Posted on 11/27/2015 11:16:56 AM PST by Kaslin
On Wednesday, when most of the 47 million Thanksgiving travelers were driving somewhere to commit Thursday's sin of gluttony with those they profess to love, it sometimes seemed as if a tense million of them were in front of me on the interstates from Western Pennsylvania down to Cincinnati.
On May 26th, in this space, I wrote Part I of a rant about that group of people who wage a personal war from that last bastion of obsessive, sometimes aggressive individualism: the command post of a motor vehicle on a public thoroughfare. Not that I'm a perfect driver. Do I sometimes change lanes without a signal? Yes. Do I nearly always go 5-8 mph over the interstate speed limit? Heck yes, and I'm often passed as if standing still. Do I very occasionally do something unthinkingly stupid? I suppose I'd have to admit that.
My complaint maybe yours? is not about those who go 10 or more over if the Staties get them, that's their risk, and the libertarian in all of us says, do what you need to do, as long as you do not step on our right to be safe on the same journey. It's about the all-about-me crowd that treats the high-speed lanes like their take-no-prisoners, personal battlefield.
One such guy in Eastern Ohio in an old, green Caravan, driving alone and wearing large headphones had set up camp in the left lane and was cruising along a bit below the limit, despite the fact there was no one to pass. In the right lane a hundred yards ahead of him was a lone SUV trudging along at the same speed. Coming up on the right, I saw my opportunity to pass "Headphones" on the right, then move to the left lane and get by the SUV and on to a nice, long open stretch. This was early on the trip, when traffic was still light. As I moved into position and put on my left turn signal, "Headphones" sped up and tried to ram me. Nice. I backed off, but watched him terrify several others until he swerved in a wild exit some miles later. It was the second reminder the Captain Crazy's were out early.
The first occurred not many minutes earlier as I attempted to join I-80 at speed with my signal on. The road was nearly empty except for the black BMW in the highway's right lane. Despite the absence of any other driver on his left or in front or behind him, he was too busy doing God-knows-what to move over. I guess he wasn't feeling all that thankful for the gloriously sunny morning on an open road. Happy not to run off the edge, I braked, got in behind, then around him, before experiencing any more of his courtesy.
Still the biggest cause for what I call, "Clots of Clucks," are the left-lane campers. Switching metaphors, if you picture the highway as a large artery, you often see long clear spaces interspersed with clusters of vehicles, all tailgating to one degree or another. Hence, the Clot. Heading same are the clucks oblivious to the cortege behind them. If the Clot gets large enough, one of two things happens: a tailgating crack-up occurs, or the Clot just gets so big, it begins to herk and jerk, either one leading to a traffic stroke. So, Left-Laners, you know who you are. If you have any freedom instincts at all, move over and let someone get past you. You can always get back there if that's your home away from home.
Two other obstacles to stress free, fast and efficient transport from one destination to another in addition to those mentioned on May 26th are these:
The prevalence of Staties on I-71 probably kept the crazies in check and all the rest of us at 75 mph (or so?). Nevertheless, on arrival after our relatively short, 300-mile journey, I breathed a long sigh of relief for a safe escape from the black Beemer, the green Caravan, and the others who forgot their first responsibility on the road: Drive. Safely. For. Everybody.
And so, the day before T-Day, I also raised my eyes to heaven and thanked God for riding along with me and numberless others who travelled responsibly this holiday weekend. Truly, there was reason for Thanksgiving to the Almighty on Wednesday and everyday, as I know there is for millions of you. God bless all of us.
My FB status today, after about 45 minutes of driving through my town: “This seems to be quite the day for people too old or too stupid to drive.”
It’s absolutely mind blowing out there. Common sense has taken a complete leave.
On route 40 too.
I love the Jeff Gordon wannabes who tear through traffic at 20 - 30 mph over the limit, weaving into lane after lane, barrelling down the freeway like their butt’s on fire, then risk life and limb to dart across four lanes of traffic and take the off ramp.
Or the schmuck who charges out in front of you, forcing you to slam on the brakes to avoid t-boning him as he pulls out from a side street, then pokes along at 10 mph under the speed limit. You look in your rearview mirror and there’s not another car within sight. All he had to do was wait for you to get past and he could have poked to his heart’s content.
Or the Johnny Good Citizen who sees the speed limit posted at 40 mph and no force on earth or in Heaven could impel him to go 1 mph faster, even though the road is clear from here to Des Moines.
