I Hate Driving

[Mad-Mike]

Today, I about got out of my truck and beat somebody with the Dot Matrix line feeder in my backseat when some stupid f***er started cussing me out and honking like a madman despite there being NO opening in traffic for me to get into the closest lane to me! Needless to say, it's opened up a damn can o' worms with me that I hate........

Why is it people believe that when you're at a near-blind intersection and youre sitting there craning your neck out the window to make a right turn, and can't see SHIT coming down the road from the trees till it's too late to turn, they automagically assume you are not paying attention. If you really have THAT much goddamn trouble getting where you need to go on-time that you have to break the law, have you EVER considered doing hte following things............

- That maybe there IS no opening (see "Fast Drivers" below)
- That maybe the person there is trying to make a left turn and every goddamn time ONE side of the road is empty, the other has a steady barriage of traffic
- That the person doing the bitching is BLIND AS HELL since he CAN'T EVEN SEE THE CARS GOING DOWN THE ROAD BEFORE HIS EYES!


Now, let's take this scenario from ANOTHER ANGLE! FAST DRIVERS. I'm so sick and tired of hearing about how the "speed limit" is just a "suggestion". Is it just me, or has Webster's dictionary changed the definition of LIMIT to that for MINIMUM lateley! I swear, every other dumbass on the road think's that 60 MPh means "go as fast as you want", and that 55 acutally means 75. You know, I like Sammy Hagar's music, but Sammy Hagar, if you're actually speeding for the hell of it, YOU ARE AN ASSHAT! Can't drive 55 my ass, sell the Ferrari and get a damn Honda if you can't handle it! Because of these kinds of people, it's next to IMPOSSIBLE to leave an intersection with no lights or signs (which is what I'm bitching about here). "Oh man, but I gotta' be somewhere", THEN LEAVE F***ING EARLY, IT"S NOT THAT HARD! Sure, I hate it when someone does a 35 in a 55 too, but jebus Christ, doing 65 in a 55 is plain wrong and a recipie for a ticket.

I can see why someone with a clean driving record like me has to have uber-expensive car insurance, because of all these other dumbasses. If I had not practiced so hard, I probably would have died in a bad accident long ago. I've already been in one in which I was not driving, if I ever lived through another, I'm not so sure I could function! It's enough that I have to worry about idiots in Rental cars running red lights coming off the off-ramp!

Here's my solution, don't tighten the driving tests, toss insurance, prohibit ANY lawsuits from resultant car accidents, and get the Law un-involved, and maybe then people will learn to RESPECT the damn law! And maybe also learn to respect motor vehicles! If nothing else it'll take out all the idiots!

[Terry Yager]

My favorite Passive-Aggressive driving behavior is to get into the fast lane on the freeway, and do only 5 MPH over the limit, holding back all the other scofflawz who want to go really fast.

--T

[apple2fan]

The simple solution: Buy a deer grill and run them off the road.:D

[carlsson]

I must admit it would be a bit refreshing, if nothing else, to see a furious driver beat someone else up with an old matrix printer. Maybe the other driver also is a vintage collector, and brings out his 20 lbs floppy drive expansion box to retaliate.

[Vlad]

Now thats just --- I dunno what. Strange......

-VK

[EvanK]

but jebus Christ, doing 65 in a 55 is plain wrong and a recipie for a ticket.

I agree with you about the morons who honk and get obnoxious when you're waiting to turn into an intersection; after all, they don't know what you can't see.

But you have a problem with doing 65 in a 55? That's crazy, Mad Mike. Here in northern NJ, you wouldn't last five minutes on the Turnpike or Parkway or any of our other major highways. The rule of thumb here is that 15mph over the limit is safe before cops will target you. So you can safely drive 70 in a 55 and 80 in a 65. Quite honestly, anything slower will get you run off the road by people like me. :)

Police everywhere know that it's human instinct to drive a little bit faster than the limit -- it's just a matter of what is reasonable and safe. So if the road is safe for cruising at 80, they'll make the limit 65, and they'll target anyone going faster than 80.

It's a reasonable speed for safe driving (which is the government's main concern) and it satisfies the human need to push the envelope (or rather, the gas pedal) a little more than normal. It also means that when you do get pulled over for speeding, you must've been REALLY going fast, or else the police wouldn't bother if you were just keeping up with traffic.

Like it or not, if the majority of people are driving 80 in a 65 zone, then we're not the dangerous ones, speed limits aside. The dangerous one is the driver who is doing something different from all the other cars, whether it's 100 or 55. That is a simple matter of reaction times and braking distances and physics. For a more drastic analogy, if you were on a stock car race track, and they're all going 180, and you're doing 90, then who's the bigger danger? Answer: the guy in the way.

