The Idiots Will Not Slow Down!

[bullwinkle]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
In our area the left lane is a pay lane. The fees are flexible so during peak rush hour expect to pay a high premium to be in that lane. The effect of this policy is like removing a lane from the freeway. Nobody uses it.
How much does it cost? I've seen the HOV lanes which are restricted to 2 or more people in the vehicle (& hybrids/alt fuel vehicles), haven't seen the pay lane yet.

 

[GMBoy]

Originally Posted By: rooflessVW
It's simple: MOVE OVER. If people didn't act so self-righteous in the left lane, a ton of road rage and traffic issues would be mitigated.


AMEN!

 

[OVERKILL]

There are two issues in play here:

1. The "Lane Police" which are folks that think that they are not only entitled but obligated to dictate the flow of traffic like this douche nozzle did
2. The idea that if there's space enough for your car to fit in, that you should.

#2 is a huge issue on the 400-series highways. If you leave a safe following distance, that space is almost immediately occupied by another vehicle. This is exceedingly frustrating to deal with and often these folks will then tailgate the heck out of the person who was in front of you.

 

[SatinSilver]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Last Memorial Day I literally saw THREE lunatics get nailed in one day (Friday), and the third one didn't even slow down for the LEO in the median!

Last Labor day I traveled from northern to southern Ohio and the Hwy patrol was out in force. All clustered in groups every so often. I stopped counting, it was like they were shooting fish in a barrel. Crossed into KY and zero speed traps.

 

[PimTac]

Originally Posted By: bullwinkle
Originally Posted By: PimTac
In our area the left lane is a pay lane. The fees are flexible so during peak rush hour expect to pay a high premium to be in that lane. The effect of this policy is like removing a lane from the freeway. Nobody uses it.
How much does it cost? I've seen the HOV lanes which are restricted to 2 or more people in the vehicle (& hybrids/alt fuel vehicles), haven't seen the pay lane yet.



It actually depends on the freeway and the amount of traffic. If traffic is bad the price goes up.

I have never used these lanes. The state gets enough from me in registration fees and the 2nd highest gasoline tax in the country. So I don’t have the numbers and searching for a few minutes made it even more confusing.

 

[Johnny2Bad]

You have to condition yourself to tolerate other drivers in a hurry, or just poor drivers, if you want to maintain a safe distance, because when you do, those others will move into the space you're leaving, which means you have to re-adjust your space, which means another idiot will move in, and so on.

It's not easy to do, it goes against human nature to some extent, as it requires restraint on your part because it seems like you are losing time to wherever you are going although in practice you're not. Just keep telling yourself that and stay calm. Not everyone can pull that off.

An annoying consequence of all that is traffic planners know this, and they introduce control mechanisms to force some semblance of orderly and safe traffic patterns. An example is adding a traffic light or stop to create separation where everyone would get there faster without them along a given stretch of road, such as an artery street (versus a residential street, where the stop is warranted).

The OP's example is along the controlled-access roadways in southern Ontario which are amongst the densest in North America; I believe the Ontario 401 is actually the highest in NA. That is the type of roadway where it's most difficult to maintain a safe distance. That's not an excuse but it does illustrate how and why these things happen.

I suppose the answer would be to outsource some Wisconsin Highway Patrol cars (aka "those Cheezehead cops, as they say in Chicago) to the rest of Canada and the USA ;-)

 

[Claud]

I don't know who is to blame for the incident in question. But I would bet some of the drivers involved were of the persuasion that they have superior driving skills, their journy is more important than anyone elses, and anyone not driving as fast as they could shouldn't be on the road.

Over time I have become convinced that those who consider their driving skills better than average, in fact have skills in inverse ratio to how highly they regard themselves.

Claud.

 

[PeterPolyol]

I rarely complain about the 401, unless it's traffic jams and senseless bottlenecks and/or rubber neckers; I'll complain all day about that!

Otherwise, it doesn't take long to determine who is "out to lunch", just haplessly rolling along and who is "unstable and unpredictable"- you gotta be prepared for all of it. I try to take a very decisive approach as to where I should be on the road. I like to MINIMIZE my time in close proximity to hazard drivers. While some people might spot a nut or a zombie and slow down to approach with caution, or stick to a quadrant and hover around them tepidly, they're just MAXIMIZING the time in proximity to the road hazard. Chances are if someone was impeding a lane of traffic, I would NEVER EVER waste time trying to coax and coach them, I'd be on my indicator and out of their way so fast they'd never know I was ever there.

Also I absolutely love a speedy fast lane, if it's moving fast, I'm in it.

 

[Pelican]

The REAL cause are the passing-lane squatters who never move over for faster vehicles. These self appointed speed wardens are the ones causing accidents & road-rage. They are present in both genders and they always get away with this diving practice

 

[George7941]

When I see the light turn red at an intersection ahead of me I take my foot off the throttle. Frequently this annoys drivers behind me and they will switch lanes, speed up and then brake hard for the red light. In their mind, more speed = good.

Am I going to modify my driving to appease them? No!

 

[Vuflanovsky]

It's been my experience living in an area that has 9 million people in a 50 mile radius, that the MOVE OVER sentiment doesn't just apply to the left/passing lane if there's a sufficient volume of traffic.

