PILOT SPIN
Spin Zone => Spin Zone => Topic started by: Rush on March 04, 2021, 06:38:35 PM
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/04/us-sharp-increase-traffic-crash-deaths-2020
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yeah, kind of surprising. In some areas, there is far less traffic, but people driving too fast.
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Here in the ATL it has been open season on the Interstates. Frequently get passed by folks doing 80 or better in a 70 zone. Coming home tonight I had the cruise set at 75 and was out in the left lane working to get past a pick up pulling a trailer in the middle lane. He would speed up, then slow down, didn't seem to maintain a speed. Soon a car pull sup on my tail and I see the headlights flash. After 30 seconds or so, a second flash. Next step was to turn the brights on all the time thinking it was going to bother me. After a minute or so they dropped back so they could move to the right hand lane and then zoom by everyone to get back in the left lane.
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Did my share of speeding when younger, but never used brights or riding someone’s tail to try to force someone to move right.
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South Dakota saw a decline of ~21% in number of drivers involved in crashes but an increase of ~50% in number of drivers killed. Used the state’s crash statistics tool:
https://dps.sd.gov/records/accident-records/sdcat (https://dps.sd.gov/records/accident-records/sdcat)
26,198 drivers in crashes in 2020 of which 121 killed.
33,244 drivers in crashes in 2019 of which 80 killed.
But might just be a case of unreliability of small sample size, since deaths Jan 1 to Mar 31 of each year, outside pandemic range, also increased 50% (and we never had a shutdown here anyway.):
2019: 12 deaths
2020: 18 deaths
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Did my share of speeding when younger, but never used brights or riding someone’s tail to try to force someone to move right.
My goal is always to be in the right most lane that I can. I will always set the cruise for five over. I have no reason to sit in the left lane to piss people off. Of course, people don't realize that I'm not the least bit intimidated by someone that wants to ride my bumper. I usually think it is funny.
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The biggest problem today are the phone zombies that are driving.
These are the morons that are so addicted to their phones they drive while staring at the screen while texting or other nonsense. Even truck drivers are doing it.
In the past two years I've been hit twice, both time by phone zombies.
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Here in the ATL it has been open season on the Interstates. Frequently get passed by folks doing 80 or better in a 70 zone. Coming home tonight I had the cruise set at 75 and was out in the left lane working to get past a pick up pulling a trailer in the middle lane. He would speed up, then slow down, didn't seem to maintain a speed. Soon a car pull sup on my tail and I see the headlights flash. After 30 seconds or so, a second flash. Next step was to turn the brights on all the time thinking it was going to bother me. After a minute or so they dropped back so they could move to the right hand lane and then zoom by everyone to get back in the left lane.
It sounds like you drive a Prius.
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Here in the ATL it has been open season on the Interstates. Frequently get passed by folks doing 80 or better in a 70 zone. Coming home tonight I had the cruise set at 75 and was out in the left lane working to get past a pick up pulling a trailer in the middle lane. He would speed up, then slow down, didn't seem to maintain a speed. Soon a car pull sup on my tail and I see the headlights flash. After 30 seconds or so, a second flash. Next step was to turn the brights on all the time thinking it was going to bother me. After a minute or so they dropped back so they could move to the right hand lane and then zoom by everyone to get back in the left lane.
One of the great things about small town Texas is drivers are far more courteous. That kind of asshole shit goes hand in hand with large cities which is yet one more reason to avoid overpopulated Democrat hellholes. Don’t get me wrong, people here love to open up on our long flat highways. And you do still have the kind that will ride your bumper, but far fewer, and even then it’s with less aggression.
There might be a lot of reasons this is so. For one thing, there’s a high chance the other driver is armed. That breeds politeness. Another, there’s a greater chance you know the person from somewhere and wouldn’t it be awkward if the driver you just pissed off ended up being your waiter at the restaurant?
But the biggest reason has got to be simply less congestion and no chronic frustration going from point A to B. You don’t get impatient because fewer cars means more room and you don’t then see every one of them as an obstacle.
In NC we noticed a huge increase in rude driving when all the Yankees started moving in. We associated rude driving with being from “up north” but I think it comes from driving in big cities and congested conditions. You kind of have to do rude things like pull in front of people or you would never get out onto a road or change lanes. But I don’t know if living in big cities does something to your personality to make you more of an asshole.
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One of the great things about small town Texas is drivers are far more courteous. That kind of asshole shit goes hand in hand with large cities which is yet one more reason to avoid overpopulated Democrat hellholes. Don’t get me wrong, people here love to open up on our long flat highways. And you do still have the kind that will ride your bumper, but far fewer, and even then it’s with less aggression.
