The line between a safe and slow driver

  • Thread starter DrWillVKN
  • Start date
  • Tags
    Line
In summary: This has happened to me a few times. I was merging onto the highway and there was no space for me to merge in, so I had to come to a stop. This guy in a black truck behind me honks and then starts waving me into traffic, basically saying "go ahead", and there was a line of cars driving by with no space for me to get in. Especially since I was stopped at this point. So I waited until it was clear and got in.
  • #1
DrWillVKN
22
0
When I'm on the road, I try to maintain a steady 'moderate' driving judgment. When I am entering a roundabout or highway, I go when the cars on the left/right are a good distance away (ie. if I yield and the car is just about to cross my path and I can only cross with a very quick reaction time, I usually stop because even though I can cross, I think that if I have other passengers in the car that it's safer to stop).

I think I'm not an overly safe driver when I compare myself to others, and I always am alert and quick. However, when I am at those roundabout/highways and I let just *one* car go past me because I think it's safer, there have been many, many times when the car behind me would honk right when I stop. This is irritating, considering that there's always traffic ahead anyways and that there's no point getting a few seconds ahead.

I have noticed that this happens mostly when I drive a car that belongs to a younger person that has a red bumper sticker thing (around these parts, if a car belongs to someone with less than 1 year of driving exp, the car is forced to have one of those red things, which are annoying to remove everytime you drive, so I usually just keep it on). The person honking is usually a person in their 40s or 50s who looks pissed off. Today, as cars were tightly zooming by from the left, someone honked at me at the exact moment the 3rd last car was passing even though there was no possible way to cross without being turned into scrap metal.

Anyways, the main point of this topic is to discuss what situations you feel is 'safe' driving vs. what is 'too much'. I've been driving for years now and have never been in an accident, and no one has ever told me I drive too safe and slow, but I keep on getting these cars honking at me. I know I lack experience, but a lot of the decisions I make are the same as the ones older drivers do, so it's hard to tell if I'm actually being too safe or if the other drivers are just being jerks. Heck, I thought that older drivers hate to see reckless younger drivers. Do you ever look down on younger/very old drivers?
 
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
If you say you stop in a merge lane when you could have went, you're a dangerous driver. It's MUCH harder to go from a dead stop to highway speeds than to find an opening when traveling a good fraction of the highway speed.

I've put 117,000 miles on my car (and this is my 3rd vehicle), and I don't think I've ever once had to stop in a merge lane except during rush hour traffic when everybody was stopped in the driving lanes. I also get very few people honking at me.

If a lot of other drivers think you're doing something wrong, at what point do you admit that maybe you're doing something wrong, and it isn't everybody *else* who is wrong?
 
  • #3
I don't think he's talking about a merge lane, but rather, a "roundabout."

Safe, and slow, are two entirely different subjects. If you don't believe me, take a trip to South Florida, and you will see plenty of "older" people driving very slowly, who aren't anywhere close to being safe.

There is even a bumper sticker that says: "When I get old, I'm going to move up north, and drive slow."
 
  • #4
This is irritating, considering that there's always traffic ahead anyways and that there's no point getting a few seconds ahead.
People will risk their lives, their families lives and the lives of everyone else on the road for that few seconds. I've seen it many times. There are people on the road who belong in prison for the way they drive, so yes, it is irritating.
Today, as cars were tightly zooming by from the left, someone honked at me at the exact moment the 3rd last car was passing even though there was no possible way to cross without being turned into scrap metal.
This has happened to me a few times. I was merging onto the highway and there was no space for me to merge in, so I had to come to a stop. This guy in a black truck behind me honks and then starts waving me into traffic, basically saying "go ahead", and there was a line of cars driving by with no space for me to get in. Especially since I was stopped at this point. So I waited until it was clear and got in. That road has lines of cars because they were stopped at a red light. The road always clears up, but this jackass behind me wants me to cause a catastrophe by merging into traffic when there's no room, when I could just wait 10 seconds and the road would be perfectly clear.
I've put 117,000 miles on my car (and this is my 3rd vehicle), and I don't think I've ever once had to stop in a merge lane except during rush hour traffic when everybody was stopped in the driving lanes. I also get very few people honking at me.
Then you're lucky. Sometimes people don't get over so you can get in, they just stay in their lane and pass right by you. So when there's a line of cars, and your car can't physically fit in the space provided by the car lengths they're providing, what are you supposed to do? You admit that is a possibility, right? Or do you have a ghost car that can go through other vehicles without touching them?
If a lot of other drivers think you're doing something wrong, at what point do you admit that maybe you're doing something wrong, and it isn't everybody *else* who is wrong?
It's not everybody else, it just happens enough for us to complain about it. So no, not EVERYONE on the road is a psychopath behind the wheel, but a lot are. And those are the people we're complaining about.
Safe, and slow, are two entirely different subjects. If you don't believe me, take a trip to South Florida, and you will see plenty of "older" people driving very slowly, who aren't anywhere close to being safe.
The slow people aren't unsafe, they're just annoying. The crazy people swerving around them going a thousand miles per hour are the people who cause the wrecks. Sure, it sucks to get stuck behind someone going 15 MPH below the speed limit, but if you swerve into the other lane and wreck, then that's completely your fault.
 
