My guess is theres other people that drive the speed limit saying the same thing about you.
You made my day... seriously.
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I can't stand people!!!
- Thread starter Muscle Master
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You made my day... seriously.
Yeah, but the guy is about to pass a truck, so it's safe to say he's going faster than the truck he is approaching and about to overtake. What's he supposed to do? Jack up on his breaks and swerve to the right lane? That's just as dangerous, if not even more so. He can't simply "move over and yield" to the 100mph asshat, he'd end up slamming into the back of the truck.
I get that and the 100 MPH idiot was in the wrong in this situation.
I was addressing his attitude in general, not what happened.
That's wrong!
It happens to me a lot: i'm on the fast lane, driving faster than anybody (let's say at least 100mph, sometimes 140-150) and some dude just pulls in front of me doing 60.
Before you go on the fast lane, look good in your mirrors. If you see a guy coming really fast, just wait for a few seconds, don't go in front of him. It's safer for both.
Relax, I agree with you 100%! You misunderstood me, I said if he was already passing a vehicle then they have to wait for you to move over. Not sure where I confused you. I was making a statement based on what the OP said. Which is probably half truth.
The OP didn't say he just pulled out in front of a car going 100, he said he "while I was passing this oversized tractor trailer some trick in a Ford Edge came out of no where Doing at least 100mph cut me off" by that he was already out in the left lane.
What I was saying if you're already side by side (i.e. passing a truck), then new drivers that come up must wait (and they shouldn't have to wait forever, as you and the truck you're passing are doing the same speed).
See now. That part confuses me.
If you're on the left of a Semi passing him at 70 MPH how does a car doing 100 cut you off ?
For that matter if you're going 70 how does a car doing 100 cut you off to begin with. I mean the other car is going 30MPH faster than you are so it's pretty hard to cut you off.
True, I think the OP is upset that someone passed him on the right. I was confused by the OP too, because when he said he was passing, I think he meant that he was riding in the passing lane, and was "preparing to pass", then someone came up and passed him on the right just moments before he started to pass the truck.
Either way, I think the guy in the truck passing on the right was probably an ass, if the OP's statements are completely true, but in later post it appears that the OP always drives in the left lane, even if he's not passing, so to me he's a large part of the problem here.
uhhhhhh...say whaaaaaaaa? Where the hell are you driving 150mph on public roads on a regular basis?
I'm not sure driving 140-150 on a public highway is safe for anyone.
I was really confused by the OP as well. The wording just didn't make sense. But, what I read is that he was passing the truck at 70mph and someone else cut him off while doing it. Then he got blasted for being in the way of the person going 100. I need a more clear version of what actually happened.
On another note...it was quite funny to see eric's return to these forums for a brief encounter.
Works on the autobahn.
Not saying it will work here in the US, but the autobahn is one of the safest roads in the world.
It's impossible to be going 140-150 and have someone going 60 "pull in front of you".
For him to do that he would have to be at least a mile ahead of you.
Yes...a road where you expect people to be driving very fast. You do not expect that, and I have never seen anyone going anywhere near that fast, on a US interstate. So it's quite a different thing.
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The biggest reasons why sadly the US can't have an autobahn:
1) Our roads are crap. They are not maintained as well as the autobahn is. Going at speeds 100 MPH+ and going over holes, bumps, etc would make maintaining vehicle control hard to do.
2) Our drivers ed. sucks. In order to bring our standards up to German standards would result in a great amount of people failing their drivers test. Possibly never getting their drivers license. While I am all for that, it won't fly with Americans. Mostly because our public transportation sucks and Americans seem to think they are above it and only poor people take public transportation.
3) Most of our cars are made to be cheap and are not engineered to handle high speeds. They will not be stable enough at those speeds. The only vehicles I would feel safe in doing those speeds would be Corvette, Camaro, Cadillac's, Buick Regal( Opel Insignia which is designed to handle the autobahn), VW's, BMW's, etc. The Camry's, Corolla's, especially the Prius, etc I would not feel safe going at high speeds.
1) Our roads are crap. They are not maintained as well as the autobahn is. Going at speeds 100 MPH+ and going over holes, bumps, etc would make maintaining vehicle control hard to do.
2) Our drivers ed. sucks. In order to bring our standards up to German standards would result in a great amount of people failing their drivers test. Possibly never getting their drivers license. While I am all for that, it won't fly with Americans. Mostly because our public transportation sucks and Americans seem to think they are above it and only poor people take public transportation.
3) Most of our cars are made to be cheap and are not engineered to handle high speeds. They will not be stable enough at those speeds. The only vehicles I would feel safe in doing those speeds would be Corvette, Camaro, Cadillac's, Buick Regal( Opel Insignia which is designed to handle the autobahn), VW's, BMW's, etc. The Camry's, Corolla's, especially the Prius, etc I would not feel safe going at high speeds.
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It always comes up in these threads that it's not simply a matter of how fast you are going, but also the conditions in which you are doing it. Doing 70 on an open road when everyone else is doing 70 isn't a big deal. Doing 70 while everyone else is doing 55, well, you better be thinking.
