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Inconsiderate Drivers (share your stories, etc.)

21823 messages,  Last post on Jun 18, 2013 at 2:29 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Safety

Messages Page 2073 of 2183

#20718 of 21823 . by fintail

Nov 18, 2012 (10:31 am)

Saw the aftermath of a fender bender in Austria last night - first crash seen on this trip. 2 small cars (maybe a Renault and a SEAT) tangled at an off ramp/on ramp interchange.
 
Driving on the autobahns today - lots of old people/Sunday drivers. The speed differentials would kill some people here, especially on the old 4 lane stretches where a car in the left lane might be going 130mph, and the right lane might be going 60 at best. I got my boat up to about 220kmh, which is plenty as the snow tires are rated for 210. But mostly cruised at around 170-180kmh, which feels very comfortable in that car.
 
Have only seen 3 police cars on the autobahn (German, Swiss, Austrian) in well over 1000 miles of driving. One was tending to a Subaru facing the wrong direction, the other was parked - looked to be taking a meal break, and the third was just driving, and took an exit. Funny how well it works without the overgrown school bullies picking cherries for revenue streams.

#20719 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [andres3] by backy

Nov 18, 2012 (11:02 am)

Replying to: andres3 (Oct 25, 2012 8:18 pm)
They just celebrated the grand opening of the 41 miles stretch of interstate in TX that has newly minted 85 MPH speed limits.
  
I'm expecting the news reports of carnage, spilled blood, and twisted metal to be coming in daily now according to some posters here.
 
And here ya go...
 
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/High-speed-toll-road-has-fir- st-fatality-4029915.php
 
I thought this comment in the report was interesting:
 
Until Sunday's crash, the wrecks on the road that had garnered the most attention involved vehicles colliding with feral hogs and deer in this largely rural area at night.
 
So this 85 mph limit was set in an area where hogs and deer are likely to cross the road. Smart. Real smart.

#20720 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [backy] by ruking1

Nov 18, 2012 (11:19 am)

Replying to: backy (Nov 18, 2012 11:02 am)
Well that is "the 2 birds with one stone " principle. Now you don't need a deer tag necessarily to harvest . If the game wardens don't distribute, all the other critters benefit.

#20721 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [ruking1] by backy

Nov 18, 2012 (11:39 am)

Replying to: ruking1 (Nov 18, 2012 11:19 am)
True. Assuming you are still alive to enjoy the venison. Hitting a deer (or a hog) at 85 mph may not kill just the deer/hog.

#20722 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [backy] by ruking1

Nov 18, 2012 (11:45 am)

Replying to: backy (Nov 18, 2012 11:39 am)
Ah. Good point ! Might be why DMV's have the organ donor programs.

#20723 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [backy] by stickguy

Nov 18, 2012 (12:11 pm)

Replying to: backy (Nov 18, 2012 11:02 am)
what's the big deal? I am sure that on rural highways in Texas folks are doing 85 anyway. The only real difference is they can focus on their car and the road ahead, and not concentrating on looking for speedtraps!

#20724 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [stickguy] by backy

Nov 18, 2012 (12:17 pm)

Replying to: stickguy (Nov 18, 2012 12:11 pm)
Don't forget looking for those deer and hogs crossing the road at night.
 
Actually if all they are looking at is the road ahead, that's dangerous. Need to keep the eyes moving to see the sides and rear too... to see people merging (see news story re Texas fatality), coming up behind them, and of course those deer and hogs running onto the road.
 
And while keeping the eyes moving, they could catch the speedtraps. Although if someone is going to routinely go 85 on a normal rural highway in Texas (limits ~60-70) they'd better have a radar detector. Or a lot of money.

#20725 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [backy] by ateixeira

Nov 19, 2012 (9:17 am)

Replying to: backy (Nov 18, 2012 12:17 pm)
How long before an SUV rolls over while trying to avoid one of those and the vehicle manufacturer gets blamed?

#20726 of 21823 Re: there's a story here [ateixeira] by ruking1

Nov 19, 2012 (9:54 am)

Replying to: ateixeira (Nov 19, 2012 9:17 am)
Now that is a long since DEAD discussion (archived) . Also it is a non issue, as documented in the FARS/NHTSA site.
 
IF anything, new data and data analysis (old/new data) indicates that testing procedures actually LONG have MASKED the INCREASED dangers of so called "smaller" cars (25% of the passenger car vehicle fleet). You know, the cars all the envirocons advocate we all shoe horn ourselves into. "Through The Looking Glass" so to speak, it can be logically argued that one of the reasons for the historically BEST years of NHTSA fatalities and injurystatistics are smaller cars in the real world are LIMITED to 25% of the passenger vehicle fleet population. Indeed statistics could be even BETTER than already BETTER, if the % of small cars were indeed... smaller STILL.
 
MOST (75% of the passenger vehicle fleet are "large cars") of which 50 to 60% are PU trucks (combos, etc) and app 12% being SUV's. Defacto, that leaves app 12%-15% "actual "LARGE cars. (cops car F Crown VIC, an example)

#20727 of 21823 Friday night by ateixeira

Nov 19, 2012 (9:27 am)

Almost got killed on Friday, very close call.
 
I was leaving Canal Rd for the Clara Barton Parkway.
 
There are cars merging from the left with a big fat YIELD sign there (hello? open your eyes) but someone completely blew by that without even slowing down.
 
Luckily I was alert and came to a screeching halt about an inch from the passenger door, right tire on grass, even.
 
Said owner just drove away like nothing happened? Son-of-a-gun!
 
Here's a Google Maps image:
 
https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=38.96221,-77.135535&spn=0.000808,0.001206&;- t=h&z=20
 
The other car was right were that green car is, they do a near U-turn. There are actually 2 lanes after the turn, but the car drove completely in to my lane (going to MacArthur Blvd if you zoom out).
 
Must be the most often ignored Yield sign in this area.

Messages Page 2073 of 2183

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