There might be a lot of reasons this is so. For one thing, there’s a high chance the other driver is armed. That breeds politeness. Another, there’s a greater chance you know the person from somewhere and wouldn’t it be awkward if the driver you just pissed off ended up being your waiter at the restaurant?
But the biggest reason has got to be simply less congestion and no chronic frustration going from point A to B. You don’t get impatient because fewer cars means more room and you don’t then see every one of them as an obstacle.
In NC we noticed a huge increase in rude driving when all the Yankees started moving in. We associated rude driving with being from “up north” but I think it comes from driving in big cities and congested conditions. You kind of have to do rude things like pull in front of people or you would never get out onto a road or change lanes. But I don’t know if living in big cities does something to your personality to make you more of an asshole.
I guess I’ve got to defend the rude Yankees driving in the south.
I lived in Charlotte 2000-2006. There was literally nothing more maddening to me than having the southern bells and slow motion southerners sitting in a left turn lane, take 5-10 seconds to acknowledge the light turned green, take their foot off the brake, and then think about completing that left hand turn, even though THERE WERE 10 OTHER CARS BEHIND THEM WAITING TO MAKE THE FUCKING LIGHT.
Then if I hit the horn, which I did, they would take great, horrific offense of using the tool that automakers provided us to get someone’s attention. So instead of moving their ass, they would stop and raise their hands and/or flip me off.
Time after time after time after time a left hand turn would result in 1 or 2 cars making it through the light instead of the 10-12 cars sitting there, trying to get to work or home.
I hated Charlotte.
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One of the great things about small town Texas is drivers are far more courteous.
Yeah, they are more courteous. In Texas I remember drivers would pull over onto the shoulder of the road to let faster traffic pass on the left.
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I guess I’ve got to defend the rude Yankees driving in the south.
I lived in Charlotte 2000-2006. There was literally nothing more maddening to me than having the southern bells and slow motion southerners sitting in a left turn lane, take 5-10 seconds to acknowledge the light turned green, take their foot off the brake, and then think about completing that left hand turn, even though THERE WERE 10 OTHER CARS BEHIND THEM WAITING TO MAKE THE FUCKING LIGHT.
Then if I hit the horn, which I did, they would take great, horrific offense of using the tool that automakers provided us to get someone’s attention. So instead of moving their ass, they would stop and raise their hands and/or flip me off.
Time after time after time after time a left hand turn would result in 1 or 2 cars making it through the light instead of the 10-12 cars sitting there, trying to get to work or home.
I hated Charlotte.
Charlotte and big population of transplants from shit hole dem cities.
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Yeah, they are more courteous. In Texas I remember drivers would pull over onto the shoulder of the road to let faster traffic pass on the left.
Oh yeah that’s a thing here. Same if you make a right turn, you get onto the shoulder before you start to slow down so as not to make the traffic behind you have to slow because you’re turning. But then they make the shoulders as wide as a lane and they’re paved. People also use them to pass cars that are stopped waiting to make a left turn, which I’m pretty sure isn’t legal but everybody does it anyway.
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Oh yeah that’s a thing here. Same if you make a right turn, you get onto the shoulder before you start to slow down so as not to make the traffic behind you have to slow because you’re turning. But then they make the shoulders as wide as a lane and they’re paved. People also use them to pass cars that are stopped waiting to make a left turn, which I’m pretty sure isn’t legal but everybody does it anyway.
Looks like it is OK to pass on improved shoulders in Texas:
(a) An operator may drive on an improved shoulder to the right of the main traveled portion of a roadway if that operation is necessary and may be done safely, but only:
(1) to stop, stand, or park;
(2) to accelerate before entering the main traveled lane of traffic;
(3) to decelerate before making a right turn;
(4) to pass another vehicle that is slowing or stopped on the main traveled portion of the highway, disabled, or preparing to make a left turn;
(5) to allow another vehicle traveling faster to pass;
(6) as permitted or required by an official traffic-control device; or
(7) to avoid a collision.
Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/transportation-code/transp-sect-545-058.html (https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/transportation-code/transp-sect-545-058.html)
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Looks like it is OK to pass on improved shoulders in Texas:
Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/transportation-code/transp-sect-545-058.html (https://codes.findlaw.com/tx/transportation-code/transp-sect-545-058.html)
Ah... okay, the “improved” shoulder must be key. I thought I recalled it being illegal, maybe it is on regular shoulders.
Thanks!
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Spent 2.5 years in Gila Bend, AZ in the early 70s. The road headed to Phoenix was about three lanes wide so the rule of the road was if someone was passing coming at you you moved over to the right and the car being passed moved over to the right and the passing car went down the middle.
