Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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If I could see a "How's my driving" sticker or any company branding from where I was, I would have. Instead I think I'll just grab some of my favorite "almost died today" rum and try to get over the horror.
*Note: no actual rum will be consumed. Stupid medication.
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If he's driving on the shoulder at full speed, you call the cops. Fuck the trucking company. Guy was probably high on cocaine.
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@Intercourse said:
I am not quite sure, but not a van?
It's always interesting to hear what on-line acquaintances think.
Rip that engine out and drop a Duramax in there!
Sounds expensive. And more work than I'm willing to do for a vehicle.
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If I could see a "How's my driving" sticker or any company branding from where I was, I would have.
Oh, I meant calling the police. It's probably illegal, depending on the state.
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you call the cops
oh, good point, I'll dig up the number for highway patrol. (Or rather, just got off the phone with them, I decided to call first, post later)
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Similar, but not quite, story from yesterday:
I was heading north on the 5 for brunch, and the exit before mine, a truck with a trailer was getting on. It had to stop for the ramp signal, so it had to accelerate from 0 to whatever. The right-most lane that he was in and I needed to be in was an exit-only lane, so he has to get out of it to stay on the highway. With him doing 40 and me doing 70-75, we definitely had to coordinate to make sure we didn't smack into each other. He had his blinker on, but was not moving, or even creeping over yet. I was able to easily pass him and get off at my exit, but he was probably not happy with having to wait in the exit-only lane until I had gotten in front of him.
A big WTF was the he had a truck that was obviously underpowered for his trailer, but TRWTF is, and always will be, ramp signals.
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oh, good point, I'll dig up the number for highway patrol.
I don't know where you are, but a number of states have numbers like *77 that will connect directly to the police so you can report this stuff as it happens and give out license plate numbers and the like (or call them at 3 AM on the Interstate in the boonies on a moonless night to report there's something that looks like part of a tree or a dead deer smack in the middle of the road and not really enough visibility to see it in time to avoid running right over it if you happen not to be looking right in front of you at just the right moment.)
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For something like that in the US, you could call 911. That's 911-worthy.
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TRWTF is, and always will be, ramp signals.
Near where I work, They've spent all summer reconstructing a major two lane freeway. So far, so good, the concrete was probably older than me (not young).
Instead of adding lanes while they've got everything torn up, they're adding ramp signals instead.
Belgians.
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numbers like *77
On the turnpike it seems to be *990 but I wasn't on the turnpike.
you could call 911
I figured since I wasn't in any immediate danger, having gotten home and sat at my computer, I'd find the non-emergency number. I always feel weird about calling 911 if I'm not in imminent danger.
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I figured since I wasn't in any immediate danger, having gotten home and sat at my computer, I'd find the non-emergency number. I always feel weird about calling 911 if I'm not in imminent danger.
Well yeah, but his response about 911 was about situations like FrostCat was describing:
call them at 3 AM on the Interstate in the boonies on a moonless night to report there's something that looks like part of a tree or a dead deer smack in the middle of the road and not really enough visibility to see it in time to avoid running right over it if you happen not to be looking right in front of you at just the right moment
Though thinking about it a bit more it could be that the immediate call with the license plate number was what blakey was talking about. meh, whatevers. The point being that he wasn't talking about after the fact calling 911.
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On the turnpike it seems to be *990 but I wasn't on the turnpike.
It's different from state to state, I was just mentioning the number I'd seen most commonly.
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@blakeyrat said:
you could call 911
I figured since I wasn't in any immediate danger, having gotten home and sat at my computer, I'd find the non-emergency number. I always feel weird about calling 911 if I'm not in imminent danger.But he's putting people in danger by driving someplace that others aren't expecting. Definitely 911-worthy.
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But he's putting people in danger by driving someplace that others aren't expecting. Definitely 911-worthy.
I once called 911 to report a fireball. I think it was when that satellite crashed in '08 or so.
That call was hilarious for me. The guy clearly thought he was talking to a drunk or loon for the first minute or so...until a number of other calls came in.
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I bet that there will be 911 calls for the launch that just took place.
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I bet that there will be 911 calls for the launch that just took place.
I heard it was scrubbed because some dumbass in a boat was downrange.
If you boat underneath a rocket you deserve any flaming bits of metal that rain down on you.
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Uggh, idiot.
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I heard it was scrubbed because some dumbass in a boat was downrange.
