Dealing with Road Rage: Coasting Up to Red Lights

[BobG]

I hate tailgaters too and you can speculate all you want as to the reason. In my mind I am splattering mud on the windshield to blind the idiot, or perhaps doing a Crazy Ivan. In actuality, I just slow down and hope they get the message which they never do. The weird part is wondering what goes on in their mind. On the one hand, they must think I'm an awful driver. If so, then they are right. But they are tailgating a terrible driver. What does that make them?

I hate tailgating. One of the most frustrating experiences is following a safe distance behind in the left lane when someone from the right lane moves ahead of me. Now I have to slow down just a bit until I have a safe distance behind him and a second car cuts in, etc. Eventually, everyone in the left lane is cussing me out as they pass me on the right.

There's times when you have to tailgate or poke along very slowly in the right lane. The fact that you're tailgating a driver you know nothing about is a very pertinent fact. It's definitely something to consider when deciding how long that tailgating chain should be. It drives me nuts when my daughter is driving in a tailgating chain 7 or 8 cars long. You just don't know who's in that chain. My limit is about 3 or 4 before I start thinking it's better to slow down and look for a better group to tailgate with.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

True, it's not my responsibility to enforce the law, but why do I have to change my way of driving for people who break the law, if I'm not breaking the law myself?

A friend of mine always loved to drive like a maniac. I would constantly tell him to be more careful and he would tell me that he was a good driver and as a friend I should trust him. I always told him that it did not matter how well he could drive it was the other idiots on the road that were the real worry. And that's the issue right there. No matter how well you drive, even if you don't try to drive like Mario Andretti like my friend, its the other people on the road that are most likely going to get you into an accident. So you need to be careful of them and give them a wide berth if you want to stay out of an accident. It is primarily your own responsibility to stay safe on the road. You should never have to do anything illegal or dangerous but what ever is reasonably within your power to stay safe on the road including 'catering to' or accommodating dangerous drivers.

Similarly, its not right for someone to rob you while you're walking down the street but if you're wearing Armani and a Rolex with a wad of cash in your pocket while taking a stroll in Compton you're pretty stupid.

It drives me nuts when my daughter is driving in a tailgating chain 7 or 8 cars long.

Both my mother and sister love to tail gate. It drives me nuts too. I don't even care how many people are in the "chain" it just makes me uncomfortable.

 

[BobG]

as a friend I should trust him.

What?! What does that have to do with anything?!

It amazes me how many people think this is actually a valid reason to believe they have some special super power. "I can leap that gorge in my Yugo! As a friend you should believe me!" "Seriously, I can pull that tooth out for you! As a friend, you should believe me!" (I might believe him if he pulls one of his teeth out first. Or I might seriously become frightened at who I'm selecting for friends.)

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

What?! What does that have to do with anything?!

Tell me about it. He was a manipulative SoB. I think it was one of the reasons he liked having me as a friend; I wouldn't go in for his BS and he had trouble respecting anyone who did.

 

[DaveC426913]

Is that a law?

Yes.

True, it's not my responsibility to enforce the law, but why do I have to change my way of driving for people who break the law, if I'm not breaking the law myself?

You are.

At the very least, you need to lose the self-righteous "I won't change because other people are breaking the law" attitude.

That doesn't disallow cruising in the left lane. And what defines normal speed of traffic? I could say the speed limit defines it. It didn't specify.

Yes it did. If the speed limit were the defining factor, it would say "the speed limit". What it says is: the normal speed of traffic at that time in that place.

OK, fair enough, if there are only two cars including yourself on the entire road, then it is ambiguous what the normal speed is. But if there are multiple cars, then you have no business blocking them.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Both my mother and sister love to tail gate. It drives me nuts too. I don't even care how many people are in the "chain" it just makes me uncomfortable.

I don't know why anyone would want to drive like that. It means you have to put 100% effort in making sure you don't rearend this guy. You can't look away because you're 2 inches from smacking into him, and when you look away for half a second, that's when the guy suddenly puts on the brakes for whatever reason and bam.
You ever see a car so close behind another that you think the one in front is towing the other one?

Yes.

I haven't seen a law yet that says so.

At the very least, you need to lose the self-righteous "I won't change because other people are breaking the law" attitude.

