Aron, there may indeed be some jerks out there driving Dodge pickups, but I can assure you that Josh (ArmyofOne) is not one of them. He is a well-respected Army veteran who served in Iraq.

 

Last night on the freeway hauling a load of gasoline in 5-gallon cans, I was probably driving more in my rear-view mirror than usual, protecting my rear against speeding drivers wanting the far right lane. A Chrysler 200 behind me had his high-beams on . . . and stayed behind me for miles. Only by slowing down dramatically could I make him pass me.

I'm thinking about a spotlight I was given for my boat many years ago - it had to be mounted permanently, but I never did so, preferring the flexibility of a similar spotlight that had a handgrip. Now, if I can locate that old xenon lamp, I'm thinking about framing it into a mount for the hatch window. Lessee . . . . 36 cp versus 50,000. There's only going to be one winner in that contest and the loser is going to be seeing purple spots for a week.

 

I sympathize with what you're saying, but is that legal in Texas...to mount a Xenon spotlight on a non-emergency vehicle?

 

No kidding .

 

There's an old adage about driving and countries. The manners of a country are sometimes reflected in how its drivers behave. So bad driving behavior, road rage, speeding and tailgating all tell you that the motorists are either stressed out or exhibiting subconscious stress.

Yeah it's a bit psycho-analytical, but it's obvious that this is the reason why municipalities will resort to crude measures like red light cams, photo-radar etc. Those measures do work in selective applications.

Do you like drivers speeding through your neighborhood or your kids' school zone? That's where photo-radar may help. And the next response is... well that should be a local law enforcement issue. How soon would you like to turn your community into a heavily policed area?

The issue isn't about what you think roads are capable of, it should be... go get your jollies at the local racetrack and stop acting like an idiot on the roads because you have brand xyz horsepower worthy urban show-off-mobile.

Your right to speed ends with my right to stay in the right hand lane not get harassed with your incessant tailgating and cutting in, after you have passed me.

 

Works for me! Only a quick flash needed though, just before those crashing sounds begin behind me. Maybe I should get a Hazmat placard for when I'm hauling fuel . . . nah, people just ignore these things . . .



The trouble I see with a growing number of drivers is that they totally ignore speed limits, particularly on urban freeways. That's bad enough where the limit is 60. But if you drive 60, you'll be run over. 70 is the norm, with occasional drivers doing 80 . . . in the city in relatively light traffic. Once in a great while the radar cops come out and start their harvest of the stupid. I've found that 70 on an urban freeway won't even get you noticed, the cops are after bigger game.

Last Saturday evening, about 4:30, I was driving on the South Loop 610 Westbound in a fair-sized pack of cars, all going the same speed - a shade over 70 in a 60 zone. One poor mutt in a Highlander was alone in the #1 lane pacing us and making himself a perfect target. Sure enough, over the next rise, we all drove into a radar trap. Who got pulled over? The guy by himself over there in the showoff lane, giving a good impression of someone impatient and passing the rest of the pack. It's not so often what you are doing, but what you LOOK LIKE you're doing. Safety in numbers man, they can't arrest all of us.

A growing problem in Houston is the number of drivers up here from Mexico. There the driving culture is considerably different from ours, basically, every hombre for himself. It's not so much ignoring traffic laws - we've learned to do that too . . . and do a pretty good job of it, but there are certain aspects of their culture that scare me to death - they are such trusting souls. Many times in urban traffic I see something like I did last week; a mother and an older daughter, each with two little kids in tow, crossing a busy six-lane thoroughfare in mid-block, darting out into moving traffic and relying on other drivers to miss them as they ran for the opposite curb.

To me that's up there on the fright-o-meter with whole families out of the car in the middle of the freeway while a couple of men (father and eldest son?) jack up the car to change a tire. Yes, I said middle of the freeway - #3 lane of a six-lane southbound Interstate. All the kiddos were out flagging traffic, which is something you don't expect to see at 8am on a Saturday morning, a six year old standing in the middle of the lane flagging you over . . . with mama and the rest of the family a few paces away assisting their designated flagger. Fortunately no one was hurt and the cops arrived shortly to stop traffic for them.

I'm glad to see there are some folks who still believe that all motorists share the road and cooperate for safety's sake, but unfortunately we gringos seldom do that anymore. Hope they learn quickly how traffic works (or doesn't) in the US of A.

 

Hehehe.. this is too funny.. I can relate to that. My only suggestion is switch to Decaf It worked for me.. or I just drank coffee after I had a safe arrival

 

Like with speed-cameras, most cops will usually not nab you if you are going less than 10 MPH or so over the limit. That, of course, is to take into effect downhill slopes adding to speed, speedometer error from bad calibration or oversized wheels/tires, and any error in the cop's radar calibration itself. Car owners sometimes forget that, if you put on aftermarket wheels/tires with a larger outside rolling-diameter than what the car was built and calibrated for at the factory, the wheels will rotate slower for any given road speed, and the speedometer (which is tied to wheel-rotations) will read too low, making to go faster than you think you are. I've brought that issue up many times, myself, over the years, but people still keep doing it.

 

]

If you can't hang, surface streets are available.

 

I say just be courteous on the road. If you in the left lane and there is a speeder on the left, just move to the right. If you are in the right hand lane, and there is a slow poke, deal with it because it's the right hand lane and it's their right.

The problem comes when people are self righteous and try to police people by trying to slow the left hand lane or something idiotic like that.

 

Slow poke proper place is on grass median

In all seriousness, slow in right lane isn't actually a right as much as is it is a privilege. Much like a driver license.
Like the above poster said, Do your thing as long as it doesn't impede traffic.

 

for real, highway driving is like the easiest type i dont get why so many people have a problem with following the ONE simple rule of be in the left lane only when you're passing someone. the worst is when someone goes to pass, then for whatever reason cant keep up their speed and just end up driving alongside the other car totally blocking any traffic from going by.

i know this opinion will probably receive mixed responses (and i'm just talking about highway driving here) but people need to be able to decide for themselves how fast is safe and not just let the law dictate what speed they should be going. if the speed limit is 65 and everyone is doing 80, going 65 is the more dangerous thing to be doing because you're preventing a smooth flow of traffic.

many people have the "the law is THE LAW and you need to RESPECT IT" mentality and i'd really like to but i'm sorry i just can't when i see literally just about everyone going above the speed "limit" with nothing remotely bad happening to them or everyone else also going above the limit. as long as people aren't weaving in and out of cars, passing on the right, and tailgating the crap out of people there's no reason why those of us who are able to control a car well can't go a bit faster. besides fuel economy reasons...

 

My nominal speed is usually +7 posted to whatever traffic flow is, so I know what you're saying.

 

The left lane is supposed to be used for passing, not speeding .

 

+1 Leave that left lane for the folks who want to contribute to our local constabulary.

Funny, but aren't they the same people who are constantly complaining about getting a ticket?

Here's your sign . . .