How to Reduce Car Crashes and Road Rage

[Dashinka 25,855]

Gotta love when someone does a helpful public service video.

 

 

[OriZ 3,165]

4 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Gotta love when someone does a helpful public service video.

 

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA gotta love that dude's sarcasm!

 

The next video he makes should be to tell the people who just learned to use their turn signal, that just because they are using it does not automatically give them the right to change lanes and butt themselves into someone else's lane without their consent.

Edited March 17, 2017 by OriZ

[TBoneTX 47,504]

He should also tell everyone to stay OUT of the left lane unless they're going at least 20 mph over the posted speed limit.

Furthermore, the minimum speed limit within a 25-mile radius of any airport should be 100 mph.

"Impeding traffic" within that zone should be a State Jail felony.

[Dashinka 25,855]

2 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

He should also tell everyone to stay OUT of the left lane unless they're going at least 20 mph over the posted speed limit.

Furthermore, the minimum speed limit within a 25-mile radius of any airport should be 100 mph.

"Impeding traffic" within that zone should be a State Jail felony.

That is one thing I will say Europe and especially Germany has right.  The Left lane is for passing, not for continuous driving!

[OriZ 3,165]

1 hour ago, Bill & Katya said:

That is one thing I will say Europe and especially Germany has right.  The Left lane is for passing, not for continuous driving!

In Israel you can actually get ticketed for driving in the left lane.

[Dashinka 25,855]

28 minutes ago, OriZ said:

In Israel you can actually get ticketed for driving in the left lane.

Technically speaking you can get a ticket in the US for doing this as well especially on four lane Interstates (two lanes in each direction).  I had a friend who was stopped on I69 in Michigan a few years ago, he wasn't speeding or doing anything else that he could think of (unsafe lane changes, etc.).  The police officer told him it is illegal to travel in the left lane when the right lane is open.  He did not get a ticket, but it was an interesting lesson.  I wish more people would be stopped and ticketed for this.

 

Now there are signs on I69 actually stating that the left lane is for passing only.

Edited March 17, 2017 by Bill & Katya

[yuna628 9,873]

No one cares if you drive in the left lane here. We only have a problem if the person is driving slowly in the left lane (but really we have a problem with people driving slowly in any lane). Even still with that law on the books I have never personally witnessed anyone being pulled over for driving slow in the left. There is no true 'slow or fast' lane, the law here just says that anyone driving 10mph under the speed limit for no clear or legit reason is wrong. There is no clear fine or anything for stopping someone driving slowly in that lane either. The biggest problem we have is speeding, aggressive driving, and tailgating.

[OriZ 3,165]

5 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

Technically speaking you can get a ticket in the US for doing this as well especially on four lane Interstates (two lanes in each direction).  I had a friend who was stopped on I69 in Michigan a few years ago, he wasn't speeding or doing anything else that he could think of (unsafe lane changes, etc.).  The police officer told him it is illegal to travel in the left lane when the right lane is open.  He did not get a ticket, but it was an interesting lesson.  I wish more people would be stopped and ticketed for this.

 

Now there are signs on I69 actually stating that the left lane is for passing only.

 

I believe that goes state by state and not every state has laws against it, but in Israel I've actually seen in enforced.

 

2 hours ago, yuna628 said:

No one cares if you drive in the left lane here. We only have a problem if the person is driving slowly in the left lane (but really we have a problem with people driving slowly in any lane). Even still with that law on the books I have never personally witnessed anyone being pulled over for driving slow in the left. There is no true 'slow or fast' lane, the law here just says that anyone driving 10mph under the speed limit for no clear or legit reason is wrong. There is no clear fine or anything for stopping someone driving slowly in that lane either. The biggest problem we have is speeding, aggressive driving, and tailgating.

I usually try to stick with around 5-10 miles above the limit, unless it's the freeway then sometimes more. Could easily go faster at times but it keeps me safe from being pulled over for speeding, at least here. If I'm behind someone doing "merely" the speed limit or slightly under(even 5 under) I get kind of annoyed

 

I am not a fan of tailgating personally, unless it's for somebody to get the hint to get out of the way. Normally I try to keep a nice bubble...you could say I'm an "island driver"....you'll have groups of cars behind me and groups of cars infront of me. Which only creates more of the situation I mentioned above when someone decides my bubble is there for their sake and bursts it. It's there for my sake because I believe in keeping a safe distance. However aggressive driving depends on how you would define it, I guess many times I could be considered a pretty aggressive driver.

