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Car Forum / Ford / Ford Mustang / May 2007So, I'm out practicing my lane discipline...
You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use it again to return to the center lane. Good, solid lane discipline. Then the highway goes from three lanes to two, and I naturally come upon a clump of about 10 drivers clogging up both lanes ahead. Let's see... 10 cars, all doing exactly 61mph in a 55 zone. A quick swipe at my cellphone's built-in calculator, I can see that the 85 percentile in this bunch demands that we travel at 61mph. Well, that's somewhat above the posted speed limit sign (the REAL one, the one by the side of the road) that says 55, but it's still not good enough for me. It occurs to me that I must be in the top 5 percentile or above. When the highway finally opens up ahead of me, I set a pace between 80 and 85. That's my personal comfort zone, it's where I feel safe and confident. I also wonder why I should have to be governed by 85% of the slow-a.s mother f.ckers on the road. That's not why I bought a Mustang, just to go with the flow. If I wanted that, I'd drive a Honda. I've always used the speed limit signs as nothing more than a guide. On an open highway, I am limited only by visibility, aerodynamics, mood, and the number of possible hiding places for state troopers. I understand that some drivers (probably a small percent) actually adhere to those numbers along the roadway, but the majority does between 10 and 20mph above that. Again, that's not good enough for me. I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. The dwight law. Yeah, I like that. dwight > I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so > long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. Then you would become a hazard to those who are not as good a driver as you obviously think you are, and who don't want to drive as fast as you do. A car traveling much faster than the traffic flow IS a safety hazard.  SignatureA: Because it disturbs the logical flow of the message. Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? >>I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so >>long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. > > Then you would become a hazard to those who are not as good a driver as you > obviously think you are, and who don't want to drive as fast as you do. A > car traveling much faster than the traffic flow IS a safety hazard. You're right. Multiple highway safety studies show that traffic hazards are those driving 10mph above or below the average speed of traffic. Doesn't have a whole lot to do with the speed limit sign on the side of the road. Hey, Ho, Go with the flow. Signature.boB 2006 FXDI hot rod 2001 Dodge Dakota QC 5.9/4x4/3.92 1966 Mustang Coupe - Daily Driver 1965 FFR Cobra - 427W EFI, Damn Fast. >>> I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so >>> long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > traffic. Doesn't have a whole lot to do with the speed limit sign on > the side of the road. Actually, multiple studies show that 5-10 MPH above the average speed of traffic is the safest speed for all concerned; You're much less likely to be involved in a collision if you're going slightly faster than the flow. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/////tfhrc/safety/pubs/speed/images/fig1.gif http://www.sha.state.md.us/images/85thchart.gif > Hey, Ho, Go with the flow. Hear, hear! Not surprisingly, your chances of being involved in a collision rise sharply beyond +10 or -5 MPH from the average. Signature/ Garth - '83 GL V6stang Hatch <Former MW #7> \ | My V6stang: http://www.v6stang.com/v6stang | | RAMFM Merchandise: http://www.cafeshops.com/ramfm | \ ~~ Ventis secundis, tene cursum ~~ / >> I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so >> long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > obviously think you are, and who don't want to drive as fast as you do. A > car traveling much faster than the traffic flow IS a safety hazard. Your thinking seems to be one-dimensional. Certainly, you must know that there is no such thing as a "constant speed", unless you're travelling a completely empty highway at three in the morning. Any bit of driving, whether neighborhood roads or lunchtime highway, involves an infinite number of adjustments to surroundings, taking all possible events into account. For instance, in the situation I related, there was a time when I was part of the herd, driving the same 61mph, patiently waiting for things to shake out. When the road ahead became clear (read: clear), I resumed my normal speed of 80-85. Naturally, this brought me up to the next clump of 85 percentiles, who, again, were travelling at a speed less than my own comfort zone. I did not "create" any hazard, but, as usual, waited my turn until, again, the road ahead was clear. I don't drive in a vacuum, and I understand that there are PLENTY of other motorists on the road. I share the road. I also fully understand that for everyone who throws off the curve in one direction, there are as many who pull that curve down from the other end. I've always defended the driver who struggles just to maintain speed limit, since I know that some out there don't