Missouri Sportswriter Murdered in Possible Road Rage Incident

[MTM]

I've turned into a right-lane, 68-in-a-65 driver.

For the pyschos who want to go 20 over and will get to within an inch of your bumper because "I have places to be" I only quote "a lack of preparation on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part."

I'm sorry you lack the time management skills us other adults do. You're going to sit there if I'm going the speed limit and am in the proper lane.

In the younger days I was an "eff you, I'm going 78 in a 65, go around me" kind of guy. As I've aged it's now, "fine, you want to go faster, I'll switch lanes and let you pass."
In my much younger days, I did a 240-mile roundtrip to my hometown each weekend, usually driving like a maniac, as 25 years olds are wont to do. One weekend I decided to drive with the flow of traffic and not speed and keep jumping lanes. My two-hour drive only took like 5 minutes longer.

 

[dixiehack]

Age has mostly (not entirely) mellowed me out behind the wheel.

I have a centering thought I use now when someone honks because they thought I should have run the yellow or made a turn on a gap that may or may not have been sufficient to avoid collision.

"Is this person going to pay my ticket for me? Are they going to pay for my repairs? Then why do I care what they think?"

 

[Driftwood]

It's funny how nobody ever seems to blame the slowpokes aimlessly driving about like they're the only people on the planet.

I had to follow a handicap driver 7 miles across town the other day, and we never got above 26 mph. I was right behind her, and at one point, I looked in my mirror and counted 12 other cars backed up like we were a dang Christmas parade.

 

[Starman]

It's funny how nobody ever seems to blame the slowpokes aimlessly driving about like they're the only people on the planet.

I had to follow a handicap driver 7 miles across town the other day, and we never got above 26 mph. I was right behind her, and at one point, I looked in my mirror and counted 12 other cars backed up like we were a dang Christmas parade.

Driving too slowly for prevailing traffic conditions and causing obstructions is also a VBSL infraction, but is rarely if ever enforced.

It's also an offense to only drive the posted speed limit in the left (passing) lane of a multi-lane freeway, especially if traffic lines up behind you.

I've also seen reports of cops issuing inattentive driving citations for drivers conspicuously blocking traffic. You're supposed to check your rear view mirror frequently enough you shouldn't have a parade lined up behind you.

 

[Typist Clerk]

It's funny how nobody ever seems to blame the slowpokes aimlessly driving about like they're the only people on the planet.

I had to follow a handicap driver 7 miles across town the other day, and we never got above 26 mph. I was right behind her, and at one point, I looked in my mirror and counted 12 other cars backed up like we were a dang Christmas parade.

And you got where you were going.

 

[Twirling Time]

It's also an offense to only drive the posted speed limit in the left (passing) lane of a multi-lane freeway, especially if traffic lines up behind you.

Nestoring. #IYKYK

Also a plot scene in a Tom Clancy novel where a Nestorer got capped. Clancy probably got sick of them on the Beltway and enjoyed that vignette.

 

[Driftwood]

And you got where you were going.

Not in a timely and efficient manner.

 

[Neutral Corner]

Standard interstate I'll usually run about 75, probably middle lane. I figure I miss the exits, merges, and slowpokes in the right lane and that the left lane is available is someone needs to pass. I'll generally pull over and get out of the way if I get a speed runner or asshole behind me, although I get annoyed and discuss the ancestry of tailgaters trying to bully people out of their way. OTOH, left lane bandits who get in the fast lane and camp out really pish me off, because in traffic it's difference in speed that is most likely to cause an accident, and because by definition to be a left lane bandit you have to obstinately stay there, a driving cork in the ass of progress.

 

[Twirling Time]

Standard interstate I'll usually run about 75, probably middle lane. I figure I miss the exits, merges, and slowpokes in the right lane and that the left lane is available is someone needs to pass. I'll generally pull over and get out of the way if I get a speed runner or asshole behind me, although I get annoyed and discuss the ancestry of tailgaters trying to bully people out of their way. OTOH, left lane bandits who get in the fast lane and camp out really pish me off, because in traffic it's difference in speed that is most likely to cause an accident, and because by definition to be a left lane bandit you have to obstinately stay there, a driving cork in the ass of progress.

On 3-lane city streets I tend to stay in the middle lane because of turners on the right as well as left-turners that get backed up at traffic lights and spill over into the left travel lane. I call that getting Belt Lined.

 

[wicked]

It's also an offense to only drive the posted speed limit in the left (passing) lane of a multi-lane freeway, especially if traffic lines up behind you.

Depends on the state. And it rarely gets enforced.

I was driving home the other day and someone was going 30 in the right lane for a mile or so and I was the first guy in line. Everyone else behind me was bailing earlier and blowing by, so I was stuck for a bit.

 

[Driftwood]

On the interstate, I drive in holes. If I have to speed up or slow down to find one, I do. I don't want anyone else too close in front of of beside me. I trust my driving ability, not other people. Nothing pisses me off more than someone getting close to me and wanting to match speeds, especially if they want to sit right at your 7 o'clock.
I avoid interstate travel if at all possible.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

And you got where you were going.

Not in a timely and efficient manner.

I fully understand driving cautious, and how there are angry maniacs on the road who aren't satisfied unless everyone is going 20 mph over the speed limit. I'm not that That Guy.

But at the same time, I believe drivers need to be more self-aware. That means not going more than 5 mph below the speed limit when conditions are normal. That means not hogging the passing lane when you're not passing anyone. That means looking at the traffic light and not the rear view mirror and brushing your hair. That means if you don't feel comfortable going the speed limit, and you see three or four cars trailing behind you on a two-lane road, you pull over and let everyone pass.

I look at it this way: Yeah, it may take one extra minute for me to get to where I need to go. But those one-minute delays add up. If I'm commuting to and from work, that one minute each way is two minutes a day. Times five days, that's 10 minutes a week. Times, say 48 weeks and that's 480 minutes. Eight extra full hours of my life each year sitting in my car because someone else's head is up their ass while they're behind the wheel of a several-ton piece of machinery.

Drive safely. And drive smart.