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He had his hazards on, what more could have been done?
He could get the hell off the freeway, or at least onto the shoulder.
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Originally Posted by iTsLiKeAnEgG
If you were able to see the vehicle that far ahead and still had a near collision regardless of what the other vehicle is doing I'd say the bigger issue is how you are driving. From your description of this event it seems like there was plenty of time to slow down until you have passed the other vehicle. It's just part of safe driving. You may come across a disabled vehicle, a drunk driver, a mattress or any number of other things and all you can rely is your driving to keep you safe. It's rare that we know for certain what the issue is with the other vehicle but we do know for certain that we have plenty of space to slow down until we pass the hazard.
Freeway driving particularly in dense traffic involves a lot of scanning in directions other than forward to continually assess the situation around you. A minimum speed limit creates a certain expectation of how quickly closing distances between you and slower vehicles will shrink, and consequently, when it is safe to scan mirrors/periphery/etc. versus when the situation requires you to focus all or substantially all of your attention on what's in front of you. Someone driving well below the minimum speed limit is distorting that expectation.
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Originally Posted by rbohm
most states allow for driving under the minimum speed limit as long as said driver has their hazard flashers on.
I'd like to see a few statutory citations for this claim. There's a reason why farm implements/mopeds/etc. are generally not permitted on freeways. If you're not gonna drive freeway speeds, you don't belong on the freeway. Using your hazards doesn't change that equation.
Freeway driving particularly in dense traffic involves a lot of scanning in directions other than forward to continually assess the situation around you. A minimum speed limit creates a certain expectation of how quickly closing distances between you and slower vehicles will shrink, and consequently, when it is safe to scan mirrors/periphery/etc. versus when the situation requires you to focus all or substantially all of your attention on what's in front of you. Someone driving well below the minimum speed limit is distorting that expectation.
Living in the Bay Area with a daily commute from San Bruno to San Mateo I have a pretty good idea of what it takes to drive in dense traffic. I don't know anyone who is more aware of surrounding traffic than I am. I scan all three rear facing mirrors and the view out of my windows on a consistent basis (multiple times a minute). I generally spot police cruisers when they are well behind/in front of me. If I am approaching a vehicle that is moving in a strange manner (whether speed or anything else) my immediate focus is on that vehicle and the road in front of me.
Just had a little adventure driving home saturday after Thanksgiving. We were heading northbound on I-95 in South Carolina. The speed limit there is 70/45 (45 in the minimum speed). We were on cruise control going about 74 in the right lane. Cars were passing at 80+ on the left. Everything's going great. I notice there is a car in the right lane a great distance in front of us. He looks to be driving slow. I start planning to move left to pass him. I have to wait for the car passing me to finish passing before I can get over. Then I become aware that we are getting closer to the car much quicker than normal. Finally, we get close enough to tell he has his hazards on and he's going way below the minimum of 45. Of course, by the time I figured this out, I have to slam on my brakes super hard! I realize that I'm not going to be able to stop in time. I get ready to whip around him on the shoulder. He seems to see us and jerks the car toward the shoulder too, but then he changes his mind and stays right where he is. I go right ahead and release my brakes and coast around him, half on the shoulder, half on the grass, because I could not be sure he wouldn't still go for the shoulder. We rolled right around him, still going 40 or so, pulled right back on the freeway andf kept right on going. I yelled some obscenities, and the rest of the trip was fine. My question is, what in Sam Hill makes people think that putting the hazards on makes it okay to drive 30 mph, or whatever speed on the highway they want? I hope they pulled over and called a tow truck. I didn't see any news about a fiery crash in SC, so I guess they're okay.
You were going faster than the limit--and not unintentionally (cruise control). You also mentioned later that the driving conditions weren't perfect (That is, you mentioned something about the brightness of the morning sun and how it prevented you from noticing the blinking hazard lights until you were too close). This might be an occasion where you let go of the other driver's "limitations" and remind yourself that you weren't right either. Why complain about the other driver if you yourself weren't above reproach?
Last edited by johnniemae; 11-26-2012 at 05:50 PM..
Reason: accuracy
You don't think driving 30 mph on the freeway is dangerous?
It is quite dangerous, but even so you should have been able to figure out that you were closing fast and adjust accordingly without having to make your wacky shoulder maneuver, hazards visible or not. He could have just pulled out into the traffic from being stopped. Or a truck on a hill climb could be going that slow fairly easily. It's not that unusual a situation.