LIKE driving, ARE NOT GOOD AT IT, and need all of the patience and cooperation they can get from SUPERIOR DRIVERS LIKE ME. I have one goal - to reach my destination without a scratch on my car.. I have one mantra - drive as fast as you like, but drive SMART. I think that where most yahoos go wrong is that "smart" thing. dwight > Your thinking seems to be one-dimensional. No, YOUR'S is the one dimensional thinking. Everything you have said is all "ME" oriented. Let ME get to where I want to go as fast as possible and without a scratch on my car. You have shown absolutely no empathy or respect for anyone else who has the same rights to use the road as you do. Drivers like you are the reason speed limits exist. Obviously, you lack self control. SignatureA: Because it disturbs the logical flow of the message. Q: Why is top posting frowned upon? >> Your thinking seems to be one-dimensional. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > without a scratch on my car. You have shown absolutely no empathy or > respect for anyone else who has the same rights to use the road as you do. You're funny. > Drivers like you are the reason speed limits exist. Obviously, you lack > self control. 500,000 miles without an accident. I must be showing "some" empathy and respect for the otherguy... dwight > Drivers like you are the reason speed limits exist. Obviously, you lack > self control. No, drivers like grand ma, a 17 yo girl putting on make up and apparently you are why there are speed limits, otherwise *we* would have an Autobahn as well. Signature"The problem is almost certainly a big spider's nest. I can't wash my hair in the sink anymore, because of the paralyzing fear that a mutated, poisonous sink overflow spider may leap from the depths of the overflow and into my upturned nose." - Flaming Poultice >> I think I should be allowed to drive at whatever speed I feel like, so >> long as I'm not causing any safety hazards. > > Then you would become a hazard to those who are not as good a driver as you > obviously think you are, and who don't want to drive as fast as you do. A > car traveling much faster than the traffic flow IS a safety hazard. I think that's part of the point of not being a hazard. Not doing so where there is traffic to flow. Signature"The problem is almost certainly a big spider's nest. I can't wash my hair in the sink anymore, because of the paralyzing fear that a mutated, poisonous sink overflow spider may leap from the depths of the overflow and into my upturned nose." - Flaming Poultice >You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly >to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use it [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > >dwight ROFLMAO!!!!!!! >You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly >to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use it [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > >dwight Did you take into account what your actions would do????? Someone must be the one who sets the rate of flow..... :0) >>You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly >>to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use [quoted text clipped - 41 lines] > Did you take into account what your actions would do????? Someone must > be the one who sets the rate of flow..... :0) Well, now, that's an interesting point. (And I'm glad that YOU got it, since a couple others missed the humor). If the 85percenters are all doing, say, 70mph, and I come flying by at 120, does my speed then increase the 85% statistically, or am I just an anomaly that is discarded as an aberration? (a la the olympics, where you throw out the high and the low, then take the average of the remaining scores) The other thing I've noticed (and this goes back to my Thoughts column) is that the majority (vast majority) of the really aggressive drivers around here have a maximum speed limit, somewhere around 80. When someone behind me is being a real dick (and always in heavy traffic), accelerating to 85 once the roadway clears up leaves them far behind. 80 seems to be the magic number. Therefore, in order to avoid aggressive drivers and maintain safe distance between myself and them, I should really be driving at 90. dwight >>>You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly >>>to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use [quoted text clipped - 61 lines] > >dwight Now, here in California, the aggressive drivers are easy to spot... they are the ones with the Glock pointed at your face as you are diving for the break down lane. And how they missed the humor of the piece, I don't know... LOL > You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly > to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > > dwight I understand where you're coming from, as I like to drive over the limit as well, provided that I'm not causing any safety hazards. And, in a perfect world, you'd be absolutely correct. However, your dwight law has at least two problems: 1) You said that you'd like to go between 80 and 85, and that the pace of the vehicles around you was 61. The problem is that, by going between 19 and 24 miles per hour faster than everyone else, you are creating a safety hazard. All you need is one person changing