| Author |
Message |
donquijote1954
Guest
|
 Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:49 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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Paul Calman wrote:
| Quote: | Is that the equivilence of left lane hogs in this country?
That depends on what "this" country is.
Hogging the left lane is illegal in California, but they don't
enforce it.
It's more fun to promote road-rage, I guess. In Oregon they will
write a
citation.
--
Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California
|
Isn't California country the Wild West?
"I can't pretend that bad driving is indigenous to or even unique to
California (far from it), but it does seem to have much more than its
fair share of lethally stupid, maliciously reckless, or just plain
careless drivers. The sad fact about the worst California Drivers is
that, as readers keep pointing out, they have all the attitude of the
average Boston or New York driver, and none of the ability..."
http://www.caldrive.com/habits.html
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donquijote1954
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:49 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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Allen Seth Dunn wrote:
| Quote: | "mjt" <mjtobler@removethis_mail.ru> wrote in message
news:36sracF54556gU2@individual.net...
donquijote1954 wrote:
1. Tailgaters - over 40 per cent of drivers are guilty of
tailgating
on the motorways. This is annoying to other drivers and dangerous
as it
limits motorists' ability to react to events ahead.
2. Middle-lane hoggers - one-third of motorway capacity is lost
due
to poor-lane discipline. This frustrating behaviour is a major
cause of
road-rage on motorways.
A lot of people do this for one of two reasons: 1) The acceleration
lanes on
on-ramps are too short and subsequently, traffic cannot get up to
highway
speed before merging. or 2) Many roads where number one isn't a
problem have
to deal with stupid drivers who don't merge to highway speed (or at
least
the speed limit) in the acceleration lanes. As a result, many drivers
just
decide it is easier to go the speed limit in the middle lane as
opposed to
having to slow down to ten below the speed limit at every interchange
they
pass. Is it right? Well as much as it may not be the best thing to
do, at
least there is a way for other traffic to pass those go the speed
limit in
the middle lane.
|
Slow drivers on any lane other than the right lane cause zigzaging and
chaos. Another definition for the Law of the Jungle.
| Quote: |
3. Non-indicators - people who don't use their indicators to
signal
their intentions are both a nuisance and a danger to other
motorists.
4. Swoopers - who cut across lanes with little regard for other
motorists.
5. Chatterboxes - who talk on hand-held mobile phones while
driving.
Despite being banned, the Foundation's traffic survey found this
is
still common practice.
What a surprise. I know that I am opening a can of worms by saying
this, but
banning cell phones while driving is just like banning guns in order
to
reduce crime. It just doesn't work.
|
What we got doesn't work. Everything else pales by comparison. Talking
on the phone should amount to reckless driving and I bet you it can be
more dangerous than moderate DUI. |
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donquijote1954
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:49 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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Darren Stuart Embry wrote:
| Quote: | [misc.transport.road, etc.] On Tue, 8 Feb 2005 11:26:42 -0800, Paul
Calman <spam@trap.com> wrote:
Hogging the left lane is illegal in California,
And in any state that has the white "KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS" or
"SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT" signs, etc., as those signs are
*regulatory*.
but they don't enforce it.
That's also true of most states. :(
Also when I think of "middle lane" I think of the middle lane of a
set
of eastbound lanes at least three lanes wide, for example. The other
lanes are the "right lane" or "left lane" of course.
[rec.motorcycles removed from followups]
|
Yet they are the first victims of the Law of the Jungle.
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Timberwoof
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:49 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
In article <1107925013.292987.224550@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"donquijote1954" <nolionnoproblem@hotmail.com> wrote:
| Quote: | Paul Calman wrote:
Is that the equivilence of left lane hogs in this country?
That depends on what "this" country is.
Hogging the left lane is illegal in California, but they don't
enforce it.
It's more fun to promote road-rage, I guess. In Oregon they will
write a
citation.
--
Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California
Isn't California country the Wild West?
"I can't pretend that bad driving is indigenous to or even unique to
California (far from it), but it does seem to have much more than its
fair share of lethally stupid, maliciously reckless, or just plain
careless drivers. The sad fact about the worst California Drivers is
that, as readers keep pointing out, they have all the attitude of the
average Boston or New York driver, and none of the ability..."
http://www.caldrive.com/habits.html
|
Part of the reason for California's style of driving is that people come from
all over the place, with lots of different driving traditions. Everything from
the strict German approach in which driver training allows some small towns to
get away safely without traffic controls of any kind to the laid-back Southeast
Asian approach which considers street signs to be suggestions.
