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I always say when encountering people like that "you merge with the accelerator pedal not the brake pedal". When I was still working and driving a large service truck (air brakes) nothing was worse when merging into traffic and you are trying to pick your opening and someone like that in front of you steps on the brakes. There went all your momentum and now it's really fun merging.Originally Posted by Curt Harms
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I gave up street bikes after three close calls with cell phone idiots in a three week period. I still ride but have an adventure bike so I can get off the paved roads as much as possible.
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Thankfully, I quit before "cellphone zombies" became a thing. Partly a case of, I was getting slower, but the bike wasn't.
And it's reached the point around here that it would just take too long to get anywhere that's actually fun to ride. (Or drive a quick car, for that matter.)
Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
"Design"? Possibly. "Intelligent"? Sure doesn't look like it from this angle.
We used to be hunter gatherers. Now we're shopper borrowers.
The three most important words in the English language: "Front Towards Enemy".
The world makes a lot more sense when you remember that Butthead was the smart one.
You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too much ammo.
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A lot of people like to bitch about people not going the speed limit. The speed limit is a limit, not a requirement or a minimum. A vehicle in the right going 55 MPH in a 70 MPH is legal, but stupid. On many interstates there is a minimum speed of 40 MPH and sometimes a bit higher. I think you would be nuts to go anywhere close to 40 MPH on an interstate, but it is legally allowed. I have read that some states could ticket you for obstructing traffic for going well below the prevailing speed.
Varying speeds are known to cause more crashes than if everyone is traveling relatively the same speed. Many years ago I was traveling on I-29 in North Dakota and going 75 MPH (the speed limit). I came around a curve and nearly rear ended a large tractor doing about 40 MPH on the interstate. I was think WTF, why are farm tractors allowed on an interstate? The human mind is not always great at determining a vehicle ahead is going significantly slower than your vehicle.
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In 2021 I was driving my large motorhome on a two lane highway across New Mexico. A jerk in a car ahead of me couldn't decide what speed to drive. He would be going 60 MPH one minute and 45 MPH the next minute. We get to a passing zone and I floor it to get past the guy. I was past him, but at the very end of the passing zone he comes flying past me doing at least 80 MPH and starts doing his speed up and slow down routine again. About fifteen minutes later it begins to rain and he turns on his flashers and slows down to 45 MPH and stays at that speed. There was zero reason to go that slow as it wasn't raining that hard. I had to remember that it is his right to drive that speed and not get mad. I can't recall if he ended up turning off, or if I stopped in an empty parking to sleep first.
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A lot of people go "up north" for the weekend and many of them take I-94 out of, and back into, the metro area. Most of that stretch was two lanes in each direction until a few years. It was nearly impossible to pass in the left lane because the left lane was full of people driving in that lane. You might be behind a truck going 60 MPH and everyone in the left lane is flying by at 75 MPH.
It seems crazy that MNDOT has spent hundreds of millions to add an additional lane to most of that stretch. Outside of Friday afternoon/evening, and Sunday afternoon, there is really no need for more than two lanes. They spent a bunch of money to appease the folks that are well enough off to own a house and a second house/cabin.
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Two days ago, I was out on the narrow residential street where I've been working, and a large insulation contractor truck was pulling out from even smaller side street. We exchanged a few words (hire us!) and I motioned for an approaching car to wait while the truck finished pulling out. The woman driver stepped on the gas and barreled through- less than a foot clearance on either side. I slapped the hood of the car hard as it went by, and yelled at her. My hand is still slightly bruised. The street is heavily traveled by kids, bikes, dogs, & strollers, and some drivers treat it as one lane, completely pulling over for oncoming vehicles. A public path comes out a few feet away, where kids on bikes sometimes wobble forth.
It would suck to be run over by a car, but I also think about how bad it would be to run someone over.
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@ post 51 Were doing the same thing. There adding a 3rd lane for 23 miles at a cost of almost 500million just for the weekenders heading north out of Phoenix . Mostly its Friday afternoon going north and Sunday Evening coming back south. The rest of the time 2 lanes is enough.
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lots of driving thoughts but one bizarre one was drove to LA years ago. Driving in New Mexico I think flat road and very windy day passed a pick up towing a motor home. It was blowing all over. Stopped to eat and later driving came up to cops and there was the pickup and motor home. The pickup one of the ones with a cab on it was upside down flat. The roof was flat to the body and the air bags were hanging out. The trailer was off the road sides on its side in the ditch still attached.
figure the wind hit the trailer and flipped it and it flipped the pick up. Having load equalizers likely helped that happen. Not sure how many were in the pick up when I passed them the first time. Police had just got there. No one was coming out of the pickup if they were even alive.
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Aaah, the autobahn. Back in the day I was cruising the autobahn in a Porsche 928S, maxed out at about 145mph and passing a lot of folks, but still keeping an eye on the rear view mirror. Saw a speck that rapidly got bigger so I moved right, just in time, as something really low and flat streaked past me like I was standing still. Couldn't even tell what it was.
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I believe in Germany it's called "drive right". As in drive in the right lane except to pass and move over when someone faster than you is coming up on you. Wouldn't work here. Too many people think they pay taxes so they own the road. Once self driving vehicles are perfected we'll all go the same speed.
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Many states have language in traffic laws to allow ticketing someone who is obstructing traffic or causing an unsafe situation.
Likewise many farming areas allow farm machinery (and horse drawn carriages) to travel on highways when other routes are not available. They are supposed to have the orange triangle (slow moving vehicle sign) clearly displayed.
Slow Moving Vehicle.jpg
In some areas, where an alternate route isn't available, bicycles are allowed for a specified distance on limited access highways.
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
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It is common here to see tractors on regular highways. The county highway I drive on nearly every day has tractors on it from time to time. It was only the one time I have ever encountered a tractor on a limited access highway.
Out west on I-80 there are long stretches where bicycles are allowed. Bicycles are told to exit before the steep mountain passes.
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What I heard is that half of people don't understand math, and the other two thirds don't care.At least it adds up to 100%.
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Must be the "New Math".
PS, New Math was introduced 60 years ago, if you remember when it was introduced you're officially olde.
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