I can't tell you the number of times I've seen an I.F. ( first word Idiot ) moving from tailgating in the fast lane to tailgating in the far right lane where the flow is already 5-10 over the speed limit. So my interpretation is there's a good percentage of I.F.s with the MOVE OVER sentiment who also have an expectation of you going 20 over the speed limit in the slow lane to facilitate their progress....and the right lane drivers having an interpretation along the lines of "I don't exist to get out of your way...a-wipe".

That says to me that the blood clot in the left lane is one thing, but someone's ability to project ahead along with their actual maturity level in tailgating all lanes is the bigger risk. Unfortunately, I've seen everyone from 20-somethings to people who look to be in their 70s do this and I don't doubt that a big enough percentage of people who complain about the left lane also complain about the far right lane when they're denied it. In general, I think Californians are good drivers but more people will almost always mean less quality of life in one way or another.

 

[OneEyeJack]

Add distractions to tailgating and you've got trouble. A car has a lot of kinetic energy and almost any speed. Once you get up to freeway speeds you're dealing with drivers that have no experience with hard stops or changing lanes to miss something in the road. One hit starts a chain reaction. There is no solution other than to be somewhere else in the traffic.

 

[bubbatime]

In my area, Canadians come down on vacation (retired snow birds) by the tens of thousands. And they ALL drive in the left lane at 10 mph under the speed limit. Jack wagons, all of them. Not a care in the world about the people that live and work here, and need to get to work. Or school. All of them in la-la land, enjoying their vacation, without a care to give towards the locals.

I educate them with a middle finger out the window and a hearty "Effff YOU!!!!" followed by "Move OVER!!!!"

Look folks, the left lane is only a travel lane in heavy, city like traffic. Otherwise, the left lane is reserved for passing. Your driving lane is the farthest right lane. If you need to pass someone, then you move to the center (or left) lane, to pass them, then get back in the farthest right lane. If you are not driving like this, you are 100% wrong. Period. You drive on the right, pass on the left, in all 50 states. The three lane interstates have the left lane and center lane complete clogged up, while the right lane is barely used. People the RIGHT lane is the proper driving lane. Every dumb idiot, snowflake, and rude boorish clown, thinks the center lane is the preferred, proper driving lane. It is not.

It should be legal to P.I.T. maneuver left lane hogs off the highway.

My sister in law in a rather dumb millennial. I was stuck in her car with her driving. 50 plus miles on the highway, she stayed in the left lane at the speed limit the entire time. Ticked off people honking and passing on the right, for 50 miles. I tried to educate her, tried to tell her to move over. 'I drive on the left. Its my preferred lane" Another idiot.

 

[GrtArtiste]

My driving used to be 75% expressway - 25% surface streets. Now it is exactly the opposite, and I know which surface streets to use to get out of dodge without too much fuss. I'm quite content to let the idiots fight it out on the freeway.

 

[Pajero]

The driver of the lead vehicle was wrong for the "brake check." But, the vehicle following should have maintained a safe distance (As OP stated), applying to those behind lead vehicle. Idiots brake sometimes for "whatever reasons."

People should drive with the "Two/Three Second Rule" (Pending geographical location) when driving. The average vehicles are two tons, which is basically a "lethal weapon" so to speak.

There is a lot of transfer energy in collisions and the human body is very fragile. The Aortic rupture (internal bleed) is common in collisions with high speed impacts et al.

Education is "key" to driving. I've taken numerous EVOC and dignitary protection classes at the track. I'm still not an expert.

Education is "lacking" in the U.S.A. Most drivers do not learn the "Rules of the road." But, I can't speak for Canadians.

We (humans) are emotionally driven and with modern stress in today's world, it's a recipe for disaster, especially for those lacking discipline/education (And young drivers).

All accidents are preventable, but we are all human and make mistakes. My 2 cents.....

Education is key!



Respectfully,


Pajero!

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: George7941
Nine out of ten vehicles I see on the highway are too close to the vehicle ahead of them. When are they going to learn to not tailgate?


Never ... 9 out of 10 people seem to drive like idiots and don't realize if they are 6" off someone's bumper or 25 ft off someone's bumper they will get there a whole second or two later. Is a second or two worth getting in a wreck? ... some squirrels behind the wheel must think so.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: PimTac
In our area the left lane is a pay lane. The fees are flexible so during peak rush hour expect to pay a high premium to be in that lane. The effect of this policy is like removing a lane from the freeway. Nobody uses it.


WA is becoming more money hungry than CA it seems. I find that the right lane is usually the "fast lane" these days.

 

[69GTX]

How to brake check on the highway to teach a lesson (2bd video on page).

Though in this case, everyone lost.

I typically only travel in the right hand interstate lanes. And no matter how much proper space I leave ahead of me to account for "reaction time," it invariably gets filled by a passing car or one merging on the frequent on ramps that seem to occur about every 1-2 miles.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: George7941
When I see the light turn red at an intersection ahead of me I take my foot off the throttle. Frequently this annoys drivers behind me and they will switch lanes, speed up and then brake hard for the red light. In their mind, more speed = good.


They are probably changing worn out brake pads twice as often as you are ... I do the same thing you do. Makes no sense to speed up to a red light when you see it's red, and then slam on brakes to just sit at a traffic light.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Originally Posted By: Vuflanovsky
It's been my experience living in an area that has 9 million people in a 50 mile radius, that the MOVE OVER sentiment doesn't just apply to the left/passing lane if there's a sufficient volume of traffic.


Exactly, when every lane is a huge bumper to bumper traffic jam there is no "fast lane". If people tried to abide by the "move over" rule in that situation the traffic jam would be even worse.