What is the Speed Limit?

[Waverly]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
Waverly: Oh, I’m sorry. Let me find your second question and answer it immediately. I see. I think I have answered this several times. I am overtaking cars, just at the legal limit in the fast lane. Thanks for your comment on my not making sense. IMHO, many of you don’t make sense, either. You have never asked me to clarify myself, so quit flashing those brights at me. Why not ignore me like others do? I really don’t care about your slapstick comments unless you have something real to add.

A couple of points, my discombobulated friend: You have not answered my question. As others have pointed out, if you are being passed on the right, you are not overtaking anyone. What are you still doing on the left, other than exercising your legal right to travel slower than the flow of traffic?

If you have a specific complaint about the comprehensibly of my writing, go ahead and voice it. Until you do so, I’ll assume open-ended complaints about how much sense the board in general makes to you don’t apply to me.

I’ve asked you several times to clarify yourself, and have even offered you honest advice in the thread in which you alluded to your departure on how to writer more clearly; advice which you have ignored. Are you still leaving us? I don’t want to hurry you along, but I’ve been looking forward to it.

[GnominClature]

Mangetout:

I can’t believe you’re serious with this one; it was abundantly clear that his primary objective was to prevent me from passing him, I think it highly likely that he believed he was carrying out an important public service by doing so.

Probably, but your saying he had a “primary objective” doesn’t make it so. That only makes you sound paranoid, IMHO.

In many jurisdictions it is illegal to overtake on the wrong side, because it is more dangerous than overtaking normally

Isn’t violating the speed limit just as illegal in those jurisdictions? Speeding is just as dangerous, IMHO. I’m sorry, did I miss the point?

Please tell me exactly what positive benefit you feel is achieved by your obstructing and frustrating people in this way.

I’m attempting to see your reasons for rushing me along. So far, it’s impatience and the occasional emergency and that’s not a bad start for debate…

Cheesesteak:

Another driver’s error does not make your error any less.

Thanks for admitting that the other person was in error!

Algorithm:

Jerks they are indeed.

Magayuk:

I think it is a amazing that you don’t see any problem with what you are doing.

I never said I was right except for that minor technicality that’s called the speed limit. BTW: I can’t believe you can’t find a problem with what speeders are doing.

Jeff Olsen:

I can see the logic in your statements; although, the limit is defined and is in no way relative.

irae:

Pull the fuck over if there’s room on your right.

No.

Balle_M:

And if you are like the rest of your pathetic ilk I encounter on the Eisenhower Inerstate Highway System, you’re probably driving a Volvo.

I actually drive a Supercharged 1991 Thunderbird that usually eats the competition.

Attrayant:

Do you really enjoy the smell of your own feces?

It was a comparison that obviously went over your head.

BubbaDog:
I am sorry, did you say something?

SirRay:

I would agree with you because the Autobahn is a very safe piece of road and it has no true speed limit. There are supporting statistics, but I’m too tired too look them up.

Cheesesteak:

The point of the rant is to educate me on your behaviours and I explain my reactions to it. I know the lesson of sharing well, but that still doesn’t explain the reason why Alpha kid felt it was necessary to push Beta kid out of the swing.

Duke of Rat:

You were doing well to say going with the flow, but I think you missed the point of the comparison. I was saying that the smell of one’s own feces doesn’t normally offend the maker. So, in turn, our views on our successes will be bias. In so thinking we’re so great we so often forget that it’s only our “piles of shit” that we can be proud of. I won’t bother throwing a colour metaphor your way.

Mangetout:

Fair enough. I appreciate the insight into your thoughts and ideas.

gatopescado:

Did you forget how to spell my name? It’s spelled: GnominClature not FecalGnome.

You are warned.

As for this, I’m not sure if I should laugh or ignore it.

Sublight:

You neglected to mention, however, which of the remaining states is the one you currently call home

No I didn’t. Cheesesteak linked to my state’s handbook in response to one of my posts. You’ll find it.

