How fast is fast? Driving Madness

 

Let’s stablish something really quick – driving on the fast lane does not equal “unlimited speed!”  There are still safety rules as we all share the roads!

 

My rant about crazy drivers…

I’ve been wanting to write this for a very long time.  Essentially, every single time I am driving and some @$$ Ψ!π3 does something selfishly stupid with their vehicle, while simultaneously making it very dangerous for everyone else sharing the road.  I know that there might be a lot of other things I could be raving around at this time in this crazy world.  But the fact is that commuting and sharing the road with strangers is something most people could identify with – I figured I might as well choose a topic that would not be considered divisive.  By this I mean, it would not be a subject of debate… for instance… how many of us have been in a car accident, have lost somebody we love in a car accident, or at the very least have been very disturbed by some idiot on the road endangering everybody else?  Worst of all, how many times one or more of us have been the person that made it more dangerous to everybody else?

I have had the pleasure of driving in many different countries around the world.  Some places are better than others, yet accidents still occur. I’m happy to report that I’ve not gotten a speeding ticket in more than 10 years… I figured that I was not about to give any more money to the applicable jurisdiction in the form of a fine – for doing something I could very much prevent.  One of the best tech-friends onboard my car is my cruise control.   A lot of this article will have be directed at “you” and by “you” I don’t necessarily mean “you my dear reader” — unless you’re the “@$$ Ψ!π3 — You selfish driver” – in that case, I DO have a bone to pick with you, because selfishness behind the wheel becomes a bad habit, it gets normalized, and inevitable could end up killing innocent people, or best case scenario open the door to property damages.

© Marcelo Baqueroalvarez / HLC | Driving Somewhere in VA – JAN 2021 VA

 

Left Lane is the Fast Lane – how fast is fast?

In countries where your steering wheel is installed on the left, the fast or passing lane is going to be on your left… yes same side as the steering wheel.  The right lane, is what some dub as the “slow lane.”  Each locality (in the US or even other countries) tends to have different levels of “tolerance” as far as how fast you would be able to get away with driving over the posted speed limit.  The speed limit is theoretically set as the culmination of a study for EVERY type of road-worthy vehicle sharing that road to be able to SAFELY maneuver, stop, enter or exit said road, and surprisingly to some, it is also intended prevent premature wear to the infrastructure.  This is especially true on bridges or elevated driving lanes.  The faster vehicles move, the more vibration and the more it affects the structural integrity of our roads.  Are there places that artificially lower the speed limit as a speed trap? Absolutely… but that is more the exception than the norm. However gigantic that number of speed traps might be.

In most driving manuals (the ones people use to get their driver license) you won’t see any condoning for going over the speed limit.  In fact, in the great majority of driver’s license manuals they would say something like this:  Do you always have to drive at the speed limit?  And the answer would be: No, sometimes based on traffic conditions you might have to go slower than the posted speed limit.  I’ve never seen instructors say (even when I had to go to traffic school in USA as consequence of getting a speeding ticket in my younger years):  “Yeah, you can go faster than the speed limit – if there is room” – No, they never said that.  Maybe they have said that in a different class, but none I’ve been present.  The closest they said, was to “keep with the flow of traffic” – now that language has left a lot of wiggle room for interpretation.

In Virginia, where I am now, driving 20 Miles Per Hour (MPH) over the speed limit is considered a misdemeanor and reckless driving, which means a person guilty of this charge will need to go to court, pay a pretty steep fine, risk losing their driving privilege or even get in a pumpkin suit and sit in jail for a while…  and that is if they didn’t hit anybody moving at that speed.  Charges will exponentially mount for any additional violation added to this event.  Now, why would anybody in the right mind would like to risk such a penalty?  I don’t think there is a simple answer, but it is mostly because it has been “normalized” by those who tend to get away with this action.

Spoiler alert, not every person going 20+ MPH gets caught right away (just those having DUIs, but that’s another rant).  There are just so many police officers out there catching speeders, they will award plenty of speeding violations but not all speeders get caught all the time.  Though I remember, when I was living in FL a Highway Patroller would pull out 3-5 cars at the same time, pretty often – over some stretches of I-95.  My point is that police should not be needing to babysit drivers who should know better… as this was part of our agreement to get a driver’s license and earn our driving privilege.  And that is what drives me crazy about this situation.  It is not a matter or race, richness, social status, or anything else.  I’ve seen crazy drivers from all parts of the spectrum thinking they own the road.  I have a dash camera, and it does not take long at all to see many idiots putting a show for me.  Maybe one day I’ll make a video with all of these gems.

Bottom line, the left lane is a “passing lane” – if you are in the passing lane, and there is a car in front of you that is already going above the speed limit passing drivers on the left side, just chill the F@Σ& up and let them pass them safely – stop tailgating and driving too close (which is by the way also a moving violation).  It is very likely that the driver in front of you is already speeding to pass the driver on the left lane.  That does not mean that the driver in front of now is required to risk getting a misdemeanor for reckless driving because you – in the back – thinks the world revolves around you.  The person in front of you is doing the responsible thing, and if you’re ridding your breaks behind this person… maybe you should look at the speed limit and slow the F@Σ& down because if you accidentally hit that person, all the “hurry” you’re into, will not mean Jack $#!^ because now you put yourself in a worse situation – that will likely delay you more than passing the person in front of you.  And by the way, did you know that the person driving behind is the one primarily responsible for avoiding a collision?  You know why? Because they have their eyes pointing forward – in the direction of traffic and the car in front of them.

