Yard sales and cell phones. (rant)

[okie350]

On tailgaters I use the trailer brake controler. Just push the button and the truck brake lights come on. Of course you only do this when your NOT pulling a trailer

I also have under the bumber back up lights that I will "flash" when someone behind me has their brights on me. works everytime

 

[turnkey4099]

When I am slow on the road - like pulling a heavy trailer - I keep an eye on the rear view mirror and pull over every so often to make sure nobody is stuck behind me too long.

But I am about the only one who does it - I never experienced it myself. Typicall slow truck will stay on the road for miles and miles with many cars behind him stuck forever without a chance to pass.

I do the same with my PU (F150) gas hog. Cruise at 55 or less and I can pull 13-14 mpg. Any faster and I need a companion tanker truck. I will pull onto the shoulder but maintain my speed to let faster traffic past, car or truck.

Topper was one day I had a load of wood on proceeding a bit above 50 in 65 mph traffic. Car behind me had a whole line of traffc behind him by the time he caught up. I pulled onto the shoulder untill all the traffic was past. Lead guy was only doing someting under 60. Last seen the whole line of traffic was still behind him. My giving him the chance to pass didn't seem to enlighten his brain any that he should reciprocate for all the cars behind him.

Harry K

 

[Huckridge]

My wife and I visisted friends in Alaska a couple of years ago, and most of their roads are two lane, no interstates of course. But they have or had a law that said if you were the lead car in the line of traffic, out on the open road and total of five vehicles lined up behind you, you were supposed to pull over and let them pass. They had made plenty of places to pull over, seemed like they were about every mile or two down the road. This suited us fine, we wanted to see the sights anyway.

I leave home every morning at 4:30am to go to work, and living in the country where I do, their are plenty of deer, (I've only hit 9 so far in the last 15 years). So I drive about 40 to 45 on the paved country roads heading toward the interstate (25 miles away). You would be amazed how many people fly around me at that time of day and how many of the sames ones I end up passing a little further on down the road when they couldn't stop in time.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I do the same with my PU (F150) gas hog. Cruise at 55 or less and I can pull 13-14 mpg. Any faster and I need a companion tanker truck. I will pull onto the shoulder but maintain my speed to let faster traffic past, car or truck.

Topper was one day I had a load of wood on proceeding a bit above 50 in 65 mph traffic. Car behind me had a whole line of traffc behind him by the time he caught up. I pulled onto the shoulder untill all the traffic was past. Lead guy was only doing someting under 60. Last seen the whole line of traffic was still behind him. My giving him the chance to pass didn't seem to enlighten his brain any that he should reciprocate for all the cars behind him.

Harry K

I use to do that. However, I got tired of driving down the shoulder while the vehicle I pulled over for doesn't pass because they are too scared for whatever reason.

 

[RichNJKubota]

The people that have cell phones glued to their head are dangerous.

For all you people that play games on the road - I think that's nuts. For me it's always been that I want to get from point A to point B safe and alive. That's my goal. If you try and give a "lesson" to some idiot along the way you reduce your chances of staying alive.
When I was younger there were allot less cars on the highways. You could safely drive at faster speeds. But now, with all the cars on the road, it's about staying alive and keeping away from all the idiots.
When you are in the casket from "teaching lessons" we'll all be saying at the viewing - "Yeah if he hadn't died on the road he woulda got to WalMart 2 minutes earlier."

 

[dmccarty]

I don't know how long the term Road Rage has been used but I remember two guys got into a fight late at night on a major road in Florida. They chased each other up 95 where they both pulled off on the off ramp. Then they proceeded to fight it out. One ended up dead from knife wounds. No traffic to speak off at that time of day but they managed to fight it out. This was back in the 80's.

