Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition
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@ScholRLEA said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
it's parent route, I-80, manages to be legendary on both sides of the country
From Nevada to Pennsylvania it's not too bad, except for a short piece near Chicago. A few years back the speed limit for the stretch in Utah between the Nevada border to Salt Lake City was raised from 75 to 80 (mph, so from 121 kph to 129 kph). This primarily just matched how everyone there drives anyways. Utah highways are not bad as long as you realize that everyone will be speeding and adjust your expectations accordingly. The drivers are generally pretty courteous.
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@hardwaregeek said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@benjamin-hall said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Oops. 10 mp
ghOh, that reminds me. There is a car I see frequently that belongs to somebody my son calls a "dude-bro." I don't think I really want to know the definition of that term, but the car is notable for a few things. Lowered, extra-stiff racing suspension. Custom stickers with the dude-bro's Instagram handle on the windows. And an oversize spoiler at the back of the roof that is angled perpendicular to the airflow; that must cut at least 10 mpg off his gas mileage at highway speeds.
AFAIK, the purpose of spoilers is to increase downforce, making it less likely for the tires to break loose from the pavement , e.g. during cornering. I have no idea how much of an actual effect there is, though, and it's pretty pointless if the road conditions aren't dry and well-maintained.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
I require more of a gap than most drivers before I'm comfortable changing lanes (I wait until I can see the headlights of the car next to me in my rearview) and somehow I manage.
I prefer to just play chicken. My vehicle is older and
shittiersturdier than theirs is anyhow.FTFY :D
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@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
If you try for multiple lanes at once (three lanes in 3/4 miles seems probable that you'd have to try)
My parents had a friend who was driving in the Boston area (reputedly the place with the worst drivers in the USA) some years back. She was in the far left lane, and realized she was about to miss her exit from the right lane (1/4 mile or less away). She put on her blinker and stopped to wait for a gap in the left-1 lane. When traffic finally stopped in that lane to let her over, she moved over one lane and waited for the next lane. She kept this up until she was finally able to take the exit ramp off the highway.
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Here's a two-fer that I've noticed a lot, but I'm not sure how prevalent it is elsewhere.
On a multi-lane highway, one vehicle passing another is supposed to pass on an inside ("fast") lane, closer to the median relative to the slower vehicle. The first problem is drivers who are slower than the rest of the traffic and aren't as far towards the outside lane as possible. This is one cause for the second problem, which is that some drivers pass on the outside ("slow") lane, though many people do that anyways.
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@djls45 said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Here's a two-fer that I've noticed a lot, but I'm not sure how prevalent it is elsewhere.
On a multi-lane highway, one vehicle passing another is supposed to pass on an inside ("fast") lane, closer to the median relative to the slower vehicle. The first problem is drivers who are slower than the rest of the traffic and aren't as far towards the outside lane as possible. This is one cause for the second problem, which is that some drivers pass on the outside ("slow") lane, though many people do that anyways.I only do that (pass on the right, which isn't illegal in Florida on any street with 2+ lanes in the direction you're going or if the passed vehicle is turning left) if the right lane is clear for a long span both ahead and behind the passed car. Usually, that means that they're in the middle lane of the freeway (3 lanes each way) and the fast lane is jammed while the slow lane is empty.
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@djls45 said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
My parents had a friend who was driving in the Boston area (reputedly the place with the worst drivers in the USA) some years back. She was in the far left lane, and realized she was about to miss her exit from the right lane (1/4 mile or less away). She put on her blinker and stopped to wait for a gap in the left-1 lane. When traffic finally stopped in that lane to let her over, she moved over one lane and waited for the next lane. She kept this up until she was finally able to take the exit ramp off the highway.
Yikes. Can't imagine the profanities hurled in her direction, but guess it worked.
I haven't driven in Boston but have taken a bus through Boston; just seeing what the traffic outside the windows of the bus was doing was enough to give my mother an anxiety attack. Then again, that could have been the bus. If the buses in Boston are anything like the Metro buses in my area, they don't give a fuck.
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@djls45 said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
I require more of a gap than most drivers before I'm comfortable changing lanes (I wait until I can see the headlights of the car next to me in my rearview) and somehow I manage.
