More traffic rants

[swamp]

If you can't or won't drive the speed limit, pull over and let the line of 50 cars that are bunched up behind you pass.

[NastyWoman]

but, but, but what about those thousands of cars ahead of me? Do you want them to pull over as well? 
Oh wait, you live in the country side and don't need 45 minutes for a lousy (mostly interstate) 14 miles 

[Regis]

We should legalize NASCAR's "bump and run" policy!

[alabamagal]

Was it a guy on a tractor?  We have that a lot here.

Oh the power of driving that tractor down the highway, with a group of cars behind you!

[midjd]

You'll enjoy this - last week I got a ticket for following too closely. On the interstate during morning rush hour. Apparently it is not only texters and the elderly who like to hang out doing 55 in the left lane, but also state police officers.

Oh I am taking this to the mat!

(DH said, "You were tailgating a f***ing cop? Why not just flip him off and throw a beer at him?" )

[midjd]

But Swamp, remember - "It's the speed LIMIT, it doesn't mean you have to drive that fast!"

[justme]

I always like driving home. I'm on a toll road that drops from 65 to 55 for no reason other than it's X miles close to downtown (actually had more lanes than when it's 65+ on either side). The sheriffs and police building are both close enough to the road so you have a lot of cops/sheriffs going to/from work/calls on the road. Man, do the break lights ever light up when someone fast notices there's a cop only going the speed limit. They have to be doing this for entertainment because I see them speeding w/ no lights on just as frequently. 

Though my favorite recently was watching a sheriff get pissed and tailgating not realizing the whole 4 lanes were going 55 because there was a cop 4 cars up. It was funny to watch them stop up one of their own. He went from like 55 to 80 in seconds after the one in front got off the road. 

[achelois]

Here in NC, they think the speed limit signs are suggested minimums. 

[milee]

Jun 16, 2014 10:01:28 GMT -5 Regis said:

We should legalize NASCAR's "bump and run" policy!

Last weekend, when my friend and I came out of a bar late at night, some jerk in a Nissan Cube had parked me in.  My car was the last car in the parallel park area and he parked illegally in front of me, leaving less than a foot between my front bumper and his. Jerk.  I told her that I'd do my best to squeeze out of the space, but if it wasn't working I was going to have to resort to selecting "4WD-low" and just pushing the little shite out of the way.  Those Cubes are pretty lightweight.

But I'm surrounded by bad influences.  A few weeks ago after a regatta, I was cleaning my boat up in the parking lot when one of my friends drove by in his Suburban dragging a cute little BMW convertible behind him.  The owner of the BMW had parked his/her car in my friend's boat storage slip while he was out sailing which meant that my friend couldn't put his boat away (big No No in a marina/boat storage yard - signs everywhere warning about towing cars that park in boat spaces).  After having the owner of the BMW called over the PA system and waiting for 30 minutes, my friend just hooked a line up around the front axle and dragged the illegally parked car out of the way. 

And that's nothing compared to the weekend when some ass parked his Jaguar convertible so it was blocking the hoist (fixed crane used to put boats in/out of the water).  Guess what got hoisted?  Sailors can be merciless and generally have access to some pretty awesome equipment that can be used to screw with the jerk who was behaving badly. 

[justme]

I have images of a Jaguar in a boat slip three levels up.

[tskeeter]

Jun 16, 2014 17:02:15 GMT -5 milee said:

Jun 16, 2014 10:01:28 GMT -5 Regis said:

We should legalize NASCAR's "bump and run" policy!

Last weekend, when my friend and I came out of a bar late at night, some jerk in a Nissan Cube had parked me in.  My car was the last car in the parallel park area and he parked illegally in front of me, leaving less than a foot between my front bumper and his. Jerk.  I told her that I'd do my best to squeeze out of the space, but if it wasn't working I was going to have to resort to selecting "4WD-low" and just pushing the little shite out of the way.  Those Cubes are pretty lightweight.

But I'm surrounded by bad influences.  A few weeks ago after a regatta, I was cleaning my boat up in the parking lot when one of my friends drove by in his Suburban dragging a cute little BMW convertible behind him.  The owner of the BMW had parked his/her car in my friend's boat storage slip while he was out sailing which meant that my friend couldn't put his boat away (big No No in a marina/boat storage yard - signs everywhere warning about towing cars that park in boat spaces).  After having the owner of the BMW called over the PA system and waiting for 30 minutes, my friend just hooked a line up around the front axle and dragged the illegally parked car out of the way. 

And that's nothing compared to the weekend when some ass parked his Jaguar convertible so it was blocking the hoist (fixed crane used to put boats in/out of the water).  Guess what got hoisted?  Sailors can be merciless and generally have access to some pretty awesome equipment that can be used to screw with the jerk who was behaving badly. 

So, how long did the Jag float?

[Deleted]

Ok, I will admit that I tend to drive 55 mph regardless of the 70 mph signs.  You guys missed all the PSA back in the 1970s that said that 55 mph was the optimum speed to maximize fuel consumption. You couldn't drive 70 mph even on the interstate.

