Don’t resist. We are a BMW family although I wrecked mine and have a more pedestrian SUV these days. My wife still has hers however as well as many other members of the extended family. My quality of life has decreased by not having one and I will own one again. An M series would be quite the daily indulgence. Lots of people talk trash about BMW’s and it is all false except for the extreme repair cost part and that is a legitimate concern.
The guy wants 27 for this one. That’s a pretty good price, if it’s all he says it is. Only 68K miles, and clean in and out. Did I mention that it’s red? 
I can’t do that on top of my '06 Ridgeline payments.
Peace
Oh yeah, it has cruise control.
Around these parts nothing short of radar, laser or metered pacing stands up in court so police officers usually don’t bother. Visual estimation would mean basic speed law violation. Never actually met anybody who got a visual estimation ticket.
I have been praying for this for years. I had no idea it already existed. I wonder why it’s taking so long to trickle down to cars I can afford.
I love cruise control for me, but not for 95% of the other people on the interstates. They all make one half a mile an hour passes on cars, trucks, whatever and they do not care if they collect 53 and a half cars, three motorcycles and and two skateboarders in their wake all reaching for their 1911 .45 Semi-autos.
these people should have to walk for a year before being allowed to drive again. Grrrrrrr they also will sail right up to the back of a really slow semi and then change lanes with just 3 feet to spare while you are running with a 15 MPH overtake because they not only WILL NOT change their cruise setting for any reason, hit the brake, hit the gas, nor look in their mirrors. There are thousands of theses kinds all over the interstates in all states that I have ever driven in.
the only thing that will cause me to actively try to send some fool into the ditch any quicker is the 'Zoom past line to crowed in at the last inch before a construction reduction to single lane. I will acquit anyone who kills one of those asshats.
Back to CC. It seems that most do not realize that they do not hold perfect speed up and down hills either. they wonder why people pull out to pass them with irritated looks and then have to run form them because they keep wandering in and out of the left lane doing their ‘half a MPH’ passing trick again.
::: sheesh :::::
Gawd I miss flying my own bird on long trips.
Provided that the car is going the maximum speed limit, what objection is there?
There’s no maximum speed; only a posted limit. In most states on the freeway, exceeding the limit’s only prima fascie evidence of breaking the law, meaning that if you’re in the spirit of the basic speed rule most states adopt, you’re actually doing okay by speeding in order to pass an obstruction. If I were in GusNSpot’s jury, I’d convict the idiot that passes at 1/4 mile per hour using his cruise control in said fashion for some infraction.
All of that above mumbo jumbo aside, regardless of the posted speed limit, there’s basic common decency at stake. Just because you’re sticking to some obscure notion of right and wrong doesn’t mean you’re not an asshole for holding up the 85%-90% of the people that speed limits are usually based on in the first place.
I’m not growling at you, Walloon. I just understand completely where GunNSpot is coming from and these idiots are more dangerous by far than exceeding the speed limit by 15 mph given appropriate conditions.
My wife bought me After market cruise control for my F150 for my birthday this year. It works perfectly and looks like it was built in. It is really helpful when I am pulling our travel trailor.
Following the posted maximum speed limit is an “obscure notion of right and wrong”?
I wonder about this idea too. It may (very likely) annoy me, but the other driver is surely within her/his right to do so. I don’t even see it as high on the “rude” scale.
So you’ll know, I rarely keep it down to the posted limit.
Mangeorge
Passing very slow keeps the passing vehicle right next to the car (or semi) and perhaps in a blind spot. When the road is crowded and you have no choice, well you have no choice. When you can pick up the speed a bit and get around the car or truck being passed, everyone is safer.
To tell the truth, I don’t think I often see drivers on an uncrowded freeway driving for very long alongside another vehicle. I’ll make it a point to watch for it, though. I drive I5, a major two lane freeway that runs north and south in California. the limlt is 70, and most people exceed that.
Your duty as a motorist is to do what is reasonable and prudent, not what the sign tells you to do. If you cannot pass without impeding traffic in the passing lane, do not pass. Following the speed limit does not give you the moral high ground to willingly exacerbate unsafe situations.
