OT: Pet peeves on the highway

[winlots]

http://www.vox.com/2014/6/16/5804590/why-you-shouldnt-drive-slowly-in-the-left-lane

According to the article, it is against the law in CT.

JIM: very interesting. I've always thought "Keep to the right except to pass" was a common sense rule of the road if not a law. In my high school driver ed we were certainly inculcated with "keep to the right except to pass."

People who block the left and center lanes, when not passing, seem to have no clue about the chaos and headaches (e.g. traffic jams and unnecessary cutting in and out, etc) and heartaches (someone trying to get their pregnant wife to a hospital, someone eager to get home to family for a celebration, etc) they can cause or contribute to.

 

[boontonbomber]

Anytime I see some wacko tailgating at high speed my first thought is that they must be running drugs up or down the I91 corridor.

 

[Aluminny69]

Just had another pet peeve: drivers who stay in your blind spot on the highway, either left or right side. AND, for me anyway, it's almost always a woman driver, at least 95% of the time. Don't they realize that you can't see them? Drop back, or drive past, but don't stay just behind and to the side of the car in front of you. DUH.

 

[Cheddie]

My pet peeve is when there's a car, an utility truck, or some other obstruction in the road, and two cars approach from equal distances. If you're in the unobstructed lane with a legal right of way, often you need to stop because the oncoming car swerves into your lane, around the obstruction. You either yield or play chicken. It's like - here I come, I don't have the patience or inclination to slow for 30 seconds.​

 

[UConnChapette]

My pet peeve? Driving with Meyers7 behind me!

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

I drive between the speed limit and about 5 miles above, rarely exceeding that unless all the traffic is. I stay in the right lane except to pass, and if I am in the left lane (optimistically hoping perhaps to pass) and someone comes up behind me, I will always pull aside.

I don't consider this an appropriate excuse for a driver to come up behind me and try to go through me. I don't consider tailgating appropriate (I have less problem with flashing high beams, I've done that myself).

I think anyone who believes they have more "right of way" than another driver is just wrong. They may have more right to a particular lane, but that's about it.

 

[cockhrnleghrn]

Slow drivers in the fast lane and the oblivious ones yapping away on their cell phones.

 

[~*Jen*~]

Hope you drive a tank, otherwise that kid is overexposed to danger. If you get rear-ended they are toast.

That's absolutely not true. She is far safer continuing to rear-face than she would be forward-facing. It's like a pendulum. The initial contact in a rear-end collision (which we were in back in December) would continue to move her head "forward." A rear-facing car seat will keep her head and neck cradled whereas a forward-facing seat will allow hear head to continue moving while keeping her torso in place--leaving her neck to bear the brunt of the force. Besides, being rear-ended only accounts for about 4% of all accidents. Swedish kids generally rear-face until 4 and typically have better outcomes in severe accidents than American kids do. Which is no surprise given our history of prematurely turning kids forward. The old recommendations were based on the capacities of older seats, which generally couldn't hold more than 20lbs. The AAP recommends rear-facing until at least two (or until a convertible seat has been outgrown by height or weight) and the NHTSA recommends rear-facing until at least age four or until a convertible seat has been outgrown by height or weight. Again, I was rear-ended in January. My rear-facing child did better in the accident than her father and I did. There have been documented cases of internal decapitation in forward facing children over the age of 2. I will gladly take my chances with rear-facing.

I'm very involved in the child passenger safety world. Here's some interesting reading.

http://csftl.org/rear-facing-car-seat-myths-busted/
http://csftl.org/why-rear-facing-the-science-junkies-guide/

(The above site is run by certified child passenger safety technicians.)

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/121/3/619.full

One significant change in counseling is now emerging that may greatly improve the safety of infants and young children. A recent analysis of the protection provided in rear-facing compared with forward-facing car safety seats has revealed that children under the age of 2 years are 75% less likely to die or sustain serious injury when they are in a rear-facing seat.2 This finding was true regardless of direction of the crash, even those crashes with side impact, which typically are the most severe.
Although the study could not provide data dividing the ages by individual months, it is notable that rear-facing car safety seats were more effective than forward-facing car safety seats for both infants under 1 year and children aged 12 to 23 months. The odds of severe injury for forward-facing infants under 12 months of age were 1.79 times higher than for rear-facing infants; for children 12 to 23 months old, the odds were 5.32 times higher.
This information is additionally supported by data from Sweden, where children have ridden in rear-facing seats up to 4 years of age for many years, and very low death and injury rates have been documented3.

http://www.bmj.com/content/338/bmj.b1994

• Excessive stretching or even transection of the spinal cord can result if a child is involved in a head-on crash while in a forward facing car seat

• Rear facing seats are safer than forward facing seats for children under 4 years old

• Parents and guardians should be advised to keep young children in rear facing seats for as long as possible

Evidence is mounting, however, that it is safer for young children to travel in a rear facing seat until 4 years of age.

 

[meyers7]

Anytime I see some wacko tailgating at high speed my first thought is that they must be running drugs up or down the I91 corridor.

And see that would be my last thought. Because it makes no sense for someone running drugs to draw attention to themselves.

However, you are probably more often than not, correct. Drug runners are not the brightest people.

 

[meyers7]

My pet peeve? Driving with Meyers7 behind me!

I won't be back there long.

 

[meyers7]

I think anyone who believes they have more "right of way" than another driver is just wrong. They may have more right to a particular lane, but that's about it.

I agree completely. If people were kinder and more aware of their surroundings and how they could help people, driving on the roads would be much quicker and safer.

 

[TDiNozzo]

Followed a state truck for 5 miles, with a big lit up arrow on the back, pushing all traffic to the right lane, followed by a state cop car.... at the construction... the right lane was the lane closed..... great team work .... I was in the left lane behind the cop and went right through... all the ones who followed the arrow were stuck.

 

[OldAlum]

The inconsistencies in lane closure methods and signage. On a two-lane highway and you see a "right lane closed ahead". Sometimes it is a half mile ahead - sometimes several miles! So if people start merging to the left early and no closure appears, eventually people start zooming up the empty right lane and drivers on the left start getting defensive and traffic slows even more. Now I understand that with things like mowing or paving the work area changes, but with electronic signs, they still could let you know where. And I have seen this inconsistency on the two sides of Rt 9 bridge work!
And then people don't know how to merge. If people could be encouraged to use both lanes as long as possible and then "zipper" - car from right, then car from left etc. everyone would move more quickly!

 

[Biff]

Saw this on Facebook. Thought this to be an appropriate picture for this thread.

 

[RadyLady]

Saw this on Facebook. Thought this to be an appropriate picture for this thread.

View attachment 6281

thank you

 

[winlots]

BIFF - one of the all time best. Now THAT is signage that tells it. Big chuckle out of the one on the right.