So I'm not advocating excessive speeding, I'm just saying that it's nuts to advocate 55 when that is completely unrealistic in the real world of everyone else going much faster. A driver who takes it upon himself to drive slower and tries to slow down everyone else -- HE is the danger to society.

[carlsson]

15 mph over the limit? That translates to 24 km/h, which over here would result in a $400-450 fine depending on which road you were caught. The fines were raised on October 1st, so already driving 1-10 km/h (6 mph) over the limit, the fine is $210-280. Before it was said you have a safety margin of 10 km/h based on possible misalignment of your speedometer.

[dongfeng]

I was cut up today by a BMW driver (now there's a suprise :rolleyes: ) who came shooting up the feeder lane and cut right in front of me on the carriageway. :mad:

According to a police officer I know, the official "speeding" limit is worked out by 3MPH + 10%. So in a 30MPH zone you will get fined if you go over 36MPH, likewise a 70MPH zone it is 80MPH. Although I don't like to put these into practice, I generally stay about 60 :)

[carlsson]

An old woman was driving along road 70, and was stopped by a police officer.

-"The speed limit here is 55."
-"But the sign said 70?"
-"No Ma'm, that is the road number."
-"Oh dear. I'm glad you didn't see me on road number 250.."

[fxg]

I got a ticket today for doing 198km/h in a 60km/h zone :D

Well, I was the only one on the whole area that was visible [which easily covers about 5km, so I could see pretty much anything] and I though I'd give my car a little speed... Driving in town is really bad around here [i've got a 14km/h speed average on the past 2 weeks in town].

The radar car was hidden between some bushes :D and they stopped me about 2km down the road.

I just got myself a nice fine, around $200 [which is A LOT here, considering the average income here is around $300 / month].

[Mike Chambers]

i usually do around 5 over... maybe 7 or 8 if there is minimal traffic. i've been doing it ever since i got my license. haven't been pulled over for speeding once. hell, the cops usually fly past me going a good 10-15 over the limit.

on the other hand, i drive a mustang 5.0 so maybe i'm biased about speeds :p

[apple2fan]

I must admit it would be a bit refreshing, if nothing else, to see a furious driver beat someone else up with an old matrix printer
How about a apple Imagewriter, I here they pack a punch.:D

[carlsson]

It can't be too heavy if you're going to fight with it. Ask your nearest role playing buddy about their characters' preferred weapon, and the trade off between damage and weight. :-)

If you get high on adrenaline and blood pressure when another car sneaks past you in a dangerous move, it probably also is wise not to carry a too heavy piece from your trunk. You might strain a muscle, get a heart attack or worse while telling that other driver what you think about him or her.

[Mad-Mike]

Wow, this threads gotten more replies than I thought.

First off, as far as NJ goes, that's a whole different ballpark than WA is. Up here, if you are going 10 over limit, the POlice WILL pick it up on their radar, and they WILL ticket you. I have gotten a warning once when I was not careful.

As for the printer, I know the hitch for my truck would do more damage in HP, but the factor of making fast redauntant hits due to it's weight would be kind of hard.

My biggest peeve are those at the intersections though. I see it all the time around here, if you're in that much of a hurry, why not leave earlier. It makes all due logical sense.

[Sharkonwheels]

Same in South Florida - speed limits have been creeping up the past 10 years. From 55, to 60, 65, now 70MPH on intersates.

I-75, between Broward County and Miami-Dade County, 70MPH speed limit.
God help your rear bumper, if you're in any of the 2 left lanes, and doing less than 80-85.

Cops don;t even look twice *UNLESS* you are going extrememly fast, or doing dangerous maneuvering, or weaving through cars, putting others at risk.

Not 2 hours ago, going South on I-75 into Miami, some stupid wench is in the leftmost lane, doing 55 in a 70 zone, freaking doing her makeup! Man, did I want to just POUNCE up behind here, all 1000W of lights on bright, honking that freaking horn in my truck. Just stupid.

Oh - and cell phones. Man - PLEASE don't EVEN get me started on THAT one.

Ya gotta be smart - if you're gonna be in the way, stay out of the way.
Now, I do *NOT* condone those weaving through traffic. Matter of fact, I got out of my way to block them swerving in front of me, because at that point, they're endangering others.

You NEVER know how someone reacts when they see a car doing 10-15mph faster than them, weaving in and out, and about to reach them. I've seen people Jam the gas rear-ending some in front, jamming on brakes, swerving left ending up in a median, swerving right almost hitting another car, etc...

Weaving like that is just flat stupid, and should be HEAVILY punished with MULTIPLE fines and infractions.

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Tony