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Old 06-20-2007, 10:50 PM
 
Location: Cary, NC
110 posts, read 331,977 times
Reputation: 32

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One thing I notice here it that's way more car/pickup oriented than even the congested New Jersey I'm used to. Besides the lack of public transportation, I've never seen so many gas stations all congregated together. In NJ more stations close than new ones open. I'm also surprised by the drive-thru culture here. Not just the banks and fast food restaurants, but the pharmacies and other small stores. I was used to walking to the corner store for milk, or to the bagel shop or what-have-you. And lots of families only have one car since so many people commute into the city by bus or train.

New life, new experiences.
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Old 06-21-2007, 06:22 AM
 
709 posts, read 928,781 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by redhouse View Post
One thing I notice here it that's way more car/pickup oriented than even the congested New Jersey I'm used to. Besides the lack of public transportation, I've never seen so many gas stations all congregated together. In NJ more stations close than new ones open. I'm also surprised by the drive-thru culture here. Not just the banks and fast food restaurants, but the pharmacies and other small stores. I was used to walking to the corner store for milk, or to the bagel shop or what-have-you. And lots of families only have one car since so many people commute into the city by bus or train.

New life, new experiences.
Last saturday morning 22 cars were on a drive thru line at the Fuquay Bojangles fast food joint! 19 cars were waiting at the McDonalds, 13 at the Chickfilet and 11 at the dunkin Donuts!!! How about parking the car and getting your fat rear ends out and walking inside!!!! Oh how did I know this? I was running a 12 mile workout and counted the cars as I ran past these places. Heck some were waiting on line at the bojangles for over 25 mins!!!
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Old 06-21-2007, 06:42 AM
 
142 posts, read 519,609 times
Reputation: 38
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbywan View Post
Last saturday morning 22 cars were on a drive thru line at the Fuquay Bojangles fast food joint! 19 cars were waiting at the McDonalds, 13 at the Chickfilet and 11 at the dunkin Donuts!!! How about parking the car and getting your fat rear ends out and walking inside!!!! Oh how did I know this? I was running a 12 mile workout and counted the cars as I ran past these places. Heck some were waiting on line at the bojangles for over 25 mins!!!
While many questions come to mind when I read this statement, the first is, if you were running past these establishments, how do you know the cars were waiting 25 minutes? Were you running in place?
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Old 06-21-2007, 07:13 AM
 
709 posts, read 928,781 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by jad77 View Post
While many questions come to mind when I read this statement, the first is, if you were running past these establishments, how do you know the cars were waiting 25 minutes? Were you running in place?
I made a loop and had seen the white ram 2500 Pick up at the end of the line he was now number 2 in line almost 25 mins since I had run past the place.

Think out of the box please!
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Old 07-07-2007, 11:49 PM
NCN
 
Location: NC/SC Border Patrol
21,661 posts, read 25,504,682 times
Reputation: 24343
I would think that NASCAR has caused a lot of improvements to cars just by trying out new ideas in order to win. How many other sports (and if you don't think it is a sport, try driving 300 to 600 miles at a time under sometimes trying conditions) have given us new technology for better brakes, safety features on cars, better longer-lasting motors, and better gas mileage. I don't personally care to see a grown-up make his living by chasing a ball around, as in basketball and football. That's all right for children, but after college those professional teams really look bored.
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Old 07-08-2007, 12:08 AM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,415,301 times
Reputation: 10846
Quote:
Originally Posted by urbywan View Post
Anyone else move down here and think about the incredible waste of natural resources when it comes to Nascar racing??

I mean we have gasoline up over 3 bucks a gallon and the stuff comes from parts of the world that hates us and we keep happy motoring??

It really makes no sense.
I don't mind NASCAR - I mean, we could tell all the NFL teams to ride bicycles across the country from game to game and get rid of night games to save energy and resources, but that doesn't mean that NASCAR fans in NC need to emulate their favorite drivers on the road. Hey, idiot in the Dodge Ram with the No. 8 sticker, you are not drafting. You are just tailgating and being a jerk.

Between the drivers and the inept road system, I feared for my life every time I pulled out of my driveway in NC, and I pretty much drive for a living.
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Old 07-08-2007, 12:21 AM
 
Location: Wake Forest
3,124 posts, read 12,636,114 times
Reputation: 743
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
I don't mind NASCAR - I mean, we could tell all the NFL teams to ride bicycles across the country from game to game and get rid of night games to save energy and resources, but that doesn't mean that NASCAR fans in NC need to emulate their favorite drivers on the road. Hey, idiot in the Dodge Ram with the No. 8 sticker, you are not drafting. You are just tailgating and being a jerk.