Waverly:

Yet you continuously prattle about my incoherence and never really state what confuses you about my writing. I thought I made the point long ago that two things were happening: one, I am going the limit and overtaking the slow drivers and two, those that want to go faster than what’s legally allowed insist that I go faster. Your assistance didn’t seem genuine to me, it seemed to belittle. I said goodbye to that thread because of the petty reviews.

[Duke_of_Rat]

Ah yes, my anal retentive nemisis. You focused on the shit of my post instead of the meat. Big fucking surprise, since my “go with the flow” actually made real world sense. Something you do not.

You might think that by strictly obeying the posted speed limit makes you superior to every other driver on the road, but, as you might have noticed, many here disagree.

You cannot change human nature with one ass-hatted display of “everybody but me is wrong, and I’M NOT GONNA LET THEM GET AWAY WITH IT!!” Human nature is to try to reach a goal, a destination, as quickly and efficiently as possible. As much as it irks you, people are GOING TO TRY TO GET TO THEIR DESTINATION ASAP!! One fucking dickhead smelling the roses and snarling traffic ain’t gonna change the world!! Sorry!!

Why, asswipe, do you think there are races?? From ancient times (the original Olympics come to mind…) humans have strived to make the best possible progress. Get there, not fucking block the road. Human nature.

Indy 500. There is no prize for taking the longest amount of time…you could win handily if there were.

Not to say driving on the highway is a race, but it is HUMAN NATURE to make the best possible progress. Progress.

I don’t particularly like stoplights, either. It’s my human nature to want to continue. I realize that running a stoplight is dangerous, so I supress my instinct to go ahead. Travelling at the same speed as the other cars on the road is safe, purposely holding up traffic to display to the world that you are an asshole is not. It goes against the grain.

You steadfastly defend your “obiding by the rules”, but you are not going with the flow, you are causing traffic jams that are truely dangerous. Much more dangerous than a person “going with the flow” at 3 mph over the speed limit.

Do you think that YOU are the ONLY FUCKING PERSON THAT SEES SPEED LIMIT SIGNS EVERY 2 MILES??? No, we all see them. But, even though we might be law abiding citizens in EVERY OTHER ASPECT OF OUR LIFE, it makes more sense to go with the FUCKING FLOW than risk causing an accident by being a TOTAL ASSHOLE and purposely holding up traffic just to PROVE YOU ARE RIGHT.
I realize there is no reasoning with you, you are right, we are wrong. We, the countless stream of cars that pass you, are wrong. We, the majority of the drivers on the road, are wrong. We, the people who are striving to get to our destination, are wrong.

You, with your noble crown of rectum, are the only driver who is right.

And you are still an asshole.

[Ms2001]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
Isn’t violating the speed limit just as illegal in those jurisdictions? Speeding is just as dangerous, IMHO.

YHO is mistaken. Obstacles are far more dangerous than speeders, especially in cases where the majority of traffic is going faster than the posted limit. Differences of speed are more dangerous than uniformly high speeds.

I thought I made the point long ago that two things were happening: one, I am going the limit and overtaking the slow drivers and two, those that want to go faster than what’s legally allowed insist that I go faster.

Are these two things happening simultaneously? If someone in the right lane is overtaking you, you can’t be overtaking them at the same time. It’s simple physics.

If you’re in the left lane passing someone, and someone else comes up behind you wanting to go faster, the proper thing to do is move into the right lane as soon as you can, let the guy pass you, then move left again if you need to continue passing. (That is, if you don’t have the balls to speed up.)

[Voyager]

I think GC’s problem is obvious. Though he is a few years into adulthood, his maturity is at the 12 year old level. He went from excessive speeding, which is immature, to being a hazard, which is at least creatively immature.

As for your fear of speeding tickets - do you really think going 60 in a 55 zone when everyone else is will get you a ticket? Do you think it is really safe to have a line of cars going 5 mph faster than you pass you on the right? Maybe you should stop driving until you grow up, child. No wonder young men’s insurance premiums are so high.

And heed Mr. 2001’s wisdom. Differences in speed are far more dangerous than slight speeding.

