WB I-470 into I-435 in the morning (Lee's Summit: living, dangerous)

[lynkd34d]

I have a rant that I must let out, whether anyone here feels my frustration or not, I don't care. But I figured this was as good a place as any.

For the past week or more, from I-470 well into I-435 the majority of drivers on these stated highways have become braindead IDIOTS. Starring, slowing down to gawk at an accident ON THE EASTBOUND SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, purposely delaying traffic behind and causing congestion just so you can look at someone elses misfortune, NOT EVEN ON YOUR SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.

The condition mentioned may not apply to every day of the past week but there has been unnecessary congestion and/or stupid accidents by people driving these highways in the morning. Please for my sanity sake and everyone else on these highways in the morning, drive smarter, stay the hell out of peoples way and if you're not going to at least do the speed limit (posted limit of 65, set your cruise control), move your ass over to the right hand lane, you're only holding up those of us who have somewhere to be, LIKE A JOB, where we're trying to make a living.

[BostonToKC]

This is a free country; if you don't like the idiotic drivers here, then pack up and move. Good luck finding another place without those types of drivers though. They are everywhere....

[joetownmom]

Originally Posted by lynkd34d

I have a rant that I must let out, whether anyone here feels my frustration or not, I don't care. But I figured this was as good a place as any.

For the past week or more, from I-470 well into I-435 the majority of drivers on these stated highways have become braindead IDIOTS. Starring, slowing down to gawk at an accident ON THE EASTBOUND SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, purposely delaying traffic behind and causing congestion just so you can look at someone elses misfortune, NOT EVEN ON YOUR SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.

The condition mentioned may not apply to every day of the past week but there has been unnecessary congestion and/or stupid accidents by people driving these highways in the morning. Please for my sanity sake and everyone else on these highways in the morning, drive smarter, stay the hell out of peoples way and if you're not going to at least do the speed limit (posted limit of 65, set your cruise control), move your ass over to the right hand lane, you're only holding up those of us who have somewhere to be, LIKE A JOB, where we're trying to make a living.

That's new? Whenever I travel through KC using that route, it's always like that!

[lynkd34d]

Originally Posted by BostonToKC

This is a free country; if you don't like the idiotic drivers here, then pack up and move. Good luck finding another place without those types of drivers though. They are everywhere....

Wow people like you really need to think about what they're saying. Free country... to a certain extent, you are still bound by laws and if you cannot abide by them then maybe you need to leave? Impeding the flow of traffic is a ticketable offense and that is exactly what these people are doing, so no you are not 'free' to drive like a moron and impede us from getting to our destination in a timely fashion.

And to the other poster, this way has actually been pretty good and clear in the morning (I drive it between 8am and 9am). What normally is a 25 minute drive into work for me has turned into and hour+ every morning for the past week, maybe you're one of the sheep gawking at accidents on the other side of the highway(i'm going to guess you are at this point since you're making exscuses for these people), or maybe you're one of those people doing 55 in the passing lane. Whatever the case may be, I'd prefer it stop and I know i'm not the only one who feels this way, i just happened to find a place to vent my little rant to.

Thanks for playing!

[kcmo]

Rubbernecking is a national problem. Not just in KC. It's just in people's blood to slow down and look at whatever. I usually lay on my horn and floor it when we get past what ever people are looking at and start weaving in and out of traffic to get around everybody because it takes miles for people to speed back up even after they pass the trouble spot and have plenty of room in front of them to speed back up.

But again, it's pretty normal. Now not being able to get on a freeway and merge? That is a HUGE problem in KC. I have driven in every major city, on nearly every interstate in the country and KC people just can't seem to safely merge onto highways. They try to merge going half the speed of the flow of traffic. Not only is that annoying, it's extremely dangerous.

[lynkd34d]

I hear you on the merging issue, I see it all the time in front of me while getting on the highway and while already on the highway. but its not just the people merging, i've seen people already on the highway purposely speed up, while people trying to merge onto the highway are speeding up and trying to match the speed of the highway traffic and it just ends ugly.

Lets look at the definition of the word merge:
1. to cause to combine or coalesce; unite. 2. to combine, blend, or unite gradually so as to blur the individuality or individual identity of: They voted to merge the two branch offices into a single unit. Source: dictionary.com

Those people speeding up to match the highway traffic are in the right, the guy speeding up so that he doesn't have to be behind this new guy on the highway? wrong. There was a line i remember vaguely from the missouri driving handbook when going for my license it went something like ...expect those around you to continue doing what they're doing... I couldn't help but laugh as that is just not the case at all.

But overall I have seen the problem you speak of, instead of people getting up to speed and merging with the highway traffic they creep down the onramp ever so cautiously then expect everyone to slow down or move over for them, both options are not always an option... People on the highway should be aware of merging traffic but huge adjustments in the pattern of traffic should not be necessary in order to let the newcomers on (i.e. OMG swerve out of the way or slam on my brakes to let this person on).

I suppose i've reached a boiling point with all the stupid activity I do see on the highway, for the better part of a year i've enjoyed the 25 minute drive to work, and for the past week my drive time has pretty much tripled (Lee's Summit, Mo to Lenexa, KS. if anyone was wondering).

[luzianne]

Originally Posted by lynkd34d

I have a rant that I must let out, whether anyone here feels my frustration or not, I don't care. But I figured this was as good a place as any.

For the past week or more, from I-470 well into I-435 the majority of drivers on these stated highways have become braindead IDIOTS. Starring, slowing down to gawk at an accident ON THE EASTBOUND SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY, purposely delaying traffic behind and causing congestion just so you can look at someone elses misfortune, NOT EVEN ON YOUR SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY.

The condition mentioned may not apply to every day of the past week but there has been unnecessary congestion and/or stupid accidents by people driving these highways in the morning. Please for my sanity sake and everyone else on these highways in the morning, drive smarter, stay the hell out of peoples way and if you're not going to at least do the speed limit (posted limit of 65, set your cruise control), move your ass over to the right hand lane, you're only holding up those of us who have somewhere to be, LIKE A JOB, where we're trying to make a living.

My husband would completely agree with you. This bothers him too.

[TabulaRasa]

There will always be people who do the MINIMUM posted speed limit of 45, though. It's not illegal.

I do this drive every morning, too, usually between 7:30 and 8, from Lee's Summit to the Triangle. It's obviously more traffic to drive in than when I lived in the city proper and took city streets to get to my SKC job, and takes 10-15 minutes longer (due to traffic, not distance) but it's really not a big deal to me. The traffic situation is still paradise compared to the last metro I lived in. I've noticed that at my entrance ramp onto WB 470, there's really no way TO accelerate to highway speed...the traffic on the highway itself is not even going highway speed at that point. So you have no choice but to creep on and merge.

I will take issue with the idiot in the white Buick Skylark on the cell phone this morning just gently drifting from lane to lane without signaling or watching, who almost sideswiped me around Hillcrest.

[lynkd34d]

If only we had ways of communicating to those people who do that on the highway. I get on WB470 from pryor rd, what about you?

[TabulaRasa]

From Rt. 50, so not far from there.