I drive about 75 miles per day round trip with a good portion of the trip on back roads where driving faster than 55 in my truck is just not possible due to road conditions. One day I was driving home with my daughter sleeping in her seat which is on the driver side of the truck. Some $%^&*( moron idiot biker zoomed up behind us and then passed. The %^&*( jack a...s had loud load pipes and down shifted right by my daughter. Woke her up and scared her so bad she started crying. The road has an intersection a mile or two ahead of us that 99% of the time I catch the red light. This time the light was green. Which was likely a good thing because he and I where going to have a talk at the light. There may have been some Road Rage that day....

Usually I don't have problems with motorbikes. Its bicyles that are a huge problem. We get packs of bikes riding down the roads a couple of which are major roads with lots of traffic. The bikes like to go play Tour De France at rush hour and cause back ups. Just rude. I usually get caught up in their mess on a couple east/west roads. Depending on the time of year the sun will be in my face going to work and going home. I have had times where I have been completely blinded by the sun. Its not safe in a car/truck but its worse with a bike going 10-20 mph in a 55 mph zone. What makes it even more dangerous is that the roads don't have long sight lines. There are lots of hills and curves. There is the white line and then usually a decent drop off from the pavement to the dirt. There are constant accidents where drivers drop a wheel off the road and end up having a wreck because they over correct. And the pavement is more patch than pavement.

One morning I was behind a loaded dump truck heading east with the sun in our eyes. We came around a curve and there was a Lamond Wanna Be. I saw him because a tree shaded the sun for a split second. The truck saw him just in time, swerved into the west bound lane of travel and locked up his brakes. That twit on a bike came real close to getting killed. If there had been west bound traffic someone would have been killed. There was just no where for the dump truck to go...

You now the bikers drive cars. They know or have no execuse not knowing how dangerous these roads can be but they go out ot play. I have had them on several occasions turn around, look right at me, and then pull out to take the entire lane. Once I had just come over a hill, they where in a dip in the road so I could not see them nor what was over the crest. One of the bikers turned around, looked right at me and then took the whole lane of traffic. I know have three choices, go off the road, hit them or go into the opposite lane of travel. Braking is not an option since they would still get hit. I went around them hoping like heck another car was there. This has happened a couple of times. I really don't like being placed into that much risk and no real options.

I can go on and on about the bikers. I guess we will get a law passed one day the prohibts bikes in speed zones over 25/30. But a bunch of people are going to have to get killed for that to happen. Some have already died out there but I not enough to pass a law. I thought the father and daughter that got killed last year would be enough carnage to wake people up.

What I don't understand is why ANYONE would want to ride a bike on these roads. Its simply not safe. Why put oneself at such risk for so little I just don't understand.

Cell phones. Since I spend alot of time driving I watch other drivers. Driving cell phone users seem to be mainly women. Why they don't get hands free headsets is something I don't get. The thing that really puzzles me is who are they talking to at 7:30am in the morning? I see people pulling out of subdivisions on the phone. Who are they calling that early? Is it that important? I see this all of the time.

Later,
Dan

 

[Bird]

For all you people that play games on the road - I think that's nuts.

Yep, Rich, I can understand the temptation, but you're right; it's a dumb thing to do that many have lived to regret, and of course some didn't live very long.

Dan, your story about the motorcycle reminds me of something I saw many, many years ago. I was driving in the middle lane of a 3 lane (each direction) road when a motorcycle passed me on the left at the same time a car (a Rambler) passed on the right; both traveling at a speed considerably over the speed limit. The car then came back into the middle lane in front of me, and the motorcycle rider rode alongside kicking the car. He must have kicked it at least a half dozen times. I wondered whether the car driver would swerve and just knock that stupid biker off the road but he didn't. However, as we approached a red traffic signal light, there was already a car stopped in the middle lane, so the Rambler went to the right lane, the motorcycle stayed in the left lane, and they stopped at the light. The Rambler driver got out of his car, calmly walked around the car in the center lane, and punched the motorcyclist one time right in the face hard enough to knock him completely off the motorcycle, then calmly walked back to his car, and drove off straight ahead when the light changed. The motorcyclist got up, picked up his motorcycle, and turned left. And I have no idea what started that altercation.