True dat. The other day I saw two separate drivers, at two separate intersections, stop, in the middle of the intersection, blocking the major artery from a cross street. Just stop, in LANE. I have no idea why. They were literally broadside to incoming traffic, one with a family in their minivan. WTF? People don't even have a survival instinct anymore!
I attribute the stopping-dead-in-the-middle-of-the-intersection to over dependence on GPS. They can’t figure out what she’s telling them to do. Wild multilane changes to turn off, too. They thought it was a left but she told them to turn right. So they did. Across five lanes.
Hmm, very plausible. I was going to retort by saying well would they follow the damn thing over a cliff, but I’ve read the news stories... LOL...
Generally agree with you. Don’t forget, though, there are more people who believe no speed limit sign applies to them than those who follow it.
The cops usually forgive 5mph or so. I had somebody zooming up on my tail and instinctively sped up about 5 mph thinking I was in a 35. I wasn’t - it was a 30 and I got nailed just over 40. Oops.
My brother was late to Thanksgiving Dinner last night because on the way home from his in-laws, he, his wife and two kids came across an accident on a rural road in Central Illinois.
In one car a dead mother and 4 teen boys in various states of shock. In the other car, a 19 year old who ran a stop sign right into the car with the mom and kids. He survived.
One of the boys in the family car said his legs wouldn’t work. Another had one eye that wouldn’t move with the other, signifying possible brain damage.
My brother has worked as an advanced care practitioner in cardiac intensive care for years and has seen many people die. His wife is a nurse.
They both were shattered last night and my brother got physically ill and had to leave after supper.
So many people driving around totally detached from the reality of what’s going on around them. And, it’s getting worse.
Oh my.
Route 40 is always a pretty fair source of the lowest lows of humanity. Whereabouts are you?
All these people, these bad drivers, sounds like they are from Denver.
I’ve seen those dead stops in the middle of traffic-—but it’s happened in the middle of the state highway. Just bam, they braked to a dead stop in rushing 70mp traffic. It’s inexplicable.
I don’t assume other drivers are paying attention anymore, and quite a few aren’t. People need to put down the mobile devices when behind the wheel, they’re not multitasking as well as they think. I see it all the time, as bad or worse than a drunk behind the wheel.
I HATE the Johnny Good Citizens. I wish cars came equipped with rocket launchers just for them.
I can't wait to be a permanent passenger - napping, reading, watching a movie, whatever, while my car computer does all the work, then drops me at the front door of wherever I'm going.
LOL! Try to drive in Minnesota! I’ve never seen a more rule-bound bunch in my life. They would sit at a painted stop light at 3 in the morning waiting until they ran out of gas for it to change. And if that speed limit sign says 30, then by all the saints, 30 is what they’re gonna do! Maybe 25, just to be safe.
Returning from Florida today. Back to Ohio. Traffic on the bypass around Atlanta was pretty bad. Everywhere else the roads were almost empty.
Outlet mall south of Atlanta. Black Friday Sales. Southbound I-75 was backed up motionless for several miles north of that exit. Fortunately I was on the northbound side.
Finally! A thread about my driving!
Conversely, I've found that (if I can do it), 5-10 mph faster than ambient traffic speed allows me to work through the assembling "clots" (author's usage), build a cushion between me and the Thundering Herd in my rearview, and allow me to settle at a sensible speed just a little above the rest of traffic -- but I've got to get there first. That, or just hang back in the granny lane and let the rest of them fight it out up front. Assuming I can duck a jackknife.
Best personal accident-avoidance story: one night a few days before Christmas, I finished my shopping at a certain kids' store and headed home on Houston's I-610 West Loop in a steady rain. Atop an overpass "hump", a Volvo two lanes to my left in the showoff lane suddenly began to spin gently, hydroplaning (using cruise control in the rain?), bounced off the median retaining wall, collected the guy in the middle lane just ahead of me, and then both of them , now rotating faster, took out the car that had been about four car-lengths ahead of me but had slowed down when he saw the Volvo's revolving headlights. I began braking as best my tires would permit, and the whole mass crossed my lane and the breakdown lane together and sailed off down a long, green embankment on the right (they were lucky: plenty of drop-offs along there). I kept going and didn't try to stop.
Ever since then I've hated driving door-to-door with other vehicles in the rain, much preferring to hang back or go around them.
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