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09-15-2020, 02:12 PM   #16
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And people wonder why I do not drive.

I use public transport - and if I can't get somewhere that way, then I don't go. Simples.

Last year, I was on a bus on a 'normal' A-road, when someone pulled out of a side turning on the left beside the bus (don't forget, we drive on the left in the UK). Simultaneously, the bus was overtaken on the right. The driver braked firmly but safely, and uttered the immortal words to the passengers : 'Shut your eyes if you don't want to give evidence !'

No collision occurred, but it was not an incident that made me want to join the car-driving fraternity. I get enough hassle as a cyclist.

09-15-2020, 02:31 PM   #17
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QuoteOriginally posted by 35mmfilmfan Quote
And people wonder why I do not drive.

I use public transport - and if I can't get somewhere that way, then I don't go. Simples.

Last year, I was on a bus on a 'normal' A-road, when someone pulled out of a side turning on the left beside the bus (don't forget, we drive on the left in the UK). Simultaneously, the bus was overtaken on the right. The driver braked firmly but safely, and uttered the immortal words to the passengers : 'Shut your eyes if you don't want to give evidence !'

No collision occurred, but it was not an incident that made me want to join the car-driving fraternity. I get enough hassle as a cyclist.
" public transport " between cities in my part of the US basically doesn't exist

and we put about 1,300 miles on our trip

not quite cycling distance with my camera gear in tow

plus a slight change in elevation

Rocky Mountain National Park 2910.70m [ 9549 ft ]

Topeka KS 289.56m [ 950 ft ]

Last edited by aslyfox; 09-15-2020 at 02:40 PM.
09-15-2020, 02:41 PM   #18
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"Pedal HARDER!" LOL

Kirk B.
09-15-2020, 03:14 PM   #19
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you had to go there didn't you

09-15-2020, 03:30 PM   #20
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Driving in the Toronto area has always been bad. Turn signals on the highway seem to be optional, turning your lights on at night also seem optional, staying in the passing lane below the speed limit is almost like an enshrined human right. Now with Covid things got crazier. For about 4 months there was very little traffic on the highways. So the crazies thought the highways were their own personal racetracks. Cars are racing each other across all lanes and no police out there. Worse episode personally for me...about 1 1/2 months ago. Was moving into the left passing lane to pass someone, checked all my mirrors and blind spot, was going above speed limit. Just moved to the left and a car zipped around me at about 180 km/hr. You could not see him coming. He then got upset with me and blocked me! For real! Every time I moved over to get away he moved over to the same lane and slowed down. This went on across all the lanes for a few Km’s until he cut across 6 lanes to get to his exit. Thank goodness are roads are now getting busier.
09-15-2020, 04:25 PM   #21
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Yes I agree, defensive driving in an essential driving skill. Many years ago, I worked as a commercial truck driver to pay my way through U. I was a young guy and I probably put on about 50,000 miles + per year, driving delivery trucks in the four years I worked for the company.

I learned a lot, about the quickest routes, backing up a large vehicle in a confined, tight space, loading trucks, weight distribution of loads and how it affected vehicles, etc. and driving trucks on city streets and country roads. Mostly I learned about defensive driving and other drivers. Carelessness, distracted driving reigned supreme on roads back in the early '70's and if anything it now, completely dominates.

Driving is like being in a video game, with much the same consequences, only for real in life.

Not only do you have to drive for yourself, but you also have to 'drive for others....other drivers, bicyclists, pedestrians. People and I mean people...no matter how they get around...by car, by bicycle, by foot....seem to be in a world of their own, many ignoring the rules of the road, the sidewalk, etc...arrogant in the seeming belief that the other person will do the responsible thing and cater and compensate for their lack of care as they get around in this world of ours.
09-15-2020, 04:39 PM   #22
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That last sentence. Yes. That. Exactly.
Unfortunately, in my endeavors to protect myself, I have become their enabler...

Kirk B.

09-15-2020, 07:43 PM - 1 Like   #23
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The weird thing is, those other drivers must always chop down on other drivers who are alert enough to avoid a collision. It sure seems like they are sailing through like it is their normal driving style. I expect to see them wrecked like a mile down the road, just as a matter of probability, yet I never do.

I remember an interview with NASCAR driver Ken Schrader, a pretty funny guy, about a race at Talladega during Dale Earnhart Jr.'s rookie year. Talladega is a very large oval with 31 degree banked turns. Dale Earnhardt Jr. attempted to pass a lot of cars including Ken by driving on the nearly unbanked apron of the track as they approached the entrance to the huge banked turn. The interviewer said "Did you know he (Jr.) was going to come up off the apron in front of you?" Ken: "Oh, he was going to come up all right, we all knew that. It was just a question of how big a wreck there was going to be when he did it."
09-16-2020, 02:18 AM - 2 Likes   #24
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QuoteOriginally posted by crazy4oldcars Quote
And just imagine...
Cars are getting "smarter", offering semi-automatic driving, semi-automatic braking, and warning lights for front, rear and sides.
I drive a semi that now has all that junk on it and you are right. I find myself having to fight to not become complacent, but thankfully it isn't too hard. Between all the false alarms and unnecessary alerts where I reacted before it even knows a problem existed, most of it has become easy to ignore. 15+ years and well over a million miles accident free, I think I can handle myself fine without all that "safety" tech.