One might well imagine that being responsible for scrubbing a rocket launch would result in some sort of financial liability, but the news reports I've read are quite lacking in any details of, e.g., is there any legal prohibition on entering the area where the boat was? What is the penalty for violating the restriction, if any?
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People who refuse to let you pass. So you're driving down the freeway, in the right lane because you're supposed to, and you come up on a car doing 10 under the limit. In order to avoid a collision, you get over in the left lane and start passing them. Just as you pull even, the asshole speeds up. Not trying to get ahead of you, but just keeping even. Why?!
Could be that they had inadvertently slowed and noticed when they saw you overtaking them. They then sped up to the speed limit, not to be a dick to you but to get to the speed limit.
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Could be that they had inadvertently slowed and noticed when they saw you overtaking them. They then sped up to the speed limit, not to be a dick to you but to get to the speed limit.
Doesn't matter. They fucked up. They should keep going slow so they don't fuck other people also.
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He had two choices: plow into the sign, or merge sharply into my dinky little Kia.
Fellow WTFians, you better believe I floored it.
I had similar yesterday, at least my guy was just in the right-most lane of a two-lane off-ramp and decided he wasn't exiting.
Glad the Professional Truck Drivers can plan ahead. (NOT).Still, in retrospect, I was the TRWTF, since, me vs. gasoline tanker = I lose.
YMMV.
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me vs. gasoline tanker = I lose.
QFT
this is why i stay the [copulation, and not the fun kind] away from semi's
AFAIAC if i will categorically lose with it in a trafic altercation it has the right of way and i should stay out of that way.
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this is why i stay the [copulation, and not the fun kind] away from semi's
Yeah, I will slow down a bit to allow the car in front of me to get far enough ahead that I have safe following distance after passing the truck, then gun it to get by before resuming speed once I get there. Of course, this angers the mouth breathing tailgaters behind me, but that just makes it all better.
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I had similar yesterday, at least my guy was just in the right-most lane of a two-lane off-ramp and decided he wasn't exiting. Glad the Professional Truck Drivers can plan ahead. (NOT).
I see this on a daily basis, and I sometimes suspect it's intentional. Normally people who don't know where they're going drive more slowly as if that would somehow help. Most of the people I see getting into and out of off-ramps at the last minute are keeping up with traffic.
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California is stupid though so I'll ignore this post.
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Could be that they had inadvertently slowed and noticed when they saw you overtaking them. They then sped up to the speed limit, not to be a dick to you but to get to the speed limit.
That is a likely scenario. But, as I posted earlier:
And If you're getting passed, then let the other car pass you. You can match their speed once they are in front of you.
And, as @blakeyrat said:
Doesn't matter. They fucked up. They should keep going slow so they don't fuck other people also.
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I always feel weird about calling 911 if I'm not in imminent danger.
I once called that (well, UK equivalent) when I was on a motorway and saw some idiots throwing things (no idea what) from a footbridge onto the road. By the time I called, I was past them and was therefore in no immediate danger, but I'm still certain I did the right thing.
Thoughtless brainless Idiots. Hope the cops caught them.
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I'm still certain I did the right thing.
Calling to attempt to prevent danger is a legitimate use of 911.
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Spotted on ASR:
http://jeffdowsing.files.wordpress.com/2014/09/intersection.jpg
(Source. Appears to be -37.7153,145.0080)
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civil engineering gone wrong....
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Looks like someone took xkcd’s “rotary supercollider” seriously...
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All civil engineering is wrong.
My sister went to an engineering college and knew some civil engineer students. She claims that none of them are about practicality, instead they want to come up with the "new great thing" and make a name for themselves. So instead of simple, cheap, easy-to-navigate grid systems, we get WTF road systems that look like several cans of Silly String exploded on a map. Because that's the Cool Thing To Do™ if you're a civil engineer.
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s/civil/software/
s/road/code/Still true.
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eventually there will be so much WTF that doing simple to navigate grids will be cool again... with luck we'll reach that point before the heat death of the universe
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The latest cool thing here seems to be roundabouts. Nice concept, but it doesn't work so well in a nation where no one understands what "Yield" means.
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2) Corner-cutting on left turns has always happened, but now people are cutting corners so much that not only is it impossible for them to line-up with the lane they're supposed to be ending up in, but they pass just inches from the poor car waiting to take a left in the protected left lane. This is despite the DMV literally having PAINTED CURVED LINES in the intersection to guide people making turns.
