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Western North Carolina The Mountain Region including Asheville
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Old 01-04-2013, 07:33 AM
 
Location: Fairview
411 posts, read 609,621 times
Reputation: 724

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This is a "public service message" for folks visiting from flatter parts of the country.

I drive an hour each way, to and from work, on a narrow, windy road. Every day, I get behind someone, from either Georgia or Florida, who is inexperienced with mountain driving and is needing to take it very slowly. That's just fine, because I know that winding around those precipitous drops can be scary.

I just want to let those drivers know that it is proper mountain etiquette to pull over and allow faster traffic to pass. In fact, the road I use provides plenty of pull-outs that were made specifically for that purpose. Nevertheless, I routinely get get behind someone who is doing half the posted speed limit, refuses to move over, and holds a parade of cars hostage for many, many miles.

Perhaps you are on vacation, but other folks are on that road to get somewhere...work, for example! I know locals can seem really rude when they're right up on your bumper, but they're encouraging you to move aside and are finding YOU extremely rude for not doing so.

I'm writing this because I've asked my Florida friend why this always happens, and she told me that moving over for traffic was not part of what she was taught when she was growing up, so it's not obvious to her that that's what she's expected to do.

Please, let's all be courteous and work together out there so that we all can get where we're going in a safe and timely manner.
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Old 01-04-2013, 07:43 AM
 
Location: Greenville, SC/Greensboro, NC
1,997 posts, read 4,585,209 times
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This is a great post - I would also include South Carolinians (to those from GA and FL) that drive "up the mountain".
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Old 01-04-2013, 04:07 PM
 
Location: Western NC
119 posts, read 172,438 times
Reputation: 94
I agree, but would have to add Elderly folks as well.
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Old 01-04-2013, 08:38 PM
 
Location: Weaverville
358 posts, read 782,192 times
Reputation: 723
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christine7910 View Post
I agree, but would have to add Elderly folks as well.

Perhaps you would like to include the handicapped and funeral processions to the list

How about if we were all a little more courteous on the road irrespective of where you are from, even if you're from right here
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Old 01-04-2013, 09:18 PM
 
Location: The 12th State
22,974 posts, read 65,292,087 times
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I wonder what happen to that poster who was new to mountain driving and said she would drive on the opposie of road so she not to close to edge of the mountain.

Unless there on an interstate there is no minimum speed limit.
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Old 01-05-2013, 03:18 AM
 
5,126 posts, read 7,370,746 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnyKayak View Post
I wonder what happen to that poster who was new to mountain driving and said she would drive on the opposite of road so she not to close to edge of the mountain.
Maybe this explains how often I drive into a curve, only to be met with an oncoming driver on the wrong side of the road who then swerves wildly back into their lane?

This happens all the time in the mountains and it infuriates me. I don't feel like dying in a head-on collision because some idiot refuses to stay on the right side of the road.

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Old 01-05-2013, 05:04 AM
 
2,314 posts, read 1,838,924 times
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I came from an extremely flat-land state and had no experience driving in the mountains but I still do the speed limit. On the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) there were only a few curves that I didn't expect were that tight, but you just brake a little before the curve and away you go. Tailgaters infuriate me, but it's usually not me they're doing it to. However, I had a tailgater behind me not to long ago and he was expecting me to move over when there was someone on my right. I was doing well over the posted speed limit, also. He flashed his lights and beeped at me when he was able to finally get past me, like I was purposely trying to hold him up. I get mad at people who drive like idiots, but I don't tailgate. If that person slams on their brakes and you hit them, you're at fault.
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Old 01-05-2013, 07:28 AM
 
5,126 posts, read 7,370,746 times
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I have wondered for years why tailgating isn't declared a violation deserving of a ticket.

The drivers handbook clearly says you should have one car length per 10 MPH between you and the car in front. The driver in front could get whiplash if they are struck from behind because the tailgating fool couldn't stop fast enough.

I really wish cops could give tickets for tailgating.
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Old 01-05-2013, 07:49 AM
 
Location: In the realm of possiblities
2,707 posts, read 2,825,688 times
Reputation: 3280
I know different terrain, and circumstance dictates driving ettiquite, but where I used to work, we were at a CDL class and asked the State Trooper about moving to the right of the white line on the side of the road to let people pass. He said the law was to not move to the right of the white line just to let someone pass, only for emergency. He did say, though, that that was a hazy area that was usually left up to the discretion of the police. That could possibly be why folks are reluctant to move over just to let others by. I know i've been driving behind people that are forcing me to not make it somewhere on time, and in front of people that I'm certain I am doing the same to, and I have come to the conclusion that frustration is a part of life. Sorta like in philosophy, the ying, and the yang, or as Dad used to tell me, " Son, just take the bitter with the sweet. That's life." He just never told me the bitter could sometimes be like eating a green persimmon.
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Old 01-05-2013, 08:07 AM
 
Location: Santa Fe, NM
679 posts, read 1,453,632 times
Reputation: 1115
Quote:
Originally Posted by SunnyKayak View Post
I wonder what happen to that poster who was new to mountain driving and said she would drive on the opposie of road so she not to close to edge of the mountain.

Unless there on an interstate there is no minimum speed limit.
Not exactly. There is a law on the books called "impeding the flow of traffic." It is not enforced often, but it has been for people that are driving at an unreasonable speed, causing traffic to stack up.

By default, that is the minimum speed is, S20-141(h)"No person shall operate a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic."

Every state I have lived in has a similar law, so people from other states should also be familiar with it.

As far as people obliterating the center line, that is not limited to mountain roads. It is rare that I drive anywhere that I don't run into somebody well over the double yellow line.

Last edited by The Mule; 01-05-2013 at 08:31 AM..
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