--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com> http://www.timberwoof.com
http://www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/200/ |
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mjt
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 5:41 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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Patrick Lee Humphrey wrote:
| Quote: | "Tex John" <john@logontexas.com> writes:
"mjt" <mjtobler@removethis_mail.ru> wrote in message
... here in houston, tx, usa, we get folks that drive
slow in the left lane while tailgating, then at the last
second, they swoop off the freeway without signaling
Everyone knows it is insane to use your blinker in Houston! If you do, you
alert the guy behind the whole you are about to pull into so he knows to
pull up and block it!
Funny, I've been a resident of Baghdad on the Bayou since 1965, and a licensed
driver since 1971 (got my TDL at the old DPS station in Sharpstown, a block
and a half from where I live now),
|
.... i was borne and lived, for the first 12 years, on Leader St
(a few houses from the water tower). my parents bought that
house in '57 and say that that whole area was FIELDS back then.
the ONLY road was Bellaire and they had to drive far east to
go shopping for anything. in '72, i took my driving test at
the same DPS station - pull out of the station and go around
the block :) when Sharpstown Mall was announced, Houstonians
were confused about an "indoor, air conditioned mall" might be.
(maybe since the first one in America was built in 1954).
--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
It is now 10 p.m. Do you know where Henry Kissinger is? - Elizabeth Carpenter |
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donquijote1954
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
Timberwoof wrote:
| Quote: | In article <1107925013.292987.224550@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"donquijote1954" <nolionnoproblem@hotmail.com> wrote:
Paul Calman wrote:
Is that the equivilence of left lane hogs in this country?
That depends on what "this" country is.
Hogging the left lane is illegal in California, but they don't
enforce it.
It's more fun to promote road-rage, I guess. In Oregon they will
write a
citation.
--
Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California
Isn't California country the Wild West?
"I can't pretend that bad driving is indigenous to or even unique
to
California (far from it), but it does seem to have much more than
its
fair share of lethally stupid, maliciously reckless, or just plain
careless drivers. The sad fact about the worst California Drivers
is
that, as readers keep pointing out, they have all the attitude of
the
average Boston or New York driver, and none of the ability..."
http://www.caldrive.com/habits.html
Part of the reason for California's style of driving is that people
come from
all over the place, with lots of different driving traditions.
Everything from
the strict German approach in which driver training allows some small
towns to
get away safely without traffic controls of any kind to the laid-back
Southeast
Asian approach which considers street signs to be suggestions.
|
Have you tried having the signs in Chinese? ;)
Anyway, having driven in California I tell you it's a piece of cake. If
that's the Wild West, here in Florida we got the Jungle. Drivers here
are really into aggressive behavior that borders on terrorism, their
WMDs being their SUVs. And enforcement is nowhere to be found, other
than the usual "speed trap" on secondary streets (where several
officers congregate and hand out many tickets over a ridiculous set
speed).
Of course, this a great machinery that has become an industry,
particularly the insurance rates that eat you like a lion. It's a
jungle out there... ;) |
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donquijote1954
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 6:27 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
"Remember, a significant number of Californians carry guns in their
cars, and they're just itching to use them..."
Someone coming from Europe must think that's the Wild West. The Law of
the West is the same as the Law of the Jungle, isn't it? ;)
But at least it's democractic...
"it's not going to matter how bad a driver you are or how ill-suited to
driving you might be, you're going to be out there on the roads with
everyone else."
"When it comes to sharing and conserving limited resources such as
water or road space, many Californians are likely to be totally at sea
-- for many people, especially older Californians, resources were
effectively infinite (the Government just looked after things and made
it so), and there's never been any need to notice them, let alone worry
about sharing or conserving. Few of the most irritating aspects of
Californian driving are directly about safety issues; most of them are
to do with resources -- lane hogging (there are other lanes, aren't
there? and anyway, it's my right...), not bothering to signal a turn so
that other people get blocked or can't move until it's finally clear
what you're going to do, parking badly, cutting across several lanes of
traffic, turning from the wrong lane, using huge gas-guzzling cars,
etc. All of these things tend to reflect more on a mentality that is
oblivious to real limits on resources rather than on a
particularly-Californian death wish or negligence.
Remember that for Californians, driving is not just a privilege or a
convenience, it's a natural right, up there with the right to vote or
the right to talk loudly in foreign countries. The fact is, pretty much
everyone has to drive -- in most parts of California you need a car or
at least access to one if you want a job -- and it's not going to
matter how bad a driver you are or how ill-suited to driving you might
be, you're going to be out there on the roads with everyone else.
