Another Driving Rant!/Observation! (1 Viewer)

[DeathStar1]

Get ready for another one, folks! Home Theater Therapy and Advice, 101 .

I'm driving along 287 Bergan, NJ. Yesterday, I thought I'd leave at 3 PM to beat the traffic, turns out just 10 minutes before there was a horrific accident that caused the lanes to be closed and we came to a dead stop for an hour. I didn't mind that, I was in no rush.

But today...

I see Dark Clouds approaching, so I head home early. I hate driving in Heavy Rain. I merge on fine. Speed up to 65, slow up around exit 41 under the bridge where it always slows....thanks to that high speed left exit merge. Then, the deluge starts.

Now, granted, I'm in the middle lane on a three way road. But, It pours so heavily and so fast up untill I reach about exit 51, that you can barley see 5 inches ahead. Blink, and y ou could loose site of the lane you are in. Thank goodness for red brake lights.

Now, for those who know 287, you know there are wonderful speed demon truckers on that road. EVERYONE on the lane is going 45-55 MPH, even in the fast lane. I was going the speed everyone else was, so as not to cause a traffic bit behind me, or an accident. But, every now and then, I'd hear a horn blaring at me from behind...of course it's a truck, and he passes me on the right. This happened a good three times. I've learned long ago not to be preasured by truckers on that road, so I just ignore them.... but I was so busy trying to conentrate on the road behind me, I didn't look at what everyone else was doing....so maybe I shuold have sped up a bit more....

Anyway, the rain finally stops by that bridge over the tree ravine. Around exit 52, we all speed up to 70, and head out and away...



Now, why are Truckers usually the ones who are bitching about how fast you are going? Do they really have such strict schedules, that the bosses would w ant them to be unsuafe in driving conditions such as the one above, and disobey the law, or are they using the power of their big trucks to their advantage, by preasuring people to go faster? And of course, when they pass you, their tire backlash of water causes you to slow down even more...

Ah well...I'm staying home tommorow thanks to a personal trainer appointment. I'll get one good relaxing day yet .

 

[Julian Reville]

Beats me. People seem to be getting more irritable and impatient every day.

I drive the same route home every day. It's city streets all the way with a speed limit of 35 MPH and it drops to 25 MPH in the subdivision. I have to make a left turn into my subdivision and BOY DOES THAT PISS SOME PEOPLE OFF! Horns blaring, evil looks, passing on the right, fingers flipping. You would think that 3 seconds of their life was more precious than gold.

I even went so far as to check that my turn signals are working.....yep. WTF am I supposed to do, take a 90* turn at 50 MPH?

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Hey, yesterday I saw people pulling around a stopped SUV in a parking lot, nearly running down the people who were crossing in front of the SUV - in the marked crosswalk - people they hadn't be able to see because the SUV was in front of them. The SUV was stopped at a stop sign properly waiting for pedestrians to pass for all of 30 seconds and these jerks were pulling out blind into the opposite lane of traffic rather than waiting for less than a minute. Unless you're a surgeon, a cop or a fireman, you don't have to be anywhere so urgently that a minute is going to make that much of a difference. (OK, if you're suffering from certain intestinal problems it might, but in that case you're probably on foot and not in a car. )

Regards,

Joe

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I get so fed up with what I see on the road I just close my eyes.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Oh, that was you in front of me yesterday!

 

[Christ Reynolds]

i was under the impression that truck drivers are under extremely tight schedules.

CJ

 

[Christ Reynolds]

this reminds me of something my mother does. when she's driving with a passenger, she'll close her right eye, leave her left eye open, and pretend to be asleep. when her passenger notices she is "asleep", usually when my mother starts to drift off the road, he/she will try to wake her up. scared the shit out of me when i was about 10 or so. now i just crack up every time she does it to someone new.

CJ

 

[Dheiner]

Well, Neil, if the truck drivers are passing you on the right, YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE. Sorry for yelling, but this is my pet peeve. (Well, one of them, anyway.) The driving rules I've always tried to drive by are pretty simple.
1.) If someone is overtaking me, get right. (No matter how fast I'm going, or what the speed limit is.)
2.) If I'm not passing someone, get right. (Any time there is room.)