Its bicyles that are a huge problem.

Aah, yes. When we lived 20 miles from town in Navarro County, some bicycle group periodically had some kind of rallys. There would literally be hundreds of those half-wits strung out for 15 to 20 miles on farm-to-market roads; 2 lane winding asphalt, 55 mph speed limit, which you could normally drive just fine, but relatively few safe places to pass, and it seems that the majority of bicycle riders delight in obstructing motor vehicle traffic. I assume I'm in the minority again, but I"d have no sympathy at all for any who got run over.

 

[dmccarty]

Bird,

Of all of the nutty things I see on the road, that motorcycle with the pipes is the only one that has pushed my buttons enough to get me close to a situation that might get ugly. Make my daughter cry and I get mad.

I just chuckle at the knuckleheads and go about my way. There is a white Dodge PU that is owned by an engineering company that I have seen speed, pass people, and tailgate numerous times. One day I'm going to call the company and let them know what one of their employees is doing. If what he was doing was not dangerous it would be funny. We follow the same route until one intersection where he goes left and I go right to drop of a kid at school. One day I did not have to take the kid to school and I took the left. He had already passed me back where the motorcyle had "piped" me. I followed the Dodge 10-15 miles. Eventually I passed him at light as I got on I40. All of that speeding, passing, tailgating by Mr. Hare and Mr. Tortoise beat him. Maybe he should read some kids stories.

Later,
Dan

 

[Farmwithjunk]

I started this thread as a way to vent and ever-so-slightly as a joke. Funny huh?

A few things come to mind after reading the follow-up post's. One is something I posted in another thread a few days back. It may be a quote attributable to someone farther up the food chain, but I remember my dad saying it. "A wise man doesn't argue with a fool, lest the casual observer may not be able to distinguish which is which" or something to that effect. I understand temper. I'm half "stubborn German" and half "hardheaded Irish", along with having red hair. I've seen my share of needless fights. But why is it when someone does something we perceive as stupid, do we try to "out stupid" them ourselves? Or at the very least, give that other "stupid" a chance to raise their own bar so to speak?

I was witness today to a retaliation for a bit of poor driving. Car A cut off car B on the interstate when trying to change lanes to make a ramp. Car B responded by racing back around car A and flatfooting the brakes. Car A locked up its brakes, causing truck C to slam into car D. 2 innocent bystanders had their days ruined because of TWO not so innocent idiots trying to "out idiot" each other.

Sometimes you just have to remember we're SUPPOSED to be adults and let it go. There's a distinct difference between defending ones self and getting in a pissing match with moving vehicles.

 

[workinallthetime]

as a former bike rider and rice rocket rider and now a tractor hauler i have seen all sides of this PROBLEM. Most guys on a bike are actually training for something around here and i understand their lack of knowing what the heck is going on around them but a quick pop of your horn will get em out of the way 9 times out of 10. As a former rice rocket rider, stupid is as stupid does, dont ride their tail end or you might get a handful of lug nuts through your windshield. i had people on 4 wheels try and pass me in my own lane, 18 wheels almost run me off the road, road debris kicked up in my face, and a rock about take my head off. A guy on a bike is just trying to get away from everyone so he can take out some of the variables and have a peaceful ride. Loud pipes do $uck but they did saved my life more than once, a rider who just likes to rack his pipes has no respect for the ones around him who weigh 10 times as much as him and have seatbelts. my new neighbor down the road has a hardly a davidson with open pipes, the first time he left at 5 am i about took out the ar-15 and took care of that situation but so did all the other neighbors that morning, he hasnt done it since.
like criss rock said "its not worth shooting the guy and prison for the rest of your life because he smuged your puma", thats a shoe,lol.
restaint, understanding, and looking out for #1 is what we all should be about, not schooling a moron.