lanes in front of you too closely, and you have an accident. Yeah, it might be their fault, but you'll still have a damaged car and probable broken bones. Is it worth it? 2) By being in the 5th percentile, as you described it, you're out of the norm on the road, which increases the chance for an accident. Even if you're "right" to want to go 80-85, you become a hazard by going that much faster than the flow of traffic. My personal preference is to go about 5 mph faster than the flow of traffic. I get to go a little faster while minimizing the chance of trouble. And the police tend to leave me alone if I'm not blowing by people. And if all lanes are filled, yeah, I'm aggravated, but I just hang in there until a lane opens. It's rude for them to hog all the lanes, but I don't own the road, either. One thing that would help is if the police would enforce a law that went into effect in Illinois about 5 years ago. Unless there's a sufficient volume of traffic on the highway, cars are required to shift right if a car is behind them and wanting to go faster. It's an interesting law, because, if someone is going 80 in the left-hand lane, and someone behind them is going 85, the front car is required to move right. So, in essence, the front car could get two tickets, one for going too slow (i.e., not moving to the right), and one for speeding. Unfortunately, the law isn't enforced, so most people ignore it. Anyway, that's my $0.02. > You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking > predominantly to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move [quoted text clipped - 34 lines] > > dwight Cool. Under the dwight law, am I permitted to blow away mofos (or mffys, as I've now seen) with an assault rifle when they cut me off? If so, I want to live in dwightland. :>You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking predominantly :>to the center lane of three. Use my turn signal to move left to pass, use it :>again to return to the center lane. Good, solid lane discipline. :> :>Then the highway goes from three lanes to two, and I naturally come upon a :>clump of about 10 drivers clogging up both lanes ahead. Ah yes, "The Turd Train", made up of .... well "turds" who's sole objective is to form a slow moving pack so they can impede the smooth flow of traffic wherever they roam. > :>You know, driving home on the highway at lunchtime, sticking > predominantly [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > objective is to form a slow moving pack so they can impede the smooth > flow of traffic wherever they roam. I don't see it that way. Somebody probably wasn't happy doing 59, so he moved left to pass. At 61. Naturally, when 61 goes to pass 59, traffic will be coming up behind the two of them pretty quick. Now you have a PACK, the left lane doing 61, the right 59. Eventually - like turtles having sex - 61 is going to actually pass 59 with enough room to move back over to the right. When that happens, the pack breaks up like a backed up toilet when the Master Plumber plunger is applied. I developed a good level of patience, when it dawned on me that I'm the fastest driver on the road and every other driver is slower than me. Everyone else is a slow-a.s mother f.cker to me, whether they're the only other car on the road or a group of cars known as "traffic." And that's why, unless drivers are judged one at a time, any system of speed limitation you care to install is going to be counter to my interests. And, since I already don't agree with any limit on speed, I can just ignore all of it. dwight law dwight :>> On Fri, 11 May 2007 20:11:21 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> :>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 38 lines] :> :>dwight One flaw in your thinking dwight, you assume drivers are going to eventually move over to the right or keep right when they're driving slow(er). While that might be the norm in other states, it is not a common practice here in Maryland or DC. The Turd Train gets bunched up in a pack and they won't yield or move over for anyone. Heck, DC drivers don't even yield for emergency vehicles. In order to get around the Turd Train you have to serpentine back and forth from lane to lane until you work your way up to the front and can break away and get ahead of them. I still maintain my Rhode Island DL but have been told there is no MD law for " keeping right" or yielding to faster traffic and consequently I routinely get stuck in traffic coming out of DC. Trucks are notorious for blocking the left lanes. It can take me 2 hours to travel a little over 50 miles one way into DC and back home again and that's with no accidents or the inevitable road construction. Going to work at 5 am and we're all going 75 to 80 mph in all lanes. Come 8:30, 9:00 am and the trucks and the turds are out and everything slows down. Friends who have lived in this area longer than I tell me this is typical MD and DC driving behavior. The main road I travel from southern MD (Route 5) to just before the main gate at Andrews AFB is only a two lane highway and it has to handle a hellacious amount of commuter traffic. Now add in the Turd factor and it's a giant clusterfrock 24/7 M-F. Amazingly it's the weekend traffic which is actually