 

[Jay H]

Dheiner, from Neil's post, it sounds like he is in the middle lane of a three lane interstate (I-287 in NJ). I believe in a three lane interstate, 18-wheel trucks are prohibited in the left lane. Eventually when you get further south, I-287 becomes two lanes again (or further north past Oakland, NJ) and then trucks are OK in the left lane.

Having said that, most drivers may not be aware that trucks are not allowed in the left lane of a three lane interstate, however, I totally agree with you on left-lane sitters.

Jay

 

[Jay H]

Neil, you should check out this section from the Daily Record's online website about I-287:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs...theme=ROUTE287

Especially the first article about the truckers... I-287 is a major truck thoroughfare for truckers that do not want to drive through I-95 through the GWB, they take I-287 to the NYS Thruway to I-84 in Newburgh, NY to bypass the whole Bridgeport/Stamford/New Haven mess and the GWB...

Jay

 

[Raasean Asaad]

And remember how hard it is to slow down a truck just 10 MPH in order to not run you over. Be a pal and get out of their way, they don't want to accidentally kill you because they couldn't slow down fast enough.

 

[Cees Alons]

Truckers have far more problems changing their speed than other drivers. They even may have to change gear much more often. Therefore, they love it if you do not force them to slow down (or speed up).


Cees

 

[DeathStar1]

Yep, but it dosn't help if you, and everyone around you is going 5 miles over the current speed limit, and mister trucker wants to do 85..... If he wasn't driving that fast in the first place, we wouldn't have a problem.

I had another nut to the right of me today. The speed limit was dropped to 55, but everyone else is going 65, so I match them. These two, a mini truck and car are pulling off an exit ramp, wich is it's own lane, and rides onto an entrance ramp.

The mini truck has his right blinker on still, but just in case he dosn't continuing going off tothe right and into the exit, I speed up to 72 to get in between him and the car. My exit is right after this one.

i near the end...everything looks Ok...but all of a sudden, the idiot speeds up to about 77, cuts me off, and so does the moron in the car behind me. The trucker i can excuse...but there was no one behind me, and the idiot in the car could have just slowed down rather than almost sideswiping me.

i have that article on 287 posted earlier on my screen, I'll give it a read see by the end of the day to see what they have to say .

 

[Julian Reville]

I decided after reading this thread, just to count how many assholes I see in my typical commute of 5 miles.

So yesterday I counted 18 morons that cut in & out of bumper-to-bumper traffic, made illegal turns across 2 or more lanes, pulled out into traffic forcing cars to slam on brakes, blocked lanes while making illegal lane changes, or ran red lights.

Amazingly enough, I didn't see a single wreck.

 

[Tim Hoover]

Lately, I've been wishing that more people understood what a "Yield" sign means. I damn near got sideswiped getting on I-24 last weekend...

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Great idea. I'm going to buy one of those little clicky counter things and keep it in the car to keep track of the assholes myself.

Later,

Joe

 

[Paul D G]

Re: Driving in the Rain - Neil's rainstorm reminded me of when I was driving on the interstate and such a heavy rainstorm hit that my wipers were useless. I literally could not see anything but grey water out my windshield. I wanted to pull over but feared I'd be backsided by someone who couldn't see me, or I'd simply run off the road and get stuck in mud. I managed to get behind a semi and just followed him; my eyes never leaving his faintly glowing taillights. He was driving much too fast for my taste and I had no idea how he could drive like that comfortably.

Julian - Some asshole actually blared his horn at me because I slowed down to pull into my driveway!! Not just a toot either, a full two second blast.

-paul

 

[Julian Reville]

That asshole gets around, doesn't he?



(I think I'm watching too much Rescue Me.....I'm starting to use the word "asshole" in every sentence.)

Nah. Can't watch too much Rescue Me.

 

[Joseph DeMartino]

Absolutely.

Hey, Julian? Blow me.

 

[Julian Reville]

Bunch of assholes.