  • #5
leroyjenkens said:
The slow people aren't unsafe, they're just annoying.

No, I'm not saying they are unsafe because they drive slow. What I am saying, is that just because someone drives slowly, does not automatically make them a safe driver.

Hence, safe and slow are two different subjects.
 
Last edited:
  • #6
The answser depends what country you are in and what road and traffic conditions you are talking about. Different countries have very different standards of "normal behaviour". In some places, putting a dent in somebody else's car is of no consequence whatever, but if you make eye contact with another driver you probably won't live very long.

But in general I agree with #2. Assuming the people concerned are all in control of their cars, then relative speed causes accidents, not absolute speed. If you pull out at 60mph, a couple of car lengths in front of somebody driving legally at 70, they probably won't hit you. If you do the same at 10mph, they are guaranteed to hit you, unless they can drive round you without hitting something else or spinnng off the road.

The other thing that causes accidents is unpredictable behavour. If the custom in your country is to indicate and then just drive straight at an empty space the same length as your car, doing that is predictable and relatively safe. Stopping unexpectedly and waiting for a gap is unpredictable and dangerous.

There is a big difference between being aggressive and being assertive. The whole traffic system works best if everybdoy is assertive, and does what other people expect them to do, rather than messing about making up the rules as they go along because they think it is "safer" for them.

Full disclosure: I've been driving more than 40 years, and I only remember one accident in that time which was obviously my own fault (and it was caused by losing my rag at somebody who was driving pretty much the same way as you describe, after being forced to stop behind them for no reason about 20 times in succession, with no chance to get past them). I have been involved in a few accidents where the other driver was convicted of careless or dangerous driving, and a few more where the other driver admitted liability.
 
  • #7
I don't think he's talking about a merge lane, but rather, a "roundabout."

The original post specifically says "highway" immediately after "roundabout." Don't tell me you stopped reading at "roundabout." There's a roundabout less than a mile from my university. Merging into a roundabout is completely different than merging onto a highway.

leroyjenkens said:
Then you're lucky. Sometimes people don't get over so you can get in, they just stay in their lane and pass right by you. So when there's a line of cars, and your car can't physically fit in the space provided by the car lengths they're providing, what are you supposed to do? You admit that is a possibility, right? Or do you have a ghost car that can go through other vehicles without touching them?

I do not admit that's a possibility. At highway speeds, people usually keep several car lengths between one another... like 99.999% of the time. I almost never see a space where I can't physically fit in.

On the rare occasions where people actually speed up to intentionally block me in, I don't slam on my brakes, but rather keep driving for a few yards in the shoulder until they pass. Stopping is about the most dangerous thing I can think of.
 
  • #8
Jack21222 said:
The original post specifically says "highway" immediately after "roundabout." Don't tell me you stopped reading at "roundabout." There's a roundabout less than a mile from my university. Merging into a roundabout is completely different than merging onto a highway.
That depends what "roundabout" means, and we don't know what country the OP is talking about.

In the UK a "roundabout" could be anything from a 10-foot diameter white circle painted on the road in the middle of a junction, up to to something 200 yards in diameter with several traffic lanes around it, where you could expect to merge and change lanes at say 40 or 50 mph.
 