If that was not clear enough, the passing lane does not equal… go as fast as you F@Σ&!ng want.  It means, if you’re forced to speed for a short period of time above the speed limit (below the threshold of reckless driving), do so safely and once you pass the other car, then slow down to a safe speed without tailgating or harassing other drivers.  True some places there are higher speed limits than others. I was driving in some of the highways in the Midwest and there was a whooping 80MPH speed limit… and I still got passed as I was standing still.  Driving in Germany, some sections of the Autobahn would essentially be speed-limit free, and I was able to drive as fast as my car’s governor allowed… but even in the Autobahn there would be times and places where the speed limit would be dropped in order to match the every-changing road conditions.  And yes, I have been stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic in the Autobahn.  It only takes one factor out of synch (bad driver, mechanical failure, operator error, etc.) to turn a fun drive into a nightmare.

 

Get off my @$$ you F@Σ&!ng @$$ Ψ!π3!!!!

Perhaps my biggest pet-peeve is that @$$ Ψ!π3 who gets too close to my vehicle’s tail.  When I was very young, my mother was teaching me how to drive.  She would say, the correct way to judge distance when stopping behind a car on a traffic light was to be able to see the ENTIRE rear of the car, the wheels, and a little bit of asphalt.  I remember we would practice this in a parking area, we would get off the car and be able to see how much room we could safely had in the event of an accident.

Why is this important?  Have you heard about pileups?  That’s when an accident happens, and several vehicles get hit in the front and back.  There is a reason why we leave a safe distance between vehicles.  It is because vehicles move, they tend to be pretty heavy, which means that it takes considerable space for them to safely come to a full stop.  Yes, even if you slam your breaks… the car is heavy, so it will skid and while it skids, you don’t have much if any control over the situation.  So, stay with me…. the faster our car moves, the more space we need to have between vehicles – especially the vehicle in front of you.  Why? Just in case the vehicle in front of you should suddenly slow down or stop.  And sometimes we need to allow for additional space between cars… for example, when there is precipitation (like rain, snow, or hale).  Or for another example, when it is very dark, or there is fog, or maybe even critters and larger animals could jump in front of you… such as deer.  Examples are countless, but that’s why drivers are trusted to use good judgment while driving.  And thinking, “it won’t happen to me” is not a good example of using good judgment.  In fact, that’s why there are specific traffic regulations addressing all this stuff I just re-addressed and should have been part of your testing for a driver’s license.

So, if I am in slow traffic or we stopped at a light and from my rear-view mirror I can see you freaking face features, but I cannot see your car’s headlights, or the hood of your car, but I can clearly see what you look like…  that means you’re too F@Σ&!ng close.  It is also annoying because my car has proximity sensors, so it starts chiming and blinking like a Christmas tree, and my rear camera shows just how freaking close you’re from me… essentially proving my point.  And no, stopping at a light does not give you the same latitude as placing your car as close as you would in – say a parking lot?  Why?  Because you might not be the only idiot ridding somebody else’s @$$, there might be another greater idiot right behind you, and if they hit you, you’ll end up hitting me.  And then I’m coming for your insurance, because I have all the video evidence I need.  That is why I always put safety distance between me and the car in front of me.  It is not rocket science, but goodness, it is such a foreign concept to so many drivers.

 

Sharing the road.

Most of us, Earth dwellers, do not own private highways.  We are required to share them with everybody else. That’s why there are rules, traffic signs, and people who issue fines for violating the rules we said we understood when we got our licenses.  I’ll probably go into specific rants on each of the driving violations I find so stupid, because they are preventable.  Meanwhile, just remember when you’re feeling like the King or Queen of your Car and think that the world is yours alone… when you’re in your vehicle, wake the F@Σ& up, rejoin the rest of humankind, and realize that it is not just about you.  People in other cars are parents, kids, brothers, sisters, loved ones to somebody, and they all have the same desire to make it to their next destination safely.  When you start tailgating, speeding, drinking and driving, acting the fool to show of your “driving skills” by doing stuff that is unsafe, you are then deciding for somebody else if they will arrive to their destination safely.  It is not your decision, it is OUR decision, together.  We share the road; we abide by a pre-determinate set of rules that make sure we can all make it to our destinations safely.  Maybe you overslept, maybe there is an emergency, maybe you were too tired to drive, and that’s why that particular time you’re F@Σ&ing up.  Those are still not excuses to put everybody else at risk.  Being that idiot who is harassing people on the road thinking you’re entitled to it does not make it true.

It is easy to be a bad driver, driving too fast for conditions, following too close vehicles in front of you, weaving between lanes. Any idiot can do that.  It takes integrity and maturity to drive your car the way it is supposed to be driven.  It is not a toy, it is a vehicle, and when used improperly it could also mean a tragic end to somebody’s story… even your own.  Hopefully, by the end of this article, most readers got a chance to chuckle and remember about some idiot in the road that made them mad.  But if you’re one of those idiots at fault, you can always change.  Maybe you have not gotten caught yet speeding or on an accident and learned your lesson.  But if you continue behaving like that won’t be a matter of if but when that will happen again.  If you have been fined or gotten to court or worse after performing those moving violations and continue doing the same $#!^, then shame on you.  You might think you’re getting away with $#!^ today and that you’re above everyone else’s rights.  In reality means that you have not learned a d@mm thing and have proven a sustained level of stupidity.  And unfortunately, there are too many of you in the road.  Don’t like the label of stupid, then join the real world and start behaving properly behind the wheel.  It is that simple, and that is something YOU can control. HLC