[Teddy B 17,252]

24 minutes ago, OriZ said:

 

I believe that goes state by state and not every state has laws against it, but in Israel I've actually seen in enforced.

 

I usually try to stick with around 5-10 miles above the limit, unless it's the freeway then sometimes more. Could easily go faster at times but it keeps me safe from being pulled over for speeding, at least here. If I'm behind someone doing "merely" the speed limit or slightly under(even 5 under) I get kind of annoyed

 

I am not a fan of tailgating personally, unless it's for somebody to get the hint to get out of the way. Normally I try to keep a nice bubble...you could say I'm an "island driver"....you'll have groups of cars behind me and groups of cars infront of me. Which only creates more of the situation I mentioned above when someone decides my bubble is there for their sake and bursts it. It's there for my sake because I believe in keeping a safe distance. However aggressive driving depends on how you would define it, I guess many times I could be considered a pretty aggressive driver.

Got a buddy of mine who's a NH state trooper, he says rule of thumb most cops use on the highway is 15mph over the limit. You can go 79/80mph in a 65, but you hit 81 on the gun and you're getting a ticket.

[OriZ 3,165]

16 minutes ago, Teddy B said:

Got a buddy of mine who's a NH state trooper, he says rule of thumb most cops use on the highway is 15mph over the limit. You can go 79/80mph in a 65, but you hit 81 on the gun and you're getting a ticket.

That would make sense because they don't seem to pull you over here for less than that either. 

[spookyturtle 9,466]

5 minutes ago, OriZ said:

That would make sense because they don't seem to pull you over here for less than that either. 

Ya, but Vermont is special. 

[Teddy B 17,252]

1 minute ago, OriZ said:

That would make sense because they don't seem to pull you over here for less than that either. 

In the 12 years I owned a house in NH, I got 3 tickets for speeding on the highway (all on Rte 95) and all 3 were for going 81 or higher. I would zip right past state troopers with the radar gun doing 78 and they wouldn't blink an eye. Nowadays I'm a bit smarter and keep it around 70mph max on the highway.

[bcking 3,157]

I've been thinking of making a post about this issue here for awhile. It is a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

I've lived long term in 4 states, and driven in a lot more. People are pretty bad all around, but honestly I've never seen it as bad as it is in Texas. Granted I'm talking only Houston, but still. It is absolutely insane.

 

1. Turn signal - Completely agree with the cop and his sarcasm. It is crazy how many times I'm following along someone driving incredibly slowly and I'm thinking "This is really weird, everyone else is going 40-50" and then they suddenly come to an almost complete stop and turn. That is why you have your signal. Tell people you are preparing to turn so that we can have some insight into your behavior. Same goes for change lines on the interstate.

2. Changing lanes without looking - As someone else mentioned, just because you manage to use your signal (in rare occassions) doesn't mean you automatically have "right of way". Honestly if your changing lanes on the interstate causes the person in the lane to touch their brakes, you have NOT merged correctly. The person in the lane you are entering should not have to even touch their breaks for you to enter the lane. So much of the traffic on interstates in the US is due to just people constantly tapping their breaks because of idiot people swerving in and out. The people behind that person sees the lights, so then they tap theirs, and so on and so forth.

3. Following too closely - This makes the above problem worse. It is absolutely crazy how close I've seen people follow. Not just to "ride" someone to force them to get over. Even in the right hand lanes people will get up within a few feet while going 60 miles an hour. If you give a reasonable gap, then people swerve in and out seeing it as an opening.

4. Passing on the right - Absolutely pet peeve of mine and yet in this country you just can't help but do it because so many other people do. It is FAR more dangerous to pass on the right. The blind spot is bigger, it is harder for people to check their right sided blind spot. In Europe they are much more strict that you always pass on the left (UK obviously it is the right since it's flipped). This is a GROUP effort because it means the slower person should be getting over to the right, while the faster person moves to the left.

5. Merging - Everyone seems like they want to "get ahead" so then everyone ends up slamming brakes. If it is going onto an interstate, the people on the round have right of way. You have to adjust your speed accordingly. If it's a merge of two lanes on a road, just take turns. It's not that hard and it will move things along faster.

6. Two way traffic in residential roads - This is something I've only noticed in Texas and I find it absolutely hilarious. On highways people seem to drive like a lunatic, but on a side road with cars parked on either side drivers seem to need essentially the entire rest of the road in order to move so they either expect you to stop, or they will stop when a car is parked taking up some space. It is hilarious to see an SUV essentially drive all the way over to the left just because a car is on the side of the road. They leave an entire car's length between them and the parked car. Yes some roads are very narrow, but people in the US don't even know the definition of narrow. Even with a car parked on one side, an average road in Texas is still about 50% wider than most streets in the UK with two way traffic. 

