[ul]
[li]Yes, you are supposed to stop at green lights.[/li][li]Always, always, always let the other guy go first through an intersection with a stop sign, even if you have the right of way. Courtesy is important.[/li][li]Never mind about exceeding the speed limit–you’re not supposed to approach it. Even when it’s 25mph. And then make sure to slow down even further if there’s the slightest hint of a curve.[/li][li]Speaking of which, just go ahead and brake randomly. It’s cool. Brake lights are pretty.[/li][li]Want to make your SUV look even cooler? Put low-profile tires on it.[/li][li]See the rain? It makes driving hazardous, so please slow down.[/li][li]See the sun? It makes driving hazardous, so please slow down.[/li][li]See Mount Rainier? It’s pretty, so slow down and take a good look.[/li][li]See those cop cars attending to that fender-bender on the other side of the divided highway? There’s a nonzero chance they could suddenly quantum-tunnel over to your side of the road, so please slow down.[/li][li]We realize that crossing the 520 bridge is a hazardous proposition–after all, it involves driving in a straight line–so we understand how easy it is to rear-end the vehicle ahead of you. It’s okay, really.[/li][li]When merging, don’t move into the space that the other driver has left for you in moving traffic. Proceed to the end of the merging lane, stop, and then edge out into traffic. This will make the traffic you’re merging into stop to let you in, which results in the whole process being safer and more convenient for everyone.[/li][/ul]
While driving a huge behemoth, make sure you completely ignore all the little cars around you. After all, you paid $75 000 for your hunk of steel; I’m sure your certificate for road ownership is in the mail. When you want a lane, just take it. It’s not like you’re the one who’s going to get hurt in an accident, when your bumpers are directly in line with my head.
Whenever I come into driving threads like this, it always confirms what I already suspect; everyone thinks they are the best driver on the road, in spite of the fact that there are always people posting about how bad other drivers are, when they are by their own admission doing illegal and/or dangerous things (two in this thread alone already).
I don’t know if you mean me, but you probably do, and if you don’t, you could, so. . .
Allow me to retort.
Look, there’s the law. And then there’s reality.
Reality is that half the drivers in rush hour, who spend 500+ hours per year in their cars and know them very well, are capable of safely driving close together at 80 miles per hour and want to do so. People who don’t do this every single day do not have an understanding of the control and the implicit cooperation of those of us who do.
The guy on the highway who scares me is not the guy in his porsche who knows how to accelerate into a space, has good brakes, good reactions, and a good car.
The SCARY guy is the one doing 60 who has cars coming up behind him moving into the right lane, moving into the left lane, and going to their brakes. THESE guys are way more hazardous than the male 25 year old speeders.
And if you disagree, its either because you don’t drive in traffic enough, don’t really pay attention to what’s going on around you when you do, or they drive a whole lot differently in Calgary, baby!
Considering the momentum involved, you speeding by as little as 1mph over the limit is more dangerous than a conventional car moving at speeds sufficient for a reckless driving charge.
Also, when the road is wet, you kick up a fog cloud behind you for roughly half a mile. I know you can’t help this. But you can stop from passing me when I’m doing better than the speed limit and then returning to my line five inches in front of me, blinding me with the spray.
Chapter Four : A New Hope … er, oversized vehicles.
Extra-wide trucks. Extra-large SUVs. Delivery vehicles. Please consider the size of the lanes of the road you will be travelling on. Just because you take up one and a half lanes of space does not mean you can take half of mine.
Chapter Five : Annoying Extras
Those damn blue-white headlights. Who is responsible for that monstrosity? I want his head. God, those hurt.
“Mufflers” - Devices that amplify noise should not be called “mufflers”. I don’t care how cool your motorcycle, or Honda Civic is. I don’t want to hear it at a volume loud enough to shatter eardrums, from two blocks away.
Chapter Six - Bad Behaviors - coming up. Such highlights as Music-Blasting, Tailgating, Improper Lane Change, and more!
Now, is there a bumper sticker or some sort of secret wink to know who the “implicit cooperators” are?
Never mind. As a regular driver, I have the ability to see into the future, so I know everything that is going to happen far ahead of when it happens. So when I’m following inches off the bumper of the car in front of me, and a rabbit runs into the road, I’ve already backed off and safely braked, having properly devined the threads of the future prior to the event. :rolleyes:
Note: The above is an actual claim from one of my clients.