I prefer to just play chicken. My vehicle is older and
shittiersturdier than theirs is anyhow.FTFY :D
Yeah, that is really really not true
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@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Your problem is that 3/4 mile is way too short to get over 3 lanes.
Depends on how fast traffic is moving.
@masonwheeler said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
I could have made it 2 miles and the substance of the story would not have changed.
I'll bet they all recognized your car from when you were doing your speed limit enforcement thing by going the speed limit in the left lane.
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@boomzilla said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
I'll bet they all recognized your car from when you were doing your speed limit enforcement thing by going the speed limit in the left lane.
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@heterodox Also: you can't control the space in back of you, but you can control the space in front of you. So be proactive and leave a merge-able space in front of you at all times-- it helps traffic overall.
(Watch professional drivers, truckers, etc. They almost always do this, because they know it helps traffic flow in general.)
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Watch professional drivers, truckers, etc. They almost always do this, because they know it helps traffic flow in general.
They do it because they know they're driving a large truck, hauling a 50,000 lb load, and can't stop it on a dime like you can.
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Well yeah, Blakeyrat posted it so obviously it's stupid and wrong and he's a moron and you better say so right away.
Whatever.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
They do it because they know they're driving a large truck, hauling a 50,000 lb load, and can't stop it on a dime like you can.
That just means that what counts as a space for them is longer than what counts for you…
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Also: you can't control the space in back of you, but you can control the space in front of you. So be proactive and leave a merge-able space in front of you at all times-- it helps traffic overall.
Yeah, having a buffer space in front of you is great. I'm a big fan of it.
Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there who don't understand buffer spaces and just see "space where no car is" and figure that would be a great place to move their car into!
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@masonwheeler said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there who don't understand buffer spaces and just see "space where no car is" and figure that would be a great place to move their car into!
So? Let them! That's what the space is for! Then slow down a bit so in 45 seconds or so you have another car's worth of buffer space.
What slows down traffic is not letting people merge when they want.
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
What slows down traffic is not letting people merge when they want.
...which has been my entire point here. :D
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@masonwheeler So you're just fucking with me.
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@masonwheeler said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Unfortunately, there are too many idiots out there who don't understand buffer spaces and just see "space where no car is" and figure that would be a great place to move their car into!
So? Let them! That's what the space is for!
No. Just no. The buffer space is so if a boneheaded jackass does something stupid, you have room enough to stop without ending up in the boneheaded jackass's backseat.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
The muffler isn't just about reducing the noise output; it also has a catalytic converter
The vehicle where I had the "sports exhaust" didn't have a cat: it was from 1980 and used leaded fuel so was incompatible with a catalytic converter.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
They do it because they know they're driving a large truck, hauling a 50,000 lb load, and can't stop it on a dime like you can.
Not all of them know that. I see a lot of truckers here acting like they are driving cars.
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@antiquarian said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
They do it because they know they're driving a large truck, hauling a 50,000 lb load, and can't stop it on a dime like you can.
Not all of them know that. I see a lot of truckers here acting like they are driving Formula 1 racecars.
FTFY. At least IME.
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I usually ride my bike to work, but traffic is so not bike friendly that it can get really dangerous sometimes:
- Not using turn signals at all and just switch lanes whenever you see fit. Without doing a shoulder check OR looking into the rear view mirros.
- Keeping eyes to the left when trying to turn right. After all, that's where the other cars are coming from, right? And pedestrians or cyclists are weaker than my SUV tank, so no danger from them.
2.1. Keeping eyes to the right when trying to turn left. After all, that's where the other cars are coming from, right? And pedestrians or cyclists are weaker than my SUV tank, so no danger from them.
2.2 Who cares if pedestrians or cyclists maybe want to get to the other side of the road as well (and chickens, of course. But nobody knows why they cross the road), if I have to stop at an intersection, people can go around my car! - Parking on bicycle lanes, so that you can ge quickly go to the bakery and get your morning coffee.
3.1. Parking on bicycle lanes and turning on hazard lights, while going to the bakery to get your morning coffee.
3.2. Parking on bicycle lanes and turning on hazard lights and saying "Waddayawant? I'ma having my lunch break here!" when asked wtf they think they are doing. - Overtaking bicycles on the road without regard to the minimum distance.