I see nothing wrong with that attitude. Explain why I should lose it.

Yes it did. If the speed limit were the defining factor, it would say "the speed limit". What it says is: the normal speed of traffic at that time in that place.

Normal speed is what? The average speed of every car on the road? The speed of the fastest car on the road?

OK, fair enough, if there are only two cars including yourself on the entire road, then it is ambiguous what the normal speed is. But if there are multiple cars, then you have no business blocking them.

Again, it doesn't say "no blocking". It just says if you're going below the normal speed (whatever that means), then you should stay on the right. I take that as minimum on right, maximum on left.

According to what you quoted, as long as I'm going the "normal speed", I can stay in the left lane, regardless of who I'm blocking.

 

[DaveC426913]

I haven't seen a law yet that says so.

I see nothing wrong with that attitude. Explain why I should lose it.

OK, so you're refuting that the law I posted applies to you?

Normal speed is what? The average speed of every car on the road? The speed of the fastest car on the road?

You are being obtuse; you are "lawyering". You are deliberately trying to misinterpret the law so as to pretend it doesn't apply to you. You are not accepting the spirit of the law.

That's fine. But you lose the "why should I have to" privilege and you just become one more person on the road who is completely selfish and disruptive to other drivers, i.e. one of the very people you complain about. You are no better than a speeder.

In fact, you are worse; no speeder in his right mind would try to defend his self-serving actions as righteous.

Again, it doesn't say "no blocking". It just says if you're going below the normal speed (whatever that means), then you should stay on the right. I take that as minimum on right, maximum on left.

Correct. So you do understand.

 

[leroyjenkens]

You are being obtuse; you are "lawyering". You are deliberately trying to misinterpret the law so as to pretend it doesn't apply to you. You are not accepting the spirit of the law.

No I'm not. How is asking for a clearer definition deliberately trying to misinterpret?
Do you know what "normal speed" is exactly defined as? And why is your interpretation of it more valid than mine?

In fact, you are worse; no speeder in his right mind would try to defend his self-serving actions as righteous.

And I could argue that no one in their right mind speeds.

Correct. So you do understand.

We're going in circles. The understanding that you just said was correct is contrary to what you've been saying this whole time.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

Are there no 'keep left unless overtaking' signs (or right in this instance) in the US?

 

[DaveC426913]

No I'm not. How is asking for a clearer definition deliberately trying to misinterpret?

Feel free to ask the government for a clearer definition; they wrote the law. Because you find it unclear does not mean you get to ignore it.

And I could argue that no one in their right mind speeds.

Regardless, they are not being hypocritical. By your doing so (preaching one thing and practicing another) you are arguing in bad faith. And that erodes your credibility.

 

[lisab]

Are there no 'keep left unless overtaking' signs (or right in this instance) in the US?

There are, but they're very rare. Usually, you see them up steep grades (and the usual wording is "Slower Traffic Keep Right").

One big difference between US and European driving: in the US it's common practice to pass on the right or left, whichever suits your fancy at the time.

I don't remember seeing that in any of the European countries I've visited.

 

[turbo]

Are there no 'keep left unless overtaking' signs (or right in this instance) in the US?

The entire Maine turnpike and I-95 and its feeders are all signed "keep right unless passing", and yes, people do get ticketed for staying in the left lane. It's an attempt to keep traffic flow unobstructed.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

There are, but they're very rare. Usually, you see them up steep grades (and the usual wording is "Slower Traffic Keep Right").

One big difference between US and European driving: in the US it's common practice to pass on the right or left, whichever suits your fancy at the time.

I don't remember seeing that in any of the European countries I've visited.

Passing on the left or the right is very different to the UK, where undertaking, to my understanding, is considered almost unthinkably bad.

 

[fuzzyfelt]

The entire Maine turnpike and I-95 and its feeders are all signed "keep right unless passing", and yes, people do get ticketed for staying in the left lane. It's an attempt to keep traffic flow unobstructed.

Good to know. I guess it is hard to enforce when there is heavy traffic in both or all lanes, but otherwise helpful.

 

[BobG]

There are, but they're very rare. Usually, you see them up steep grades (and the usual wording is "Slower Traffic Keep Right").

One big difference between US and European driving: in the US it's common practice to pass on the right or left, whichever suits your fancy at the time.