I did it so long that it is my instinctive speed. I do, however, stay in the right lane on the interstate.  And on a country road with only two lanes, you will always find me a mile or so under the speed limit, never more. I don't pull over just because there are 50 cars behind me.  I'm not breaking the law.

Sorry you were behind me today, Swamp, as I drove I-20 to some miniscule country crossroads in the middle of Nowhere, Alabama.  You know you are in trouble with the main landmark is the feed store.

[msventoux]

I imagine I'll have some epic rants in the months ahead.  They're putting in a roundabout at the end of my residential street that intersects with a more heavily traveled road.  Roundabouts aren't all that common here yet.

It's a somewhat dangerous intersection, but mostly because the department of transportation can't figure out what they want to do with it.  It was originally a two way stop, which was mostly fine but there were some accidents as the main thoroughfare crests over the hill and if drivers don't pay attention and cross quickly from the side streets they're likely to be hit  because the hill is like an ice rink in the wintertime and those on the main drag coming over the hill can't stop in time to avoid a collision. 

Then DOT made it a 4 way stop, which resulted in a bunch of accidents because it wasn't flagged as a new traffic pattern and people who weren't paying attention blew through the stop thinking it was a two way stop as normal.  So they removed that and put up a warning light...which was faulty and would randomly blink a green light to all directions, resulting in more accidents.  Then they tore down the warning light and changed it back into the original two way stop.  All this in the space of about a year. 

[sesfw]

They're putting in a roundabout at the end of my residential street that intersects with a more heavily traveled road. Roundabouts aren't all that common here yet.

IMHO a roundabout is a suicide intersection.

The first one I came in contact with is in Long Beach CA and five (5) main roads come into it.  Pacific Coast Hiway, Los Coyotes Diagonal, Lakewood Blvd, Bellflower Blvd.  PCH went through the circle and the other three stopped at the circle.  I was in high school (late 1950s) and I got on that thing by a huge mistake.

Now when I fly into Long Beach and have to go to Palos Verdes I know a lot of different ways to get there that doesn't go through that circle.

Not a fan of roundabouts.  I will avoid them if I can.

[tskeeter]

Jun 16, 2014 21:15:08 GMT -5 sesfw said:

They're putting in a roundabout at the end of my residential street that intersects with a more heavily traveled road. Roundabouts aren't all that common here yet.

IMHO a roundabout is a suicide intersection.

The first one I came in contact with is in Long Beach CA and five (5) main roads come into it.  Pacific Coast Hiway, Los Coyotes Diagonal, Lakewood Blvd, Bellflower Blvd.  PCH went through the circle and the other three stopped at the circle.  I was in high school (late 1950s) and I got on that thing by a huge mistake.

Now when I fly into Long Beach and have to go to Palos Verdes I know a lot of different ways to get there that doesn't go through that circle.

Not a fan of roundabouts.  I will avoid them if I can.

Actually, I like roundabouts.  I think they work well if they are well designed.  As they are in Europe. 

Unfortunately, in my area, the traffic engineer who went to the roundabout design seminar must have slept through the seminar.  The roundabouts are very poorly designed.  There are some that are so small that even a short wheel base vehicle, such as a Jeep Wrangler, must slow to less than 10 mph to thread through the roundabout.  Large cars, trucks and school buses must drive across part of the center circle to get down the street.  Other roundbouts are designed so that the access point is into the left hemisphere of the roundabout, rather than the right hemisphere.  This design means that you must turn to the left, then back to the right to enter the roundabout and align with the flow of traffic in the roundabout.  Did I mention that we're at 5,000 feet and we get snow?  Apparently nobody told the engineer who designed those atrocities that direction changes compromise the stability and traction of an automobile.  And that multiple direction changes make the situation even worse.  And when you thow in sleet, ice, and snow, the multiple changes of direction make the situation nearly unmanageable, as is evidenced by all of the tire marks and gouges on the curbs surrounding these roundabouts.  The up side?  It would be a great place to to set up a towing service and tire and wheel shop because thousands of dollars worth of wheels get destroyed in those roundabouts every year.  And a few oil pans get punctured.  And steering and suspension systems get damaged.  Creating a plethora of business at what could be your doorstep.    

[wvugurl26]

Regular roundabouts are okay. The 2 lane roundabouts found around here suck! Both lanes go through and no one uses a turn signal so you don't know when someone is exiting and you can enter.

[973beachbum]

Jun 17, 2014 11:20:30 GMT -5 wvugurl26 said:

Regular roundabouts are okay. The 2 lane roundabouts found around here suck! Both lanes go through and no one uses a turn signal so you don't know when someone is exiting and you can enter.

My favorites are the ones that start out as two lanes and then drop down to one.  Totally unmarked, but would be okay with drivers who are familiar with them.  Did anyone who designed these know we get tourists every year?  It might have been something someone could have mentioned.

[olderburgher]

But Swamp, remember - "It's the speed LIMIT, it doesn't mean you have to drive that fast!"

[ZaireinHD]

well since I consider myself a professional driver I do get out of the way for people / person behind me that is in a rush. no need to be following me that close for one - and secondly when I notice someone approaching faster than I am going - then I just move to the side with turn signal on!
go right ahead speedy! the cop is usually parked just after the turn!
HA HAA!