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Maybe you can read but you can't write that's for sure. See the highlighted part above. He might as well be going at 45MPH which was the minimum speed limit but because you didn't want to disengage Cruise you came so close and now you are claiming he might as well be going at 15MPH! If you have to solely rely on flashers to realize that the car in front is moving way slower, you better take that defense driving course again! You were at a great distance from him when you realized that he's going "way" slower but still you could not manage to be off and had to pass him on his right on the shoulder/grass!! Let's face it - stupid event 2 was way more stupid than #1.
People said that I did not acknowledge my part in this. However, I did acknowledge that. It just so happened that i did when discussing this with one of the more reasonable posters here. You're just beating a dead horse.
And another thing: if you're claiming good reading comprehension skills then you would have read that I was not at a great distance when I discovered he was going as slow as he was. I'm sorry also that you can not see just how stupid and dangerous it is to be driving on the freeway at such low speeds. It suggests that you do not know what you're talking about. Why not go out and try it? Drive less than 30 with your hazards flashing. You're going to have to do this with hazards that are red, and are weaker than normal to get an accurate test. Do it on a flat highway (no hills or trucks nearby) with fairly heavy traffic going 80+ around you. Until then you are just theorizing about what happened.
Sure its dangerous but sometimes its necessary,whats even more dangerous is guys coming up behind a vehicle obviously having trouble and be so out of touch with the situation that you almost have a collision and end up passing him on the shoulder. Had a cop witnessed this incident it would have been you he would have been talking to not the guy having a car problem, a problem which if you were in the other guys position would probably also have had the 4 ways on and be trying to get the car to the next exit.
I would expect the cop to be talking to me and the other guy. That's his job. What is the problem with the guy driving the car on the nice big wide shoulder, that some call a breakdown lane. What do you think it's there for? That's what I would do, and have done in the past. It's silly for you to try and defend that guy for putting me and my family in danger for no good reason.
You posted a description of the situation in which you were involved, and you asked for opinions.
The opinions that resulted were overwhelmingly NOT in support of your actions.
So...the inevitable question that arises is:
If you have decided to reject the opinions that were given (at your request), why did you ask for them in the first place?
People said that I did not acknowledge my part in this. However, I did acknowledge that. It just so happened that i did when discussing this with one of the more reasonable posters here. You're just beating a dead horse.
And another thing: if you're claiming good reading comprehension skills then you would have read that I was not at a great distance when I discovered he was going as slow as he was. I'm sorry also that you can not see just how stupid and dangerous it is to be driving on the freeway at such low speeds. It suggests that you do not know what you're talking about. Why not go out and try it? Drive less than 30 with your hazards flashing. You're going to have to do this with hazards that are red, and are weaker than normal to get an accurate test. Do it on a flat highway (no hills or trucks nearby) with fairly heavy traffic going 80+ around you. Until then you are just theorizing about what happened.
No I am not beating the dead horse. You still don't want to acknowledge that what you did was more dangerous than what he's doing. Changing numbers from 95-5 to 90-10 doesn't make you look any better. I am sure if you posted this with the "normal" actions that everyone else was taking (by moving to left lane far ahead) you could have had very different discussion.
And nobody said it's OK to drive "normally" at freeway with low speeds. However there are situations. You suggested he could have driven on shoulder. Driving at 40MPH or so at shoulder is even more dangerous. Have you thought about that (considering you were in right lane with cruise on at 74MPH)?
I would expect the cop to be talking to me and the other guy. That's his job. What is the problem with the guy driving the car on the nice big wide shoulder, that some call a breakdown lane. What do you think it's there for? That's what I would do, and have done in the past. It's silly for you to try and defend that guy for putting me and my family in danger for no good reason.
You endangered yourself and your family by pulling that Mad Max maneuver. What you did was more dangerous than what the slow driver was doing. Just admit that you screwed up and never do it again. Why is that so hard? I make stupid mistakes too from time to time... being pig headed doesn't correct anything.
Isn't this thread telling you anything? A jury of your peers has found you, almost unanimously, guilty. The only one willing to defend your gross negligence is the lawyer. Oh, the irony.
You endangered yourself and your family by pulling that Mad Max maneuver. What you did was more dangerous than what the slow driver was doing. Just admit that you screwed up and never do it again. Why is that so hard? I make stupid mistakes too from time to time... being pig headed doesn't correct anything.
Isn't this thread telling you anything? A jury of your peers has found you, almost unanimously, guilty. The only one willing to defend your gross negligence is the lawyer. Oh, the irony.
I guess the real question is, what would have happened had someone been stopped on the shoulder at the time? I do it when I'm riding, be it to adjust straps on helmet/gloves/jacket, to put things away in my backpack if it's going to rain, check a map, etc. Hitting someone on the shoulder because you're trying to avoid someone in the main lanes is an instant way to lose the shirt off your back in a lawsuit. Heaven forbid you kill someone, then you get hit for manslaughter.
Unless you know why the guy was driving slow with his emergency flashers on any defense you come up with is kinda lame, the guy was having an emergency the onus is now on you to appraise the situation and avoid the car having the emergency.. He could have been having a heart attack and his 8 year old kid was trying to get him to a hospital, he could have had a flat, an electrical glitch could have rendered the car incapable of going faster,. granted if there was room on the shoulder he should have been on it but he wasnt so its up to you to safely avoid the car having an emergency,
35 to 45 thousand people a year die on American roads in traffic accidents,usually in almost every situation better judgement could have resulted in better outcomes.
If I were the driver that had his hazard lights on, I would have pulled over to the shoulder as soon as possible and driven on the shoulder. Shoulders were invented to provide a safe haven for people in those sort of situations. If my car couldn't go more than 30, then it certainly would qualify as disabled, and on a 70-80 mph freeway I would be a menace to oncoming traffic, and I would be in danger of being hit by oncoming cars. Why he wasn't in the shoulder is beyond me.
That said, if I were in the OP's place and could see the hazard lights well ahead of time, I would have merged into the left lane if it was possible to do so safely. I've been in that kind of situation, and sometimes, when there is a huge volume of cars merging into the left lane (to avoid the 30 mph car), you can't merge into the left lane. Since I would have to slow down until I reached 30 mph (to avoid hitting the other car), and since it's pretty much impossible to merge into 70 mph traffic whilst going 30, I would pass the other car on the shoulder. It is highly irregular and sometimes dangerous, but in some situations a maneuver like that is necessary to avoid a greater danger or irregularity (such as going 30 mph on a freeway to avoid hitting the disabled car).
Unless you know why the guy was driving slow with his emergency flashers on any defense you come up with is kinda lame, the guy was having an emergency the onus is now on you to appraise the situation and avoid the car having the emergency.. He could have been having a heart attack and his 8 year old kid was trying to get him to a hospital, he could have had a flat, an electrical glitch could have rendered the car incapable of going faster,. granted if there was room on the shoulder he should have been on it but he wasnt so its up to you to safely avoid the car having an emergency,
35 to 45 thousand people a year die on American roads in traffic accidents,usually in almost every situation better judgement could have resulted in better outcomes.
good point. None of us truly know the reason why the driver was going so slow, but it's easy to assume that he/she is oblivious/ ignorant/ unaware and most importantly, "95% at fault"
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