Utah Driver's Award (Washington: how much, buy, legal)

[dcisive]

Yeah, another brain dead Utah driver rant. Sorry. Here I am on the new Moutainview Corridor highway once again at 6am in the morning. So here's a pickup truck in the right lane and a small car blocking the left lane pacing the pickup truck. I'm coming on behind him in which you would think he would automatically move over to the right to let oncoming traffic moving faster to get by. Nope not a chance. So I gave him the double flash which is known throughout the world to "please get over" and of course this guy not only doesn't get over, continues to pace the pickup to his right and taps his brakes just to pi$$ me off some more. Yeah...that's how they roll in Utah. They either drive like someone on Meth or self police the road as if it were their own to make some kind of retarded point. It just never ends.......Please let me win the lotto so I can move out of this absurd place and find some people who actually deserve a drivers license

[Lamborgotti]

Why is it that the biggest whiners tend to also be the worst drivers?

[Chango]

I say just treat driving in Salt Lake like a fast-paced, exciting adventure that might result in your (or my) death and therefore fun.

Also remember it's legal to keep a pistol in your glove box here, potentially making your daily commute seem even more like a Hollywood movie.

[TCAS007]

I agree I hate drivers who go on the left or middle lane the whole time.
Although I also hate (and you know that) drivers that always go too fast and think they can just pull on the left lane and everyone has to kneel and let them pass.
Most times they gain nothing at all or have to take an exit 1 mile later so they city through traffic from the far left lane right into the exit.

So I hate those 2 kind of drivers!

Having a dashcam helps in case you get into an accident.

And I hate tailgaters. Forgot about those.

[kavm]

I must admit that in addition to those who hog the left and middle lane, I also highly dislike those who use the double flash. I do not see it as "please get over" but as "get the ?&^# out of my way'. My answer to them is to go about doing what I am doing - just a bit more slowly to show that I understood their impatience and poor manners.

The road is a shared resource - and if you want consideration you might start by showing it to others. If someone is continuously hogging the left lane - even in presence of others who wish to go faster - that is very inconsiderate and justifiable recipient of the double flash. But, there are times where someone slower than you is in the left lane trying to pass one or more vehicles that are even slower. In such cases, your desire to go faster does not trump their need to pass - particularly as one is often talking about degrees of speed above the posted limit.

All that said, I'd happily agree to German style enforcement where you get the speeding ticket for hogging the left lane.

PS: The scenario the OP describe seems one where the car driver was perhaps being inconsiderate - though it does depend on how much notice they had to take corrective action to respond to OPs need to go faster. So, at least to me, it does depend on how quick the OP was on the double flash...

[SusVelo]

I was walking out of work the other day and tried to tell someone gabbing on their phone that their headlights were off, twice as they circled and passed back. They ended up behind me to get on the freeway, and got pulled over for still having their headlights off (way at night) so that made my night.

Had a co-worker get hit crossing the street by a car that was stopped at the light, and then just started going. he rolled off the hood, they stopped for a second, then took off.

[dcisive]

KAVM I think you missed my point. Recently the UHP were instructed to pull over and ticket drivers who sit in the left lane impeding drivers wishing to pass. This applies to I-15, I-80 and the Mountain View Corridor now. What I stated was the annoying driver was sitting in the left lane "PACING" the one in the right lane at the exact same speed, they were in no way trying to pass the driver in the right lane. I double flashed them (which by the way is an international symbol not anything intended to annoy) letting them know to move it along or get to the right (which truly is where they belonged). If you're intent is just to pi$$ people off you'll probably succeed...this is after all Utah...home of the MOST unskilled drivers in the country.

[kavm]

dcisive - No offense intended. I am glad to hear of the UHP instruction; that said, I have never seen cops pull over anyone on the highway for infractions other than speeding. Frankly, I'd rather given in to speed cameras if that the forced cops to focus on moving violations - including impeding traffic.

Speaking of moving violations, the worst offenders and menace on the road are folks talking on the cell phones and driving. The performance of these drivers is impaired in a fashion not dissimilar to DUI. Yet, hardly any legislature in the nation has the slightest inclination to make it a moving violation.

I do see your point about the situation - and was not siding with the offending driver. I did want to point out that sometimes slower vehicles need to pass even slower vehicles and their need is not secondary to others. Sometimes people use double flash as some kind of right of way, and that's not right. I have driven in many countries. Germany is definitely one where one'd get double flashed from half a km away when driving at more than 200 km/hr!

[berger123]

There are bad drivers everywhere not just in Utah. I have seen horrible drivers in Nevada, California, Washington, Nebraska, etc. pretty much everywhere. BTW if you don't enjoy driving find routes through UTA whether bus or Trax so you don't have to drive as much. I cut my driving in half and its saving me over $100 a month.

[dcisive]

What I did was buy a hybrid camry. At an average of 43mpg and near zero pollution I'm doing my part ;-)