  • #9
DrWillVKN said:
...no one has ever told me I drive too safe and slow, but I keep on getting these cars honking at me.

au contraire

By your own admission you are being told constantly that you drive too safe/slow. And by the very people to whom it is most relevant.
 
  • #10
leroyjenkens said:
The slow people aren't unsafe, they're just annoying. The crazy people swerving around them going a thousand miles per hour are the people who cause the wrecks. Sure, it sucks to get stuck behind someone going 15 MPH below the speed limit, but if you swerve into the other lane and wreck, then that's completely your fault.
This is a differnt topic. No one is suggesting that "crazy people swerving around them going a thousand miles per hour" are safe drivers. That's a false dichotomy. Whether or not there are unsafe fast drivers, the question is: are slower drivers unsafe?

Traffic is an activity of cooperation. It has a cadence. People who deviate too far from that cadence do pose a risk regardless of whether they justify it in the name of safety.

A driver who drives so timidly as to be a disruption to smooth traffic flow should really go back to driver's school.


It is a tough one though. There is no law that says you must drive to avoid disrupting traffic. (except in some states, where there are minimum speed limit).



And:


KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS. IT'S A PASSING LANE, NOT A CRUISING LANE.
Thank you.
 
  • #11
The roundabouts near me are really small. You're pretty much forced to stop before entering it.

As far as merging onto a highway goes, it all depends on the traffic on the highway. If it's stop and go traffic, I adjust my speed accordingly. If it's normal traffic, I speed up and get over when I can.

There are times when slow is dangerous though. If somebody is being a slow driver and merging onto a highway where the speedlimit is 65 MPH, that's dangerous, more so if there's a line of cars behind him. Somebody can argue that anyone who's on the highway already should account for this, but you never know.

But yeah, it all depends where you live. You need to be able to adjust depending on where you go. Some states have very aggressive drivers. New York is an exampe.
 
  • #12
I do not admit that's a possibility. At highway speeds, people usually keep several car lengths between one another... like 99.999% of the time. I almost never see a space where I can't physically fit in.

On the rare occasions where people actually speed up to intentionally block me in, I don't slam on my brakes, but rather keep driving for a few yards in the shoulder until they pass. Stopping is about the most dangerous thing I can think of.
Your answers to real life problems are just theoretical. You're not taking into account many things that make what you're doing MORE dangerous than if you just stopped in the merge lane.
Your reason why stopping in the merge lane is dangerous is based on what? The fact that people may be behind you? What about people in front of you? I've seen many times someone stopped in the merge lane, or at a yield sign to get over, and they're hit from behind from someone like you; someone who acts like they have no breaks and never stops for anything. A coworker of mine got hit from behind by someone like that.

Now when you're merging onto the highway, you can usually physically fit in, but how safe is it to merge onto the highway, at highway speeds, and squeeze into a spot that puts you right on the bumper of the person in front of you? Not safe at all. That person could be breaking for whatever reason the moment you're looking in your mirror to get in, and then you hit him from behind. What's so hard about waiting for an opening large enough so that it's still safe?

What's safer, you breaking in the merge lane, or someone breaking who's already on the highway because you come flying down the merge lane?
This is a differnt topic. No one is suggesting that "crazy people swerving around them going a thousand miles per hour" are safe drivers. That's a false dichotomy. Whether or not there are unsafe fast drivers, the question is: are slower drivers unsafe?
It's not a false dichotomy, it would be a strawman if anything, but it's not even that. The question was "are slower drivers unsafe?" and I answered that in my first sentence.

If a dangerous thing happens near a slow person, it's probably the fault of someone else.

That's like implying people who carry a lot of money are unsafe because robbers are tempted to do unsafe things around them, like shoot them and take their money. It's the rich guy's fault that something dangerous happened? No. He's well within his rights to carry money, and the slow driver is well within their rights to drive slow, if they're driving above the minimum.
KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS. IT'S A PASSING LANE, NOT A CRUISING LANE.
Thank you.
We've been through this. That's not a universal law.
 
  • #13
leroyjenkens said:
Your reason why stopping in the merge lane is dangerous is based on what?

