To the Oregon drivers who get stuck behind me while I drive the speed limit. (Portland: maintenance, moving)

[Regajohn]

Originally Posted by texasdiver

Be happy you don't live in Texas which has the most insane speeders and speed limits of any place I've lived.

Love West Texas (and Eastern Montana) ... Set the cruse on 106 {car's "sweet spot "} and watch the miles fly by.

Excessive speeding on congested / urban highways is of course irresponsible. As is blocking traffic in the left lane.

As a side note, the speed limits in urban Texas are not 85 miles an hour.

[Tall Traveler]

Originally Posted by Regajohn

Love West Texas (and Eastern Montana) ... Set the cruse on 106 {car's "sweet spot "} and watch the miles fly by.

Excessive speeding on congested / urban highways is of course irresponsible. As is blocking traffic in the left lane.

As a side note, the speed limits in urban Texas are not 85 miles an hour.

Why so slow? I drive a BMW 7 series that's designed to run all day long at that speed and faster....if there is little traffic, why do you control freaks care how fast I drive?

[Vic Romano]

Originally Posted by ThanksABunch

Inspired after driving a lot of hours in the Portland metro area lately. Sigh

Dear fast drivers,

I'm really sorry to be such a nuisance by forcing you to obey the traffic laws and possibly making you 10.5 seconds late to wherever you are supposed to be. But I have a few reasons for doing this, even though I know how annoying it can be:

1. I have kids in the car with me usually and their lives are more valuable than your time. Sorry.
2. When I'm alone, those same kids are at home waiting for me and I'm responsible for them. So, I'd prefer to not be wiped out in some senseless car wreck just because you are are impatient and really want me to drive faster so you can get to your "whatever stuff you have to do" thing a little faster.
3. Speeding tickets, as I'm sure you know first-hand, are not cheap and I'd rather not pay for one that you were supposed to get simply because you wanted me to join you in breaking the law. I'd probably get stopped before you since I'm in front...so I'm sorry but I'm not willing to pay for your mistake.
4. As much as it seems like I'm driving the speed limit just to personally annoy you, I can assure you that there is no ulterior motive whatsoever behind this decision. It really has nothing to do with you and it never will. It was a decision I made long before you pulled up angrily behind me a few inches from my liscence plate. I didn't just choose to suddenly obey the law right when you showed up. It's not about you.
5. Slow down. Life's too precious.

OK, what do you drive, a Prius or a Forester???

It's not about you.

That cuts both ways...

[shadowclaw]

What an interesting post... coming from the east coast, I've found that Oregon drivers on I-5 between Albany and Portland drive very slow. Lots of people not even driving the speed limit in the right lane, and people holding up the left lanes driving about 2 mph faster than the right lane. Only drove on the interstates immediately around Portland a few times, but every time there's been so much traffic I was extremely lucky if I could reach the speed limit.

Also, what is with the roads here in Oregon? I-5 is so loud that I have trouble hearing the radio without blasting it. Someone suggested it was because Oregon drivers use studded tires in winter and destroy the roads, but I don't know if I believe that.

I also just want to say that those Texas speed limits are awesome... I just wish that I could have gone that fast when making the trip out here! I feel like the speed limit in New Mexico or Nevada was also 80, but I don't quite remember now. I had a canoe and kayak on top of my vehicle, and a ton of stuff loading it down. If I drove over 65 or 70, it was bad news (plus extremely loud from air getting caught under the canoe).

Vic Romano... what do you have against Foresters? My Forester regularly hauls on I-5 no problem. Then again, just the other night a Forester came up fast behind me, passed me when I moved over, and then dropped below the speed limit for no reason.

[backdrifter]

Originally Posted by shadowclaw

What an interesting post... coming from the east coast, I've found that Oregon drivers on I-5 between Albany and Portland drive very slow. Lots of people not even driving the speed limit in the right lane, and people holding up the left lanes driving about 2 mph faster than the right lane. Only drove on the interstates immediately around Portland a few times, but every time there's been so much traffic I was extremely lucky if I could reach the speed limit.