 

Honestly I think if people were better drivers in this country we would not only have less accidents, but less traffic. It seems like almost all of the "traffic jams" I'm in don't actually have any real cause. They are "ghost jams" caused by people making other people brake. 

 

My sister lives in Germany now and I absolutely love driving there (and I'm not a speeder, I love driving there even as a slower driver just because there is more order on the road). UK is also much better. I used to hate round abouts but they have grown on me quite a bit. Seeing one in the US though is a disaster since people don't understand them. 

[Dashinka 25,855]

6 hours ago, bcking said:

I've been thinking of making a post about this issue here for awhile. It is a huge pet peeve of mine.

 

I've lived long term in 4 states, and driven in a lot more. People are pretty bad all around, but honestly I've never seen it as bad as it is in Texas. Granted I'm talking only Houston, but still. It is absolutely insane.

 

1. Turn signal - Completely agree with the cop and his sarcasm. It is crazy how many times I'm following along someone driving incredibly slowly and I'm thinking "This is really weird, everyone else is going 40-50" and then they suddenly come to an almost complete stop and turn. That is why you have your signal. Tell people you are preparing to turn so that we can have some insight into your behavior. Same goes for change lines on the interstate.

2. Changing lanes without looking - As someone else mentioned, just because you manage to use your signal (in rare occassions) doesn't mean you automatically have "right of way". Honestly if your changing lanes on the interstate causes the person in the lane to touch their brakes, you have NOT merged correctly. The person in the lane you are entering should not have to even touch their breaks for you to enter the lane. So much of the traffic on interstates in the US is due to just people constantly tapping their breaks because of idiot people swerving in and out. The people behind that person sees the lights, so then they tap theirs, and so on and so forth.

3. Following too closely - This makes the above problem worse. It is absolutely crazy how close I've seen people follow. Not just to "ride" someone to force them to get over. Even in the right hand lanes people will get up within a few feet while going 60 miles an hour. If you give a reasonable gap, then people swerve in and out seeing it as an opening.

4. Passing on the right - Absolutely pet peeve of mine and yet in this country you just can't help but do it because so many other people do. It is FAR more dangerous to pass on the right. The blind spot is bigger, it is harder for people to check their right sided blind spot. In Europe they are much more strict that you always pass on the left (UK obviously it is the right since it's flipped). This is a GROUP effort because it means the slower person should be getting over to the right, while the faster person moves to the left.

5. Merging - Everyone seems like they want to "get ahead" so then everyone ends up slamming brakes. If it is going onto an interstate, the people on the round have right of way. You have to adjust your speed accordingly. If it's a merge of two lanes on a road, just take turns. It's not that hard and it will move things along faster.

6. Two way traffic in residential roads - This is something I've only noticed in Texas and I find it absolutely hilarious. On highways people seem to drive like a lunatic, but on a side road with cars parked on either side drivers seem to need essentially the entire rest of the road in order to move so they either expect you to stop, or they will stop when a car is parked taking up some space. It is hilarious to see an SUV essentially drive all the way over to the left just because a car is on the side of the road. They leave an entire car's length between them and the parked car. Yes some roads are very narrow, but people in the US don't even know the definition of narrow. Even with a car parked on one side, an average road in Texas is still about 50% wider than most streets in the UK with two way traffic. 

 

Honestly I think if people were better drivers in this country we would not only have less accidents, but less traffic. It seems like almost all of the "traffic jams" I'm in don't actually have any real cause. They are "ghost jams" caused by people making other people brake. 

 

My sister lives in Germany now and I absolutely love driving there (and I'm not a speeder, I love driving there even as a slower driver just because there is more order on the road). UK is also much better. I used to hate round abouts but they have grown on me quite a bit. Seeing one in the US though is a disaster since people don't understand them. 

Absolutely agree with number 4.  I would add to number 3 people riding in your blind spot.  I recently had to become a driving instructor as Katya hadn't driven in years before she came over.  I constantly remind her to only pass on the Left, and never sit in someone's blind spot.

[Póg mo 1,749]

15 hours ago, Bill & Katya said:

That is one thing I will say Europe and especially Germany has right.  The Left lane is for passing, not for continuous driving!

They also keep their blinkers on while driving on the left lane. Which I think is a good idea.