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Left lane parkers..

Coming home the other day in my pickup, I was in an area that had been under construction and had just recently had the speed limit put back up from 80kmh to 100kmh.

Apparently, most folks in front of me didn't notice the fresh speed limit signs and I had moved into the left lane to make good time by actually going at or above the posted limit.

I came upon a couple cars in said left lane poking along at 80k.

I flashed the brights at the first guy in front of me and he moved into the right lane where the slow traffic belonged and stayed there.

The next guy moved over, I passed and then he promptly yanked his Corolla back into the left lane behind me, cutting off the other, large pickup truck that had been closing one me as I passed.

I looked in my mirror and pointed my right finger at my head and made the "crazy" motion and shook my head.

Corolla driver then pointed at the upcoming speed limit sign which said 100 when he as going about 80 with a Dodge 3500 bearing down on him who, apprently, also wanted to do the newly posted speed limit.

I pointed towards the right lane to help him understand where he should be for his own personal safety at which point he gave me the finger and stayed firmly in the left lane where he felt that he belonged.

I watched for a few miles as I pulled away from him, the line of cars behind him growing, folks passing him on the right.

Is "keep left except to pass" so hard to understand?

Trans_Maro wrote: Is "keep left except to pass" so hard to understand?

Keep right you mean?

The only time I can think of a good excuse is the sections of road where the right lane is in terrible shape from 30+ years of semi trucks and no maintenance, so driving 5mph over the limit in the middle lane is preferable for those people who cant afford speeding tickets but dont want to put up with hammering the bump stops for an hour or so lol.

there was a section of road here ( ~30 mi ) that was so rough in the right lane ( left was marginally better) that in my a-x car, 55 was way too fast ... so I would run in the left lane the entire section ... if someone came up behind me and had not already moved to the right lane to pass, then I'd move as they got near .. then back to the left lane ( if no one else waiting to pass me ..... so yeah I can see when left lane "parking" is ok ... just stay alert

Just to add fuel to the idiot drivers commuting vibe:

http://www.uproxx.com/gammasquad/2013/02/science-proves-it-really-is-just-a-couple-of-jerks-making-your-commute-awful/

One of the few cases where it would almost be nice to know which drivers those would be so they could be informed that they are ruining everyone's morning commute.

Newscasters stating that the weather has caused accidents. Unless a tornado blew your car over, the weather does not cause accidents. Driver's driving into bad weather and not knowing how to handle it cause accidents.

Not proud of this, but I did it...

Driving down the road in town, speed limit is 45 and changes to 55. There is a guy driving 30, in the fast lane, not moving over, at all. I finally get around him, notice it's one of my customers at the dealership. Curse him to myself and keep on my way.

Next day, going down the highway to my house, speed limit 70. Same guy, same 30 mph, same fastlane, same NOT MOVING OVER! There is a group of cars & trucks in the fast lane passing an 18 wheeler in the slow lane. They run up on his 30 mph mobile road block and have to jam on their brakes and try to avoid him and the semi. They all get around him and honk their horns. I get up to him and flash my high beams to get him to move over. Nothing. I go around him and call the cops.

"911, yes, there's a man driving down the highway at 30 mph and not moving out of the fast lane and he just about caused an accident."

"Wow, that's pretty dangerous. Can you describe the car to me?"

"I can do better, I can give you the guys name. He's a customer of mine at the dealership. He should not be on the road."

Don't know if he got ticketed, arrested, whatever. Going 30 in a 70 is FAR more dangerous than going 80 in a 70, but they will ticket your ass for 80 and probably won't do E36 M3 to him for going 30.

Rant over...

In reply to Conquest351:

There should still be a posted minimum speed somewhere on that stretch of 70mph road, which is 45mph typically.

And yes, he should get a ticket for impeding traffic flow due to slow speed.

In reply to Ranger50:

Out here in Rural Texas, there's usually not a minimum due to the use of most roads by farm equipment. They usually will stay on the slow lane and even hang off into the easement to avoid disrupting traffic. This guy just pissed me off to no end. LOL

If I'm being honest, it's everyone who's on the road at the same time as me. Thanks, you just ruined my day.

Not really, but I suppose you know what I mean.

I live on a corner street.

There is a guy with a truck very similar to mine that does a burnout at the stop sign everytime I park it out front.... I'm waiting for him to do that one day while I'm asleep and my truck start itself hunt him down, answer his challenge and kill him Christine Style....