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Spent 2.5 years in Gila Bend, AZ in the early 70s. The road headed to Phoenix was about three lanes wide so the rule of the road was if someone was passing coming at you you moved over to the right and the car being passed moved over to the right and the passing car went down the middle.
In most places the rule is for slower traffic to move right. But some people insist on staying in the left lane when there are faster cars behind them, forcing them to weave right and pass other cars on the right, then weave back to the fast lane where they should have stayed in the first place. But some drivers feel the need to assert themselves as the the speed police.
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I'm always curious why people who insist on speeding expect others to accomodate them.
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I'm always curious why people who insist on speeding expect others to accomodate them.
I’m always curious why people who insist on being the civilian speed police would rather force someone to make a dangerous move to pass on the right than follow the rules of the road which requires slower traffic to stay to the right.
One Karen in the left lane can fuck up the smooth flow of traffic more than anything else except an accident, the chance of which being increased because of their self-righteousness.
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I’m always curious why people who insist on being the civilian speed police would rather force someone to make a dangerous move to pass on the right than follow the rules of the road which requires slower traffic to stay to the right.
One Karen in the left lane can fuck up the smooth flow of traffic more than anything else except an accident, the chance of which being increased because of their self-righteousness.
...but it's always nice to pretend superiority by looking down on everyone else, rather than practice common courtesy.
It's like the bicycle riders who refuse to use the bike lane because they're so fucking special everyone SHOULD be REQUIRED to dodge their dumb asses.
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I’m always curious why people who insist on being the civilian speed police would rather force someone to make a dangerous move to pass on the right than follow the rules of the road which requires slower traffic to stay to the right.
One Karen in the left lane can fuck up the smooth flow of traffic more than anything else except an accident, the chance of which being increased because of their self-righteousness.
Do you understand that going the speed limit does not necessarily mean someone is trying to be "civilian speed police"
And if someone choses to make a dangerous move that is THEIR choice. No one is "forcing" anyone to do anything.
You are sounding like a snowflake, blaming others for your choices and actions.
It is completely ludicrous to accuse someone of "self-righteouness" for simply obeying the speed limit.
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In most places the rule is for slower traffic to move right. But some people insist on staying in the left lane when there are faster cars behind them, forcing them to weave right and pass other cars on the right, then weave back to the fast lane where they should have stayed in the first place.
I’m always curious why people who insist on being the civilian speed police would rather force someone to make a dangerous move to pass on the right than follow the rules of the road which requires slower traffic to stay to the right.
Someone’s got a gun to your head, “forcing” you to weave all around?
If I’m in the left lane going 14 miles over the speed limit so I can get around someone going “only” 10 miles over the speed limit, anybody behind me can patiently wait til I get past and back in the right lane. I’m not going to speed up even more just because I made you slow down from your 30 miles over. I certainly didn’t “force” you to make dangerous high speed lane changes.
On the other hand if you are in the left lane going anything less than the speed limit, that’s rude, and as you point out, against most states’ traffic rules. If a driver looks elderly I chill and stay patient, and just get around them when I can. Nothing pisses me off more than people being rude to old people.
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Do you understand that going the speed limit does not necessarily mean someone is trying to be "civilian speed police"
And if someone choses to make a dangerous move that is THEIR choice. No one is "forcing" anyone to do anything.
You are sounding like a snowflake, blaming others for your choices and actions.
It is completely ludicrous to accuse someone of "self-righteouness" for simply obeying the speed limit.
It’s the classic wife beater line: “You make me do it!”
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Do you understand that going the speed limit does not necessarily mean someone is trying to be "civilian speed police"
And if someone choses to make a dangerous move that is THEIR choice. No one is "forcing" anyone to do anything.
You are sounding like a snowflake, blaming others for your choices and actions.
It is completely ludicrous to accuse someone of "self-righteouness" for simply obeying the speed limit.
You’re right Bob. Speeders should realize that by YOU breaking the rules of the road by staying in the left lane when slower traffic should always be in the right lane, they should take stock of their lives, ask themselves why they are speeding, and probably drive to the nearest Catholic Church to go to confession for speeding.
Don’t be a dick, Bob. The rules of the road require you to move into the right lane if you are traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time. Get your fucking ass over there where you belong.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/346/II/05/3
https://law.justia.com/codes/wisconsin/2011/346/346.59.html#:~:text=346.59%20Minimum%20speed%20regulation.%20346.59%20Minimum%20speed%20regulation.,or%20is%20necessary%20to%20comply%20with%20the%20law.
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Someone’s got a gun to your head, “forcing” you to weave all around?