Having said all this, Californian drivers are, on the whole, a lot more
polite and courteous while driving than their European, British, or
East Coast equivalents. Naturally, they expect you to be similarly
polite: don't cut lanes, block merges, or otherwise be as bloody-minded
as you'd be back home in London, Paris, or Manhattan. Remember, a
significant number of Californians carry guns in their cars, and
they're just itching to use them...." |
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Tex John
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:03 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
"mjt" <mjtobler@removethis_mail.ru> wrote in message
news:36sracF54556gU2@individual.net...
| Quote: | ... here in houston, tx, usa, we get folks that drive
slow in the left lane while tailgating, then at the last
second, they swoop off the freeway without signaling
|
Everyone knows it is insane to use your blinker in Houston! If you do, you
alert the guy behind the whole you are about to pull into so he knows to
pull up and block it!
I just moved back to Houston from Austin and am having to relearn that. My
wife from Austin gets seriously agitated. My grandad from Dallas quit
driving to Houston when he got 'old.'
And the one about Chinese signs: we got some. All the street signs are also
in Chinese in our China Town suburb...not to be confused with the original
China Town downtown!
I drive an old pickup and noted I was almost hitting someone every day after
I moved back here and that every time it was someone on a cell phone cutting
me off or slamming on their brakes almost too late to turn or... Staying
further back doesn't help; I just get more people cutting in front of me
without using a blinker. Texas decided not to pass the law about hands-free
cell phones...not that I hear it is helping anywhere else it did go through.
John
in Houston |
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Patrick Lee Humphrey
Guest
|
| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:29 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
"Tex John" <john@logontexas.com> writes:
| Quote: | "mjt" <mjtobler@removethis_mail.ru> wrote in message
news:36sracF54556gU2@individual.net...
... here in houston, tx, usa, we get folks that drive
slow in the left lane while tailgating, then at the last
second, they swoop off the freeway without signaling
Everyone knows it is insane to use your blinker in Houston! If you do, you
alert the guy behind the whole you are about to pull into so he knows to
pull up and block it!
|
Funny, I've been a resident of Baghdad on the Bayou since 1965, and a licensed
driver since 1971 (got my TDL at the old DPS station in Sharpstown, a block
and a half from where I live now), and I've been using my turn signals for
going on 34 years...and I've yet to have been involved in an accident
resulting from either my use of the signal or someone else's ignorance of it.
(Even at the inbound 59 exit to the West Loop, which is still the home of the
four-lane dash across inbound 59 to exit onto the Loop, after all these
years.)
| Quote: | I just moved back to Houston from Austin and am having to relearn that. My
wife from Austin gets seriously agitated. My grandad from Dallas quit
driving to Houston when he got 'old.'
|
If you've survived Austin, Houston ought to be a relief in some respects. (No
cliffs along Shoal Creek, for starters, and no *&^%$#@! 19th Street by UT.
Then again, we've got Metrorail up South Main from Wheeler up to UHD, so maybe
that's a wash. :-)
| Quote: | And the one about Chinese signs: we got some. All the street signs are also
in Chinese in our China Town suburb...not to be confused with the original
China Town downtown!
|
Sounds like you're in the west edge of Sharpstown, where we lived when we got
married back in 1990...the signs out there started popping up around that
time. (I don't know what particular dialect was used, but in one of them,
Clarewood was translated by two ideographs that were pronounced Wu De.)
| Quote: | I drive an old pickup and noted I was almost hitting someone every day after
I moved back here and that every time it was someone on a cell phone cutting
me off or slamming on their brakes almost too late to turn or... Staying
further back doesn't help; I just get more people cutting in front of me
without using a blinker. Texas decided not to pass the law about hands-free
cell phones...not that I hear it is helping anywhere else it did go through.
|
That's one thing that might have helped -- it's a rare day I *don't* encounter
someone wobbling around on a freeway or major street with their ear glued to a
cellular. That's one reason I've stayed with a landline all these years --
when I'm on the road, I'm driving from one point to another, and I don't need
that distraction.
--
Patrick "The Chief Instigator" Humphrey (patrick@io.com) Houston, Texas
www.chiefinstigator.us.tt/aeros.php (TCI's 2004-05 Houston Aeros)
LAST GAME: Houston 5, Utah 2 (February 8)
NEXT GAME: Wednesday, February 9 at Grand Rapids, 6:05 |
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Paul Calman
Guest
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| Posted:
Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:41 pm Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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| Quote: | Having said all this, Californian drivers are, on the whole, a lot more
polite and courteous while driving than their European, British, or
East Coast equivalents.
|
Except on "gun day".