bearable. YMMV in Pa, but from where I sit, too often in stop and go traffic, it's the pack of cars making up the turd trains which hold up the rest of us. > :>> On Fri, 11 May 2007 20:11:21 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> > :>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 74 lines] > sit, too often in stop and go traffic, it's the pack of cars making up > the turd trains which hold up the rest of us. It's the same all over, as far as I've seen. The slowest car determines the speed we all must travel. The more traffic, the slower we all go. That's why comedians have been making fun of the term "rush hour" as long as I've been alive. That's a long time. When things get backed up like that, I tend to just sit back and relax. No point getting agitated. I'm not big on jumping lanes, either, since it never seems to make any difference. Usually, when I have jumped lanes, the new lane suddenly becomes the slow lane and the lane I've just come from speeds up. Never fails. So I just stay put until things work themselves out. It takes me 45 to 50 minutes to get home from work, and that's 16 miles. I'm averaging 21mph. And this is on the back roads, because the highway is one very long parking lot, and thus useless to me (especially when I'm driving TFrog with the stick). dwight >> :>> On Fri, 11 May 2007 20:11:21 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> >> :>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 92 lines] > >dwight Yep... traffic lanes are just like checkout stands at Target or Wallymart. You spot a short line and somebody invariably is using welfare coupons.... or they forgot something.... so you spot another line that's moving and you slide on over, just in time for it to bog down. You look at the line you were just in and the cashier is standing there doing nothing, so, you slip out of line and head back over just as the cashier turns off the light and goes on a break. Dwight, what is it? Din't anyone else get the humor in this thread? > Yep... traffic lanes are just like checkout stands at Target or > Wallymart. You spot a short line and somebody invariably is using [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Dwight, what is it? Din't anyone else get the humor in this thread? Humor is in the eye of the beholder. Some beholders are flat-out blind. When I drive, whether it's to the corner store or cross-country, I enjoy the hell out of it. Something about just being behind the wheel of a Mustang brings me peace, joy, and harmony with my surroundings. I also marvel at how traffic somehow "works" for the most part. An infinite variety of vehicles being maneuvered by an infinite number of drivers, all with an infinite variation of styles, but it works. From the überagressive types to the barely-managing-speed-limit types, and everything in between, the world of driving is a source for great humor, whether the small "snapshot" images of individuals or the giant overview of a rush hour clog. There are certainly tragic moments, to be sure, but there's plenty to laugh at. The cartoon wiggers with their "souped up" economy cars, pretending to be exactly what they're not. The 300-pound, leather clad, bearded and grizzled Harley dude, complete with American flag draped off the back of the bike, being tailgated by a nerdish and harried soccer dad in a minivan. People driving along as if they're lost, slowing suddenly to peer at street signs, or taking a left from the right lane, then changing their minds and NOT turning. Or, just the other day, a young guy in a beat-up old Cavalier sedan, driving like he's got nothing to lose (and doesn't), except that the other cars on the road didn't seem to want to accommodate his desire to be first in line. There's plenty out there to laugh at, but there's also plenty that just pisses me off. And, usually, the ones that piss me off are the ones who feel empowered by their cages to be rude, to behave as they never would if we were all face to face. Still... while my poor attempt at humor seems to have gone under some people's heads, there is a grain of truth to this thread-starting post. Given the opportunity, I do seem to drive faster than all but a very few others. My style is all about cooperation and patience, though, and I do understand the drivers how don't (or can't) speed and make allowances for them. Tailgating a "slow poke" is one of the stupidest things I see out there, and one of the most maddening. Tailgating, period, is stupid, and something I've gone on and on about over the years. Yet even the slowest driver seems to eventually find someone that they can tailgate. On occasion, when I see a slow driver being hassled, I have tucked in behind that slow driver to back off the tailgaters. (Tailgating has exactly the reverse of the intended outcome - instead of speeding up the slow driver, tailgating actually forces them to slow down even more.) So there I sit, several car lengths back, keeping the morons off of the bumper of slow poke, and then slow poke eventually comes upon someone even slower and TAILGATES that person! When that happens, I move left and go. If that idiot feels okay with tailgating, then he deserves to BE tailgated. And that's funny. We can go on all day and well into