As opposed to road rage so this is a healthy vent!
I came home to Dallas from Springfield on Christmas day. I don't have any signed contracts in Springfield so I am going to be here at home for a little while so I drove home instead of flying so I have something to drive at home.
Ok, this is a two part rant...
1) What ever happened to slower traffic keep right? When did we lose the concept that the left lane on the interstate was a PASSING lane? I mean every one loses focus now and then so it's understandable that you forget and pace the car in the right lane for a while but seriously, I had to pass many people on the right on the trip home and not only is that horrible etiquette it's against the law.
I think some people appoint themselves traffic monitors and deliberately try to block traffic with the rationale that if "I'm doing the speed limit then they should not pass me"
The irony there is that little Miss (or Mister) self appointed law enforcer is breaking two laws by trying to enforce the speed limit law.
"Slower traffic keep right" is an absolute, not a relative or even an IF condition! It's not, "Slower traffic keep right unless you are going the speed limit" it's just KEEP RIGHT- period- end of discussion.
When I was a kid in Missouri cops used to actually write tickets if you were passed on the right. You got a "obstructing traffic" ticket. I have spent enough time in St. Louis to know Missouri cops do not write this ticket any more. I travel quite a bit and I think it is safe to say Missourians are the absolute worse group for ignoring this bit of driving etiquette.
On to the next topic...
2) People, use your freaking cruise control on the interstate huh?
I only know of one individual car built in the last 20 years that does not have one and how Erika managed to find a modern car without one boggles me a little.
If you are NOT going to use your cruise control or have one of the six cars in the known universe without one then please, follow one of the 99.9999% of the cars on the road with one!
This little rant comes about because of people who slowly pass you then (properly) move into the right lane in front of you then slow down! So then I have to pass them again then they will pass me again! Rinse and repeat!
This happened several times during the trip but there was one person I swear I passed 5 or 6 times on the Oklahoma turnpike before I got so sick of it I tromped on the gas and went extra fast for about 10 minutes to get him out of sight behind me. Then I let the cruise control take over again at the same speed where he had been pacing me. It took him about 15 minutes to catch up to me, get in front of me and slow down again. GAH! WTF??!!
It's a good thing I don't have telekinesis because I swear I would have mentally ruptured several small blood vessels in his forehead, hopefully leaving a scarlet LAL! on his forehead for a few weeks. (LAL=Lame Ass Loser!)
Ah what a sweet Christmas day memory! :)
Isn't it amazing how just the little things that can make you completely crazy on a 13 hour 800 mile drive?
Ok, thanks, I feel better now! :)
10 comments:
Luvpilot and I have this exact same conversation every time we take a road trip. Seriously bugs!! "I think some people appoint themselves traffic monitors and deliberately try to block traffic with the rationale that if 'I'm doing the speed limit then they should not pass me' "...YES!! And I'm not sure, but I think UT drivers may have Missourians beat. They are full of people who think they're always right or that the rules don't apply to them.
Rob, I could rant about this every damn day. I drive on the lake pontchartrain causeway, which is a REALLY long 24 mile bridge and there are always assholes who are driving slow in the passing lane and then they box you in and you can't get over or you are forced to pass them in the slow lane. it irritates the ever living daylights out of me.
I could have written that post!!!
I'm not going clog up your comments with my rant. let's just say I couldn't agree more!
Agreed. All of the above irritate the h*ll outta me.
But now I've got to bring-up MY major driving pet-peeve: merging.
Seriously, everyone just needs to yield to ME at all times, and there would never be a problem. See one time, when I was driving and the lane ahead merged, both of us refused to yield and so very slowly - we are talking maybe 1mph – we DROVE INTO each other.
Sux.
By any chance was one of those six cars that passed you / you passed multiple times a black subaru with a canadian flag on the back? Oh wait... I drove down on the 28th (C:
I have 2 complaints about Tex-ass drivers to add to your list. There is (on most modern cars) a little stick beside the steering wheel that serves to alert other drivers as to your intentions to turn or change lanes. I'm pretty sure they exist in Texas, but I haven't seen on in use YET!
Numba 2: if you're going to follow within 8 feet of the car in front of you, it's generally not recommended to decelerate from 80 mph to 10 mph over the course of a few seconds.
Now... off to the local mechanic where I'm going to drop 2K on my ancient, cruise-control-less car )C:
I am sure those people were totally out to get you. Especially since it was Christmas.
I think it's the same in every state - - *sigh*
When I worked in Springfield and drove from Decatur every day, it was horrible . . . PEOPLE, the LEFT LANE is for PASSING - - c'mon already!
I ranted a lot in those days!
And that would be why any longer then three hours at one time in a car drives me crazy...then again, I live in Jersey. If you've ever been here you'd understand. :O)
im so glad i work from home bc bad drivers make me INSANE!! i totally agree with everything you said here. since i only drive in town and haven't been on a road trip in a while, let me add a few "in town" rants for you.
If you're the first person in line at the stoplight, your ONLY mission for the next few minutes is to watch that dangling yellow thing above you to see when it turns green. That's IT. When it turns green....GO. it's simple. Dont balance your checkbook, dont text your friend, don't take a nap...just watch the light. if you dont go by the count of "one thousand one", then i reserve the right to honk at you.
use your F*&#ing signal!!!! 'nuff said.
Quit pulling out in front of me when you know you're only gonna go 5mph.
I'm sure there are more, but i dont want to bore you...you know them already :)
and btw, the cruise on my car is broken, but i'm really good at maintaining a constant speed.
after driving that many hours and miles, I'm surprised this was the ONLY thing that drove you nuts!!!!
Oh! I can't stand green-light campers! I treat the cross-street signal like staging lights, and start my takeoff roll when the other light turns amber. So when the guy in front of me sits dumbly at the light, gazing bovinely at his cell phone, I start acting like superman in the presence of kryponite, with contorted facial expressions and enraged shrieking.
I feel your pain.
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