--
Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California |
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Paul D. DeRocco
Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Feb 10, 2005 2:48 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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| Quote: | "donquijote1954" <nolionnoproblem@hotmail.com> wrote
Today the RAC Foundation is calling for drivers not to hog the middle
and outside lanes, and to pull over to the left-hand lane when not
over-taking, as suggested in the Highway Code. The Foundation is also
urging drivers to keep their distance from the car in front, in order
to avoid causing phantom traffic jams through unnecessary red-light
braking.
|
This is nonsensical. If everyone who wasn't interested in passing
religiously moved over to the left (right in U.S.), and then insisted on
keeping the "proper" distance from the car in front, that lane would bog
down as soon as traffic reached even a moderate level. People tailgate and
occupy lanes other than the left (right) in part because there's only so
much physical room on the road.
--
Ciao, Paul D. DeRocco
Paul mailto:pderocco@ix.netcom.com |
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mjt
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:10 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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SheBlewHimDidYouBlowHim wrote:
| Quote: | I run people the fuck over, my motto is get out of the damn way or get an
introduction to my shotgun, your choice.
|
.... ooooooooooo. the big bad ass with the big mouth.
i'm suuuuuuurrrrrre you shotgun all those in your way.
--
<< http://michaeljtobler.homelinux.com/ >>
To err is human,
To purr feline. - Robert Byrne |
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Timberwoof
Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Feb 10, 2005 3:21 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
In article <vyvOd.4129$UX3.3389@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net>,
"Paul D. DeRocco" <pderocco@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "donquijote1954" <nolionnoproblem@hotmail.com> wrote
Today the RAC Foundation is calling for drivers not to hog the middle
and outside lanes, and to pull over to the left-hand lane when not
over-taking, as suggested in the Highway Code. The Foundation is also
urging drivers to keep their distance from the car in front, in order
to avoid causing phantom traffic jams through unnecessary red-light
braking.
This is nonsensical. If everyone who wasn't interested in passing
religiously moved over to the left (right in U.S.), and then insisted on
keeping the "proper" distance from the car in front, that lane would bog
down as soon as traffic reached even a moderate level. People tailgate and
occupy lanes other than the left (right) in part because there's only so
much physical room on the road.
|
When traffic is light to moderate, these rules make sense. When traffic is
heavy, the rules have to be relaxed. But when when traffic is heavy, slower
traffic should keep right.
I have experienced numerous floating traffic jams caused by one car traveling in
the #1 or #2 lane (counted form the inside out) significantly more slowly than
everyone else. Had they been in the right lane, it woudl have been less of a
problem.
--
Timberwoof <me at timberwoof dot com> http://www.timberwoof.com
http://www.sorryeverybody.com/gallery/200/ |
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Alan Moore
Guest
|
| Posted:
Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:44 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
|
|
On Wed, 09 Feb 2005 05:18:47 GMT, Timberwoof
<timberwoof@stimpberawoofm.com> wrote:
| Quote: | In article <1107925013.292987.224550@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com>,
"donquijote1954" <nolionnoproblem@hotmail.com> wrote:
Paul Calman wrote:
Is that the equivilence of left lane hogs in this country?
That depends on what "this" country is.
Hogging the left lane is illegal in California, but they don't
enforce it.
It's more fun to promote road-rage, I guess. In Oregon they will
write a
citation.
--
Paul Calman, Hathaway Pines, California
Isn't California country the Wild West?
"I can't pretend that bad driving is indigenous to or even unique to
California (far from it), but it does seem to have much more than its
fair share of lethally stupid, maliciously reckless, or just plain
careless drivers. The sad fact about the worst California Drivers is
that, as readers keep pointing out, they have all the attitude of the
average Boston or New York driver, and none of the ability..."
http://www.caldrive.com/habits.html
Part of the reason for California's style of driving is that people come from
all over the place, with lots of different driving traditions. Everything from
the strict German approach in which driver training allows some small towns to
get away safely without traffic controls of any kind to the laid-back Southeast
Asian approach which considers street signs to be suggestions.
|
Yeah. My parents moved here from the midwest, although they'd been in
various locations before that while my Dad was in the service. They
used to say that California was the easiest place to drive they'd ever
seen.
It's gotten harder to drive, since I learned. Other changes, of
course, are that kids coming of age here got actual behind-the-wheel
training in high school, and the DMV driving test has been somewhat
watered down.
Al Moore
DoD 734 |
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Alan Moore
Guest
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| Posted:
Thu Feb 10, 2005 6:45 am Post subject:
Re: 'Middle lane hogging' is Law of the Jungle |
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|
On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 09:41:39 -0800, "Paul Calman" <spam@trap.com>
wrote:
| Quote: | Having said all this, Californian drivers are, on the whole, a lot more
polite and courteous while driving than their European, British, or
East Coast equivalents.
Except on "gun day".
|
Ever gotten a ticket for using a .45 in a .38 zone?
Al Moore
DoD 734 |
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