And then there's the imminent crash warning as shown in the attached photo...

My latest job now has me driving a chemical tanker. Tanker and hazmat are both a first for me, and apparently I have a giant target on my back now. I guess other drivers see those hazmat placards and think it's a green light to do what they can to cause an accident. Oh well, if that happens, I'll have it recorded on up to 3 different cameras.
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09-16-2020, 02:35 AM - 1 Like   #25
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In Berlin these idiots (sorry) are even using the downtown roads as racetracks. Packed city, so pretty much every road. Regularly they cause crashes with other cars, even killing the other drivers (unfortunately, the idiots survive). Government changed a law to charge them with what you call first degree murder in the USA. However, judges seem to struggle with applying that. I'm a fan of pillorying them, and not in a metaphoric way. More like tarring and feathering.
09-16-2020, 02:37 AM   #26
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When I was a kid (i.e., less than thirty years), I used to think I was a really good driver. That's because I was really good at working the car. It wasn't until I grew up that I realized that it's a bad thing to be scaring other people - even, assuming I really could be certain I wouldn't cause a wreck by my antics (which I did, stupidly), just the fact that I was doing things that involved a high degree of risk to others was, well, unloving and unkind.

When I started defending people in court who'd been charged with the crime of "dumb things people do with cars" (esp. DUI, reckless driving, etc.) and became chairman of the Fairfax (Virginia) Transportation Safety Commission, it really brought it home to me.

Now I take the position that one who really is a good driver (unlike the kid I was) is a person who knows the rules (i.e., the laws of his state regulating transportation, NOT the crap the insurance companies have put out in "drivers' ed." courses and the little handout books the DMV gives you to study for the driver's test) and who is pretty religious about obeying them.

Part of the problem is that really smart people have designed complex systems, including vehicles, with the expectation that everyone else is as smart as they are (another stupid assumption based on projection). And the problem is that half of the population has an I.Q. that's below average (mean), and who will never understand the systems they have to use just to get along in life. Now, lots of parents are being required to "home-school" their kids with some kind of computer provided by the school system using classroom-simulants such as Zoom and Blackboard - So waitress mom is trying to help her kid use all that stuff, and the kid knows more about the technology than the mom does - and she's losing work and income to be able to waste time trying to figure out the defects in the systems. And don't get me started on the law (here's a hint - it almost never means what it says in the books because of the magic of "judicial interpretation").

Seems to me that everyone's concerned about "keeping safe" these days, but it seems to me that if we really cared about human life, we'd enforce the speed limits. You know, almost no one understands why we have speed limits - it's not really to limit speed, it's to control the maximum safe stopping distance in a particular place with whatever conditions (likely pedestrian crossings, slow moving vehicles turning into an open road, etc.) apply there. And stop signs! I was driving to court one day with another attorney passenger, and came to a dead stop at a stop sign. The guy asked me why I'd stopped, because there was no other traffic approaching from any direction. An attorney asked me why I was bothering to obey the law because it looked safe to him! I explained that all I was required to do first was to come to a dead stop - I didn't need to know whether it was safe or not to proceed, all I needed to know was that I had to stop the car. When I'd stopped, then it's as if I had a "yield" sign - that's when I needed to know what was safe and what wasn't. People think they need to second-guess the regulations - here's another example: flashing lights on a school zone sign. You don't need to know whether school's in session or not, all you need to know is whether the lights are flashing (and that's all the cop needs to know, too).

If everyone played by the rules, the game would be more fun.

Last edited by Unregistered User; 09-16-2020 at 02:44 AM.
09-16-2020, 02:44 AM   #27
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QuoteOriginally posted by Mooncatt Quote
I drive a semi . . .
I remember back in the citizen band radio days telling truckers:

" you missed me "

to indicate that it was safe [ there was enough room between the vehicles and I was ready for them to return to the lane in front of me ] after they had passed my 4 wheeler

they all said " thank you " as they returned to the right hand lane
09-16-2020, 04:00 AM - 2 Likes   #28
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QuoteOriginally posted by dlh Quote
If everyone played by the rules, the game would be more fun.
So true... not just in driving, but many aspects of life. We're reduced to a lowest common denominator by folks who don't respect authority and rules - and therefore, by association, those who do...
09-16-2020, 04:13 AM - 1 Like   #29
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QuoteOriginally posted by BigMackCam Quote
So true... not just in driving, but many aspects of life. We're reduced to a lowest common denominator by folks who don't respect authority and rules - and therefore, by association, those who do...
the difference being those who " don't follow the rules [ of the road ] "

can kill themselves AND us
09-16-2020, 08:13 AM - 1 Like   #30
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QuoteOriginally posted by aslyfox Quote
the difference being those who " don't follow the rules [ of the road ] "

can kill themselves AND us
Not wanting to drag us off topic, but there are arguably other current matters where the same is true...
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