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Old 01-17-2011, 02:43 PM
 
Location: Odessa, FL
2,218 posts, read 4,369,560 times
Reputation: 2942

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...but I don't.

(And no I am not seeking legal advice)

This morning on the way to work with the roads pleasantly light thanks to the MLK holiday, I was traveling down I-75 just inside the perimeter along a stretch that I know GSP patrols heavily. I was going at a speed that kept up with traffic but was perhaps a bit faster than I normally use along this stretch. I will not admit what that speed actually was but it was typical for I-75 on a late workday morning. So you can use your imagination.

I came upon a car that was, shall we say, not keeping up with the flow of traffic. So I moved left to what happened to be the leftmost standard lane (next to the HOV lane). As I looked in my rearview mirror I saw a black car coming up very fast. Now ordinarily I would react by saying "tough" and do my usual speed as I passed the other car. But today for some reason I was in a good mood and decided to get out of the way. So I moved to my right to let Mr. Black-Car-Speed-Demon blow on by.

And he did. I moved back in to the left lane to pass the slower car and as we came up over a rise guess who was lurking on the right shoulder? One GSP patrol car. As I watched I saw the officer get back in his car and pull out in to traffic with lights flashing. He pulled behind Mr. Black-Car-Speed-Demon and the two of them moved over to the shoulder.

My first reaction was "Yes! There is justice." Then I realized that if I had refused to move out of his way he would have been forced to slow down and likely would not have gotten a ticket. So then I felt guilty..... for about 5 seconds.

I did exactly what Mr. Black-Car-Speed-Demon wanted me to do: I got out of his way. And Mr. Black-Car-Speed-Demon ended up with exactly what he deserved. A speeding ticket -- maybe even a Super Speeder speeding ticket.

It also occurred to me that if I had unwisely decided to speed up passing that car to accommodate the Speed Demon behind me, it is likely that I would have been the one to get the speeding ticket. And then I would have been very angry.

 
Old 01-17-2011, 02:59 PM
 
562 posts, read 1,789,953 times
Reputation: 274
Whats your point? I am glad you moved over, and if I was the speed demon than it wold have been my own fault. Personally I hate people that sit in the left lane going 10 over saying I am not going to scoot over for someone going faster. It causes more accidents for the faster person to try to guess if you are going to scoot over or if I have to go around you, and then have to get back in the fast lane. Either way you are both breaking the law and is it going to make that much of a difference if he was going 5 miles faster than you? I doubt it. Now if it was 20 miles faster than you its a different story. But then you also need to take into account so many other factors, type of car, brakes, age of person driving, etc. I can tell you my Porsche with 19" brembo brakes weighing 3000 pounds is going to stop hundreds of feet sooner than a truck weighing 10,000 pounds or even a Camry with normal brakes weighing 5000 pounds.
 
Old 01-17-2011, 03:03 PM
 
32,019 posts, read 36,763,165 times
Reputation: 13290
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecuresident View Post
Whats your point? I am glad you moved over, and if I was the speed demon than it wold have been my own fault. Personally I hate people that sit in the left lane going 10 over saying I am not going to scoot over for someone going faster.
Good grief, how fast do you want to go? The speed limits are for safety, and they apply to everyone, not just some people.

BTW I've owned some pretty bad Porsches but I didn't wind them out on I-75 at rush hour. There are other places for that.
 
Old 01-17-2011, 03:15 PM
 
Location: Odessa, FL
2,218 posts, read 4,369,560 times
Reputation: 2942
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecuresident View Post
It causes more accidents for the faster person to try to guess if you are going to scoot over or if I have to go around you, and then have to get back in the fast lane. Either way you are both breaking the law and is it going to make that much of a difference if he was going 5 miles faster than you? I doubt it. Now if it was 20 miles faster than you its a different story.
The difference in our speeds was closer to 20 than it was to 5. I looked in my side view mirror before taking the lane and he wasn't visible. By the time I got in to the lane he was still a good bit behind me but clearly coming up fast. I was barely out of the lane when he passed me.

"It causes more accidents for the faster person...." Well here's a tip you can use to help avoid those kind of accidents.........

SLOW DOWN!!!

So if you are trying to do 85 and you have an accident with someone doing 70 because he wouldn't move out of your lane that is somehow not your fault???
 
Old 01-17-2011, 03:25 PM
 
562 posts, read 1,789,953 times
Reputation: 274
Quote:
Originally Posted by billl View Post
The difference in our speeds was closer to 20 than it was to 5. I looked in my side view mirror before taking the lane and he wasn't visible. By the time I got in to the lane he was still a good bit behind me but clearly coming up fast. I was barely out of the lane when he passed me.

"It causes more accidents for the faster person...." Well here's a tip you can use to help avoid those kind of accidents.........

SLOW DOWN!!!

So if you are trying to do 85 and you have an accident with someone doing 70 because he wouldn't move out of your lane that is somehow not your fault???
No, I am not saying it isnt your fault, I am just saying it causes accidents. Any idiot can drive fast in a straight line, so help that idiot out. Getting in his way isnt going to slow him down, just cause him to slam on his brakes, go around you and speed back up. The left lane is supposed to be a passing lane, but no one seems to understand that here, and wants to "police" the faster drivers by staying in that lane and going slower. And yes I do drive fast, normally around 80 mph on the interstate, but thats not that much faster than the majority of people are going anyway. And I agree that it isnt the best place to "open it up" during rush hour, which I dont do, because where the the heck are you going to go, the average speed is like 40 mph, so you cant even go 90mph.

Last edited by ecuresident; 01-17-2011 at 03:27 PM.. Reason: add
 
Old 01-17-2011, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Odessa, FL
2,218 posts, read 4,369,560 times
Reputation: 2942
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecuresident View Post
No, I am not saying it isnt your fault, I am just saying it causes accidents. Any idiot can drive fast in a straight line, so help that idiot out.
Well if anything this proves that I shouldn't feel guilty.

Generally I do stay out of the fast lane if I'm not passing. But if I am passing and someone behind me wants to pass faster, I tend to have little sympathy or understanding.

That was clearly the case this morning.
 
Old 01-17-2011, 03:41 PM
 
562 posts, read 1,789,953 times
Reputation: 274
Totally agree, if you are passing. The problem is the number of people that arent, that stay in that lane, or take 3 miles to pass!

Last edited by ecuresident; 01-17-2011 at 03:41 PM.. Reason: add
 
Old 01-17-2011, 04:07 PM
 
528 posts, read 1,283,521 times
Reputation: 274
Default When I was down there in November, I had to laugh at all the signs that say

"Keep Moving" when you are merging onto the expressway, interstate, whatever you call it. I have heard that people just come to a dead stop instead of merge in when they have a lane. That would annoy me!

PS I wouldn't have felt guilty in the least. As a matter of fact, I would have waved and smiled as I drove by!
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