How about: tailgating the fourth in-line behind a slow driver? Granted, there’s a certain unethical logic behind tailgating THE slowpoke, but what is numbskull accomplishing by tailing “the guy behind the guy…”?
Or how about driving in the right hand “slow” lane, keeping pace with the car ahead, already going well over the speed limit and some bonehead in a honking big truck or SUV climbs my back bumper as if it is going to get him anywhere one bit sooner than keeping a safe margin behind? Especially when the left “fast / passing” lane is wide open and the bully could easily move over and go around.
“People that slow down in order to pass 18 wheelers. Say if theres a tractor trailer going 60 in the right lane, and the person that wants to pass is going 70-75, but when they pull next to the thing they slow down to 65”
I take a Defensive Driving course every 3 years, in order to keep my insurance rates as low as possible. One of the key things that is emphasized in these courses is…When you are passing somebody on a multiple lane road, pass them as quickly as possible, so that you are in the other driver’s blind spot for the shortest possible period of time.
So, not only is that “slow passing” maneuver both strange and counterintuitive, it is actually exposing the slow passer to an increased level of danger.
mike, the statements you have made in the last few pages of this thread make me glad im far away from you. the way you callously speak of wanting to crash into poor drivers on purpose, and fake injury to sue them for all you can get, and the other aggressive ways you talk about making already dangerous situations worse make you the poster child for …well, something bad.
to heck with the kids in the back seat, I ll learn 'em to drive better. heh, heh, heh…
I hope so.
@meanjoe75fan I think it depends what kind of road you are talking about. On a typical road, I agree, but on the highway, I sometimes tailgate in the left lane. Tailgating when you are on the highway is a way to communicate “Hey, so you know I’d like to be driving much faster so if you could please get out of the lane quickly I’d appreciate it.”
On the highway when I see someone approaching fast in the rear view mirror, I get out of the lane to let them keep going.
When I’m passing, If i think the car behind me is closer than it needs to be, I try to find a good place to exit the lane sooner in case they want to be going faster.
But if the car behind me seems to be just driving along, I’m not going to do anything because as far as I know everyone is happy.
re: U-turn traffic code varies state to state?
@meanjoe75fan … U-turns in Calif can only be made at places where it is legal to make a left hand turn. You have to initiate the U-turn from the same spot in the road that you would if making a left hand turn.
Here’s a lulu:
I drove to a T intersection where there is a traffic light, including a green arrow for the leg of the T that crosses traffic. After the green arrow turns red, you would think turns would stop. But no, they just keep turning. Not just one or two cars, but 5 or more cars turn across oncoming traffic as if they have the right of way. I saw it in Columbia, SC where my daughter attended university. I asked her about it. She laughed and said it was done so often that it has a name: Driving Southern.
“…some nutcases will speed up to match my speed once I get beside them.”
I noticed this many years ago and observed that I did the same when being passed. It seemed to be a subconscious thing when a car came into my peripheral vision. It was easy to correct the impulse once I realized this. (Not to say I’m not a ‘nutcase’ for other reasons.)
She laughed and said it was done so often that it has a name: Driving Southern.
Damn, “Driving Southern” + “Pittsburgh Left” = “World of Hurt”
Well as long as we are cavetching, dig this! Taking my daughter to school there was a stop and go light, traffic light for non cheeseheads. now the bus would stop at the Northeast corner, let the kids out, and they would just walk from the NE corner to the SW corner in essence blocking traffic in all directions. They cared not about anything but themselves. I alerted the cheif of police to this potentially dangerous practice, and he changed the dropoff site after viewing the situation to the parking lot for the school! Sometimes we can make a difference!
What baffles me is when traffic really slows down on the freeway, and some impatient genius starts passing cars, by driving in the breakdown lane
The breakdown lanes here are so full of old bumpers, tires, and all sorts of other debris
I’m always hoping one of these impatient geniuses drives right smack into something and messes up their car
That’ll teach them that the breakdown lane is ONLY for broken down cars, NOT passing
LOL . . . !
Speaking of debris and random objects on the freeway. One time I narrowly avoided hitting a wheelbarrow on the freeway. The guy behind me was driving a big van, and I could see clearly into the cab. He made a dismissive hand gesture and decided to NOT avoid the wheelbarrow. When he hit it, one of his front tires INSTANTLY went flat, the rim contacted the asphalt, and sparks were flying. I saw him pound his fist on the dashboard, in frustration and/or anger
Wheelbarrow 1
Tire 0
You want to cover the brake with the right foot. If you have to stop in an emergency, it keeps the right foot off the gas pedal. This helps a lot if you actually hit something. It prevents you from slamming into the gas pedal and really running off the bridge.
Sorry but I will respectfully disagree. It really makes no sense to cover your brake with your foot off the gas since you are simply being ready to apply the brake if the situation warrants, not coasting along getting ready to stop. I can probably come up with 50 different situations where you would not be coasting but still ready to apply the brake in a split second, such as on a residential street with kids playing. No disrespect to the Air Force or neuroscience but I think they got that wrong. I don’t think the Army taught the same class. I will discuss it with my favorite Neurologist though. I suspect though that’s why God gave us two feet-one for acceleration and one for braking and clutching. Two hands-one for steering and one for shifting.
I do think boys and girls, we need to relax a little on the driving techniques.
“as long as we are cavetching”
@barkydog–Did you mean “kvetching”? There is no “a” sound following the first letter of that word.
One of my pet peeves is the use of Yiddish words in English conversation, while mispronouncing them and/or misspelling them.
The word that seems to be most consistently mispronounced is “kibitz”.
Most non-Yiddish speakers pronounce it as Ki-BITZ, when the correct pronunciation is KIB-itz.
I can always spot a non-Yiddish speaker when I hear him/her refer to another person as a “ki-BITZER”.
Yes, I am just kibitzing with you.
;-))
I’m really off-topic here, but I’ll be a noodge. @VDCdriver, I concede your point about kvetch, but Yiddish words’ spelling in English isn’t fully standardized because it was transliterated from Hebrew, no? . 
^
Yes, you are absolutely correct about the transliteration problem, but the fact remains that there is no “a” sound following the consonant that is the first letter of kvetch (or…perhaps…cvetch, if you wish), so it couldn’t be spelled “cavetch”.
And, if you listen closely, I think you will find that almost all non-Yiddish speakers pronounce “kibitz” incorrectly.
the way you callously speak of wanting to crash into poor drivers on purpose
Obviously I’ve never done that…but I have wished it a few times.
Here’s the alternative…I was driving home from the hospital have my wife gave birth to our first child…I’m on South Willow st in Manchester NH. It’s a 2 lane road (each side) with a speed limit of 30mph. I’m in the right lane being cautions…and with less then 100’ from from this driveway…this jerk in a F150 pickup pulls out sticking the front of his vehicle so far out he blocking the lane. I SLAM on my brakes…the truck behind me slams on his…and tractor trailer behind him slams into the truck behind me…and the jerk who pulled out…speeds off. The guy behind me is seriously injured. We barely escaped from being hit.
Yup driving in New England is fun. And that behavior by the jerk in the F150 happens EVERY day. So stay out of New England…you may not survive.
@cdaquila–Incidentally, I think that you know my nephew, a writer/editor whose initials are T.B., and who uses the nom de plume of Ralph Goldenmouth.
Am I correct?