Conquest351 wrote: Not proud of this, but I did it... Driving down the road in town, speed limit is 45 and changes to 55. There is a guy driving 30, in the fast lane, not moving over, at all. I finally get around him, notice it's one of my customers at the dealership. Curse him to myself and keep on my way. Next day, going down the highway to my house, speed limit 70. Same guy, same 30 mph, same fastlane, same NOT MOVING OVER! There is a group of cars & trucks in the fast lane passing an 18 wheeler in the slow lane. They run up on his 30 mph mobile road block and have to jam on their brakes and try to avoid him and the semi. They all get around him and honk their horns. I get up to him and flash my high beams to get him to move over. Nothing. I go around him and call the cops. "911, yes, there's a man driving down the highway at 30 mph and not moving out of the fast lane and he just about caused an accident." "Wow, that's pretty dangerous. Can you describe the car to me?" "I can do better, I can give you the guys name. He's a customer of mine at the dealership. He should not be on the road." Don't know if he got ticketed, arrested, whatever. Going 30 in a 70 is FAR more dangerous than going 80 in a 70, but they will ticket your ass for 80 and probably won't do E36 M3 to him for going 30. Rant over...

hopefully they did something ... I've seen people ticketed for driving too slowly .. I've actually seen them ticketed for not vacating the left lane

Brett_Murphy wrote: People who slow way the heck down before they turn into the very long middle turning lane on the main road near my house. Get in the middle lane a little ways before your turn, do your breaking and then turn. That is what they PUT THE LANE THERE FOR.

The only problem with that is dealing with the people who are too lazy to make a left turn into traffic, so they make a left turn into the turn lane and park there until a gap opens in traffic so they can merge in.

Nothin' says lovin' like being stuck nose to nose with one of those a-holes blocking the turn lane.

Knurled wrote:

Brett_Murphy wrote: People who slow way the heck down before they turn into the very long middle turning lane on the main road near my house. Get in the middle lane a little ways before your turn, do your breaking and then turn. That is what they PUT THE LANE THERE FOR.

The only problem with that is dealing with the people who are too lazy to make a left turn into traffic, so they make a left turn into the turn lane and park there until a gap opens in traffic so they can merge in. Nothin' says lovin' like being stuck nose to nose with one of those a-holes blocking the turn lane.

I have zero tolerance for middle lane abusers. I am often presented with, and take, the opportunity to let them know they are doing it wrong, unfortunately.

Scott_H wrote: **off topic** I always wanted to see a 15 passenger van with Utah license plates on it with the stick figures in the back window... One male, 5 women, and about 15 kids....

close enough?

I have on occasion used the turn lane to allow me to make a left turn onto a busy road ... but I DON'T just sit there ... before pulling into the middle lane I make sure A: it's empty ... and B: that I'll actually have a chance to merge into the flow of traffic ... and C: I actually merge rather than just sit there ... use it as an acceleration lane ... works for me ...sorry if it pisses others off

Ground rule: people being incompetent and not paying attention 1.) People who can't park... then hit your car and don't leave a note 2.) Left lane hogs 3.) Middle lane hogs 4.) People who don't use snow tires and then wine about the weather and/ or crash into you... people who slide through stop signs in the snow and then pretend that you're the idiot. 4.) People who don't use their headlights (especially after you've flashed yours six times or so to remind them and they still don't comply) 5.) People who don't believe in the zipper merge by: blocking one lane of traffic, not letting you in, giving you the finger, honking, etc. 6.) Police who park on the shoulder without so much as an interior light on at night. Ever wonder why there so many police rear-ended while sitting on the shoulder? 7.) People who won't let you in on a multi-lane highway. Ex.) The other day I was merging onto the highway early in the morning. As always, I put my left turn signal on as soon as I got on the ramp. Sure enough there was a car in the right lane (where you should normally be if you aren't overtaking). Three completely unoccupied lanes two his left but he didn't move over. Now obviously he isn't required to by law, but a little bit of courtesy goes a long way. This also frequently happens when you're in the right lane and want to move into the middle lane to overtake someone (where there are already a series of overtaking cars) but no one in the left lane. No matter how long you have your turn signal on, no one has ever moved over a lane to let me in in these situations. Often I'll see a driver in the right or middle lane who is cut off by a slower driver and rather than changing lanes, they brake. I've never understood why people brake rather than change lanes. It's dangerous if there's someone behind you and wastes your fuel, brake pads and time. 8.) People who turn on their four ways when visibility isn't severely restricted (i.e. your typical rain or snow storm) and they aren't going bellow the speed of traffic. For example, traffic will be moving at 35mph in a snow storm where visibility is reasonable and nearly everyone (even when they're going with the flow of traffic) turns their four ways on. Odviously, if you're going bellow the speed of traffic and visibility is really bad then yes you should turn your four ways on. But it makes it difficult to figure out who is stuck and there is no way of warning people that traffic ahead is stopped when people bastardize this valuable communication.

