Posted on 12/10/2008 8:53:48 AM PST by Smogger
In these days of longer commutes and simmering tempers, nothing seems to set off already-testy motorists like the left-lane camper -- the guy or gal who drives in the passing lane and bars faster drivers from easily passing. Web sites have cropped up to educate other drivers, or to vent. There's a (somewhat painful) YouTube song called "Keep Right."
Even bigwigs get frustrated. Pennsylvania Gov. Edward Rendell, weary of having his limo slowed down by such left-lane pokies, ordered an aide to have the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission install signs a few years ago reading "Keep Right, Pass Left. It's the Law."
And now some states are cracking down on left-lane campers, both to keep traffic moving and to tamp down the road rage that goes from zero-to-60 faster than ever before.
That's not just a pretext. Last year, a driver was arrested on Interstate 79 outside Pittsburgh after allegedly brandishing a semiautomatic pistol at a driver who was on his tail.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.moneycentral.msn.com ...
Been there, done that.
People like to play games.
Maybe she wanted your phone number. ;)
Depends on what road you are on....I’ve been on highly maintained roads like the Mass Pike and NY Thruway [tolls] that are pretty clean - I’d steer clear of ones on poorly maintained highways.
I’ll stay off of them during messy winter days or when raining because it will spray the cars behind you.
I bet you a buck it’s illegal - just be careful of surroundings when you do it - everyone can hear it ;)
A nice leisurely glide over the rumble strips will move over the un-attentive - adjust time accordingly, if it’s a Green K-Car or whatnot - linger there more so they will wake up....lol
Only time I get on the rumble strip is when I am trying to put my headlights in some slow moving truckers mirror at night.
I see your point. But maybe you are mistaking the circumstances.....
The bike was behind the car. Both coming down the onramp getting ready to get on the freeway. The car had his turn signal on. At the moment the got to the freeway, the bike merged over into the right lane of traffic and went past the car while the car was still on the extra relief lane of the ramp... its turn signal still blinking.
Had the car come on to the freeway, the bike would have been creamed.
I always swap lanes a accelerate and decelerate on a bike in freeway traffic. I try to bring attention to myself. Some people might look at me like I’m crazy driver but at least they are looking.
Part of safe riding is anticipating other vehicle’s moves. In this case the car was going to merge and the biker put himself directly into the path that the car was going to go.
That was stupid.
That movie is a classic. Isn’t it one of Spielbergs first?
Yeah, that is the way I read it. Unless he was just a couple of feet from the car when he passed him he probably was fine, but I admit I wasn’t there. He had been riding behind the car enough to get at least a cursory feel for the way the car drove.
And heck, to be honest, I do what that guy in the motorcycle did at least once a week in my car.
His very first. he was in his early 20’s.
The great stunt driver Cary Lofton drove the old Pete. You never see him...just his hairy left arm and his rattlesnake boots........
That movie sure made the plymouth look like a gutless wonder.
But then, the overheating thing happened to me in my Plymouth reliant a decade ago going over a mountain pass near Moab Utah. Split my radiator wide open. Just normal driving.
Same problem too. Temp guage never went in the red but I had NO power.
QUOTE:
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
George Carlin
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That can't be correct. Doesn't each state regulate and enforce its own traffic laws?
Try driving on I5 mid-state here in CA sometime. The trucks usually stay in the slow lane, with a 55mph limit. Everyone else in the fast lane, with a 70pmh limit. There is little reason for car drivers to stay in the slow lane, as you will always come upon a line of trucks.
>>>And heck, to be honest, I do what that guy in the motorcycle did at least once a week in my car.<<<<
Have at it. When the car in front of you looks and sees the lane open and then goes to merge without knowing that you blocked him in... are you going to have a surprised look on your face when he creams you?
1 mile = 1.609 kilometers, so 114 km/h = just under 71 mph. Speed limit here in Ontario is only 100 km/h = 62 mph, although some other provinces have raised it to 110 km/h = 68 mph. This was in a rural area where it’s easier for the cops to pick out a speeder. In the heavily travelled parts of the 400 series highways around Toronto speeds in excess of 130 or 140 km/h are quite common - there’s little room to pull people over, and there’s safety in numbers. It really makes no sense, because in good weather the lightly-travelled rural parts of the 401 would be perfectly safe at 150-160 km/h, while even 120 is too fast in the heavy traffic around Toronto.
Ever let the car merge onto the highway and then pass them on the ramp and merge in front of them? Given a dawdling driver and a bike’s acceleration, this is quite easy to do, although it may surprise the heck out of the driver.
>>When the car in front of you looks and sees the lane open and then goes to merge without knowing that you blocked him in... are you going to have a surprised look on your face when he creams you?<<
No.
Because I am ready for it. I don’t do it if there is not a safe escape route. I alo don’t do it if the driver seems to be paying attention. In that case there is no reason to do it.
In every case, even if the driver suddenly wildly veered left to get into the lane I would have simply sidestepped him. If that option was not there, I would not have done it.
It is easier on a motorcycle of course because you need very little room to sidestep.
And most importantly, to raise more revenue for the gov'mint.
Oh yeah, done that many times. Just on flick of throttle will put me past them. Its actually safer too cawz you know the lane is empty.
Lester Del Rey wrote and excellent short story called “Why Johnny Can’t Speed”
Essentially all motor vehicles became fully armed due to a spremem court right to defend yourself rulling.
Not a road warrior hell world, but a full armarment as standard equiptment for any automobile on the highway.
Imagine a Cadalac with a fully aerodynamic and elegant 50 cal turret.
very good story. an armed society is a polite society.
Not my experience in KC. I had a guy pull a gun on me in KC, because I blew the horn (I didn't sit down on it) when he sat thru half the cycle of a green light talking on the phone. However, Houston Texas drivers have to be the worst anywhere I have driven except Bogota Colombia and Port au Prince, Haiti. You just expect them to be crazy.
Me, too. One thing that drives me crazy are drivers who refuse to use the ramp to accelerate up to the speed of traffic on the highway, instead trying to merge at 20 below the limit - they’re a hazard to themselves and (mostly) everyone else. Of course, these are typically the same drivers who will then head straight for the fast lane and drive at or under the limit. I just pass ‘em on the right and forget about them.
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