Driving Peeves: SUV's & Turn Signals

[Huckleberry]

I was raised in a trailer park in Salem, New Hampshire. We never drove it though. It just sat there for 7 years. What a waste. If your going to put wheels on a home you might as well use them.

 

[Gale]

I was raised in a trailer park in Salem, New Hampshire. We never drove it though. It just sat there for 7 years. What a waste. If your going to put wheels on a home you might as well use them.

ya, but the key thing was new hampshire we're the best state in the union! no sales tax, no income tax, (awesome during tax season,) don't need car insurance, we have mountains, country side, cities, a coast, an international border... everything! we may be tiny, but we rock!

 

[brewnog]

I was raised in a trailer park in Salem, New Hampshire. We never drove it though. It just sat there for 7 years. What a waste. If your going to put wheels on a home you might as well use them.

Yeah, especially in a state with something I've just found out about, - NO CAR INSURANCE!

I'm there! Wooooo!

 

[Huckleberry]

Yeah, especially in a state with something I've just found out about, - NO CAR INSURANCE!

I'm there! Wooooo!

Yeah, sounds really good until you go to buy any property. That's where they rake in all the dough. Property taxes in New Hampshire are outrageous. Otherwise it is an awesome state for just about anything. A bit boring perhaps. What do you think Gale? What is there to do in NH?

 

[Gale]

Yeah, sounds really good until you go to buy any property. That's where they rake in all the dough. Property taxes in New Hampshire are outrageous. Otherwise it is an awesome state for just about anything. A bit boring perhaps. What do you think Gale? What is there to do in NH?

hehehe... yes, property taxes are definately outrageous. but i think its worth it... we have really nice places to live i think.

and ya... we're a wee bit on the boring side of things.. but its not so bad. great area for outdoor sports like hiking, kayaking, fishing, and of course the outdoor sports like snow shoeing, skiing, ice skating... ya, the east coast has smaller mountains than out west, but NH has the biggest on our coast. let's see, we have the ocean, but its a bit chilly, and there's nearby Canada, which is also a bit chilly. hmm... plus there's always cow tipping eh? or... is that not popular anymore? (actually, i hate how people think there's so many cows in NH... there's really not...) Plus its soooo pretty here. our winters are pretty, our autumns are pretty, our summers are pretty our springs... well, 3 out of 4 aint bad.

Plus, if you really need something to do in NH, i know this really awesome girl who lives there, and in my opinion, seeing her alone is worth the trip...

[edit] now yomamma must be really pleased... we're quite off topic now. but new hampshire is sooo awesome... it took going to college in Mass before i realized it...

 

[BicycleTree]

I once read something about how drivers in a city in some South American country--it may have been in Colombia--enjoy pretty good traffic despite having a much greater concentration of cars than New York City. Their secret? Aggressive, tailgating driving. Their price? Accidents.

 

[Moonbear]

A poll was taken of the highest and lowest scoring states on driver's exams. The three highest scoring states in this order were.
1. Oregon
2. Washington State
3. Iowa

And the worst,
1. Rhode Island
2. Massachusetts
3. New Jersey

Scary! I learned to drive in NJ. But, yeah, you only need to get 70% of the questions right to pass the written test (and people still failed it!). However, they also include a LOT of questions about drunk driving and penalties and things that really have nothing to do with how well you drive...as far as I'm concerned, as long as you know not to drink and drive, I don't care if someone knows what the fines are for first, second and third offenses, how much time in jail, how long you lose your license, etc. The test must have been written by lawyers. Nonetheless, I was only one of two students in my high school drivers' ed class that scored 100% correct on the test! And it did make me very nervous knowing that those people who didn't know 30% of the rules of the road were still allowed on the road, even after spending a full quarter learning about them!

There's also a lot of variability in the road test. At some testing centers, they have a little course you drive around, which is all very controlled (except when I took the test the same day as some tractor trailer driving student who failed...or I hope failed...considering he tried to run my car over...I think I could have done anything after that and still passed once I had my hand on the gear shift ready to throw it in reverse to get out of his way! I'd have hated to be the tester at that point not knowing if I was a good or bad driver yet and his fate was in my hands). Other testing centers take you out on the real streets. I don't think I'd want to park in that part of town where the student drivers are parallel parking all day...I'd hate to be parked near the open space where the student who fails parallel parking attempts to park.