I don't remember seeing that in any of the European countries I've visited.

If you're talking just about freeways, you're not supposed to pass on the right. That would be a silly thing to do in any event since everyone knows the slower traffic will be in the right lanes anyway.

Actually, the main deviation from slow in the right and fast in the left comes with six lane highways. Through traffic likes the middle with the right lane used for traffic about to exit or having just entered. A particularly slow driver in the middle lane is like a rock in the river and people go both right and left to avoid the slow driver. Once by the obstruction, traffic usually seems to run the way you'd expect, with passing occurring only on the left.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Friday evening the NJTP between exits 6 and 8A is a parking lot. I'd like to see the cops hand out tickets to all the people doing under 5mph. As for left and right, I always thought it was a waste here in the US that we only drive on the right hand side of the road thus underutilizing our highways by 50%. As I understand it, the British are more efficient as they do use the left hand side of the road.

 

[leroyjenkens]

Feel free to ask the government for a clearer definition; they wrote the law. Because you find it unclear does not mean you get to ignore it.

I don't. It's unclear, so I interpreted it.

Regardless, they are not being hypocritical. By your doing so (preaching one thing and practicing another) you are arguing in bad faith. And that erodes your credibility.

What do I preach that I don't practice?

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't. It's unclear, so I interpreted it.

What do I preach that I don't practice?

You complain that others are breaking the law, now you are turning around and deliberately misinterpreting a law for your own benefit so as to pretend you are not breaking it.

 

[OmCheeto]

I don't. It's unclear, so I interpreted it.

What do I preach that I don't practice?

You complain that others are breaking the law, now you are turning around and deliberately misinterpreting a law for your own benefit so as to pretend you are not breaking it.

You two are going to make me crazy.
Why don't you both get a gps, log your trips to work, upload them http://chargecar.org/participate" , then the P.forum members can look how you both drive and make a poll of who should have their license revoked for being a silly driver.

And they let us download http://chargecar.org/data" on the interstate! Woo Hoo! Law breaking rebel!

I'll bet you 5 dollars it was Tsu.

 

[Sorry!]

You two are going to make me crazy.
Why don't you both get a gps, log your trips to work, upload them http://chargecar.org/participate" , then the P.forum members can look how you both drive and make a poll of who should have their license revoked for being a silly driver.

And they let us download http://chargecar.org/data" on the interstate! Woo Hoo! Law breaking rebel!

I'll bet you 5 dollars it was Tsu.

81.31 through Oregon. Thats like 130 km/h... not that bad lol I remember coming home one time from a trip to New Brunswick with my cousin and I looked down at the spedometer and he was going 180. Never gone that fast before...

 

[TurtleMeister]

I remember coming home one time from a trip to New Brunswick with my cousin and I looked down at the spedometer and he was going 180.

New Brunswick New Jersey? :lol What road was that? It would take a really nice highway to allow someone to drive that fast and live to tell about it.

 

[Sorry!]

New Brunswick New Jersey? :lol What road was that? It would take a really nice highway to allow someone to drive that fast and live to tell about it.

Noooo new brunswick in Canada. haha I was talking about a trip I took wasn't referencing anything else anyone else wrote... As well it was on the TransCanada highway just before montreal.

 

[TurtleMeister]

Noooo new brunswick in Canada. haha I was talking about a trip I took wasn't referencing anything else anyone else wrote... As well it was on the TransCanada highway just before montreal.

I'm not familiar with TransCanada highway, but it must be a nice one if you can go that fast. Like the autobahn maybe? You'd be hard pressed to find a highway on east coast US like that. I remember one time (when I was younger) going 130 and it really spooked me. It only takes very minor dips and rises in the road to make the car unstable at those speeds.

 

[Sorry!]

I'm not familiar with TransCanada highway, but it must be a nice one if you can go that fast. Like the autobahn maybe? You'd be hard pressed to find a highway on east coast US like that. I remember one time (when I was younger) going 130 and it really spooked me. It only takes very minor dips and rises in the road to make the car unstable at those speeds.

130 km/h is an average speed on the highways around here. 180 km/h is only about 110 mph. (If you're talking in mph I don't really know. lol) It was pretty smooth going though

 

[TurtleMeister]

lol not only am I in the wrong country, I'm in the wrong uints. But even 110mph around here would be a gamble with your life.