Based on the fact that that is the very and sole purpose that merge lanes are built. They serve no other purpose than to ensure traffic merges without stopping. In places where traffic can safely stop before moving forward, they put stop signs. Where it is not safe, because of the speed of the right of way, they put merges.
 
  • #14
leroyjenkens said:
If a dangerous thing happens near a slow person, it's probably the fault of someone else.
omg that is ridiculously false.

And it's a tautology. You just tried to use your argument as evidence of your argument's truth.

leroyjenkens said:
That's like implying people who carry a lot of money are unsafe because robbers are tempted to do unsafe things around them, like shoot them and take their money. It's the rich guy's fault that something dangerous happened? No. He's well within his rights to carry money, and the slow driver is well within their rights to drive slow, if they're driving above the minimum.
Lousy analogy. A rich man is not sharing anything with anyone else. A driver on the road is not within his rights to drive literally any way he pleases.

Again, roads are shared. Driving is a cooperative effort for the greater good.
 
  • #15
Leroy:

It takes me a fraction of a second to go from 50 to 55 miles per hour. It takes me something like 6 seconds to go from 0 to 55. It takes an order of magnitude longer to match the speed of traffic from being stopped than traveling in a merge lane.

I think it's hilarious for you to say my scenarios don't work in real life, when I've driven roughly a quarter million miles (or more) in the past 10 years.
 
  • #16
I've driven 90,000 miles in the last four years. The majority of that is on motorways which involves a fair bit of 'merging'.

If you don't match the speed of those in the lane you're trying to merge with, you become a danger to others in that lane. Too fast and you are a problem to cars ahead and too slow, those behind.

There's a reason when you pull over on the hard shoulder in emergencies, you don't just swing out into the first lane to get going. You drive until you are roughly up to speed in the hard shoulder and then you move out (unless of course the lane is completely free).

The highway code (UK) has a section specifically on this issue (http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelA...D=TAT&PLA=url_mon&CRE=highwaycode_motorways):
Joining the motorway. When you join the motorway you will normally approach it from a road on the left (a slip road) or from an adjoining motorway. You should
  • give priority to traffic already on the motorway
  • check the traffic on the motorway and match your speed to fit safely into the traffic flow in the left-hand lane
  • not cross solid white lines that separate lanes or use the hard shoulder
  • stay on the slip road if it continues as an extra lane on the motorway
  • remain in the left-hand lane long enough to adjust to the speed of traffic before considering overtaking

You MUST NOT stop on the carriageway, hard shoulder, slip road, central reservation or verge except in an emergency, or when told to do so by the police, HA traffic officers in uniform, an emergency sign or by flashing red light signals. Do not stop on the hard shoulder to either make or receive mobile phone calls.

(Emphasis mine.)

Aside from during heavy traffic where it is not possible for cars to clear a path for you, it is rare you get a situation where you can't join by matching speed. I don't know what it's like in America, but in the UK people will either open a gap for you or clear the lane to let you on.

If you stop on the slip road (aside from during traffic jams), you are a danger to those on the road you are trying to merge with (being too slow) and a danger to those coming behind you who are trying to match speed and join.

The line I've highlighted above says it all. You are expected to match speed - whatever that is - and filter in.

You will also fail your driving test for going too slow.
 
Last edited:
  • #17
From another forum with a discussion on the matter of slow drivers (UK focussed):
Slow drivers are a hazard, but they are not in themselves a danger, and there is a massive, massive difference. Hazards on the roads take all sorts of different forms, some obvious, many less so. It is how drivers negotiate those hazards that decides whether or not the situation itself becomes dangerous.

It is the drivers who react inappropriately to the hazard who create the danger.

I think that is very well put and sums up the situation nicely.
 
  • #18
leroyjenkens said:
If a dangerous thing happens near a slow person, it's probably the fault of someone else.
Park your car on the fast lane of a multi-lane highway. Then try that argument with the police, when they come to tow you away and charge you with causing an obstruction.

In the UK, which has a much lower rate of fatal road accidents than the US per million of population, even though the population density per square mile is several times higher, there are some roads which have MININUM speed limits imposed (and they are enforced!) to improve safety. Go figure.
 