Occasionally, I get not seeing someone quickly coming up on your rear. But to consistently be unaware of your surroundings is unsafe driving plain and simple. Often times, however, I'll maintain my current speed and lane when this happens, not to be a dick, but because the guy behind me doesn't have to figure out what I'm doing, and I don't have to figure out what he's doing. If I'm consistent in my driving, it's one less variable for him to have to figure out while doing 100mph.
Occasionally, I get not seeing someone quickly coming up on your rear. But to consistently be unaware of your surroundings is unsafe driving plain and simple. Often times, however, I'll maintain my current speed and lane when this happens, not to be a dick, but because the guy behind me doesn't have to figure out what I'm doing, and I don't have to figure out what he's doing. If I'm consistent in my driving, it's one less variable for him to have to figure out while doing 100mph.
Although a stretch of road in Austin, Texas has an 80 mph speed limit, I think biggest reason that would prevent Audobahn speeds in the U.S. is that we seem to have more than our share of AH drivers. From my own experience driving in Germany, my comfort level would not allow me to drive any faster than 115-120 mph. Faster than that and it was just not fun, even at that speed it was tense for me. Although this was not most vehicles, every so often I'd see headlights way back in my rear view and then would get passed like I was standing still. Better look 3 times before moving into the left lane.
Earlier this year we drove a loop via Interstate Highway from Texas- Georgia- DC, back to Texas and while there were some poor patches of road, most of the interstate road seemed good to me.
That's mainly because of the stiffer license requirements in Europe. In 'Murica they hand out drivers licenses to anybody.
If I had a nickle for every idiot driver I encounter on my daily commute...*sigh* Every morning I have to wonder if today is the day I fail to avoid THAT random idiot. No need for speed here. Avoidance driving gets my blood pumping quick enough.
Yes, I believe I've read that somewhere also. So, the obvious solution is don't drive faster than the speed limit. If everyone obeyed the limit, then there wouldn't be a speed differential. Unless there's a person driving 40 in a 65 zone, (if this thread is any indication, a rare bird), accidents are indeed caused by those exceeding the speed limit. I see smashed up cars frequently on city streets. That doesn't happen to someone driving 35.
The speed limit should be set by the flow of traffic. If the general flow of traffic is 70 MPH then that should be the speed limit.
As I posted earlier, they raised the speed limit on I-95 to 70 MPH. A lot of people feared that would cause the speeders to go even faster( talking 80-90 MPH). That didn't happen. Most people stayed in the 70-80 MPH range. Setting the speed limit to represent the flow of traffic is a better solution then to force everyone to go back down to 55 MPH.
When I think cutting off, I don't necessarily think of speed, rather someone jumping lanes right in front of you, diving in so close that your bumpers almost kiss. It's bad when they do it on a crowded stretch of road, even worse when there's, like, 50,000 miles of open road ahead of you.
The only thing worse than those people are angry tailgaters. I generally try to be understanding about everything, but really, if there were one group of people I could wish death upon...
...yeah. If you're riding so close behind me I can't see your headlights in any of my mirrors, and you don't have your e-lights on, I'm at that very moment hoping your heart explodes in your chest. Bonus pain if I can hear your douchey bass system thrumming through my car while you're doing it.
Ah, but neither you nor I have the ability to set the posted speed limit. Just how would someone determine what the "general flow of traffic" speed is? Is it an average, or just the speed you are comfortable driving at? (Is that while you're talking on your cell phone, or just driving your vehicle?) To have all drivers trying to ascertain the "flow of traffic" and then all drive at that speed is obviously impossible. The traffic will flow evenly if everyone drives at the posted speed limit. No one seems to be arguing that they shouldn't have to stop just because the traffic light turns red, but nearly everyone seems to want to drive faster than the posted limit. Curious.
Prior to the 70's oil crisis, most major highways were posted at 65-75 mph. Then the gas shortage hit, and somebody decided that 55 mph saved a lot of gas. (I'm not saying it doesn't...I don't recall the quality of the science behind it). So the speed limit on major roads, engineered for a safe 75, went to 55, and has not been changed.
To repeat was has been said before...it is speed differential that increases risk, not speed per se.
Around here it was changed back to 65 many years ago outside of cities, but remains 55 in congested, high traffic areas. I thought that was throughout the country. Didn't those states that had a limit higher than 65 in rural areas go back to that speed limit as well?
I get it about the differential. But, the people who are driving the speed limit are not likely to be the ones at fault for a crash, even though they might be involved in the crash. Of course, legally, fault will be established in part based on who was abiding by the law and who wasn't. Seems like a pretty good way to determine that to me. In the case of single car accidents, my money is on speed as the cause in a lot of cases. Other causes might be black ice or a medical emergency, etc.
That's correct - speed differential counts, whether it's relative to other traffic or the road itself.
Seriously, if you're driving too fast for conditions, you're at risk even if yours is the only vehicle for one hundred miles. It's not uncommon to see people killed or seriously injured when their car leaves the road and hits a tree or some other object, even if nobody else is around. However, I agree that drivers that go substantially faster than other traffic put themselves and others at risk, especially if their actions are unpredictable.