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OP, you so understand what speed LIMIT means, right?
Also, you don't get to pick which lane you want to drive in. Unless posted otherwise, you're supposed to keep right except to pass. No one does, and it's never enforced, but that IS the law in most places.
My wife and I developed a survival strategy for driving on the roads around D.C., which had some of the most rude, aggressive drivers I've ever been around: Just assume that everyone else thinks their time is more valuable than yours, and the rules apply to everybody but them. When you do that, all the idiocy on the roads starts to make sense.
I rear-ended a woman once who was approaching the intersection just as the light was turning yellow. I didn't feel I had enough time to slow down safely, so I was going to follow her through the yellow. (I wasn't speeding up to run the yellow; I was just close enough to the intersection that I would have had to brake hard to stop without ending up in the middle of the intersection.) At the very last second, she slams on her brakes and comes to a complete stop, with her car sitting halfway through the intersection. I braked and swerved to try to miss her, but I still ended up clipping her bumper.
Same exact situation happened to me. My first and only accident (that was my fault). I was approaching an intersection and it turned yellow as I was in the crosswalk and the Asian lady in front of me was already at the crosswalk under the light when the second it turned yellow, she slammed on her brakes and came to a complete stop. I braked but it was raining and pointless, I just slid into her bumper.. I wanted to bang my head. A guy across the street saw it and came up to me laughing saying he couldn't believe what he saw. She barely spoke English and said something along the lines of "opps, was I not supposed to do that?".
I had followed at a correct distance but my downfall was not expecting someone to stop on yellow at the other side of the intersection.
The OP is from Connecticut. The Merritt was clearly not designed to handle the volume of traffic it experiences on a daily basis in the present. Due to where I generally go in Connecticut, fortunately I'm able to take I-84 (Merritt and I-95 are just too much of a cluster to retain sanity). I-84 in Connecticut has some of the clearest signage of any interstate I drive on its three lane spans. Left lane is clearly labeled for passing, the middle for traveling, and the right for slow traffic. If you are in the far left lane and not passing, you are breaking the law to the same extent as a speeder in the far right.
Please disregard those complaining about "aggressive" drivers in D.C. and its surroundings. It is not uncommon to be on I-270 or I-70 in a 20-car daisy chain due to the one person invariably from Pennsylvania who refuses to move right. Due to the fact that states can no longer afford to expand interstate highways, the only way to move traffic through the present infrastructure is to pass "left lane passing only" laws, which many states have done. From my experience, it works phenomenally in Colorado. Another state which I give high marks for their "a$$ in gear" driving acumen (Georgia) is taking the legislation a step further. Left lane lubbers beware:
Some times it is the state's fault. I am curious as to why I-70 in Maryland has "Slower Traffic Keep Right" signs posted on the far right. Aren't you just preaching to the choir? But if you have cars stacked up behind you in the left lane and have nowhere to go in a hurry, perhaps you should evaluate why you are on a controlled-access highway and just not driving on the U.S. Highway that parallels the route of every interstate in the country.
I was driving along I-95 south of Fairfield cruising ~65-70 today. Then, the right and middle lane was full of drivers who were going 45-50. Then in the left lane you had this truck going 60. Every half mile, the truck tapped the brakes to 50MPH and slowed a half mile of traffic. Why do people drive so slow? Same on the Merritt also, the right lane moves 45-50 although the left lane moves 80-90 but brakes constantly because a moron merges going 45.
most truckers have radar detector, maybe troopers are hard on truckers over the limit.
What were the road conditions like? I have a small car, and there are still frosty mornings where I live. That equates to a spin-out if you are going too fast for the conditions. I don't drive any slower than I have to to control my car. Yet, the big cars go whirling past me like I'm a turtle on the Indy 500. Got to remember that there are other people out there who are going as fast as they can.
Same exact situation happened to me. My first and only accident (that was my fault). I was approaching an intersection and it turned yellow as I was in the crosswalk and the Asian lady in front of me was already at the crosswalk under the light when the second it turned yellow, she slammed on her brakes and came to a complete stop. I braked but it was raining and pointless, I just slid into her bumper.. I wanted to bang my head. A guy across the street saw it and came up to me laughing saying he couldn't believe what he saw. She barely spoke English and said something along the lines of "opps, was I not supposed to do that?".
I had followed at a correct distance but my downfall was not expecting someone to stop on yellow at the other side of the intersection.
I understand your frustration but if the person in front of you is able to stop you should be as well. If you did not or could not you are at fault. She made a mistake but you made another and even bigger.
What were the road conditions like? I have a small car, and there are still frosty mornings where I live. That equates to a spin-out if you are going too fast for the conditions. I don't drive any slower than I have to to control my car. Yet, the big cars go whirling past me like I'm a turtle on the Indy 500...
We didn't have ice on the roads for awhile, then suddenly did...
All those idiots zooming past got into accidents. Something like 150 or 200 accidents in ONE day!
But yes, I DO also slow down to a safe speed depending on weather conditions. Fog, ice, heavy rain, poor visibility, etc.
If the speed limit is 65 MPH and its raining or snowing or has rained or snowed recently and the road is wet then the safe speed limit is probably a good 10 or 15 MPH lower than what is posted. Only an idiot or a novice driver would be going too fast for conditions. Likewise vehicle condition plays a part, bad tires means a greater chance of hydroplaning, skidding or being unable to stop in time if you brake. Visibility and darkness also are a factor. Overall traffic congestion and safe braking distances come into play.
As a rule of thumb you should go no less than 10 MPH lower than the speed limit again depending on road conditions.
The main rule of thumb is that if you text and drive or talk on a cell phone while driving, you should have your thumbs broken.
What i dont understand (especially in my town) is people who drive like 30-35 in a 45 then when the limit drops down to 30 they speed up to 45-50.
You must be driving the same roads as me. Out of town, where the limit on the highway is 50 or 55, they drive 35-40. Then we get to a town where the limit is either 25 or 35, they speed up to 45. WTH?
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