STINKY CARS!!!!!

You KNOW your damn car stinks! You KNOW it! Your stinky ass dog riding with you that you never bathe and who drools all over the place and wipes his E36 M3 stained ass all over the seats makes the car smell just like his ass! If you expect me to get in there and NOT make a face of pure and utter disgust, then you my friend were sorely mistaken.

If you yourself do not bathe and you make my whole damn dealership smell like the underside of a dead skunks scrotum, then don't be surprised when someone sprays some room deodorizer in your general direction.

Good God Almighty! What is wrong with people?!

Driving in a white out snow storm. Without your lights on. IN A WHITE CAR. I know the Stealth fighter is cool, but its pilots are not suicidal. You clearly are. Glad you'll be dieing going the other way.

Steamed up windows are fine when the car is parked, not while driving. Use the ventilation system properly.

Conquest351 wrote: Not proud of this, but I did it... Driving down the road in town, speed limit is 45 and changes to 55. There is a guy driving 30, in the fast lane, not moving over, at all. I finally get around him, notice it's one of my customers at the dealership. Curse him to myself and keep on my way. Next day, going down the highway to my house, speed limit 70. Same guy, same 30 mph, same fastlane, same NOT MOVING OVER! There is a group of cars & trucks in the fast lane passing an 18 wheeler in the slow lane. They run up on his 30 mph mobile road block and have to jam on their brakes and try to avoid him and the semi. They all get around him and honk their horns. I get up to him and flash my high beams to get him to move over. Nothing. I go around him and call the cops. "911, yes, there's a man driving down the highway at 30 mph and not moving out of the fast lane and he just about caused an accident." "Wow, that's pretty dangerous. Can you describe the car to me?" "I can do better, I can give you the guys name. He's a customer of mine at the dealership. He should not be on the road." Don't know if he got ticketed, arrested, whatever. Going 30 in a 70 is FAR more dangerous than going 80 in a 70, but they will ticket your ass for 80 and probably won't do E36 M3 to him for going 30. Rant over...

UPDATE!!!!!!!

The guy came in today and said, "Ya'll ain't gotta worry 'bout that little blue car no more."

"Did ya sell it?" one of my other service advisors asked.

"Nope. Totalled. Some gal hit me in the back at 70 mph on the highway. Threw the car in the air and my dog up against the windshield. He's ok, but scared the hell out of him. Guess I need to get me another car..."

I had to hold back with every fiber of my being from blurting out how much he deserved that and how HE is the one at fault and I hope they take his license and that poor girl gets off with nothing and he has to pay for her car. UGH!!

Not clearing your windows from frost/snow and only clearing a 6"x6" square to see out of. There was a school kid around here hit recently because some mom dropping off her kid didn't bother clearing off her windows completely.

Driving with snow piled 6" on top of your car, hood, and trunk. It doesn't take that much more effort to clear it off. And then it doesn't fly into my windshield when you get on the highway.

In reply to Conquest351:

I would have said something, people need to know they are dangerous if they aren't already aware.

Setting: a 4 lane urban road which splits into 2 lanes which go to another urban 2 lane, then 2 lanes go to the Interstate. The speed limit is 40 until you get to the split, which is also on a bridge.

So here I am, doing my anal Curmudgeonly thing, I have my lane to the 'I' picked out two blocks in advance. Due to the split, there's different speeds involved in different lanes. I'm running the correct speed, pacing the traffic ahead of me, all is well.

I am suddenly surrounded by a pack of shiny happy people swapping lanes at various speeds since at the last second they realized they are in the wrong lanes to go where they want to go, horns are blowing etc and not only that SIX OF THESE berkeleyTARDS ARE TEXTING!!!!!

Put that friggin' phone down, knock off the multitasking E36 M3, pay attention to what you are doing and PLAN THE berkeley AHEAD.

I hate when ppl go to sell a car and every aftermarket part is (custom). I go out of my way to avoid the word custom on all my vehicles... Even the truely custom parts. It's a joke anymore.

pilotbraden wrote: Steamed up windows are fine when the car is parked, not while driving. Use the ventilation system properly.

But it's the worst thing ever to sit and warm the engine up before driving. That's what the Internet told me.