You might ask your local police if what you are doing is safe. You might be surprised at their answer.

[Mangetout]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
**Probably, but your saying he had a “primary objective” doesn’t make it so. That only makes you sound paranoid, IMHO.

---

[/QUOTE]
Perhaps so; suffice it to say that it was completely obvious that the driver’s intention was to prevent me passing and slow me down; there are details that I haven’t mentioned (I perhaps wrongly assumed that it would be enough to have said that I was certain he was blocking me).

Isn’t violating the speed limit just as illegal in those jurisdictions? Speeding is just as dangerous, IMHO. I’m sorry, did I miss the point?

Perhaps it is (although I suspect that it isn’t), but two (or indeed three) wrongs rarely make a right - it simply isn’t your job to enforce the speed limit and certainly not by breaking the law yourself.

I don’t think it is correct to say that people approaching you from the rear are ‘rushing you along’ or expecting you to go faster - I’d wager they just want you to get out of the way.

I second Voyager’s idea - ask a police officer if he approves of your tactics.

If you regard the behaviour of the speeding/tailgating drivers as reckless, you’d be better off letting them pass anyway - once they have overtaken and gone, they don’t present as great a danger to you. I know it isn’t particularly gratifying to let idiot continue in his idiocy, but it really is better to let the idiot continue and separate himself from you by as great a distance as possible.

[Mangetout]

My coding in this thread sucks.

[Cheesesteak]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
** I know the lesson of sharing well, but that still doesn’t explain the reason why Alpha kid felt it was necessary to push Beta kid out of the swing. **

Well, there are a few possible reasons Alpha kid wants to push Beta kid off the swing (left lane). Alpha is either really really impatient, and won’t wait his turn like a good little boy, or Beta is hogging the swing, or a combo of both. When kids fight over a toy, sometimes one of them is completely wrong, but often, both kids are wrong.

In this case, you’re both wrong. The guy behind you should wait patiently for you to get over to the right lane so he can pass safely. He shouldn’t tailgate or honk at you and you should get to the right quickly and not make him wait. That’s good sharing and you both get gold stars!

You, in your OP, don’t seem to recognize his right to pass you, or show any effort on your part to give up the left lane, that’s bad sharing, no gold star for Gnomin.

[Cheesesteak]

Damn you Mangetout, your bad coding is catching! And I need to learn to preview…

[Waverly]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
Yet you continuously prattle about my incoherence and never really state what confuses you about my writing.

This statement is not altogether correct. In other words, it is a lie.

From an earlier disjointed Gnomin thread:
here’s a sincere suggestion should you decide to stay: You obviously are not a native English speaker. Try to simplify what you are saying, use more basic terms, and leave out the colorful idioms. Your English skills are good, but you appear to by trying to write at a level of complexity above your current ability, and many of us of are having difficulty understanding you. This is probably why you are seeing the ratings and sarcastic comments.

To sum up, you make unorthodox usage of terms, and you throw in awkward phases or non sequiturs. If you want specific examples, just look at the questions I’ve asked that you are having such a hard time answering.

Now let’s continue our struggle to get to a truthful answer to my question, shall we? So far we have concluded you can legally travel slower than the flow of traffic in the passing lane, just as you can legally take up two parking spaces when you park. We also know that some fraction of the time you are passing other cars. Why are you in the passing lane the rest of the time? Clearly, if you are traveling at the speed limit, there won’t be all that many cars in need of passing, and you could simply make way.

[Missy2U]

Originally From Waverly

Clearly, if you are traveling at the speed limit, there won’t be all that many cars in need of passing, and you could simply make way.

He won’t, though. Some drivers are simply passive aggressive assholes.

Gnome person (Master Wang-Ka I know I shouldn’t, but I can’t help myself - I’ll stop after this - I promise), if I’m on the highway trying to get someone to the hospital, or a pet to an emergency clinic, or to see a relative who has suddenly become life threateningly ill, I will, if you’re acting like a passive aggressive putz impeding my progress just because you want to stop and smell the roses, stop and smell the roadkill, think the world is in too big a rush so you wish to slow it down by blocking the passing lane, or whatever, get on my cell phone, dial 911 and “deal” with your selfish ass. Trust me, it won’t be pretty. Behavior like yours qualifies, in my opinon, as road rage just as much as overly aggressive drivers bad behavior - and I will report it as such.

