Date:         Sun, 25 Sep 2005 13:07:25 +1200
Reply-To:     Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Andrew Grebneff <andrew.grebneff@STONEBOW.OTAGO.AC.NZ>
Subject:      Re: Diesel powered vanagons - Driving Slow
In-Reply-To:  <CAEOIPKOOCKNBBDDDMBPKEBKHIAA.jeff@vanagonparts.com>
Content-type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset=us-ascii

>I guess I don't feel like they NEED to care about me.  And watch me care
>that I'm in THEIR way.  Ready, here I go!  Oops, you missed it.

Then you could fairly be called a roadhog. If you drive slowly,
please be prepared to let faster traffic PASS.

>There's a reason people say it:  according to the CHP, slow drivers are the
>number one cause of road rage in California.

I'd have to agree with them fully.

>Come on, saying the cause of road rage is really slow drivers is like
>saying the cause of theft is really expensive merchandise. It's caused
by human s**t, pure and simple.

How can you say that? Look at all of the creepers doing 40kmh in a
50kmh zone where most traffic is running at 55-60 (in town). Or doing
10-20kmh less than the limit on the open road... it's easy to be
stuck behind these good folk for many many kilometers on a twisty
2-lane highway if your vehicle requires a fairly good length of clear
road to overtake (as with my 1.8 diesel Corolla). I drive at 110kmh
where the limit is 100 (safe as cops won't pull me up), but am
constantly getting syuck behind slow drivers.

Enthusiast drivers find the roads SO frustrating, just because of this.

>With traffic  - the only thing let to do is keep the van in lane and
>Enjoy the view.

What? Wnen driving you have the moral & legal obligation to LOOK
WHERE YOU'RE GOING, not enjoy the view!

>If they're saying that slow-moving drivers are the number one excuse
>for or the trigger of road rage, then yeah I agree with CHP. If they're
>saying they're the cause, then I do disagree.

If someone couldn't care less that he's holding someone else up, you
say it's the held-up person's fault that he's annoyed? I'm not
advocating violence at all, note, but annoyance is inevitable. I feel
it myself when held up by some arrogant character who drives a car
that could eat mine but insists on crawling along, mindlessly
swallowing the government line that SPEED KILLS.

>ps-I forgot...I did rage out a little bit once when a snooty couple
>in a black V12 Mercedes
>sideswiped my white Westy with their black mirror which left a nasty
>horozontial skid mark.  I
>buffed it out and considered reporting them as a hit and run, but
>decided to let karma nail them in
>the ass instead. Whatever works...

It might gladden you a bit to think that that scrape probably cost
the offender quite a bit to fiz... even if his mirror wasn't broken,
it would have scraped the plastic shell badly.

>All the road rage is about sevishness and self-centeredness. All for
>one(me) and none for all(you).

That works both ways... the violent fast folk and the stupid slowpoke.

>I try and drive courteously, and safely, and I try and simply ignore the
>jerks on the road, unless they get physical with my vehicle. Then I
>simply yield big time......  it's not worth the trouble to pursue any
>diferenes of opinion, especially playing bumper cars.

Not that long ago I was at a red light waiting to turn left into a
road with 2 lanes going each way (RHD here in NZ, so we drive on the
left). Some creep in a late Bluebird was going to turn right from the
other side, and I just KNEW he was going to illegally turn across 2
lanes to grab the one which I was required to turn into. So as the
light turned green I pulled out into my lane and sure enough he tried
to force me out... I didn't let him, so he zoomed in front and gave
me the fingers, then stopped in the middle of the next intersection
(where I had to stop for a red light but he didn't, as he was taking
a free left turn) and opened his window to stick his hand out for
more finger-waving... and we sat there giving it right back to him.
What's with some people? They break the law (in this case a sensible
law) and get irate at their victims?

>~this is a big topic of discussion in my family since we regularly
>embark upon drives to canada(from maryland), and the difference
>between speed limit and 80mph is 2 extra hours of sleep upon reaching
>montreal.

Absolutely! Higher speeds reduce travel time (and therefore time
exposed to potential accidents) and fatigue (as you also concentrate
more on driving). The drive from Dunedin to Christchurch is 4.5-5
hours at 110kmh; I've done it in 3.5 hours in my old 74 Passat and
diesel Skyline, and can tell you that I arrived fresh and happy. I
normally do this trip in the small hours to enjoy an empty road.

>This could be resolved by relentless and consistent law enforcement.

All the authorities are interested in is making money. Which is why
you will see lots of cops out there with radar or laser guns, but NOT
ONE EVER sitting near an intersection, grabbing those not indicating
or doing illegal turns.

Many laws are stupid or even outright BAD. Are you saying that we
should all mindlessly follow these like good little sheep?

Use of cellphones has been implicated in a large proportion of
accidents, and here in NZ is soon to be outlawed (including
hands-free). And I say GOOD. I'm always seeing oblivious "drivers"
with a phone plastered to the ear, no attention on where they're
going.

>and
>intimidating persons who come closer to obeying the law.

The only ones I might think of intimidating are those who break a
GOOD law and by so doing risk an accident with me, or trample on my
rights.

>So if YOU paid a bazillion frogskins for a blingbling 400HP, 150mph, 500w of
>thump and you're stuck behind a bubbabox going uphill on the twisty mountain
>road that you bought the phallusmobile for wouldn't you be just a little
>upset?
>
>But the key is to contain your fury and take it out on the regime that lets
>underpowered bubbaboxes on the same road as your phallusmobile.

Well said!

>Owner of 6cyl moneypit bubbabox

Owner of another (to be) 6cyl moneypit bubbabox.

There are all grades of road irritability, from mild to wild. I get
pissed-off at slowpokes, but violence is the province of scumbags.

What it comes down to is this:
Obstructive slowness irritates and can cause some faster folk to do
rash things. Please don't do it.
Faster drivers: please use caution and be polite as possible. If you
are unhappy with a mobile roadblock, let them know with lights and/or
horn, as they do in Europe. Keep cool... or at least not too hot!
--
Regards
Andrew