  • #19
The line between "slow" and "safe" was definitely in evidence during my trip to the county seat on Friday. On my way home, I was climbing a fairly steep hill in the truck lane, and letting more impatient drivers use the passing lane to gain an extra few seconds in their quest to be "first". I was behind an old white-haired lady who was doing just under the speed limit, but that was OK with me. I wasn't going to pass her just to pull back into the truck lane. Then as we got to the top of the hill she slowed down a lot, with no signals of her intentions, then turned hard left, crossed the passing lane and the oncoming lane to enter the drive of a physical rehabilitation center. A less-patient person might have assumed a right turn coming (no signals, so who knows, since she didn't pull into the left travel lane before executing the turn) and pulled into the left lane to pass her. That would definitely not have been a good move on my part! Slow and safe do not necessarily go hand-in-hand when combined with some bone-head moves and lack of signals.
 
  • #20
turbo-1 said:
Then as we got to the top of the hill she slowed down a lot, with no signals of her intentions, then turned hard left, crossed the passing lane and the oncoming lane to enter the drive of a physical rehabilitation center.
Well, if you plan to get a whiplash injury, I guess outside a physical rehab center is the best place to do it.

Sometimes you can't win. Once I was driving home from work along a road with a 40 speed limit, signalled left (equivalent to US right!), then slowed down from 40 to 10 to turn off into my own driveway.

Just as I was about to turn there was a bump behind me, as somebody fell off his motor bike onto the road.

He didn't actually hit me, but fell off after emergency braking. His explanation was "I saw you were indicating left, but I thought you were going to turn left at the next crossroads."

Those crossroads were about half a mile from where I started indicating. Face-palm...
 
  • #21
Worst people I've seen (also UK) are ones who indicate after beginning to brake.
 
  • #22
You want impatient?

I was coming up to an intersection with a light and I was in the left turn lane. Somebody was so impatient that he drove in the opposite lane and cut me off when I was making the left turn.

Maryland is full of terrible drivers...
 
  • #23
gb7nash said:
You want impatient?

I was coming up to an intersection with a light and I was in the left turn lane. Somebody was so impatient that he drove in the opposite lane and cut me off when I was making the left turn.

Maryland is full of terrible drivers...

Oh, I've got one better than that, from about 2 months ago (also here in Maryland).

I was in a parking lot waiting to make a right on to the "main parking lot road" if that makes sense. I was about to go in this break in traffic, when another car cuts across some empty parking spaces at about a 45 degree angle to both me and the road I'm turning onto and cuts me off. The person behind me decides this is a good opportunity to pass me on the left in order to make a right right in front of me. THREE CARS cut me off, before I decide to assert myself, and the fourth car almost runs into me as I'm making my right. Yes, a person to my left almost hit me while I'm making a right. Try to picture that in your head.

I start cursing him out (my windows are up, he can't hear me, but I'm sure he can see what I'm saying), so he puts his truck in park (I'm now sitting at the red light with a few cars in front of me), he gets out and starts trying to pick a fight with me.

I try ignoring him, but he won't go away. The light turns green, but nobody goes because some of them have stepped out of their car to watch the potential fight. I just keep ignoring the guy, and by the time the light cycles back to red, he finally gives up on me.

Why yes, I was in the ghetto, how'd you know?
 
  • #24
Behaviors are unsafe when they disrupt normal traffic patterns.
 
  • #25
If you are having problems getting into the right lane do not just stop and wait for it to clear up that will get you a ticket in most places if a cop did see it I believe. What you should do is go to the next chance to get off and turn around from there so you can try again. The thing I like about slow drivers the most is that they generally can not be bothered to go an extra mile out of their way just so they don't create an accident. My mom is one of these types of drivers and I have no clue how she doesn't get into accidents constantly but at any rate if she misses a turn she absolutely panics and will do about anything to get into that lane instead of just thinking oh well I guess I can try up ahead and turn around...
 
  • #26
Based on the fact that that is the very and sole purpose that merge lanes are built. They serve no other purpose than to ensure traffic merges without stopping. In places where traffic can safely stop before moving forward, they put stop signs. Where it is not safe, because of the speed of the right of way, they put merges.
Obviously they don't ensure that traffic doesn't stop, because traffic does stop there sometimes.
omg that is ridiculously false.