Of course, I'm not sure how they can make those comparisons anymore. With computerized testing, you don't take the full test anymore. When I moved to OH, I had to retake the OH written test (I guess they didn't trust me since I showed up with a MI license, although since MI just traded in my NJ license for MI one without any testing required, maybe there's good reason for that). You have to get 80% correct to pass here, but as soon as you answer 80% of the questions right, the test just stops.

 

[Moonbear]

I once read something about how drivers in a city in some South American country--it may have been in Colombia--enjoy pretty good traffic despite having a much greater concentration of cars than New York City. Their secret? Aggressive, tailgating driving. Their price? Accidents.

Are you sure that wasn't the NJ Turnpike? I never noticed it when I lived there, but after being away a while, when I go back, it's a white-knuckle experience to be driving 65 in bumper to bumper traffic!

 

[BicycleTree]

Probably they want you to learn the fines not because they help you drive better but because learning meticulously about the penalties for DUI might tend to discourage you from DUI.

 

[Moonbear]

Probably they want you to learn the fines not because they help you drive better but because learning meticulously about the penalties for DUI might tend to discourage you from DUI.

Yeah, I do suspect that's their reasoning. Does it actually work though? I don't think it does, especially since you take the written test at or slightly before 16, before you get your learner's permit at 16. At that age, all you know about drinking and driving is you're not even legally supposed to drink at all. By the time you turn 21, nobody remembers those details about the penalties, and they've probably changed in 5 years' time anyway given the way laws change in NJ all the time.

 

[Evo]

Here in Kansas the test is on paper, something like 20 questions, only about driving rules and sign recognition, nothing about drinking. I believe if you miss 3 questions you fail.

 

[Gale]

Here in Kansas the test is on paper, something like 20 questions, only about driving rules and sign recognition, nothing about drinking. I believe if you miss 3 questions you fail.

basically the same thing here in NH. 3 Q's is a pass though, 4 is a fail. the actual driving is done in town. the drive is riddiculously easy. two lights, a rail road track, backing into a parking space, and then back to the dmv. my sister nearly hit the car next to her and still passed. actually, i believe its riddiculously hard to fail.

Also, getting my motorcycles liscense was very easy. i took the training course and did pretty well, then passed the test with only a few errors. The test was on a tiny bike though, and most of the tests were pretty easy. soon as i got my liscense i came home and tried to ride the harley... i dumped it like 4 times, and broke off a custom mirror and broke the headlight... i SO was not ready to be on the road... but of course, i needed my liscense just to practice riding... so i guess that's how it has to be.

 

[Pre-AlgebraDude]

Here you can make SEVEN FREAKIN' MISTAKES and still get a liscense. That includes run red lights/stop signs, pass in no passing zones, etc.


I really hate the ones that stay right on your bumper and then pass you in a no-passing zone and then slow down and get right in front of you. They seem like they're in a hurry to pass you and then slow down once they're in front of you.

I also hate the ones that try to pass you so they can "get to the red light first". That's what my dad calls it. They get ahead of us then stop for the red light.

 

[BobG]

Here you can make SEVEN FREAKIN' MISTAKES and still get a liscense. That includes run red lights/stop signs, pass in no passing zones, etc.


I really hate the ones that stay right on your bumper and then pass you in a no-passing zone and then slow down and get right in front of you. They seem like they're in a hurry to pass you and then slow down once they're in front of you.

I also hate the ones that try to pass you so they can "get to the red light first". That's what my dad calls it. They get ahead of us then stop for the red light.

Running a red light during your driving test is automatic failure in most states (in general, if the tester shrieks in terror, you fail).

Passing someone to get to the red light first sometimes makes sense if you've been behind a driver and have figured out how he drives. Some drivers, you pass when the opportunity presents itself because you don't want to be behind them anymore. For example, some drivers seem particularly adept at timing things so the driver behind gets stuck at a red - a little frustrating if you know the timing of the lights and know how fast you need to go to keep getting greens (unfortunately, that's not always exactly the speed limit). Edit: actually, when I think about it, there's also the group that passes at a red just so they can be there waiting for you at the next red.