The moment you became aware that you were closing quicker than normal you should have been slowing down if you weren't going to have a clear path to the left lane. It's that simple. The idea that you kept going the same speed with the cruise on after knowing that is ridiculous. Of course I see cars doing this all the time, closing to unsafe distances at high speed in the right lane before moving over to pass (or before being stuck there because the left lane was blocked). A wrong move doing that is much closer to a wreck than if you leave more space and/or slow down if you can't move over, as your situation demonstrated quite well.
You were going faster than the limit--and not unintentionally (cruise control). You also mentioned later that the driving conditions weren't perfect (That is, you mentioned something about the brightness of the morning sun and how it prevented you from noticing the blinking hazard lights until you were too close). This might be an occasion where you let go of the other driver's "limitations" and remind yourself that you weren't right either. Why complain about the other driver if you yourself weren't above reproach?
Okay. I'll take 5% of the blame. 95% is enough reason to complain. I was driving safely along the road when the other guy created a dangerous situation. I did not cause him to drive in an unsafe manner.
It is quite dangerous, but even so you should have been able to figure out that you were closing fast and adjust accordingly without having to make your wacky shoulder maneuver, hazards visible or not. He could have just pulled out into the traffic from being stopped. Or a truck on a hill climb could be going that slow fairly easily. It's not that unusual a situation.
There were no hills or trucks going slow. It would be very unusual to see what I saw. I didn't start driving yesterday, you know. I've been driving safely for many years. It is quite unusual to see what I saw.
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The moment you became aware that you were closing quicker than normal you should have been slowing down if you weren't going to have a clear path to the left lane. It's that simple. The idea that you kept going the same speed with the cruise on after knowing that is ridiculous. Of course I see cars doing this all the time, closing to unsafe distances at high speed in the right lane before moving over to pass (or before being stuck there because the left lane was blocked). A wrong move doing that is much closer to a wreck than if you leave more space and/or slow down if you can't move over, as your situation demonstrated quite well.
If you read what I wrote, you would see that I began preparing to move over when I first saw him. In normal freeway driving, there is no need to kick off the cruise control for someone going above the minimum speed. The guy next to me, plus another car behind him, were passing me. Once they got by me, it is a simple maneuver over to the other lane and around them. However, this was a car going very slowly, with hazards flashing, but not very visibly. The time to react was cut drastically by the extremely low speed that they were going. They should have pulled over and called for help. I can't believe some of you think it's okay to drive extremely slow on the highway as long as you have your flashers on. I did nothing to cause this situation whatsoever. It was the guy who thought, "I can drive 5 miles to the next exit, at 30 mph (estimated) since I have my flashers on. Everyone will easily see me and just go around me." I can't believe you're telling me that that is reasonable.
If you read what I wrote, you would see that I began preparing to move over when I first saw him. In normal freeway driving, there is no need to kick off the cruise control for someone going above the minimum speed. The guy next to me, plus another car behind him, were passing me. Once they got by me, it is a simple maneuver over to the other lane and around them. However, this was a car going very slowly, with hazards flashing, but not very visibly. The time to react was cut drastically by the extremely low speed that they were going. They should have pulled over and called for help. I can't believe some of you think it's okay to drive extremely slow on the highway as long as you have your flashers on. I did nothing to cause this situation whatsoever. It was the guy who thought, "I can drive 5 miles to the next exit, at 30 mph (estimated) since I have my flashers on. Everyone will easily see me and just go around me." I can't believe you're telling me that that is reasonable.
I'm not telling you that is reasonable. I'm telling you that despite the unreasonable actions of the other driver your reaction was inadequate. Being prepared for the unreasonable keeps you out of a wreck.
Hey, you still made it without crashing, I'm glad you did. And the guy was wrong to drive 30 on the interstate, I get that too. I don't disagree with that one bit. What I disagree with is that the other car alone was responsible for your only possible move being going around it on the right. You should not have been in a scenario where you could not slow to the speed of the car you were closing on.
I would venture that the cruise control played into this a fair bit. Cruise control seems to make some people do stupid things in the name of not deactivating the cruise. One is passing cars at a speed differential of about 1 mph so it takes several minutes to go around one car. Another is something like what you did here, closing too fast towards a slow-moving vehicle.
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I'm telling you that despite the unreasonable actions of the other driver your reaction was inadequate. Being prepared for the unreasonable keeps you out of a wreck.