And it's a tautology. You just tried to use your argument as evidence of your argument's truth.
It's ridiculously false that it's probably the fault of someone else when something dangerous happens near a slow driver? You didn't prove how that was false before you moved onto telling me something else about what I said.

Driving fast is inherently more dangerous than driving slow. I don't know how you can disagree with that. We're not taking into account that slow drivers can swerve and change lanes without looking and all that other stuff just like fast drivers. Just based on the speed of their car, they're more safe if they're not going below the minimum speed limit.
Lousy analogy. A rich man is not sharing anything with anyone else. A driver on the road is not within his rights to drive literally any way he pleases.

Again, roads are shared. Driving is a cooperative effort for the greater good.
Of course you're going to call it a lousy analogy. In the history of debates, no one has ever said to their opponent "great analogy".

The analogy is just fine. It has nothing to do with who is sharing what. It has to do with who you're placing the blame on. If you blame the slow driver, who is driving perfectly legally, when an accident happens, then that's tantamount to blaming the rich guy for being robbed.
Aside from during heavy traffic where it is not possible for cars to clear a path for you, it is rare you get a situation where you can't join by matching speed.
And this heavy traffic exceptions happens quite often to me. Like I mentioned earlier, there's a stop light that all of these cars are stopped at, and then when it turns green, they fill up the highway and sometimes it's too tight to force my way in. I try my best not to come to a stop, but I'll keep going as far as I can. They're going about 50 and when I'm coming into the merge lane, I'm going about 30 because I'm going down one of those circular paths that lead from the overpass over the road that I'm about to get onto.
Sometimes I'll be on that road and there will be about one car length between me and the guy in front of me when I'm coming down that road, NOT from the overpass, and like three cars in a row will be speeding down that merge lane, expecting me to slow down to let all three of them in. THAT'S dangerous. If I can't get over into the other lane, they're going to hit me or hit something else unless I slow down to let them in. Those are the kinds of drivers I hate and that's why I'm here arguing about it.
Park your car on the fast lane of a multi-lane highway. Then try that argument with the police, when they come to tow you away and charge you with causing an obstruction.
I clarified when I'm talking about slow drivers, I talk about drivers who are driving the minimum. And on a highway, you'll rarely find people driving the minimum. The minimum is surprisingly slow. Like on a 65 MPH highway, the minimum is like 45. But people act like going 55 in a 65 is going dangerously too slow. No, that's putting the blame on the wrong thing. The blame lies with the people who MAKE 55 a dangerous speed; ie, the people going 85.
Worst people I've seen (also UK) are ones who indicate after beginning to brake.
That's just about everyone here in the US. I even FREQUENTLY see people turn on their turn signal when they're already in the process of turning.
You want impatient?

I was coming up to an intersection with a light and I was in the left turn lane. Somebody was so impatient that he drove in the opposite lane and cut me off when I was making the left turn.

Maryland is full of terrible drivers...
You know what I absolutely HATE? When you're coming up to an intersection that you're going to turn right on and the light is about to turn red and your lane is clear, which means you'll be able to turn and not have to wait at the light, and there's two cars in the lane on your left, and the guy in back speeds up and gets in front of you just so he can get one car length closer to the light, and he doesn't turn right. That means you're blocked and you have to wait through the entire light, which could be up to a full minute, just because that guy wanted to get one car length closer. I can't stand that.
 
Last edited:
  • #27
Ugh, I have a friend of mine who I think is both Slow and Dangerous while driving. I remember we were coming up to a green light and were going to turn right. Well, the opposite lane had a truck waiting to turn left since his light was also green. So my friend decides that she will completely stop and let the truck go since he "Wanted to go more than she did". That all resulted in about 5 seconds of no one doing anything and me sitting there in disbelief until finally the truck went. ARRGGHH!

Also, I notice ALOT that people don't seem to understand how to merge on the Interstate from the entrance ramp. Going 40 mph when you exit the ramp onto the road is going to get someone killed/injured/shot from a shotgun due to roadrage. Hit your gas and get up to somewhere close to the speed limit unless there just isn't any way for you to merge!

