkers...I won't even go there.

-Sally Soccer Mom cell phone talkers....I really, really won't go there either.

-How about on an interstate...you come up on someone in the left lane...they get over...you are thinking GREAT, they know what's up...but, then they drop in behind you and ride your arse. It's like they were too chicken shiznit to go, but they want you to "run the gauntlet" for them.

-The classic "brake rider". You aren't riding their arse, but in watching them, you notice they constantly tap their brakes at every little thing...a car up ahead a mile, making a turn, they tap there brakes...WHAT's up with the tapping?

-The classic fluctuating speed guy. You can't pass them because of curves in the road or oncoming traffic...but they drive 55, then 70, then 40, no SPEED CONTROL.

-The classic "guy who won't get over and let you through"... You know he's thinking "I'm doing 55, what is that guy's problem"? If the driver is a minority and you aren't, oh heck no, you'll never get by.

I could go on and on. I'll shut up now. Work myself up into a frenzy!
-Podunk

Preach it, brother!!!! AMEN!!!!

-The classic fluctuating speed guy. You can't pass them because of curves in the road or oncoming traffic...but they drive 55, then 70, then 40, no SPEED CONTROL.

What's even better is is when you get behind one that's running for a couple/three miles 10-15-20MPH UNDER the speed limit, & when you finally DO get a chance to pass them, they attach themselves to your back bumper. I don't mean, they "follow" you, I mean less than ONE CAR LENGTH behind at 50MPH! Not "following to closely" ($60 & 3 points in NJ), TAILGATING ($125/5 points & $300 insurance "adjustment" for 3 years)! I know this because I got burnt on an interstate by a suit in a Jag that jammed on the brakes (he was the only one) because he saw a cruiser (we were moving with mid-afternoon traffic). But then again, he was just another "left lane bandit" who wouldn't pass a car in the middle lane at more than about 1MPH, then speed up to 75 to catch the next car in the middle lane (doing 55), only to slow to 56 or drive along side of for a mile or so, then speed up so fast again, I couldn't get by in the clear middle lane. Tried to pass him 6 or 7 times & the last time I changed back to the left lane I'm nearly locking the brakes to keep from hitting the Jag, & it's showing no brake lights! And don't get me started on the trooper's attitude...

Anyway, Czech, it's been my experience that the worst "left lane bandits" were in Va., & the closer you get to DC, the worse they are. 95 was the best, 45 up the hills, 75 down the hill.

I think the root of the problem lies with the fact that, in the US, one has to prove their incompetence in order to be denied a driver's license, rather than prove their competence to receive one, especially when compared to Germany. There's a country that knows what "lane discipline" is (in the US, it means keeping it between the lines ).

 

[EddieWalker]

Just a side note - the speed limit in US is rudiculous.

I disagree. I think 90% of the drivers on the road are at or near there physical limits with our current speed limits. Reaction times are a big factor in it. If they were allowed to drive faster, it would be mayham. The 10% who can handle faster speed limits will only be able to do so for a certain time anyway. Age will slow them down soon enough.

The vast majority who think they are really good drivers are delusional. Kind of like when talking big about getting in a fight, or other bragging. It's all talk and rarely based on any reality. If they were realy good drivers, they could make millions at it racing.

I'm perfectly happy with our speed limts.

What I would like to change is raising the age when a kid can get a license. 16 is just too young. The older I get, the younger it seems.

The vast majority of our fatal accidents are from cars driving into trees on rural roads. No common sense and driving faster than the speed limit. I've never heard of these accidents happening from doing the speed limit.

The sad part is most of these accidents with trees happen with teenagers. They are driving too fast, get distracted, or can't control the car, and it leaves the road and hits a tree head on. Very sad.

Eddie

 

[cp1969]

The vast majority who think they are really good drivers are delusional. Kind of like when talking big about getting in a fight, or other bragging. It's all talk and rarely based on any reality. If they were realy good drivers, they could make millions at it racing.

The typical results of a survey question asking "How would you rate your driving ability?" gives results that almost all people rate themselves above average.

We know that ain't right.

There is a disconnect somewhere.

 

[jwnge]

I read these posts and it seems there a lot of potential road rage people posting here, I think we all need to just try to get along...

 

[turnkey4099]

As one who lives with a cop and has plenty of cop friends, its not as ridiculous as you think. Cops will use their judgement and may forgo giving you a ticket when you are willing to slow down instead of arrogantly flying by. My wife and other cops say that when someone does not slow down when its obvious they are right there gets a ticket without exception, those who do, may get let off the hook. Something to think about. There are no shortages of speeders, cops can be pretty selective who they want to ticket.

As one who was a county dispatcher for over 13 years and worked very closely with both the county and state cops I can assure you that if you are doing the normal speed for that stretch of road, you are not going to get stopped unless the cop has a case of the 'attitude'. I have driven every state of the lower 48 plus Alaska and the prevailing speed (barring unusual conditions) has always been the posted plus about 10%. Never have been stopped for speed but twice, once in Georgia in a speed trap (out of state plates, 66 in 60 at the bottom of a loooonnng steep down hill run. Whole convoy of cars were led to the JP - all were out-of-state. The other time was a classic "speeding while passing" British Columbia.

There are states the specifically state that you can 'speed' while passing. WA is one.

My usual trip is on SR 195 Spokan wa to the state line near Lewiston Id. Posted is 60, prevailing at any time day or night is 65-66. They just did an emphasis patrol last summer to slow down the speeders. Guess what their definition of 'speeding' was? Yep, anyone exceeding the prevailing speed. Ticketed any one over 66 and not one less than that.


Harry K