 

[xxChrisxx]

There are, but they're very rare. Usually, you see them up steep grades (and the usual wording is "Slower Traffic Keep Right").

One big difference between US and European driving: in the US it's common practice to pass on the right or left, whichever suits your fancy at the time.

I don't remember seeing that in any of the European countries I've visited.

Undertaking is frowned upon if not illegal in the UK. I think they can do you under careless driving for it.

 

[mgb_phys]

The transCanada varies a lot, it's a bit like route 66 - the number is used on a bunch of local roads - it isn't a single freeway, and a lot of it isn't even freeway. Generally speed limits in Canada are lower, most freeways are 80-100km/h (50-60mph)

The UK's speed limit on a divided highway is 70mph (110km/h) and overtaking on the inside is illegal as it is in all european countries (I have driven in).
France's speed limits on freeways are 130km/h (80mph) dry and 110km/h (65mph) wet.

Germany has unlimited speeds on a few freeways. There's a funny bit in "Gone in 60 seconds" where the car thief's American car has Nitrox boosters and reaches speeds of 110mph - and the cop in a series7 BMW can't catch him! in Germany the taxis drive to the airport faster than this.

 

[leroyjenkens]

You complain that others are breaking the law, now you are turning around and deliberately misinterpreting a law for your own benefit so as to pretend you are not breaking it.

I tried to break it down to understand it's meaning, but you didn't want to help me out, so I had to interpret it myself. So long as I'm going at least the normal speed of traffic, I can stay in the left lane. Well that's what I do. If someone who is going faster than the normal speed of traffic wants to pass me, well that's just too bad.
I tried to ask what the normal speed of traffic was, but you didn't want to help me out, so I decided that it's the average speed of all the cars on the road, up to the maximum speed limit. If they're going above the maximum speed limit, then the normal speed of traffic is the speed limit. There's no reason to believe the speed limit law is superseded in this instance. I believe the law you quoted is put in place with the assumption that people aren't going over the speed limit.
Since when are you allowed to break the law depending on whether or not everyone else is at the time?

 

[DaveC426913]

If someone who is going faster than the normal speed of traffic wants to pass me, well that's just too bad.

Why?

I mean, why be a jerk?

Is that what Jesus would do?

Part of one's character is what one does regardless of provocation.

Are you a cusser? If we got into an argument and I started cussing at you, could
I provoke you into responding in kind? If on the road, could I get you to flip me the bird?

One thing I've tried to drill into my kids is that, as long as they define their own behaviour by someone else's actions, then they have simply not defined themselves yet.

 

[sportsstar469]

If I'm coming up on a light that just turned red, I take my foot off the gas and just coast up to it. For no apparent reason, this drives people behind me crazy. Just today I had some guy speed up around me a thousand MPH and cut in front of my really fast as if to say "take that for going slow", just so he can come to a quick stop 20 yards later. And then he just stared at me through his side mirror, I guess waiting for me to give him a look or something so he can get out with his gun and shoot me or whatever it is crazy people do nowadays.
Anyway, this is just something that I won't relent on. I refuse to waste my gas, speeding up to a red light or a train crossing when a train is coming just to appease the lunatics behind me.
I love it when someone speeds up in the other lane, stops at a light 50 yards ahead and then I coast up and pass him just as it turns green. I didn't waste my gas or my break pads and I'm now ahead of him again.
But of course I'm smart enough to realize that not everyone can drive like that, since we'd have roads backed up with people coasting up to red lights. So I guess we need the stupid people to keep the roads clear. The people who speed up to a train stop just so they can slam on the breaks as if they thought the mile long train would just vanish by the time they reached the crossing.
It's not their fault they're stupid and can't put 2 and 2 together, but they don't have to be crazy about it.

YEAH I do t he same thing. another reason i coast is because i hope that by the time i reach the light it wil turn green again. i also hate the people who move forward 2 inches every 15 seconds. lol

when i drive home from school at 10pm, i drive along this highway that has one lane for each direction your going (people going south are on side with people going north right next to them in the next lane) i always go the speed limit, but i regularly have p[eople who go right into the oppposing traffic lane to pass me and get to the red light faster. the lines seperating the lanes are double yellow!