NOW the lights and sirens can commence.

[Legolamb]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
**Rhum Runner: I’m sorry to contradict you so quickly, but I had stated that I am passing cars going the limit in the passing lane.

<snip>

I am overtaking cars, just at the legal limit in the fast lane. **

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
I have not presented myself to be in the hurry that you obviously are. If you are harbouring a problem, you can do the adult thing and merge into the slow lane and continue about your merry way while ignoring the “asshole” going the limit in the fast lane.

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
**Cheesesteak: You really can’t read can you? Yes, I know the handbook well. I will state this one more time. I am going the speed limit in the passing lane while passing cars in the slow lane. **

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
Cheesesteak: Is there a point to the question that I’ve missed? I thought I answered it for you, but I’ll answer it again! They pass me on the right going faster than the posted limit.

Cheesesteak can read just fine, Trollboy. It’s just that the serious inconsistencies in your arguments make your answers to him about as credulous as these cars that seem to be able to fly past you on your right whilst passing through all those other cars going slower than you and the speed limit in that very same lane. I didn’t think the Honda Osmosis was coming out until 2007…

If you are in the left lane, passing slower cars in the right lane then that’s all well and good. However, if you are not passing and are still in the left lane, it doesn’t matter how fast people behind you are going. You are breaking the law just as much as they are.

If you are really serious about finding out why people who are speeding sit behind you and flash their lights at you to move over, why people like yourself are the biggest target in road rage incidents, if it’s true that speed differences are the biggest cause of congestion, and you aren’t just being the Trollboy you appear to be take your questions to a Highway Patrol Officer instead of the Straight Dope. I’d advise you to ask him without referring to yourself as the one purporting this sad, assholish behaviour, seeing as he won’t like it one bit (being as it does make it that much harder for the emergency services to reach their destinations), but then again, I’d kind of like to see the police hounding you every time you’re on the road.

[Skywatcher]

Originally posted by GnominClature ***
I can see the logic in your statements; although, the limit is defined and is in no way relative.*

Since you refuse to listen to logic, be careful you don’t get yourself killed.

[Papermache_Prince]

*Originally posted by Jeff Olsen *
**Since you refuse to listen to logic, be careful you don’t get yourself killed. **

If only. If only the irresponsible driver was the one that died, not some poor innocent in the passenger seat or in another car.

[Legolamb]

Oops.
To the Mods, sorry, I completely missed the “no accusations of trolling” rule, and with the DNFTT’s dotted around, I was under the impression it was ok. My bad. I promise not to do it again if you don’t hurt me.

Other than that, the rest of my point stands.

[GnominClature]

Duke of Rat:

it is HUMAN NATURE to make the best possible progress. Progress.

We agree. I just choose to go at a rate which I think is reasonable. You think you are entitled to violate it. By all means, pass me and continue onward. I have never reacted to the boiling anger as someone passes me on the right. All I do is create a hindrance which you obviously can’t stand or control.

I realize there is no reasoning with you, you are right, we are wrong.

What’s wrong with being against the majority? It’s an opinion that I’m entitled to share, and if you don’t want to hear what I have to say. By all means, ignore me and keep on going. Notice that I never have dipped down to your level to call you anything derogatory.

Mr2001:

YHO is mistaken. Obstacles are far more dangerous than speeders, especially in cases where the majority of traffic is going faster than the posted limit. Differences of speed are more dangerous than uniformly high speeds.

So, traveling at a speed of 90 mph hitting an object traveling 70 mph will cause more damage than an object traveling 90 mph hitting an object that is stationary? That’s incorrect, sir. You mentioned simple physics: perhaps you plowing into several objects will cause several separate damages. Nonetheless, you will be the one found at fault for violating the speed limit even if I were in the fast lane or the slow lane.