Another one, you ask? Certainly. My client is driving along a 4 lane road (two lanes in each direction). She’s in the right lane, behind another vehicle. The other vehicle (who I presume suddenly became uncomfortable driving 80 mph amongst his brethren) decided he’d just about had enough of all this straight driving business, and wanted to turn left. From the far right lane. But there was a vehicle to his left. What to do? Well, how 'bout hammer the brakes and lock 'em up? This he then did. My client? Her crystal ball had earlier fallen to the floor, so she had no idea this guy was going to do this. She plowed into him from behind.
So, who’s the idiot? The guy who cranked his brakes, of course. Who got charged with “following to close”? My client. And guess what? They were right to do it. There’s a reason there’s no tickets issued for “hitting your brakes really hard”. It’s not illegal. Stupid, but not illegal.
Pedestrians:
Just walk right out into the street and not pay any attention to the cars coming down the road. Even if there is a crosswalk you can just bolt out into the street. I love the rush I get from having to stomp my brakes to keep from hitting you.
When you kids are walking down the sidewalk of a busy street; Go ahead and push your friend out into traffic/ dart out into the street/ throw rocks just to see if you can get people to slam on thier brakes. We drivers love this kind of excitement.
Drivers:
It is of the utmost importance that as soon as the light turns green that you hit the gas and race to the next red light. It is also equally important that you creep out into the intersection at a red light, because by doing this you will force the light to change to green.
While waiting to make a left hand turn with a green light (but no arrow) it is important that you shout obcsenities and such at the car in front of you. This will make the person in front of you decide to turn into a daredevil and turn in front of a wall of cars. When that person doesn’t go and the light turns red (to wait for the next arrow) It is pertinant that you keep cursing them, loudly. Yes, this actually happend to me.
Don’t pay any attention to those big red octagonal signs at some intersections. Just keep going, as you are a very important person, and must not be stopped for any reason.
When approaching a red light and the intersection appears to be clear, proceed to run the light. If you happen to hit someone who has a green, it is obviously thier fault as they did not see you and didn’t know you were so important and that you have places to be.
there are more, but I am going home now… just in time to see some of this in action on our lovely streets…
When the light turns yellow, speed up so you can get through the intersection without waiting for another light cycle. Don’t worry about the opposing traffic, their light will still be red for a second or two after yours turns.
When waiting at a red light, watch the opposing lights so that you can ease out into the intersection a couple of seconds early. Don’t worry about the opposing traffic, once you see that yellow, you know they’re going to stop.
Can’t get all the way through the intersection because traffic is backed up from the next light on? Go anyway, and park in the intersection.
There isn’t enough space for your whole car to change lanes? Put your nose in, and the traffic has to stop.
Traffic is moving very slowly? Change lanes as often as possible to get into the lane moving slightly faster. See above hint for how to get into those lanes.
That’s just the road rash. Of course the cordura nylon they are making now provides a lot of protection also. Also bit of protection for the collision or the fall is frequently considered prudent - pads or armour. Course most of you guys probably either don’t ride or ride Harley’s which is pretty much the same thing.
Actually, I agree with you completely about people driving slower than the flow of traffic in the left lane. I don’t much care about the speed people are going, as long as they leave a good, healthy stopping distance. I don’t know the exact stats, but following too close has got to be a major contributor to preventable accidents. Like my husband is fond of saying, it’s not the speeding but the stopping that will kill you.
As a corollary to that, my stopping cushion in front of me is FOR ME TO STOP IF I HAVE TO! It is not an open invitation for every dick on the road to cut in front of me. And no, I’m not driving like a cautious little old lady. I’m moving with the flow of traffic, just with a bigger than usual space in front of me.
We do differ about following closely, obviously. In my opinion, all the people that follow too closely are very lucky every time they make it home without an accident. I drive as though I may have to brake at any time.
If this sounds like the ravings of a lunatic, fine. I’m on 95 every day and I tend to be a little over-analytical by nature.
one of the funny things about the left hand lane is that there is a breakdown lane next to it and many times when traffic “accordians”, or “checks up”, cars who are unable to break in time pull into that lane. This seems insane to the non-regular but it doesn’t even raise my heartbeat.
This “extra” lane enables cars to follow at what would otherwise be a less-than-safe distance. This is the kind of “implicit cooperation” I was speaking of – we who drive every day know it’s there.