Aside from during heavy traffic where it is not possible for cars to clear a path for you, it is rare you get a situation where you can't join by matching speed. I don't know what it's like in America, but in the UK people will either open a gap for you or clear the lane to let you on.

It happens occasionally. Especially on some of the shorter entrance ramps. USUALLY (95+% of the time) there is no reason and the person just doesn't understand the importance of matching the speed of traffic.
 
  • #28
Triple_D said:
No, I'm not saying they are unsafe because they drive slow. What I am saying, is that just because someone drives slowly, does not automatically make them a safe driver.

Hence, safe and slow are two different subjects.

Exactly. It all depends on HOW slow compared to the rest of traffic. They most definitely CAN be dangerous, but if they are driving 5 mph under the speed limit then there really isn't anything to complain about. However, going 35 on I-20 where the speed limit is 60-70 IS dangerous.
 
  • #29
leroyjenkens said:
Obviously they don't ensure that traffic doesn't stop, because traffic does stop there sometimes.

They are there for that purpose. It is not a guarantee.

(The same useless argument could be made for anything. Stop signs do not guarantee people will always stop. Will you now suggest that getting people to stop is not their sole purpose?)

I'm not sure why you made that point; it just seems argumentative (in the sense that it does not advance your case, nor impede mine).


leroyjenkens said:
Of course you're going to call it a lousy analogy. In the history of debates, no one has ever said to their opponent "great analogy".

'Great analogy' is indeed acknowledged implicitly when an opponent addresses the issues in the analogy. In addressing, one is accepting (at least for argument's sake) the analogy as valid enoguh to continue. It happens a zillion times day here on PF.


leroyjenkens said:
The analogy is just fine. It has nothing to do with who is sharing what. It has to do with who you're placing the blame on. If you blame the slow driver, who is driving perfectly legally, when an accident happens, then that's tantamount to blaming the rich guy for being robbed.
Nope. It's terrible for the reasons mentioned. I'll spell it out.

Your analogy presupposes that the rich guy / slow driver is doing nothing wrong. True in the first case, not necessarily true in the second.

You cannot assume the slow driver is doing nothing wrong. He has a responsibility to other drivers. He may be exxonerated, but only once that's been decided, not a foregone conclusion.

This is not true with the money bags. No one will argue that he's endangering anyone else's life.
 
Last edited:

1. What is considered a safe driver?

A safe driver is someone who follows all traffic laws and regulations, stays alert and focused while driving, and has good judgment in various traffic situations. They also maintain their vehicle properly and avoid distractions while driving.

2. How can I become a safer driver?

To become a safer driver, you should practice defensive driving techniques, such as staying aware of your surroundings, maintaining a safe distance between vehicles, and anticipating potential hazards. It is also important to keep your vehicle in good condition and avoid distractions while driving.

3. Is it better to drive slowly or quickly for safety?

It is generally safer to drive at a moderate speed that is appropriate for the current road conditions. Both driving too slowly or too quickly can be dangerous. Driving too slowly can impede the flow of traffic and cause other drivers to become impatient, while driving too quickly can increase the risk of losing control of the vehicle.

4. Are there any specific driving habits that make a driver unsafe?

Yes, there are several driving habits that can make a driver unsafe, such as speeding, tailgating, distracted driving, aggressive driving, and driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. These behaviors can increase the risk of accidents and put both the driver and others on the road in danger.

5. How can I find the balance between being a safe driver and driving too slowly?

The key to finding a balance between being a safe and slow driver is to follow all traffic laws and regulations, maintain a safe speed that is appropriate for the current road conditions, and stay aware of your surroundings. It is also important to be considerate of other drivers and avoid impeding the flow of traffic. If you are unsure of the appropriate speed, it is best to err on the side of caution and drive slower until you feel more comfortable.

Similar threads

  • General Discussion
Replies
11
Views
845
Replies
13
Views
1K
  • General Discussion
Replies
19
Views
3K
Replies
19
Views
1K
Replies
1
Views
1K
Replies
4
Views
1K
  • DIY Projects
Replies
28
Views
2K
  • Electrical Engineering
Replies
14
Views
2K
  • Introductory Physics Homework Help
Replies
3
Views
898
  • General Discussion
Replies
6
Views
1K
Back
Top