Date: Fri, 9 Nov 2012 13:16:06 -0600
Reply-To: mcneely4@COX.NET
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dave Mcneely <mcneely4@COX.NET>
Subject: Re: Enforcers (friday)
In-Reply-To: <CAHTkEuJmGyP0RsM3gTJN31XE594N-oytkHbO48KWPn8jj8mY2g@mail.gmail.com>
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---- Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Since we have some 'odious driving' posts today, how about the ones who
> ....
>
> ...come cruising out of an on ramp and make no attempt whatsoever to
> adjust their speed to fit into the flow of traffic? They wait till the
> ramp is almost ended....and then they look at the right travel lane, where
> they will have to be, right soon, and are surprised and very pissed
> sometimes to see a vehicle already there, one that hasn't altered it's
> speed or lane to get out of the inattentive merger's way....
>
> My Interstate travel is often done in the right lane since I don't go
> 80mph like most seem to do....Sometimes I even have big rigs passing me or
> other 'momentum' vehicles. Or someone in the process of going past me in
> the left lane, when along comes this 'wait till the last possible moment'
> vehicle wanting to get into the travel lane from the very last few yards of
> the on ramp.... Again, I sometimes get the StinkEye from these
> types....Makes you wonder.
A big no no for me in dumb driving behavior is the idiot who takes my signal that I intend to change lanes to mean to him, "Suddenly speed up as rapidly as possible and pull into the lane the guy in front of you has signaled that he intends to move into." How dumb can a person be, to pull rapidly into the space that another moving vehicle has just informed you that he will move properly into? Collision, anyone?
As a consequence of the above behavior being so common, I seldom signal for lane changes when driving on a freeway in just ordinary traffic. Rather, I just look for my opening and take my chance. If I properly signal, I may never get to move over.
Some of us try to drive according to conditions. Since that means that there will be dumb clucks driving, we have to watch out for them, and try to save both ourselves and them from their dumb driving habits. Being unable to enter a freeway from a ramp because you never learned how to merge is one of the dumb driving habits that is dangerous, and must be taken into consideration. Consequently, if I find that conditions suggest that I drive in the outside lane on a freeway (heavy traffic, need to exit soon, traffic moving too fast for reason), I stay alert to upcoming entrance ramps and give these dumb clucks the benefit of my alertness. Keeps us both and probably others alive. I can slow down a bit if need be. I'll get where I'm going, maybe more certainly than if I try to maintain my constant speed because that is the "right" way to drive.
So far as someone driving at the speed limit in the inner lanes of a freeway, and I want to go faster, well, who is right and who is wrong? If the traffic allows, I drive at or below the speed limit. If the traffic does not allow, I try to find somewhere else to drive if possible. I do obey the law which says that "slower traffic keep right," but sometimes for good reasons, a slow vehicle does end up in the inside lane. One of those reasons is an upcoming left hand exit. Another is that the "slow" vehicle was in the process of passing when another vehicle comes up like a bat out of hell behind him.
All this reminds me of a trip into Mexico on a route with which I was not familiar at the time. A traveling companion and I agreed that I would follow him, since he knew the route and I didn't, though I did have it marked out on a map. I didn't realize that speed was the most important criterion for proper driving to him. Traffic was heavy along most of the route. I truly feared for my safety. Finally, I just gave up trying to follow him, and followed the route we had marked out. I got there ten minutes later than he did, on a 300 mile trip.
On the return, I never tried to keep up with him at all. But I did see him, about half way along the route. He had been involved in an accident, and was stopped along the road. The other driver had sped away, probably fearing jail, which is a common consequence of a traffic accident in Mexico. The van my companion was in was not drivable, and we feared he might be jailed also. However, a "green angel" stopped, called the gendarmes and a tow truck, and everything worked out ok. But speed was a contributor to the accident.
>
>
> On Fri, Nov 9, 2012 at 8:38 AM, Stephen Grisanti <bike2vcu@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > Car and Driver magazine has for years referred to these drivers as members
> > of the Anti-Destination League.
> > Stephen
> >
> > --- On Fri, 11/9/12, David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET> wrote:
> >
> > From: David Bjorkman <ddbjorkman@VERIZON.NET>
> > Subject: Enforcers
> > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> > Date: Friday, November 9, 2012, 10:44 AM
> >
> > Sad to say, it's not just a NW problem. Here in the New England area it's
> > all too common a problem also. Did you notice that when one tries to pass
> > one of these "Enforcers", they speed up until they are beside someone in
> > the middle or right lane and then slow down so that none of those
> > nasty other folks can pass them? Dave B. On 11/09/12, Don Hanson<
> > dhanson928@GMAIL.COM> wrote:.
> >
> > And of course, there's the Left Lane speed limit Enforcers we have here in
> > the NW who drive along on the empty interstate in the left lane at just
> > below the limit and give you the "Stink-Eye" when you pass them using the
> > right hand lane......
> >
> > D. Hanson
> >
> >
> >
--
David McNeely
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