LVSteve
Member
I've been doing this a lot lately. It's not all it's cracked up to be, but it does keep me off the Vegas roads. On Wednesday I got a reminder of this benefit. Observed in a 14 mile journey across the valley at about 1000:
1) Sat at a red turn arrow in the leftmost of two left turn lanes going onto a freeway ramp about a mile from home. Lane to my right was also occupied and the straight on light was green. Somebody in a Jeep Compass (I think) came round both of us and made a left on red. OK, there was no traffic coming, but still.
2) I don't get much more than a mile down the freeway when I observe in the distance a SUV signal left to take an access ramp on the right...
. Said SUV was one of the two people who passed me going at least limit +15 just after I joined the freeway. Common theme, as we will see.
3) The car behind that SUV was passing a box truck that was in the exit lane and at the last second signals right and dives across the gore cutting off the box truck. I was covering the brake because the paved gore ends very rapidly and I expected them to put two wheels into the dirt softened by recent rains and flip. They missed the dirt by "that much" in Maxwell Smart terms.
4) After all that I join another freeway, and realize within 300 yards I am rapidly catching a texter. They're not hard to spot with the car jerking left and right in, and sometimes outside, the lane and running 5-10 under the limit. I passed them but the windows were too heavily tinted to confirm the offense so I didn't call it in.
5) After another few minutes I am approaching an area of freeway where it widens to six or more lanes and there is an exit to join I-15 South. Here I watched somebody from a right lane make a last millisecond move left across the gore to continue on US-95 South. That's well tricky when it goes wrong because the gore area is fairly short there is a VERY solid divider barrier with a multi-barrel attenuator if you run out of road. You may guess why they have the big attenuator.
Just after seeing that, my texting buddy hauls past on the left at about limit +15 and dives across three lanes to make the I-15 ramp. I'm pretty sure that was a mistake, as we shall see in #7.
6) Sooo, now I am approaching the ramp to get to I-15 North from US-95 South. This ramp has a loooong exit lane before you reach the gore and two or three signs overhead indicating that yes, Virginia, this is the lane to be in to go to I-15 North. As ever, that morbid dread of acting in advance that afflicts so many drivers kicks in and I see a rinse and repeat of #3. I don't get it. Does driving with anticipation cost you your man-card or something?
7) I make it onto I-15 North and am cruising at the standard limit +5 for a few minutes when I see a small while car coming up fast from behind and one lane to the left. I watch it as it passes me running at least limit +15 and note the plate. Yep, it was my texter again. How, you might ask. Didn't he go South? Well, there is a way to get from the I-15S ramp to the I-15N but I won't try and explain it here unless y'all insist. Given the timescale I feel sure they realized they'd gone the wrong way (South) and worked the Oracle to come North. By his speed, I must assume that this error in navigation had made him properly mad. He was likely fit to be tied when I passed him again
on a two-lane exit ramp a few minutes later when he got jammed up behind a hyper-cautious minivan driver.
I am happy to report that my ride home was much less "interesting".
That said, I really must get my dashcam fitted.
1) Sat at a red turn arrow in the leftmost of two left turn lanes going onto a freeway ramp about a mile from home. Lane to my right was also occupied and the straight on light was green. Somebody in a Jeep Compass (I think) came round both of us and made a left on red. OK, there was no traffic coming, but still.
2) I don't get much more than a mile down the freeway when I observe in the distance a SUV signal left to take an access ramp on the right...
. Said SUV was one of the two people who passed me going at least limit +15 just after I joined the freeway. Common theme, as we will see.3) The car behind that SUV was passing a box truck that was in the exit lane and at the last second signals right and dives across the gore cutting off the box truck. I was covering the brake because the paved gore ends very rapidly and I expected them to put two wheels into the dirt softened by recent rains and flip. They missed the dirt by "that much" in Maxwell Smart terms.
4) After all that I join another freeway, and realize within 300 yards I am rapidly catching a texter. They're not hard to spot with the car jerking left and right in, and sometimes outside, the lane and running 5-10 under the limit. I passed them but the windows were too heavily tinted to confirm the offense so I didn't call it in.
5) After another few minutes I am approaching an area of freeway where it widens to six or more lanes and there is an exit to join I-15 South. Here I watched somebody from a right lane make a last millisecond move left across the gore to continue on US-95 South. That's well tricky when it goes wrong because the gore area is fairly short there is a VERY solid divider barrier with a multi-barrel attenuator if you run out of road. You may guess why they have the big attenuator.
Just after seeing that, my texting buddy hauls past on the left at about limit +15 and dives across three lanes to make the I-15 ramp. I'm pretty sure that was a mistake, as we shall see in #7.6) Sooo, now I am approaching the ramp to get to I-15 North from US-95 South. This ramp has a loooong exit lane before you reach the gore and two or three signs overhead indicating that yes, Virginia, this is the lane to be in to go to I-15 North. As ever, that morbid dread of acting in advance that afflicts so many drivers kicks in and I see a rinse and repeat of #3. I don't get it. Does driving with anticipation cost you your man-card or something?
7) I make it onto I-15 North and am cruising at the standard limit +5 for a few minutes when I see a small while car coming up fast from behind and one lane to the left. I watch it as it passes me running at least limit +15 and note the plate. Yep, it was my texter again. How, you might ask. Didn't he go South? Well, there is a way to get from the I-15S ramp to the I-15N but I won't try and explain it here unless y'all insist. Given the timescale I feel sure they realized they'd gone the wrong way (South) and worked the Oracle to come North. By his speed, I must assume that this error in navigation had made him properly mad. He was likely fit to be tied when I passed him again
on a two-lane exit ramp a few minutes later when he got jammed up behind a hyper-cautious minivan driver.I am happy to report that my ride home was much less "interesting".
That said, I really must get my dashcam fitted.
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where dodging potholes at 40 mph while shooting back qualifies as a biathalon.