Voyager:

No wonder young men’s insurance premiums are so high.

I pay 500 dollars a year. How much do you pay?

You might ask your local police if what you are doing is safe. You might be surprised at their answer.

Oh, I have called. I think you might be equally surprised.

Cheesesteak:

He shouldn’t tailgate or honk at you and you should get to the right quickly and not make him wait.

I see you have noted how impatient people are, and that’s why I don’t bother to merge. You’re right: in my OP, I don’t recognize that person’s “right” for violating the limit because of their impatience. Since this topic does rattle the cage so much, I wouldn’t mind moving over more often. This rant serves as an example where your rages exist: I’ve been called many inflammatory names, and I’ve responded passive aggressively to you. I am actually very curious to the importance that is placed on one’s haste rather than causing them to be upset. It would be nice to have a P.A. on all cars that we could announce our intentions, but that’s only found in a hopeful setting.

Waverly:

To sum up, you make unorthodox usage of terms, and you throw in awkward phases or non sequiturs. If you want specific examples, just look at the questions I’ve asked that you are having such a hard time answering.

Since you’ve noticed my problems, would you take the time to help me improve? I’m open to suggestion without being called an idiot…

Missy2u:

Behavior like yours qualifies, in my opinion, as road rage just as much as overly aggressive drivers bad behavior - and I will report it as such.

You are entitled to such actions. I have said before that I, too, have had to rush a friend to the hospital and the police have escorted me. You are correct in that I’m being passive aggressive–I have already admitted to that. I’m more interested in getting the opinions here at SDMB. You all are real people that communicate their feelings and thoughts on subjects that I enjoy discussing.

Legolamb:

I think I am beginning to see where you all say I am inconsistent. Cars are overtaking me in their haste on the right. I also say that there are cars behind me tailgating me and flashing their lights. So, why not pull into the right lane when it’s empty is your argument? I suppose I should have been a little clearer. Just saying I’m incoherent and asking the questions I have answered instead of just telling me the inconsistency doesn’t make me see it. By the way, you can leave out your name calling… it doesn’t qualify anyone in an argument. Troll? DNFTT?? I’m unfamiliar with these colloquialisms.

Jeff Olsen:

What’s illogical going the speed limit? What’s logical about getting upset and having road rage?

Papermache Prince:

Yes, I would agree.

[Waverly]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
Since you’ve noticed my problems, would you take the time to help me improve? I’m open to suggestion without being called an idiot…

Since I can’t believe that even you are dim enough to have missed the rest of my post, where I quoted an earlier post that does exactly what you ask, I can only conclude that you being willfully ignorant.

And you continue to refuse to tell us what you hope to accomplish by occupying the passing lane during the majority of the time when you yourself are not passing. I don’t think you know, because you didn’t flesh out your fabricated rant well enough to include a fabricated motive.

I’d like to end my contributions to this thread by calling you a lying twat. Cheers, W.

[Frank]

I simply cannot believe that anyone can really be this pinheaded, this obtuse, and this oblivious. Perhaps I lead a sheltered life. I think Bubbadog may have hit the nail on the head. I shall read any new posts to this thread in gently amused mode.

[Cheesesteak]

*Originally posted by GnominClature *
**I see you have noted how impatient people are, and that’s why I don’t bother to merge. You’re right: in my OP, I don’t recognize that person’s “right” for violating the limit because of their impatience. **

Trick of it is, the tailgater is likely thinking “I won’t wait patiently because these people never merge on their own anyway.” Round and round we go!

[FallFast]

GnominClature - a hypothetical question for you if you don’t mind. If you are on a 4 lane highway (2 lanes each way), you are in the left lane doing the speed limit, no more no less, there is nobody in the right lane at all. A speeder is approaching you from behind would you move over to the right lane to allow this person, who is as everybody will agree breaking the law, to pass you safely? Just yes or no!

One other question, if there is no law that states a certain action to be illegal then it is okay to go ahead and do it, no matter what the consequences to you and everybody else might be? Just yes or no!