Posted on 04/14/2014 10:10:47 AM PDT by Half Vast Conspiracy
I’ve had people leave room for me to take a left turn in front of them on multi-lane roads. I pull in front of them, then check the next lane before proceeding. It’s actually pretty simple, but then, I have an overly binary mind.
This driver should have done the same - “This lane is stopped, I’ll proceed and check the apparently empty lane for traffic before continuing.” Except he decided to play traffic russian roulette.
So have I, but at reduced speed and with greater caution. When traffic all around suddenly slows down, something's up. Any experienced driver knows that the danger is not just speed but the relative speed compared to those near him. It all happened quickly (and is totally the fault of the BP agent), but greater skill and savvy on the victim's part might have prevented or at least mitigated the accident. It certainly is not an example of defensive driving on his part.
I can get kind of cross when someone accuses me of things I didn't do, too.
“Ted should have known something was up.”
Oh, right. One must always anticipate a clown car full of Shriners. Or the Border Patrol. Same-same.
>>I can get kind of cross when someone accuses me of things I didn’t do, too.<<
Stopped line of cars to your left. Long line. Not moving.
Think about it.
>> Any experienced driver knows that the danger is not just speed but the relative speed compared to those near him..<<
Apparently not, based on the responses I have gotten.
Stopped line of cars TO YOUR LEFT IN THE LANE THAT IS GOING STRAIGHT? No possible danger there. Barrel on through. That is what smart drivers do!
>>Oh, right. One must always anticipate a clown car full of Shriners. Or the Border Patrol. Same-same.<<
Or child chasing a ball. Or old man on a walker going too slow to make the light. or confused puppy dog caught in the street that someone IN THAT LANE stopped for.
Same/same.
Happened to a co-worker: ran into a crazy homeless woman, in the dark, crossing a highway entrance ramp where no pedestrian has any business being. Think my friend got a break? Not if getting a break includes getting dropped by your insurance company, getting sued, and being stuck with sky-high liability premiums for years afterwards. I try to drive defensively because life is unfair. Conservatives used to know that.
They know their rights, and they're gonna get them!
“What does POST say about lights and sirens?”
The post refers to blue and white lights which were hard to see in bright sunlight. It says nothing about sirens. As for your reference to fire engines, my 50-plus years of driving says that engines use enough lights, sirens and air horns to wake the dead.
Where could the Border Bozos have been going in that big a hurry? Was it lunchtime?
In my case, he did try to sue - twice. My insurance company, Allstate, basically said, BRING IT ON!
It was interesting, actually. The only impact it had on my life was a minor mental celebration when the three year statute of limitations on suing were up. It never cost me a penny or any inconvenience.
Well, the other impact was that his head put a quarter sized dent in the front of the hood of my two week old Scion xB. But a plastic bug guard has been covering that nicely ever since. That was in 2006.
>>“What does POST say about lights and sirens?”<<
Not “the post” — POST (Peace Office Standards and Training).
Did the cop get home safe at the end of his shift? Because that’s all that really matters here.
So you were able to pull some obscure acronym out of your butt. I guess that means I’m trumped. Whoopee.
It’s a Customs van...
No cops.
No emergency.
No reason to make the illegal left turn.
Not proper emergency lights like a police car or ambulance or fire truck.
Just asshat Customs idiots breaking the law to get through traffic.
>>So you were able to pull some obscure acronym out of your butt. I guess that means I’m trumped. Whoopee.<<
No, I was just in a hurry, else I would have spelled it out.
I thought most people knew what POST was.
My bad.
I’d feel sorry for the guy, but he shouldn’t zoom past cars stopped for no apparent reason.
But the clincher is that this guy listens to disco - definitely not good in the judgment department.
Customs “officers” consider themselves cops. They get to strap on guns and order people around. Refuse to obey and they’ll beat you. Therefore, to them, “cop rules” apply. To them, we (and the people in the other vehicle) are just little people.
Wow...that video. 19 people died on scene and three died in hospital. That makes me want to look both ways when the light turns green.
Most likely the dashcam would be out of sight after impact unless they're hard_installed. I was making safe left after holding at a busy intersection waited til light turned red, the middle eastern driver (he might be in the phone or reading his text not paying attentionn to his driving) drove on me. My GPS and dash cam disappeared from the dash board, a bystander came to me who saw the whole accident. Just in case, it will be too easy to just eject the microSD or SD if other driver is LEO he'd want to confiscate your dashboard cam.
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