Between the drivers and the inept road system, I feared for my life every time I pulled out of my driveway in NC, and I pretty much drive for a living.
Other then the drivers having no clue how to handle a four-way stop....I don't find the drivers anyworse then anywhere else....and that includes those in several other countries.
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Old 07-08-2007, 12:43 AM
NCN
 
Location: NC/SC Border Patrol
21,661 posts, read 25,504,682 times
Reputation: 24343
I agree with you about the "drafting" on a public street. I have been driving in North Carolina for more than 40 years, and maybe I am getting older and slower, but I have noticed more tailgateing lately. I agree that anyone who does this is threatening your life. I wish that the police and highway patrol would notice it more. Normally if someone gets too close I just take my foot off the gas until they realize they are too close. The logic to that is that if they hit you in the rear of your car they won't hit too hard, because you are both driving slowly. I have had a lot of drivers lately that just don't get the message. Sunday on the way back from church, I actually pulled into a turn lane until the SUV zoomed by. I had been doing the speed limit, but I guess that was not fast enough for that driver. Any tailgateing car has a bully behind the wheel. They want to intimidate you into going faster. The only way to successfully deal with them is to do the opposite.
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Old 07-08-2007, 01:45 AM
 
Location: ✶✶✶✶
15,218 posts, read 30,415,301 times
Reputation: 10846
Quote:
Originally Posted by Desdemona123 View Post
Other then the drivers having no clue how to handle a four-way stop....
...and running red lights while yammering on their cell phones in their soccer mom mobile at 45 miles an hour, or not understanding that you're supposed to get out of the way when an emergency vehicle is coming behind you...I've had two close calls in these cases that being a couple car lengths away in the wrong direction would lead to this city-data.com account never existing. It almost sounds like some of the people here would prefer it that way, but all the same I'm here to talk about it.

16 states see road deaths slashed - USATODAY.com

I am not making this up - here are the facts. NC has a disproportionate traffic fatalities for its population size. As you can see in the links this was as true in 2003 as in 2006 and there has been much population growth and more traffic without significant upgrades in infrastructure, at least not in the RDU area (I can't find stats on the Triangle proper, but it's pretty safe to assume the second-largest metropolitan area in the state is going to account for its share).

Est. 2006 Population

Texas 23,507,783

North Carolina 8,856,505

New York - 19,306,183

2005 Total Traffic Fatalities (using 2005 stats because Texas' 2006 figures are incomplete)

Texas 3,577 - 1.52

North Carolina 1,558

New York 1,429

How does it work out that more than 100 more people died on North Carolina roads than in New York, which has over twice the population, or that Texas has 2.6 times NC's population but only 2.2 times as many traffic accidents? Keep in mind that Texas has two of the nation's six largest metropolitan areas (Houston, Dallas) and two more that are larger than both the Triangle and Charlotte (San Antonio and Austin). These cities are generally lacking in mass transit and heavily reliant on private transportation, as is the RDU area.

I don't hate NC - just the roads.
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Old 07-08-2007, 07:33 AM
 
709 posts, read 928,781 times
Reputation: 80
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfre81 View Post
...and running red lights while yammering on their cell phones in their soccer mom mobile at 45 miles an hour, or not understanding that you're supposed to get out of the way when an emergency vehicle is coming behind you...I've had two close calls in these cases that being a couple car lengths away in the wrong direction would lead to this city-data.com account never existing. It almost sounds like some of the people here would prefer it that way, but all the same I'm here to talk about it.

16 states see road deaths slashed - USATODAY.com

I am not making this up - here are the facts. NC has a disproportionate traffic fatalities for its population size. As you can see in the links this was as true in 2003 as in 2006 and there has been much population growth and more traffic without significant upgrades in infrastructure, at least not in the RDU area (I can't find stats on the Triangle proper, but it's pretty safe to assume the second-largest metropolitan area in the state is going to account for its share).

Est. 2006 Population

Texas 23,507,783

North Carolina 8,856,505

New York - 19,306,183

2005 Total Traffic Fatalities (using 2005 stats because Texas' 2006 figures are incomplete)

Texas 3,577 - 1.52

North Carolina 1,558

New York 1,429

How does it work out that more than 100 more people died on North Carolina roads than in New York, which has over twice the population, or that Texas has 2.6 times NC's population but only 2.2 times as many traffic accidents? Keep in mind that Texas has two of the nation's six largest metropolitan areas (Houston, Dallas) and two more that are larger than both the Triangle and Charlotte (San Antonio and Austin). These cities are generally lacking in mass transit and heavily reliant on private transportation, as is the RDU area.

I don't hate NC - just the roads.
Poorly designed and poorly maintained. Look at the two lane roads that run thru the triangle. Areas are washed out along the sides if you are driving on the curves the roads are narrow and hey how about them drunks at night! It is a cr@p shoot. Oh sorry the Nascar effect? Nope its a total waste of fuel .
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