LEFT Lane Blockers shouldn't be driving! (tire, trucker, Dodge, safest)
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I've also been driving for.."over 50 years".. (57 years to be exact ).
I remember the Federal mandate to lower speed limits in the early 1970's and that had nothing to do with safety ,but entirely to conserve gasoline due to Arab oil embargo.
I read my statewide daily newspaper that lists every fatality in the state and a description.
By far, the #1 culprit is distracted driving.
"crossed centerline and hit head on " "hit shoulder of road and over corrected "
usually added to the above is..........."road condition was dry at the time "
and even if some accidents had speed involved, many would be alive if they wore seat belts
....."ejected from vehicle "..........Is, sadly, still taking too many lives.
The only time I see "speed" as a major danger is in bad road conditions and when trying to out run the police
We all know that speeding has been at the root of many deadly accidents. I didn't think the conversation was pegged to a contest of factors as much as it was about all those factors which are MAJOR contributors to the problem of highway safety, or the lack of it..
The thread starter was addressing the specific complaint of left lane use and the haggling over the notion of illegal speed being a kind of right while travelling in the left lane. I drive a lot, I know what I see, and the left lane on I-5 in Wa state is becoming a circus of speeding, bumper hugging idiots, hurrying to the next big smashup that usually occurs with way too much regularity for my taste.
As I've pointed out, those who feel entitled to drive with their own agenda with regard to safety are the problem, speeders, distracted drivers, those who drive unsafe vehicles, are all part of the problem and never part of the solution. So, while some seem content to focus on one aspect I'm looking at the entire display of carelessness and pointing to the one factor which has been around for a long time.
I routinely see passing at high speeds in the far right lanes of the freeway and then crossing all traffic and diving into the left lane in order to advance their "position." That kind of maneuvering takes skill and exacting execution, something most are in short supply of. Those drivers, while they may get by with that type of driving, sooner or later end up as the cause of accidents.
During the seventies I was running an auto collision repair shop, the precipitous drop in major auto accidents at the time of lowering the speed limit, was at a level that appreciably slowed down the entire industry. And yes seat belt use was also ramping up at that time. Nowadays the auto collision repair business is a raging success, more people and more idiots I guess.
This from the Insurance company's point of view: "A total of 35,092 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2015. The U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent estimate of the annual economic cost of crashes was $242 billion dollars. 1 Contributing to the death toll are alcohol, speeding, lack of safety belt use and other problematic driver behaviors. Death rates vary by vehicle type, driver age and gender, and other factors."
I'm a high mileage driver, usually around twenty thousand a year or more, and in that compilation of miles I see the distracted drivers as a growing danger, but, I also see the over the top speeders as a threat to others also. It's really about the attitude of both speeders and the perennially distracted folks.
Law enforcement compiles data at the scene of the accident itself and rarely has any clue to what led up to that accident. Potential witnesses are going by at hwy speed and are gone in a flash. But the phrase "speed was a factor" is pretty common. Those who are driving safely know their speed and attentiveness are huge factors to road survival, they are "thinking safety" and in that mode they constitute the safest drivers out there. Many of the speeders are also the same ones who fiddle with their phones, music, and other distractions.
I guess what I'm saying is that "unsafe driving" covers a multitude of factors, and most of us know what those are and try to avoid them. The road warriors who want to utilize the left lanes as their own speeders haven are welcome to it, but, speeding isn't more acceptable because it happens in the left lane, and, the fact of distraction being a component of the hwy danger in no way excuses those who are paying full attention at eighty and above unless they are in parts of Wyoming or Nevada.
What I read here was "I'm right and everyone else is wrong no matter how much actual evidence they have to support their position."
This from the Insurance company's point of view: "A total of 35,092 people died in motor vehicle crashes in 2015. The U.S. Department of Transportation's most recent estimate of the annual economic cost of crashes was $242 billion dollars. 1 Contributing to the death toll are alcohol, speeding, lack of safety belt use and other problematic driver behaviors. Death rates vary by vehicle type, driver age and gender, and other factors."
"Contributing" means it was simply a factor. Given that, if all parties involved are not moving, no accident can happen, speed is always a factor in an accident.