4.1. Overtaking bicycles even though there is oncoming traffic, then panic and drive back into your own lane, even though you are not done overtaking the bike. - Opening the door of your parked car without checking if there's anyone coming from behind you.
- Bicycle lanes ending in the middle of a street.
6.1. Not maintained bicylce lanes, so much so that it is impossible to use them, and bikers are forced to drive on the road.
All this is being tolerated by law enforcement by doing jack sh*t about it. Even if they for example see a car parked on a bike lane, they do nothing about it. But god beware if you dare to ride your bike on the road if there's a (not well maintained) bike lane next to it.
And for all of you thinking about responding with examples of "kamikaze bike riders": Please don't. The difference between a kamikaze bike rider and a careless car driver is that the bike rider is risking his own life. The careless car driver risks the life of others.
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@hans_mueller said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
the bike rider is risking his own life
Sometimes others as well. There are some real nutters out there.
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@dkf said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
There are some real nutters out there.
Absolutely. As a sometime cyclist who is pretty meticulous about riding both legally and safely, few things annoy me quite so much as cyclists who are either oblivious to or flagrantly flout both traffic laws and common sense. Not only do they risk their own lives and create a hazard for motor vehicle drivers, they build ill will toward all cyclists, even those of us who aren't effing morons.
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@rhywden said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
The law actually explicitly states that this is not a hazard situation requiring the hazard lights. Those are reserved for accidents and other serious incidents.
Not our law. We don't even call them hazard lights. Road code uses some unnecessarily complex name like "simultaneous change of direction signals" or such, but everyone just calls them "four blinkers".
Everyone uses them — or they should — for "temporarily stopped here. pls don't collide kthzbye" as well as a de facto brief signal of "hey thanks for yielding your right of way to let me in".
Edit: so I checked and, colour me surprised, they do actually call them hazard lights (as well as simultaneous change of direction signals) and all the cases of use mentioned are hazardous in a way or another: bad weather, regular light malfunction, unexpected speed reduction, being towed, special vehicles stopping for picking up or dropping off children, forced vehicle immobilization.
No mention of other uses being forbidden though, and it's generally expected that you signal when stopped somewhere you shouldn't, because then you're the hazard.
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@zecc said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
as well as a de facto brief signal of "hey thanks for yielding your right of way to let me in".
That's bizarre. That and telling tailgaters to stay away. Never heard of those. It's fascinating how each geographical region develops these little "mannerisms" that are completely invisible to people just passing through.
Where I grew up, double tapping your brakes indicates there's a hidden cop up ahead to the cars behind; I learned when I took a road trip with a college friend that that's not universal either; she had no idea why I was doing that.
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@heterodox the version that I'm familiar with is flashing your high beams at the oncoming traffic, to warn them that they're headed toward a speed trap which you just passed.
Warning traffic behind you about a speed trap that you haven't passed yet requires either being psychic or at least knowing a fair bit about the movement of the cops (e.g. because you know they frequently like to camp out there, or because you just passed by earlier and saw them).
Flashing your high beams at the oncoming traffic to warn them also has the added benefit that the cops behind you can't necessarily see you doing it.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Warning traffic behind you about a speed trap that you haven't passed yet requires either being psychic or at least knowing a fair bit about the movement of the cops (e.g. because you know they frequently like to camp out there, or because you just passed by earlier and saw them).
Or you just saw them hiding round the bend or under the bridge and know the drivers behind you won’t have seen them yet.
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@heterodox Touching the brake pedal a few times would be more effective, as the cops wouldn't be able to see that from the front and would therefore be less likely to pull you over and ticket you for interfering with the duties of a police officer.
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@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@heterodox Touching the brake pedal a few times would be more effective, as the cops wouldn't be able to see that from the front and would therefore be less likely to pull you over and ticket you for interfering with the duties of a police officer.
That’s... exactly what I described.
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@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@anotherusername said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@heterodox Touching the brake pedal a few times would be more effective, as the cops wouldn't be able to see that from the front and would therefore be less likely to pull you over and ticket you for interfering with the duties of a police officer.
That’s... exactly what I described.
My bad; you did indeed. I thought we were still talking about using the hazard lights.
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...but why would you want to do that? If they're driving too fast, they should get pulled over. There are far too many dangerous drivers on the road, and the more they get smacked down, the better!