Your space is also a factor of your reaction time, handling ability, brakes. I like to believe (and exceptions are numerous) that people who drive every single day on the same road in the same vehicle in the same conditions have become somewhat attuned to these dynamics, as much as I have. This all goes into my “implicit cooperation” theory.
You can also see evidence of this when you see the left lane and the second to left-lane travelling at similar speeds. The cars in the left lane (almost) invariably closer packed than those in the second-to-left.
I like to think that my fellow commuters are hip to this crap, too. I really do think of them as my collaborators, not my competitors, and its very clear when the idiots upset the system.
Not pitting you here, just offering a different perspective.
Ever hear the old expression “loud pipes save lives”? Before you roll your eyes, consider this: Many inattentive motorists don’t see motorcycles. Add in the fact that the motorcyclist has little protection, and you have a disaster waiting to happen. This is why many motorcyclists have loud pipes - you may not see the motorcycle, but you WILL hear it.
No, I haven’t heard that saying. That explains a lot… the bastards who rev their engines at maximum volume at 2AM in a parking lot… they must be worried about being hit by a car! It makes perfect sense… :rolleyes:
[judge judy]Don’t piss in my ear and tell me its raining[/judy]
If you’re so concerned about safety, hook a couple of those tall orange flags to your bike – don’t jack your shit up to 120 decibels.
How come the people on Triumphs and Hondas and BMW’s don’t bore out their pipes or whatever it is you do.
You Harley guys love it. It announces “I have a Harley. I’m loud. I’m proud. I don’t give a damn what anyone else thinks. I’m bigger, badder and louder.”
“loud pipes save lives” has got to be the most wimp-ass cop-out milquetoasty rationalization I’ve ever heard.
Loud pipes are nothing more than anti-social I’m-a-rebel-but-I-need-your-recognition narcissism. At least admit it as such and say “and I ain’t gonna do nothing but get louder”.
Well, I don’t ride a Harley but I do ride a BMW with an aftermarket performance exhaust. Myself and many other motorcyclists (Both BMW and non-BMW riders) consider that a specious argument. No studies have shown any validity to that argument. And, probably the most reasonable argument against that position is that it is the cars behind you that hear the noise, not the vehicles you are approaching (For the most part). Most motorcycle accidents come from the drivers you are approaching - particularly the ones who tunr left in front of you (See 1981 Hurt Report). I don’t buy it.
First, if you’re gonna be on a bike, you need to accept the risks. One of them is other drivers. Yes, I ride sometimes, but I make sure to look out for situations where an inattentive driver can pull out in front of me, or make a left in front of me, and am prepared for it…
Second, I ride a BMW. On a BMW bike, you can pull up on a pedestrian and suprise them. Safety is not about loud pipes. It’s about paying attention to potentially deadly situations, and being prepared to take evasive action.
Loud pipes are about thinking you can drive thru my neighborhood five at a time after the bars close at 2am Sunday mornings and not feel one shred of regret for waking everyone up.
And finally, one of these days when another Harley Dude pulls up between lanes right next to me in my car at a stop light when I have my window down, and then guns it at the green so that my left ear bleeds, I may actually snap and give in to my urge to chase him down and run him off the road.
See those nice streetlights your tax dollars bought? Don’t they illuminate the pavement really well? That means there’s no need to put wear and tear on your vehicle’s electrics by turning on your headlights after the sun sets. You can see the road just fine, and that’s all that really matters, isn’t it?
This one just astonishes me – and it’s a behavior that seems endemic to Seattle. I’d only ever seen one or two cars driving without their headlights on at night before getting here three years ago; but since arriving here I’d swear that every second or third time I got out I come across one of these bozos.
A modern car has so many things that light up or otherwise illuminate that face the driver, that I just find it incredible that anyone can climb into a car and drive off without noticing that their entire dashboard is black. What are these people doing with their brain cells?
Loud pipes save lives!?, I was not aware that there was anyone left in the world that actually believed that load of crap, you must be a member of the “Butt Jewelry Brigade”, get a real bike and learn how to ride idjit-boy.
Loud pipes save lives!?, I was not aware that there was anyone left in the world that actually believed that load of crap, you must be a member of the “Butt Jewelry Brigade”, get a real bike and learn how to ride idjit-boy.