If I’m in the left lane going 14 miles over the speed limit so I can get around someone going “only” 10 miles over the speed limit, anybody behind me can patiently wait til I get past and back in the right lane. I’m not going to speed up even more just because I made you slow down from your 30 miles over. I certainly didn’t “force” you to make dangerous high speed lane changes.
On the other hand if you are in the left lane going anything less than the speed limit, that’s rude, and as you point out, against most states’ traffic rules. If a driver looks elderly I chill and stay patient, and just get around them when I can. Nothing pisses me off more than people being rude to old people.
That’s not what we are talking about. Bob’s talking about staying in the left lane at the speed limit even though the flow of traffic may be faster than that. That’s dangerous, stupid, and rude, in that order.
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That’s not what we are talking about. Bob’s talking about staying in the left lane at the speed limit even though the flow of traffic may be faster than that. That’s dangerous, stupid, and rude, in that order.
Nope. That's not what I'm talking about.
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You’re right Bob. Speeders should realize that by YOU breaking the rules of the road by staying in the left lane when slower traffic should always be in the right lane, they should take stock of their lives, ask themselves why they are speeding, and probably drive to the nearest Catholic Church to go to confession for speeding.
Don’t be a dick, Bob. The rules of the road require you to move into the right lane if you are traveling at less than the normal speed of traffic at the time. Get your fucking ass over there where you belong.
https://docs.legis.wisconsin.gov/statutes/statutes/346/II/05/3
https://law.justia.com/codes/wisconsin/2011/346/346.59.html#:~:text=346.59%20Minimum%20speed%20regulation.%20346.59%20Minimum%20speed%20regulation.,or%20is%20necessary%20to%20comply%20with%20the%20law.
Funny you should cite Wisconsin law on slower traffic moving to the right even if they are going at the speed limit and not cite the law “In addition to complying with the speed restrictions imposed by subs. (2) and (3), no person shall drive a vehicle in excess of any speed limit established pursuant to law by state or local authorities and indicated by official signs.”
Story time: Years ago, while headed home to the Minneapolis area from a job interview in Madison Wisconsin on I-94 I was in a group of (IIRC) about 5 cars, all doing about 15 over the posted limit. At some point an unmarked highway patrol car in our group turned on its lights and up ahead a couple of marked patrol cars pulled out from behind some trees in the center median and forced everyone to pull over to the shoulder. We all got ticketed. No safety in numbers that day in Wisconsin. I don’t recall if I had a radar detector at the time, but my guess is it wouldn’t have helped because they likely did it the old fashioned way using the unmarked car.
(I was offered the job, but turned it down. My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, wasn’t hip on moving to Madison anyway. We ended up in Folsom CA - not in the prison - I got a contract working at Intel.)
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Funny you should cite Wisconsin law on slower traffic moving to the right even if they are going at the speed limit and not cite the law “In addition to complying with the speed restrictions imposed by subs. (2) and (3), no person shall drive a vehicle in excess of any speed limit established pursuant to law by state or local authorities and indicated by official signs.”
Story time: Years ago, while headed home to the Minneapolis area from a job interview in Madison Wisconsin on I-94 I was in a group of (IIRC) about 5 cars, all doing about 15 over the posted limit. At some point an unmarked highway patrol car in our group turned on its lights and up ahead a couple of marked patrol cars pulled out from behind some trees in the center median and forced everyone to pull over to the shoulder. We all got ticketed. No safety in numbers that day in Wisconsin. I don’t recall if I had a radar detector at the time, but my guess is it wouldn’t have helped because they likely did it the old fashioned way using the unmarked car.
(I was offered the job, but turned it down. My girlfriend at the time, who is now my wife, wasn’t hip on moving to Madison anyway. We ended up in Folsom CA - not in the prison - I got a contract working at Intel.)
My mother was in the same situation, a group of several cars all going over the speed limit and passed a single patrol car which pulled out and got behind mom who was the last in the line, so she stopped. No one else did. She protested “everyone was going that fast”, and the officer said, “yes but you were the only one I could catch.”
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My mother was in the same situation, a group of several cars all going over the speed limit and passed a single patrol car which pulled out and got behind mom who was the last in the line, so she stopped. No one else did. She protested “everyone was going that fast”, and the officer said, “yes but you were the only one I could catch.”
"I was moving with the flow of traffic, your Honor."
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"I was moving with the flow of traffic, your Honor."
That defense works in some states like Texas that have prima facie laws.
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"I was moving with the flow of traffic, your Honor."
... and here's the dash cam video.
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Yeah, they are more courteous. In Texas I remember drivers would pull over onto the shoulder of the road to let faster traffic pass on the left.
We still do that.
I am teaching my son, 15, to drive like that. I hope it sinks in.