the night about the funny things we see on the roads, but it's Mother's Day and we've got people coming over... I just hope they all manage to get here in one piece. dwight > On occasion, when I see a slow driver being hassled, I have tucked in behind > that slow driver to back off the tailgaters. So the tailgaters leave enough room for a mustang to fit in between? The tailgating I saw being demonstrated last night (typical) was maybe the length of my mustang's fender, tops. This was at over 70mph btw. That said, I have a simliar, 'let's see you try that to me, asshat' type view. > (Tailgating has exactly the > reverse of the intended outcome - instead of speeding up the slow driver, > tailgating actually forces them to slow down even more.) Last night... one of the tailgating asshats decides to try it with me. He didn't like it when I forgot where my throttle pedal was once his head lamps disappeared from my rear view mirror. > So there I sit, > several car lengths back, keeping the morons off of the bumper of slow poke, > and then slow poke eventually comes upon someone even slower and TAILGATES > that person! When that happens, I move left and go. If that idiot feels okay > with tailgating, then he deserves to BE tailgated. > And that's funny. I usually set my minimum following distance as greater than what that person is following someone in front of them. >> Yep... traffic lanes are just like checkout stands at Target or >> Wallymart. You spot a short line and somebody invariably is using [quoted text clipped - 71 lines] > >dwight Well said. The one who can ind humor in the mindane, or worse, will live a lot longer than the ones filled with anger over the fact that things are not as perfect as they beieve they should be.... > Yep... traffic lanes are just like checkout stands at Target or > Wallymart. You spot a short line and somebody invariably is using > welfare coupons.... or they forgot something.... Have I told you the one about the 435LB woman trying to talk on the phone while standing at the self checkout? A 2 minute sentence; *BOOP!*; 1.5 min sentence; *BOOP*; "Aaaww NO gurrrl; you kidd-inn! Idduh had to WHUUPP him good!!"; *BOOP*.... > Dwight, what is it? Didn't anyone else get the humor in this thread? Too many people have the fuse blown to their sense of humor... Signature"The problem is almost certainly a big spider's nest. I can't wash my hair in the sink anymore, because of the paralyzing fear that a mutated, poisonous sink overflow spider may leap from the depths of the overflow and into my upturned nose." - Flaming Poultice :>> On Sat, 12 May 2007 18:55:28 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> :>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 80 lines] :>It's the same all over, as far as I've seen. The slowest car determines the :>speed we all must travel. Anytime you're in the area dwight I'd be happy to cruise the streets with you and show you at least for this area you're wrong. The "lane whippers" make their own speed. :) Regards, Sarah > :>It's the same all over, as far as I've seen. The slowest car determines > the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > Regards, Sarah Hah! Thank you, but no. The last time I drove in the DC area, I lost a tie rod end. Have they done any road repair yet? :() :>> On Sat, 12 May 2007 22:40:17 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> :>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] :> :>:() Oh hell no! The roads in southern MD are really some of the best I've ever seen, but DC city streets are still filled with potholes and when they have a rash of exploding manhole covers and broken water mains it's even more of a challenge to get around. Never thought I'd say I miss up north when all I thought about the roadways was the occasional frost heaves. :) >:>> On Sat, 12 May 2007 22:40:17 -0400, "dwight" <tfrog93@gEEmail.com> >:>> wrote: [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] >say I miss up north when all I thought about the roadways was the >occasional frost heaves. :) That you can than George Washington for..... it was his idea to build DC in a swamp and then land fill it. The water table is higher than the street level. HA :0) >> :>It's the same all over, as far as I've seen. The slowest car determines >> the [quoted text clipped - 12 lines] > >:() The last time I was in DC I crossed the same bridge 4 times in a row and said to hell with it. Somehow I kept getting into the wrong lane no matter which lane I chose. :0) For me it was worse than driving in LA. But we all adjust our driving to our surroundings. LA drivers become used to LA traffic. They become hazzards when they take that style elsewhere, and vice versa. I live in a rural part of California, and country folk drive like country folk. Seems to be a lot more politeness. They'll sit for an hour at a 4 way stop saying to a neighbor, 'no, you go first'. Then we had an influx of people from the major metro areas (LA, SF, etc) who brought their driving manners with them. Traffic became a nightmare. Not their fault. They learned to drive that way in order to survive metro traffic. Today, it's a sort of mixture of metro and country... but it works. |
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