If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
Just caught a blurb on the local radio station. Washington State Troopers are launching a special traffic enforcement operation. Not the usual Ho-Hum crap of trying to screw people over for not buckling up, or a crackdown on speeders or drunks - Although I agree those are worthwhile efforts, they pale in comparison to one of my "favorite" pet peeves on the road. What they're specifically looking for in the next several weeks are the idiots that don't understand that the left lane is for passing, not playing roadblock. It's about friggin' time! If you're gonna drive on the freeway in "exactly the speed limit or lower" mode, I've got no problem with that - So long as you pull your head out of your ass and do it in the rightmost lane! Not only is it common sense/good courtesy/the right thing to do, but it's been explicitly stated law here in Washington for quite a few years - including being clearly and frequently posted on every stretch of multi-lane-per-direction pavement I've driven on in this state - "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS" and/or "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT" signs are almost as frequently seen as speed limit or "don't litter" signs. What kind of brain-dead does a person need to be in order to fail to comprehend that ultra-basic rule of the road? For once, I'll be rooting for the cops! -- Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist, or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow" somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info |
Ads |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
the left lane is those exceeding the speed limit? how does that work?
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
|
#4
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
On Jun 24, 8:27*am, Brent P >
wrote: > On 2008-06-24, > wrote: > > > the left lane is those exceeding the speed limit? how does that work? > > The left lane is for passing. But starting in the 1970s the joan > claybrooks of the world decided that limited access highway speed limits > should be set absurdly low. This then incouraged all the self-rightous > slow is safe types out there to sit in whatever lane they chose. The > absurdly low speed limits still exist in many states, others have raised > speed limits back to what they were in the 1960s, but automotive > technology has had 40 years of advancement since then. And those were 40 *good* years of innovation. Keep in mind that the typical used car in 1974 had four wheel drum brakes, 6.something-15 bias ply tires, and a live rear axle. Granted, it is still possible to safely drive such a vehicle on today's roads, but it does take a little more care and attention than the average driver is willing to take. "Innovations" that were only found on high end sports cars back then are now standard equipment on the most plebian econobox. The *best* thing we could do to improve traffic flow and lane courtesy would be to raise speed limits to their proper 85th percentile levels and free up the cops to enforce other traffic laws, with a special emphasis on lane courtesy. nate |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
"Don Bruder" > wrote in message > What kind of brain-dead does a person need to be in order to fail to > comprehend that ultra-basic rule of the road? Most people here in Texas seem to be brain dead about this, Don. Very inconsiderate to hog the passing lane, and dangerous too. Police (snort..laugh) do it themselves here, as well as pass you on the right using the shoulder. Hope this catches on. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
|
#7
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
* HLS wrote in rec.autos.makers.mazda.miata:
> > "Don Bruder" > wrote in message >> What kind of brain-dead does a person need to be in order to fail to >> comprehend that ultra-basic rule of the road? > > Most people here in Texas seem to be brain dead about this, Don. > Very inconsiderate to hog the passing lane, and dangerous too. > Police (snort..laugh) do it themselves here, as well as pass you on the > right > using the shoulder. > > Hope this catches on. > > On sections of I30 they are starting to keep trucks out of the left lane, on the higgways in Jersey there is signage that desgnates left lanes are for passing and I have seen cops ticket drivers for this. In Texas, there are no signs which might help curb the problem if theyd put some up. -- David |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
Don Bruder wrote:
> > It's about friggin' time! If you're gonna drive on the freeway in > "exactly the speed limit or lower" mode, I've got no problem with that - > So long as you pull your head out of your ass and do it in the rightmost > lane! Not only is it common sense/good courtesy/the right thing to do, > but it's been explicitly stated law here in Washington for quite a few > years - including being clearly and frequently posted on every stretch > of multi-lane-per-direction pavement I've driven on in this state - > "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS" and/or "SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT" signs are > almost as frequently seen as speed limit or "don't litter" signs. > Whenever I've been in WA on business (Seattle/Tacoma/Bremerton area) I've always been amazed that people up there drive so a) slowly, and b) basically politely. There are a few local customs that they seem to get ****y about (example- they seem to expect drivers in the rightmost lane to defer to traffic coming up entrance ramps- very odd, but it works if you're used to it). But for the most part, even the left lane stays about the speed limit. Of course that makes for the occasional rolling chicane when cars in all 3 (or more) lanes are doing about the same speed and the leftmost car takes FOREVER to get past the others. I always feel like a barracuda in a koi pond my first few hours up there because when I get in the left lane to pass I feel like I *need* to get to the limit plus 10 at a minimum, and no one else is doing that. |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
N8N wrote:
> On Jun 24, 8:27 am, Brent P > > wrote: >> On 2008-06-24, > wrote: >> >>> the left lane is those exceeding the speed limit? how does that work? >> The left lane is for passing. But starting in the 1970s the joan >> claybrooks of the world decided that limited access highway speed limits >> should be set absurdly low. This then incouraged all the self-rightous >> slow is safe types out there to sit in whatever lane they chose. The >> absurdly low speed limits still exist in many states, others have raised >> speed limits back to what they were in the 1960s, but automotive >> technology has had 40 years of advancement since then. > > And those were 40 *good* years of innovation. Keep in mind that the > typical used car in 1974 had four wheel drum brakes, 6.something-15 > bias ply tires, and a live rear axle. You're a few years off there, Nate. By 74 front drum brakes were EXTREMELY rare (I don't know if they were even available on Chrysler products anymore at that time). And radials were coming into the mainstream too. >Granted, it is still possible > to safely drive such a vehicle on today's roads, I do it all the time ;-) It amazes me that freeway speed limits aren't up close to triple digits. If you think about the progress of technology in the first half of the last century, it was amazing. It was 30 years before "average" cars could do what a 30s Duesenberg could do, and traffic laws moved right along with the technology. But then sometime in the mid 70s the technological progress slowed dramatically, and traffic law went into reverse :-( |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
YES! FINALLY!!!
SINNER wrote:
> * HLS wrote in rec.autos.makers.mazda.miata: > >> "Don Bruder" > wrote in message >>> What kind of brain-dead does a person need to be in order to fail to >>> comprehend that ultra-basic rule of the road? >> Most people here in Texas seem to be brain dead about this, Don. >> Very inconsiderate to hog the passing lane, and dangerous too. >> Police (snort..laugh) do it themselves here, as well as pass you on the >> right >> using the shoulder. >> >> Hope this catches on. >> >> > > On sections of I30 they are starting to keep trucks out of the left lane, This is true of I-35 from north of Austin all the way to south of San Antonio now. Of course it hardly matters because since NAFTA and all the population growth (I'd like to blame it all on Californians moving here, but that's only about 50%) that stretch of 35 is just an 80-mile long parking lot anyway :-p |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Finally got a 5.0 !!! | [email protected] | Ford Mustang | 2 | March 25th 06 09:34 PM |
Finally! | JohnH | Driving | 16 | July 30th 05 12:08 AM |
Finally :-D | Arif Khokar | Driving | 0 | March 6th 05 02:38 AM |
Finally -- GTP | David G Fisher | Simulators | 3 | January 20th 05 06:32 PM |
Finally.. | Thomas Strandtoft | Alfa Romeo | 34 | September 16th 04 09:24 PM |