Date: summer 1983.
Location: Endicott, NY, at the intersection of Harrison Ave and Main St.I'm waiting at a red light on Harrison to turn left onto Main St. On my bike, mind you. I'm doing this reflected-British-style, the way I learned it when I was a wee laddie but with left and right swapped, so I'm waiting in the left lane (a mistake, as we shall see).
Anyway, a car approaches the lights on Main St from my right to turn left into Harrison Ave, and cuts the corner, as, evidently, you do. With milliseconds left to complete the evasion manoeuvre, he sees me (it's broad daylight, and it's a sunny day, so no didn't-see-the-bike-in-the-dark excuses from Mr Idiot Driver, thanks), and swerves to pass me on my right (think hard about the geometry of this event, please) instead of passing directly through my position. Fortunately, nobody was waiting on Harrison to turn right... (Going straight isn't an option at that point.)
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I've only ever seen reversible lanes on freeways-- you have them on city streets with left turns? Yikes!
For maximum WTF value, consider the following madness that was a thing in Britain in the 1970s (and some time after, although thankfully mostly they have been removed). It was coyly referred to as a "three lane deathtrap". It consisted of a perfectly ordinary single-carriageway road (no median strip, etc) that was wide enough for three lanes. That's three lanes, two each way.Yes, folks, the middle lane was bidirectional, whence the name.
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I've heard that 3rd lane referred to as the suicide lane.
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We have plenty of "suicide lanes" here in the States. The ones I've seen are for left turns only, typically; you're not supposed to drive on them for longer stretches.
Some roads also have reversible lanes; however, traffic is allowed to travel in only one direction, and there are prominent signals to indicate which direction traffic is allowed to travel in the lanes. For example, one such lane near me allows travel toward downtown during morning rush hour, and travel away from downtown during evening rush hour.
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We have plenty of "suicide lanes" here in the States. The ones I've seen are for left turns only, typically; you're not supposed to drive on them for longer stretches.
I've never seen any, but I've heard stories about them in rural PA / NY back in the 60s. No clue if they still exist there.
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The turn-only variant I've seen in OH, NC, and CA.
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The turn only stuff usually has semi-double yellow lines, too. The stuff I'm thinking of was, IIRC, meant to be a passing lane. Not that it went away around hills or curves, apparently.
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And turn-only in KY, IN, AK. Course I've also seen the 3 lanes without labels or anywhere to turn off in AK as well.
(also the labeled part of the day one way part another, a third part of the day is a both direction turn lane in KY)
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Some roads also have reversible lanes; however, traffic is allowed to travel in only one direction, and there are prominent signals to indicate which direction traffic is allowed to travel in the lanes. For example, one such lane near me allows travel toward downtown during morning rush hour, and travel away from downtown during evening rush hour.
I've never seen any, but I've heard stories about them in rural PA / NY back in the 60s. No clue if they still exist there.
There are a couple roads with them in Phoenix.
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Some roads also have reversible lanes; however, traffic is allowed to travel in only one direction, and there are prominent signals to indicate which direction traffic is allowed to travel in the lanes. For example, one such lane near me allows travel toward downtown during morning rush hour, and travel away from downtown during evening rush hour.
I've seen those in Britain more recently than the 70s, e.g. in parts of Reading in the 2000s, but the ones I remember, the middle lane was full-duplex...
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I've never seen any, but I've heard stories about them in rural PA / NY back in the 60s. No clue if they still exist there.
Pittsburgh has some signal-only reversible lanes (or at least had some not too long ago) over some of their bridges.
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Pittsburgh has some signal-only reversible lanes (or at least had some not too long ago) over some of their bridges.
At least Connecticut Ave NW in DC has a reversible lane. It's a major artery into the city.
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At least Connecticut Ave NW in DC has a reversible lane. It's a major artery into the city.
Rock Creek Parkway in DC, Harbor tunnel in Bawlmer, and Bay Bridge over Chesapeake.
Not reversible, but OMG!!!! I-66 with lanes that become shoulders and/or on-ramps...
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Not reversible, but OMG!!!! I-66 with lanes that become shoulders and/or on-ramps...
Oh, I hate that road.
The HOV lanes in the median on 95 and 395 south of DC change direction, too.
