SOME PEOPLE ARE JUST TOO DARN IMPATIENT

Golddollar

Golddollar

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I was driving this afternoon on a two-lane state road down to a club pistol match. I had just passed through a village when I looked up the road and saw 4 headlights in a horizontal line coming at me and closing fast. The traffic in the other lane made it difficult for the passer to get out of my lane. Luckily my lane had a fairly wide berm and I swung my car on to the berm to give the passer same clearance. The passing car managed to get back into its proper lane but it was a little too close for my liking.

How many seconds were at stake to justify the strong possibility of a high speed head on collision? I was driving my Grand Marquis and I think the other car would have been seriously overmatched. I hope that other driver learned his lesson the easy way.

Rant over.
 
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Beemerguy53 said:
I drive on the Washington, D.C., Beltway (I-495) regularly. Every time I travel that road, I feel like I'm in the middle of a Mad Max movie!
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I used to feel about the same way on the Baltimore Beltway I-695. I'm sure glad I'm retired and don't have to drive on that anymore.
 
Kiwi cop said:
One thing I find frightening on American roads is the practice of overtaking on the right using the pull off area when both lanes have traffic flowing at, or a little under, the speed limit.

Houston is particularly bad for this, especially Beltway 8.
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That happened to me on my way home from a trip to Cincinnati in Crisp County GA on Sept 7th.

Dude passed me in the emergency lane!


[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrInnJlmJ40[/ame]
 
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LVSteve said:
I find this part of your story most instructive and backs up something I've said since arriving on these shores.



Americans have no clue what constitutes a safe following distance.
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I agree. I've even met a few who thought their plastic bumpers and radiators were tougher than the Class 3 trailer hitch on the back of my truck.
 
A while back I had a lady come straight at me on a two lane state highway.
She attempted to pass a Long line of cars-trucks in a KIA. As in Killed In Action.
She came straight at me without pause or any attempt to get back into her lane.
Luckily I saw her, slowed, and had a wide fairly flat shoulder to pull off on.
I saw her very well when she roared past me about 5 feet away.
She seemed to be concentrating on finishing the passing of the string of vehicles.
I don't think she could have safety made that pass in any car you can name.
 
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I was headed out of Tucson in my Mustang a couple months back. All of a sudden a car in a line of traffic coming at me, turned completely into my lane probably 1 or 2 car lengths ahead. I swerved into the ditch, driver must have missed my left rear quarter by what I figure couldn't have been more then an inch or two, I wasn't looking in the mirror, but I could have touched the car when it went by. Then I had a roadsign coming up so I swerved to the left and back up on the road and barely missed the sign. Total time for all this was probably a couple seconds. If I done anything but react instantly it would have been a head on at about 40 mph. Wanted to turn around and chase them down.

If I had to guess I'd put my money on the other driver being on a cell and not paying attention and just drifted into my lane. Scared the bejesus out of my wife.
 
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Ive been scrapping old cars from the back of the shop with my F250 and 14 foot dump trailer the last few weeks.I take some back roads to the place and its posted 30-40mph. I can do the limit easily and do so but you would think Im doing tractor speed. The people who wizz by me with horns blaring make me wonder what has happened to respect and courtesy.
 
When I was younger { a lot younger } I loved to drive , anytime, anyplace. Not anymore, I do my best to keep my driving to a minimum, especially having to use a 2 lane highway thru the mountains with a posted speed limit of 70 mph on a regular basis !. If you do that 70 mph speed limit, the tailgaters stack up behind you in no time, and then they attempt to pass you in some damn dangerous places. Hate driving anymore. Safety, respect and common courtesy are fast disappearing .
 
Tail of the Dragon is littered with idiots and the poor people they've affected negatively.

IMG-0799.jpg
 
No one wins in a head on crash. I always think, "if this person left several seconds earlier I wouldn't have been an obstacle in their race to wherever the heck they're going". And then hope they don't kill anyone.
 
I live in Houston. We deal with sociopathic drivers constantly. About every mile. When you get a green light, you better count to three before you proceed. When in a backed-up lane waiting you need to leave room for the line cutters to get in. You can try to defend your lane but it's too dangerous. I don't care if they die in a flaming crash but you, or some other innocent party, may get killed too.

It's a battle not worth fighting. You gain nothing more than increasing the likelihood you'll be involved in an accident. Or get yourself shot in a road rage incident. They are sociopaths and need help. Not your job.
 
Kiwi cop said:
One thing I find frightening on American roads is the practice of overtaking on the right using the pull off area when both lanes have traffic flowing at, or a little under, the speed limit.

Houston is particularly bad for this, especially Beltway 8.
Click to expand...

I would be the last one to defend Houston's idiot drivers, but I drive this area daily and almost never see what you describe, especially on the beltway, which is multi lanes.
 
As I age, I find out I am not in any hurry. If I ever have to go to the city, I drive in the grandpa lane on Interstates. A main reason is that I have an escape path, the shoulder and prairie, should anything tragic happen ahead. But living in the mountains with only 2 lane roads, slow rude people are my mortal enemies. Asking a friend who always drives slowly no matter where he goes, what he would think of a law that would require him to drive the speed limit. An emphatic No is his reply. Why can someone force me to drive faster than I want? I then ask him about all the people behind him that HE is forcing to drive the speed he wants. He didn't talk to me for a week afterwards. Just last week I myself had to swerve in and out of slow traffic making a jerk of myself because people were dottleling around in the road. On my seat was my phone with a friend's wife screaming for help and I couldn't get there. Her husband was trapped underneath a vehicle that had fallen on him. Fortunately, it was just a trapped leg that left a nasty bruise but her screaming I wasn't sure if he would be alive when I arrived. There are times people need to get somewhere NOW, not later.
 
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