Driving habits of rural folk

[MossRoad]

Ford Mustangs in snow... not so great either.

 

[Hay Dude]

I grew up in the country and that's where I learned how to drive. I drove predictably like a teenage male, and everyone on the road was too slow for me. Then I went off to the military, city driving in places across the country and the world. After I got out I lived in the city for about 7 years and then moved back to the country.

Everyone here still drives too slow for me.

...correction... 1 in 10 drives too slow, and therefore everyone on the road for half a mile behind them must also drive too slow.

My elders repeatedly told me (and nearly had me convinced) that as I got older I would outgrow the "need for speed." I think I'm old enough now (34) that if that were true, it would have happened already.

I commute 45 miles every morning and 45 miles back every evening, to my job in the city. If I leave at 4am before anyone is on the road, I can make the drive in 45 minutes. If I wait until 7, it takes an hour and a half or more, and this is NOT because of traffic in the city; at least not in the greatest part. It's mostly because someone out here in my rural community drives like they have no destination, no expected ETA, no purpose in life, or some combination thereof. Or maybe they're hobbyist highway safety vigilantes with nothing better to do after they wake up, than to get out on the two-lane blacktop and enforce their own arbitrary speed limit.

They don't merely drive 55 in a 60 zone; no, they drive 50, then 60, then 50, then 60, then 50. The next few cars behind them slow down to maybe 45, then speed up to maybe 65 to catch up. This oscillation is amplified more and more the longer their line of rolling captives grows. In the case of a half mile parade, the people at the end of the line are likely coming to a complete stop, followed by a gas-guzzling acceleration to 80mph, followed by a dangerous rapid deceleration to zero again.

Why? What is it about living in the country that leads to lethargic driving? Is this a side effect of spending more time in the seat of a tractor than in the seat of a passenger vehicle? Will this happen to me if I stay until I retire?

People drive slower in the country because theres more beautiful sights to see, its cleaner and you dont have to worry about homeless people banging on your windows, like in the city.

 

[fidowanttobe]

Your descriptionof varying speeds is typical of two types of drivers. Those who refuse to use cruise control or somone more interested in their phone than driving. Sometimes it is a combination of the two. One of my pet peeves is people who do not use CC. There just is no excuse for not using it on the open road.

ABSOLUTELY !!! PUSH THE BUTTON!! The "Surge" is caused by this and is dangerous. No excuse other than stubbornness.

 

[Jim Nelson]

People drive slower in the country because theres more beautiful sights to see, its cleaner and you dont have to worry about homeless people banging on your windows, like in the city.

Also, back when I was a kid, most of the roads were dirt or gravel and people didn't want to stir up too much dirt as their neighbors often had their doors open and laundry hanging out on the clothes line drying.

 

[Industrial Toys]

All the new houses being built around here never even sport a clothes line. What would the neighbors think? More important to have under the eve lights, lighting up the "outside" of your house at night, like that makes any practical sense at all.

 

[dodge man]

All add to the quality of the road. Where I live the roads are paved but oil and chip. The quality varies from nearly good as a state highway to its colored black but rough as a cob. If driving a pickup I go about 45mph because anything faster I am skipping all over the road. In a car 50 to 55 mph is possible.

 

[turnkey4099]

What's wrong with 4wd in the snow? I was pulling a trailer back from MS a couple of years ago when that freak snow storm came and dumped like 2"-3" of snow across Southern Louisiana. When I came into it, my Yukon got pretty squirrelly and I put it in 4-HI and it snapped right out of all that nonsense. I kept it at or below 50mph in 4wd which felt 100% safer than 30mph in 2wd.

That's my only experience with 4wd in snow. When I lived in CT I was driving in snow with a 2wd trans am that didnt want to stay on the road even when it was dry. That was fun.

Keep in mind that 4x does not help in stopping.

In the old days 4x would rapidly wear out tires as there was no differntial between front/rear and one wheel somewhere on the rig had to be skidding going around corners. Gone are the ddays when On e had to get out an turn in the hubs to go into 4x.

 

[turnkey4099]

How very true... :thumbsup:

I've found good tires are a lot more important in snow, unless it's really deep. And slowing down...
A 2wd car with limited slip and good winter tires can be remarkably effective in bad weather.

I drive quality 'all weather' tires here in the Pacific Northwest, lots of snow in the winter, never a problem but I am the guy doing 30-35 when everybody else is doing 55-60. In a hurry to find somewhere to stack it in the ditch. Someone asks me once "how much should I slow down? "Slow down until it seems reasonable to you and then cut that in half".

 

[turnkey4099]

LOL, I usually drive speed limits (+5) unless a diplomat car passes me then I simply follow him.
Works every time!
(speed limits don't affect them, ergo what's good for the goose is good for the gander, always worked 4 me)

Unfortunately the worst place to be is 'tail end charlie' as that is the rig that will get pulled over.

 

[LouNY]

Keep in mind that 4x does not help in stopping.

In the old days 4x would rapidly wear out tires as there was no differntial between front/rear and one wheel somewhere on the rig had to be skidding going around corners. Gone are the ddays when On e had to get out an turn in the hubs to go into 4x.

On a conventional 4wd it still is, the all wheel drives or autos may have some type of built in slip.
I was using 4wd before they had locking hubs and for years they were an option.
Conventional 4 wd can easily be used on snow cover hiways especially with the fancy new push button engagements,
as you come up on snow hit the button as you leave it hit the button again nothing difficult about it.
And if you use your engine and gears to slow down 4wd will certainly help in stopping.