Thanks for that great piece of comedy..The state Patrol is obviously hurting for $$$ and sees this as a way to enrich the state coffers, stopping a guy in the late hours of night, he attempts to make a case for his hijacking of an innocent man. Meanwhile, back at the road ranch the maniacal speeders, are, in his words, something "we'll catch," and we believe that? Here in my state the left lane is the death lane of maniacs all riding each others rear ends, at eighty and beyond, they routinely smash into each other and then cause everyone to stop. So much for hurrying.
What is so all powerful in the minds of those who see such stupidity as an acceptable thing? I don't drive in the fast lane unless I am passing, but more than ever I just go along at the limit and relax. But, the maniacs aren't contained to the left lane, nooo, they are all over the freeway careening back and forth across all lanes going like hell and the rest of us just have to put up with it because Trooper Tom is busy with those left lane scofflaws.........
Here is what you don't get. Not everyone in the left lane is speeding. Believe it or not, some people do drive below the speed limit. Get two of them together doing 5 under, blocking both the left and right lane and they are now impeding the flow of traffic. In most cases, especially when I'm on rural northern I-75 it happens innocently. Sometimes it might just be for a short time, so not big deal. Both drivers sort of just zone out, and pace each other, not realizing they are blocking people that just want to do the speed limit. Sometimes though it can be a pain. For instance, pulling a trailer. I do between 3-5 mph over when towing, it puts my diesel in the sweet spot where it gets the best mileage and isn't lugging the motor. I get caught behind two guys like that and it really is a pain, I loose momentum and if I'm in a hilly area it really becomes a pain in the ass and then I start impeding traffic. If the guy in the left only paid attention I could easily slide on by in your so called "death" lane and traffic maintains a nice smooth flow.
That's because most of them are too stupid to realize who they are or what they are doing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jertheber
Thanks for that great piece of comedy..The state Patrol is obviously hurting for $$$ and sees this as a way to enrich the state coffers, stopping a guy in the late hours of night, he attempts to make a case for his hijacking of an innocent man. Meanwhile, back at the road ranch the maniacal speeders, are, in his words, something "we'll catch," and we believe that? Here in my state the left lane is the death lane of maniacs all riding each others rear ends, at eighty and beyond, they routinely smash into each other and then cause everyone to stop. So much for hurrying.
What is so all powerful in the minds of those who see such stupidity as an acceptable thing? I don't drive in the fast lane unless I am passing, but more than ever I just go along at the limit and relax. But, the maniacs aren't contained to the left lane, nooo, they are all over the freeway careening back and forth across all lanes going like hell and the rest of us just have to put up with it because Trooper Tom is busy with those left lane scofflaws.........
That's OK. When I see idiots in the left lane playing that game, I pull ahead of them and stand on the brakes. You know-because I can. The stinger sticking out the back of my truck will make a nice hole in some idiot's radiator.
Do tell me you are joking. Do tell me you have common sense.
I am sure most of us (if not all) have encountered another person whose driving just aggravates us. It is frustrating. I understand that. It seems to simple enough to slam on the brakes and teach em a lesson. You drive away laughing and the poor sap is left on the side of the road with a damaged radiator. But there are other factors that can be out of your control. What happens if the other driver swerves to avoid you and hits another vehicle? What happens if the person or people in both vehicles gets injured or even killed because of your action? The police and the courts are not going to except your "teach em a lesson" brake checking.
My point was---it's the law in most states, but speeding is also considered an equal if not greater infraction, you wouldn't be one of those cherry pickers when it come to the law would you...
My point was---it's the law in most states, but speeding is also considered an equal if not greater infraction, you wouldn't be one of those cherry pickers when it come to the law would you...
Being that I'm a big enough A hole to begin with, I try and not hinder others by hogging the left lane. To me it doesn't need a law, it just seems like common sense, although I'm quite aware that it isn't so common, as we see from many of the replies in this thread. Regardless, I follow it anyway. Now that being said, I generally drive 3-5 over. That is for me to dictate , and be penalized if caught. Not for you to decide.
If you want to be such a do gooder, just follow both laws. Drive the speed limit and stay the F over.
And there's nothing that these snowflakes can do about it
Is that right?
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