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I've spent a lot of time in India and, while I will say that there are a lot of issues with traffic rules, I would also say that the drivers are pretty skilled. For instance, driving at night on the wrong side of the road with only one headlight, the big truck still made it wherever it was going. In town, without stop lights or signs, they somehow make it work. I was in an Ambassador and the guy was slowly cutting through an intersection. Another guy, going the same way, reached out and folded my driver's mirror in so he wouldn't hit it, slowly passing us at 0.5 mph. But everyone seems to make it through the intersection even without traffic direction. And without road rage.
So the premise is that their are too many slow drivers spending time in the left hand lanes and they should stay in the right hand lanes so those of us that like to drive fast can drive fast.
I agree that the roadway would be much safer if all the slow drivers got out of the way of others. Not everyone is so considerate though. It is almost like those people that fail to hit the onramp at speed.
On a highway at 70mph that equates to over 300 feet between cars.
Workable on I 70 in Nowhere, Kansas? Absolutely.
In an urban area during rush hour traffic or along a busy highway? Don't make me laugh.
Even the highway leading in and out of Cleveland Ohio would need to be at least 10 lanes each direction to hold all of the traffic at that spacing, instead of the 3-4 lanes now available.
Now imagine Atlanta. 20 or 30 lanes in each direction, minimum, during rush hour.
Exactly If I tried to leave 300 ft between me and the car in front of me where I drive, I would just end up with 5 more cars cutting in front of me. Around here, the people who get tailgated are the tools driving the 55 mph speed limit in the fast lane when all the cars behind them are trying to go 10 mph faster than that. I see it every single day. Don't be that tool and move over when someone comes up behind you - it isn't your job to be the speed police on the highway. Unless of course you're a cop in a patrol car and then it is your job. But of course nobody tailgates the cop.
Fatalities per 100k population is a meaningless comparison across vastly different cultures (and yes, the culture of automobile use is vastly different in the UK vs USA). That page you linked to doesn't have the stats for most countries, but fatalities per unit distance driven is a much more meaningful comparison. By that measure:
(deaths per 1 billion km)
UK 3.6
Germany 4.9
US 7.1
S. Korea 18.2
Brazil 55.9!
One of the most unusual and humorous things I have seen occured on the arrogant roads in Florida. The rotten tailgater was practically glued to the bumper of the car ahead of him. As the two came to a halt at a stop sign the man in front who reminded me of a Schwartzenegger type got out of his car with what appeared to be a kids baseball bat. He relieved the tailgaters car of the headlights then challenged the driver with the bat to get out so he could deal with him also.
I don't approve of road rage but there needs to be a course of corrective action found to deal with these highway harassers.
Don't expect the police to deal with this problem--they would be more apt to correct the rage of the correcter. I have seen the police drive right by serious and uncivil driving practices and pretend they aren't there.
I have to say that highway harassing goes both ways. There are plenty of people who are passive-aggressive and try to police the 'bad' drivers. In the earlier video posted, the brake checker was just as much in the wrong. Just move over and let the moron pass.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KaaBoom
Hell, no. He should get a medal and a ticker-tape parade. I’m not even sure what he could be charged with. More then likely he was traveling the speed limit, so he can’t be charged with impeding traffic. There is nothing wrong with tapping your brakes to slow down. It’s not like he was deliberately slamming on his brakes to cause a crash. He was just trying to get the idiot off his bumper.
[b]As for him moving right, he was passing slower traffic in the right lane, and once he was past those vehicles, he moved over. If the tailgater had been patient, he would have then had an empty lane in front of him, instead of being wrecked in the ditch.
The accident was 100% the fault of the road rage tailgater. Karma took care of that.
Watch the video again. He was passing no one when he brake checked the guy. He could have moved over instead of being a douche.
I'm not excusing the tailgater, but doing crap like brake checking is just STUPID. If the guy had smacked into him and killed him, would it be so satisfying?
i dont know who was worse the tailgator or the brake checker
Heh, I think both sides need a reality check. Don't be that jerk in the left lane going the speed limit or slower. If you are that jerk, MOVE OVER when you see someone in your rearview mirror coming up behind you. But also, the person going fast shouldn't be in such a hurry that they're not willing to slow it down if person in step one can't get over right away.
For what it's worth, I've seen my fair share of horrible driving in the Bay Area and in Florida, Bay Area being worse. People in CA are in their own little world, refusal to move out of the left lane despite going way under the speed limit. Changing lanes without signaling or even looking over. I once had someone merge into me on the Bay Bridge and I nearly drove into the side of the bridge from having to get out of their way. Californians also have a tendency to step on their brake for no reason (not even with someone tailgating) and also don't understand the concept of taking your foot off the gas to slow down (vs hitting the brake). I had someone brake check me in FL when I was trying to merge into a tight stop in another other lane. Pretty sure they were doing it for entertainment seeing as there was a huge amount of space in front of them. I almost wound up like the guy in that article above.
That said, before I got a new car, if someone was blatantly tailgating me, I too would brake check them because usually it would be on a town road where the speed limit was low for a reason.
Heh, I think both sides need a reality check. Don't be that jerk in the left lane going the speed limit or slower. If you are that jerk, MOVE OVER when you see someone in your rearview mirror coming up behind you. But also, the person going fast shouldn't be in such a hurry that they're not willing to slow it down if person in step one can't get over right away.
For what it's worth, I've seen my fair share of horrible driving in the Bay Area and in Florida, Bay Area being worse. People in CA are in their own little world, refusal to move out of the left lane despite going way under the speed limit. Changing lanes without signaling or even looking over. I once had someone merge into me on the Bay Bridge and I nearly drove into the side of the bridge from having to get out of their way. Californians also have a tendency to step on their brake for no reason (not even with someone tailgating) and also don't understand the concept of taking your foot off the gas to slow down (vs hitting the brake). I had someone brake check me in FL when I was trying to merge into a tight stop in another other lane. Pretty sure they were doing it for entertainment seeing as there was a huge amount of space in front of them. I almost wound up like the guy in that article above.
That said, before I got a new car, if someone was blatantly tailgating me, I too would brake check them because usually it would be on a town road where the speed limit was low for a reason.
When I'm in SoCal, I just let the adaptive cruise control take over. Mine has stop/start functionality, so it makes it a lot less tiresome.
As for brake checking, I'm not counting on some idiot to stop in time. I just pull over at the first opportunity.
Exactly If I tried to leave 300 ft between me and the car in front of me where I drive, I would just end up with 5 more cars cutting in front of me. Around here, the people who get tailgated are the tools driving the 55 mph speed limit in the fast lane when all the cars behind them are trying to go 10 mph faster than that. I see it every single day. Don't be that tool and move over when someone comes up behind you - it isn't your job to be the speed police on the highway. Unless of course you're a cop in a patrol car and then it is your job. But of course nobody tailgates the cop.
Just saw it today. Granny in her Buick tying up the left lane while everyone is going around her. She was totally clueless.
such a simple concept. here it is 2016 and drivers in the US still can't seem to grasp it.
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If I tried to leave 300 ft between me and the car in front of me where I drive, I would just end up with 5 more cars cutting in front of me. Around here, the people who get tailgated are the tools driving the 55 mph speed limit in the fast lane when all the cars behind them are trying to go 10 mph faster than that. I see it every single day. Don't be that tool and move over when someone comes up behind you - it isn't your job to be the speed police on the highway. Unless of course you're a cop in a patrol car and then it is your job. But of course nobody tailgates the cop.