Well, in full context of what I said, yeah, in lots of cases it is. If you’re going exactly the posted speed limit because you have some ideal that it’s the “right thing to do” despite the reality of the situation, then you’re an asshole. What does it cost you to temporarily step on the gas pedal to get around the vehicle you’re passing? You don’t have to fiddle with the cruise control; the vehicle will return to its preset speed on it’s own.
I’m not disputing that you’re exceeding a posted speed limit; it’s obvious you are. As to whether it’s a non-defensible offense is an entirely different matter, and it doesn’t really apply. In fact the obscure notion of right and wrong doesn’t really apply. If you’re obstinately sticking to your guns for no other reason (no other reason!) than that a sign tells you to, you (not you you, but “one” you) are an asshole. Okay, that’s a little strong. Maybe not an asshole, but just really friggin’ obtuse. Also keep in mind we’re talking about a jerk that cut in at the very last minute despite the fact that faster traffic was readily approaching for their passing maneuver. Any time you force someone to step on their brakes, you’re an idiot (barring circumstances, of course).
It may be a bit, there is some very sophisticated and expensive hardware in the system. Off the top of my head, the system has the following items:
[ul]
[li]Forward looking radar unit.[/li][li]Control unit for forward looking radar[/li][li]A very advanced ABS brake system[/li][li]Specially adapted instrument cluster[/li][li]Special software for the instrument cluster, body control computer, ABS and engine control module.[/li][/ul]
Not cheap. However it works awesomely.
I have talked to troopers who have and do give tickets for impeding traffic flow or reckless endangerment or what not to people who insist on driving the speed limit in the left lane on freeways when all the other traffic, including the trooper is running at about 10 -15 over.
Driving in an unsafe manner for conditions can mean too slow as well as too fast. Now, if you could get many witnesses that you were obeying the letter of the law and video that no one was having to swerve around you and a poll from other drivers in the vicinity that you were not endangering them, then you might have a chance on beating the ticket.
Nothing will give you the time it took to be stopped and receive the ticket, the going to court and all that stuff and such.
I have seen troopers hit the lights and siren to get asshats who are asleep at the cruise control to get out of the way as they take 15 minutes to pass the two 18 wheelers on the right.
YMMV
I have no moral high ground to stand on.
Most social and moral right and wrong are relative to time and place.
Facts are not good or bad, they just are.
I suspect those troopers were pulling your leg, GusNSpot. This idea has been around for a long time, perpetuated, I think, by those of us who are frustrated by our impotent irritation at those drivers who won’t get out of our way.
I did quite a lot of research on this many years ago and only found that a cop can order you to move out of his way, but that’s it. Like it or not, speed limits are not advisory. They are law. There can be 50 drivers going 80 in a 65 right along with you and a cop can give just you a ticket. You can go to court, but unless the judge gives you a break, you’ll tuck it in and pay the fine. If the traffic is going 80, and you tailgate or swerve the guy going 65, you get the ticket. I did encounter laws prohibiting impeding the normal and legal flow of traffic. There used to be some hiways (back east?) with a posted max and min speed.
Not fair, eh.
I don’t know a single person who’s ever earned a citation specifically for driving the speed limit. Only those who know someone who knows someone who…
But laws may have changed since my investigation. I doubt it though. Consider the restrictions placed on federal hiway funds.
In most states the freeway speed limits are statutory, prima facie speed limits, in which case you’ll get a ticket, but it’s easy to argue that you’re complying with your state’s basic speed law. Naturally swerving in or tailgating is outside the bounds of prima facie defense; I’m only pointing out that limits per se aren’t “just the law” and in many cases can be considered advisory if you’re not being unsafe and don’t mind arguing it in court. If you’re picked out of the flow of traffic on a whim for doing 80 in a 70, you have a good argument for not having violated the speed limit. You’ve got to know when you’re in an absolute versus statutory area, though (and that’s usually common sense).
I posted a related thread here, to minimize my hijacking tendencies. 
Peace,
mangeorge