Also, what is with the roads here in Oregon? I-5 is so loud that I have trouble hearing the radio without blasting it. Someone suggested it was because Oregon drivers use studded tires in winter and destroy the roads, but I don't know if I believe that.

I also just want to say that those Texas speed limits are awesome... I just wish that I could have gone that fast when making the trip out here! I feel like the speed limit in New Mexico or Nevada was also 80, but I don't quite remember now. I had a canoe and kayak on top of my vehicle, and a ton of stuff loading it down. If I drove over 65 or 70, it was bad news (plus extremely loud from air getting caught under the canoe).

Vic Romano... what do you have against Foresters? My Forester regularly hauls on I-5 no problem. Then again, just the other night a Forester came up fast behind me, passed me when I moved over, and then dropped below the speed limit for no reason.

Oregon and Washington both allow studded tires even though they are terrible for the roads and they are not any more useful than regular studless winter tires. Personally, I don't even use winter tires. If I had to go over the Cascades regularly I would probably switch to winter tires, but all-seasons are fine here 99% of the time. I cringe whenever I hear the studded tires around here and that is rather frequently. I wish they would just ban the studded tires already.

Ditto what you said about the people going 2 MPH faster in the passing lane. I drive down to Southern Oregon frequently and that drives me nuts. If it's not a car, it's a semi passing another semi. They seem to see you speeding up and that's when they decide to pass the car in front of them too, right before you pass them.

[Podo944]

Originally Posted by zed42

The driver in the left lane was breaking the law by not yielding, the left lane is for passing only in most states. The only problem is that you also broke the law by flashing your lights at him.

Well, I'll be darned. Thanks Hall Monitor!

[KaaBoom]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

Ditto what you said about the people going 2 MPH faster in the passing lane. I drive down to Southern Oregon frequently and that drives me nuts. If it's not a car, it's a semi passing another semi. They seem to see you speeding up and that's when they decide to pass the car in front of them too, right before you pass them.

Oh my favorite. One triple trailer in the left lane doing 40 mph, passing another triple trailer in the right lane doing 35 mph. I wish they would just make it a law that those guys have to stay in the right lane at all times. I would rather have to deal with yielding to them when entering the interstate, then having to deal with trucks moving back and forth between lanes, and blocking the left lane.

[Soup Nazi]

Originally Posted by shadowclaw

Also, what is with the roads here in Oregon? I-5 is so loud that I have trouble hearing the radio without blasting it. Someone suggested it was because Oregon drivers use studded tires in winter and destroy the roads, but I don't know if I believe that.

That noise was the first thing I noticed upon arriving in the Portland metro area. I could hear the traffic on I-5 from my son's house. It's the pavement. You know how when they pave the roads back east, that layer that goes on before the tar is applied? That is what the roads around Portland are paved with. They are missing the tar layer that makes it smooth and quiet. Maybe it has something to do with the weather?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by backdrifter

....... they are not any more useful than regular studless winter tires. ....... I wish they would just ban the studded tires already........

You forgot to add "in Portland".

Winter tires are advertised as "good in most snow conditions". We don't drive in a lot of "snow conditions" east of the Cascades. We drive on a lot of black ice. Winter tires are not so good on black ice.

But of course, Portlanders who don't need studs are eventually going to ban studs everywhere in Oregon, and that will cause hardship and more frequent deaths on the East side. That won't matter even a tiny bit to the progressives in Portland because they are completely indifferent to how their new laws affect people who don't live in Portland. I suspect that they aren't really aware that people live outside of Portland and that those people live under different conditions.

So, do me a favor. If you want to ban studded tires, just ban them in the Willamette Valley and leave the people who depend on them alone.

[urbanlife78]

Originally Posted by Soup Nazi

That noise was the first thing I noticed upon arriving in the Portland metro area. I could hear the traffic on I-5 from my son's house. It's the pavement. You know how when they pave the roads back east, that layer that goes on before the tar is applied? That is what the roads around Portland are paved with. They are missing the tar layer that makes it smooth and quiet. Maybe it has something to do with the weather?

I believe it prevents the roads from being slick when it rains, though I am not 100% sure.