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@hardwaregeek said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Not only do they risk their own lives and create a hazard for motor vehicle drivers, they build ill will toward all cyclists, even those of us who aren't effing morons.
That's a losing battle. The cyclists who breeze through stop signs and red lights, who constantly switch between sidewalks and roadway whenever it suits them, etc. outnumber the legal riders at least 10:1.
Cyclists are all assholes. Sorry. That reputation is secured.
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@zecc said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Everyone uses them — or they should — for "temporarily stopped here. pls don't collide kthzbye"
Normal.
@zecc said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
as well as a de facto brief signal of "hey thanks for yielding your right of way to let me in".
WTF? Are you in a country where nobody has hands to wave with?
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@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Where I grew up, double tapping your brakes indicates there's a hidden cop up ahead to the cars behind; I learned when I took a road trip with a college friend that that's not universal either; she had no idea why I was doing that.
Nobody does that here, but you used to flash your headlights for people coming the other direction when you saw a speed trap. Not sure if anybody does anymore.
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@masonwheeler Because if a Seattle cop pulls you over, there's a good chance chance you'll end up shot. Our cops are human garbage.
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Our cops are human garbage.
Can they at least be encouraged to crack down on those annoying cyclists?
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@dkf said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
Our cops are human garbage.
Can they at least be encouraged to crack down on those annoying cyclists?
We cyclists don't want crack.
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@hardwaregeek said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@dkf said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
There are some real nutters out there.
Absolutely. As a sometime cyclist who is pretty meticulous about riding both legally and safely, few things annoy me quite so much as cyclists who are either oblivious to or flagrantly flout both traffic laws and common sense. Not only do they risk their own lives and create a hazard for motor vehicle drivers, they build ill will toward all cyclists, even those of us who aren't effing morons.
I do the occasional less than legal move, but I try to be considerate and safe when doing so.
Largely following:
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@heterodox said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@zecc said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
as well as a de facto brief signal of "hey thanks for yielding your right of way to let me in".
That's bizarre. That and telling tailgaters to stay away. Never heard of those. It's fascinating how each geographical region develops these little "mannerisms" that are completely invisible to people just passing through.
Truckers will generally do this if you flash your headlights ( ) to signal them to change into your lane.
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@masonwheeler said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
...but why would you want to do that? If they're driving too fast, they should get pulled over. There are far too many dangerous drivers on the road, and the more they get smacked down, the better!
Speed limits are often ridiculously low.
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@boomzilla I agree. But the appropriate response is to fix that. Right now you appear to be arguing that two wrongs make a right.
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@masonwheeler said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@boomzilla I agree. But the appropriate response is to fix that. Right now you appear to be arguing that two wrongs make a right.
One could say that so are you by arguing for enforcing dumb laws (or whatever you want to call the set speed limit for a part of a road). I obviously agree that many speed limits should be changed but I'd rather have the ambiguous enforcement we currently have and mostly have cops enforce going at actually unsafe speeds.
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@karla
I have to admit, I saw the post was by you, and my eyes subbed "Judo chop" for the Wikipedia article title, and I was like
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Rude bus drivers, who think that just because they are driving a bus, they have the right to crowd ahead of people who are patiently (or not) waiting their turn to proceed:
or this:
Yes, buses with a lot of passengers are more efficient than solo drivers, and it's not entirely unreasonable to give them some preferential treatment. But I've seen transit buses headed back to the maintenance yard with no passengers pulling the bottom trick.
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@blakeyrat said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
@zecc said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
as well as a de facto brief signal of "hey thanks for yielding your right of way to let me in".
WTF? Are you in a country where nobody has hands to wave with?
That is also an acceptable gesture, and in fact is what I usually do.
But it's also harder to see depending on all sorts of factors.
I get that a lot from bus drivers or truck drivers, for example.
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@dcon said in Driving Anti-Patterns - Necro Edition:
We cyclists don't want crack.
You prefer aranesp don't you?
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I don't know about anywhere else but here buses literally have a sign with the bus indicating and "give way". It's more for allowing the bus into traffic when they have pulled over for a stop though
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@zemm illegal to pass from either direction:
(Subject to local law. Good for some combination of "while bus is stopped", "while stop sign is extended", and "while flashing lights are on". Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.)
I'm not aware of any laws about stopping for or yielding to other types of buses. Just school buses.