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You don't have a very firm grasp on this whole "going with the flow of traffic" concept, do you? The point is that you can still get pulled over while NOT driving faster than others if you are over the limit.
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Originally Posted by saibot
How do they make others drive faster ? What I see is one person doing 80 and weaving in and out of traffic, while everyone else is going 60. And yes, that person is likely to be pulled over--even in 'California.
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Originally Posted by saibot
In California, we go with the flow. 80 in a 65 mph zone is normal. In 30 years of driving all over SoCal, I have never been pulled over for speeding, nor do I know anyone who was pulled over when they were going with the speed of traffic.
I know it's different in other areas. When I had surgery a while back, a couple of relatives came from central Washington and Oklahoma to help out. They were obsessed with speed limits. "What's the speed limit on this street?" "Do you see a speed limit sign?" and kept telling all sorts of stories of people being pulled over for going 3 or 5 miles above the limit. I assured them them that they were just fine going with the flow of traffic and they didn't need to keep peering around for signs, but not sure they really believed me.
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Originally Posted by OpanaPointer
I got pulled over by a CHP officer back in 1988 for doing 90 MPH. She apologized and let me go on my way.
Yep! I love that about California is that you basically will never get pulled over for going with the flow of traffic, even if that flow is 15 mph faster than the limit as long as you are otherwise driving safe and sane- no wild lane changing, tailgating or cutting people off.
Maybe in rural highways in Northern California this might not be the case, but in the extensive urban freeway system of Southern California you are golden just going with the flow, speeding safely along with everyone else.
And certainly this does not count for driving in cities where each has its own level of enforcement, only areas patrolled by the CHP.
Not just weaving, but tailgating, etc. It's indicative of an attitude that we see expressed here on City-Data quite often. I just find it funny that if the flow of traffic is slow, suddenly that argument disappears, and if you ask them about it point blank, crickets.
No, they don't disappear. They say if the flow is slow it's because you're blocking the left lane. The slow flow excuse is no better than the fast one, so you're right about that much. Do you want your toilet flushing slow, almost to overflowing before it goes down, or would you prefer it to flow down the pipe properly and quickly?
One thing I have always noticed with the "go with the flow of traffic" justification for speeding crowd is that if the flow of traffic, for whatever reason, is slower than they want or feel they NEED to drive that they suddenly aren't advocating that any longer, at least not for themselves. All of the traffic is supposed to ignore the speed limit and whatever hazard/condition might be causing them to be slower and speed up so that the flow of traffic is faster, always FASTER! Funny how that is.
In almost all cases when that flow of traffic is going slow like that it is because of a left lane camper that is going slow and keeping pace with the person to his right, and all of the other cars behind them have no way to pass. Absent left lane campers there is a natural flow of traffic that may or may not be close to the speed limit. It depends on how reasonable the limit is. It often seems like the limit is set just about 10mph below what the natural flow would be, but in those circumstances the limit is not usually enforced unless someone goes above that 10mph "grace" zone.
"natural flow" being "I want to go this fast, damnit!"
Well except it implies most of the people around you coincidentally want to go that same speed, or close to it. When you have slow left lane campers blocking everyone in behind them, that is not the natural flow.
Not to mention the horrendous problem "always staying in the rightmost lane" causes for people trying to merge.
My issue is people who think you can get a ticket for going to SLOW (when driving at the actual speed limit) when everyone else is speeding.
EG - speed limit is 65. You are driving 65 to 70. People passing you are going faster than that. The alleged scenario is that the LEO will pull you over and ticket you for impeding traffic FOR THE SPEEDERS.
I say good luck with using that excuse - "I was just trying to go with the flow" - to try to get out of a speeding ticket.
The problem arises in that my son FIRMLY believes this myth. I've been driving for 40 years and NO ONE I have ever known has ever been ticketed for driving the speed limit and supposedly "impeding" speeders. Once or twice I've known folks to get speeding tickets doing the speed limit in bad conditions - icy, standing water on the road, fog. But they are SPEEDING tickets, eg driving too fast for road conditions.
He drives me nuts with these complaints when he rides with me. Insists some friend of his got a ticket for doing the speed limit because he wasn't going fast enough. I think his friend lied to him.
I don't know how, but I have managed to raise a kid who refuses to adhere to the speed limit and thinks he is entirely justified.
He is 31 years old and has a doctorate. He should know better, but clearly does not. WHERE DID I GO WRONG? LOL!
Coming over from AZ on the 8 if you are doing the speed limit in the left land and pacing another car doing the speed limit AND there are cars stacked up that want to pass(speed) you will get a ticket. I see it all the time. Not a ticket for going to slow but impeding traffic flow.
Staying in the right lane only all the time 24/7 is like the people that line up for miles when a lane closed ahead sign comes up and leave leave miles of highway unused. Zipper merging is better.
No. In the event of an impending lane closure, traffic flows much better, and overall faster, if if everyone gracefully merges to one lane well before the choke point.
It's when buttheads that lack patience and think they're something special insist on speeding up to the choke point and *then* try to merge that things get all [fouled] up and everything slows down. It's too bad it isn't legal to shoot morons like that. They're 'special' alright.
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Imagine if everyone at the supermarket used only one cash register.
What? Makes no sense whatsoever, ridiculous comparison.
Well except it implies most of the people around you coincidentally want to go that same speed, or close to it. When you have slow left lane campers blocking everyone in behind them, that is not the natural flow.
"If all your friends jumped off a cliff would you?"
I love "black and white fever". If I see a Lexus slow down and pull in behind me I know he's guilty.
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