Why Do People from Minn drive sooo slow? (cars, tickets)

[phlinak]

Originally Posted by Laggard

No, the norm for someone in the center lane or right lane is to sit one car length behind your car. It is not because you are going too slow. I'm talking about people consistently staying one car length behind me as I go 65 in a 55 down the center or right lane. I use the left lane for passing only and cannot for the life of me figure out why people would rather sit 30 feet behind me rather than passing me.

People tailgate because they are so damn impatient.

Did it ever occur to you that the reason that they are sitting behind you and not passing you when they can is because they are happy with your speed and are just maintaining your pace?

If they were riding beside you at the same pace, the two of you would create a rolling roadblock, that would rightfully p*** off everyone behind you that wanted to pass.

Just some food for thought.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Did it ever occur to you that the reason that they are sitting behind you and not passing you when they can is because they are happy with your speed and are just maintaining your pace?

If they were riding beside you at the same pace, the two of you would create a rolling roadblock, that would rightfully p*** off everyone behind you that wanted to pass.

Just some food for thought.

AMEN

[Laggard]

Originally Posted by phlinak

Did it ever occur to you that the reason that they are sitting behind you and not passing you when they can is because they are happy with your speed and are just maintaining your pace?

You just keep trying to excuse their being one car length behind me at 65 mph on the highway. There is no good excuse though, either legally or from a safety standpoint.

[west336]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

I would agree that people should move over in normal situations if they are going to drive slow and have no reason to be in the left lane. In the Metro area, there is far too many oddities like left exit, bottlenecks etc to suggest that left lane if for fast only and if you don't go fast you need to get out of the lane. Tack on the fact that we don't even have 3 lanes on all of our interstates, many of our entrance and exits are far too short and it really is a case where the roads suck a lot more than the drivers.

Outside the metro is very much a case where people have little or no reason to camp out in the left lane. That said, I don't really see it as constant occurring thing either. Traffic levels are not that horrible and is seem rare that people are not moving above posted limits in left lane. If somebody wants to roll 80-85 they do need to expect that there will be situations where right lane is 65ish and left lane is 75ish and they need to chill out some. I like to roll about 72 and it seems like I often have to adjust up to 75 to avoid constant pressure from the rear or slow down and roll with the right lane crowd. As far as I am concerned people that want to roll at left lane rate +5 really need to deal with fact that they are 2 notches above the flow and if there is only 2 lanes they are going to get frustrated if they fail to make adjustments. People in left lane that are moving faster than the right lane do have a reason to be there even if they are moving a little slower than you would like them to be.

I was just down in Atlanta and Florida and traffic does move a lot faster. They also had 3-5 lanes in most place that were smooth as glass. Lot of traffic moving well over 80.

It doesn't apply as much in metro areas and/or highways with 3+ lanes, but it's a good rule of thumb for when it can apply. However, DON'T play "state trooper" and try to control traffic yourself, or you'll find yourself the victim of some serious road rage! Are you the type of person who speeds up when people try to pass you?

[west336]

Originally Posted by Laggard

I never understood how people think that they are going to get anyplace quicker by riding your rear bumper.

And people who tailgate you when you are in the left lane passing people, simply because you are doing 65 and they want to go 75? F' 'em.

The ONLY (one and only) reason to tailgate SHOULD be to get a person to move over. The only people I find tailgating for no apparent reason, again, are usually women. I don't know why, and I don't mean to generalize like that but it seems true. For me, it's rare if someone tails me 1 car length behind for no reason. The only exception may be during rush hour when everyone is trying to keep speeds up with increased congestion, and in that instance I don't mind it as much.

[west336]

Originally Posted by Thegonagle

Here's another case of the road being worse than the drivers:

On part of I-90 in southern MN, the pavement in the right lane is in such poor condition that I drive in the left lane, and only move over to let people pass. Then I move back to the left lane for the smoother ride. I don't care to hammer my car to bits if an alternative exists.

Other people obviously feel the same way I do, and do the same thing on this stretch.

I know what you're talking about, and it's okay on I-90 because that freeway is BARRON! If/when somebody approaches you from behind you move over though, right?

[west336]

Originally Posted by golfgal

Ok, one observation, if you leave more than one car length between you and the car in front of you, people from the other lanes cut you off thinking you left them an opening to "move over". Maybe they are ok with your speed and not really "tailgaiting" but just keeping their place in line? Hard to say without looking at the face of the person driving.

Big plus one!! I haven't driven on the freeway in a while, clearly (take the train)! I forgot this is why I sometimes follow closely.

I've come to the conclusion that you should almost never judge why another driver is doing what they are doing, because it's hard to see their perspective. When somebody starts getting closer and closer to my bumper after having sat behind me for several minutes, I usually realize that person is trying to keep another person from cutting in, and he's not trying to tail ME. If you sit too far back during rush hour especially, people will cut in front of you until the cows come home, and over a longer drive, that amounts to quite a bit of lost time.

[west336]

Originally Posted by BobMarley_1LOVE

I see this happen all the time. I've literally seen people slam on their breaks on the freeway to a complete standstill.

Example

Road rage/Crazy driver on Long Island - YouTube


(nothing happens after 1:36)

I've ONLY done that when somebody will not pass me and they've been riding me for a LONG time! I NEVER slam the brakes anymore though, because if you get hit you are just as liable (and may be 100% liable) if you don't give the other driver enough room to safely stop! Don't do it!

That person in the video was clearly an a$$hole, and had nothing better to do with their time than pi$$ the video driver off. I kinda wonder what the driver who was recording did to deserve that though...

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by west336

I've ONLY done that when somebody will not pass me and they've been riding me for a LONG time! I NEVER slam the brakes anymore though, because if you get hit you are just as liable (and may be 100% liable) if you don't give the other driver enough room to safely stop! Don't do it!

That person in the video was clearly an a$$hole, and had nothing better to do with their time than pi$$ the video driver off. I kinda wonder what the driver who was recording did to deserve that though...

That is not true. The person that is following to closely would be 100% liable. Now, if your brake lights were out or something, that would be a different story. It's still not smart to slam on your brakes for a tailgater because liable or not, you will be the one with whiplash.

[Laggard]

Originally Posted by west336

I've come to the conclusion that you should almost never judge why another driver is doing what they are doing, because it's hard to see their perspective. When somebody starts getting closer and closer to my bumper after having sat behind me for several minutes, I usually realize that person is trying to keep another person from cutting in, and he's not trying to tail ME. If you sit too far back during rush hour especially, people will cut in front of you until the cows come home, and over a longer drive, that amounts to quite a bit of lost time.

So rather than allowing someone to cut in front of you, you choose to dangerously tailgate someone, simply because it may get you to your destination a minute earlier? Are you really that impatient?