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99 commute--hey Odin!

(38 posts)

Started 2 years ago by allisonw
Latest reply from Ballardemician

allisonw

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I drive to work (I know, I know!) every day up and down and it can be a major pain. Worse than the 40 MPH left hand drivers are the 29 mph people in the other two lanes. Because, you know, there are a lot of cops on 99. Better go ten under!

Posted 2 years ago #
racerX

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"hey Odin" ?

Funny, I actually think the 29 mph people in the other two lanes are worse than the 40 MPH left lane drivers. To each there own, I guess.

Posted 2 years ago #
Oly

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I used to do the A-whore-a commute, the worst part was drivers doing less than the speed limit in the left lane, wtf? just move over already.

Posted 2 years ago #
wolfden

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Unless I am mistaken a great portion of the 3rd lane is right-turn only. Also if the left lane is moving at 40mph and the other two lanes are moving at 29mph, not too hard to just merge in and out no?

Not directed at anyone in this thread but a part of the problem is pretty much everyone thinks they are above average as far as their driving skills go. Who's the average driver then?

*Raises hand*

Posted 2 years ago #
Elemental

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It's Aurora, most of it IS 40 or 45. From Green Lake to 105th it is 30 and 35.

My issue with Aurora is the famed inability of Seattle drivers to GET THE HELL OVER when someone is merging. And there is always one buttclown going 50 in a 40 until he gets right on my tail, and I'm already speeding, and then flips me off. I tap my brakes or turn on my head lights so it looks like my brake lights came on. And if he clings to me, I get next to one of those 29-mph folks and stay there.

Don't flip me off. Since it isn't legal to break your finger, I will drive you insane.

Posted 2 years ago #
lyl

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Funny how in the 70's we were all driving just fine and after the big population growth of outsiders it's the "Seattle drivers" who don't know how to drive. Sorry, but you all brought your habits with you from elsewhere. YOU are the "Seattle drivers"!!!!!!!!!

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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lyl, there's just less room for the old timers to pull the same shenanigans they used to when nobody lived here.

Posted 2 years ago #
wolfden

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Not quite Lyl. I'd attribute a part of this to progress. Back then, the Internet was just starting out and people didn't have enough time on their hands to make multiple aliases on public boards, stalk/troll forums and talk trash in general..not that they could.

Back in the 70s I am sure you had your driving problems but you had bigger problems to worry about (that an idiot in a car was hardly a bother to anyone past the freeway). There was road-rage in the 70s and the 80s and there were assholes in vehicles during that time period; just not as much and just not as many.

People drove limited brand cars and waved at each other when possible. Now, we have "f'ing Prius drivers suck man" (which most of them do btw), "f'ing Porsche drivers" blah blah blah. The infrastructure has failed to keep up with population/car growth in general as well.

People suck and people suck more in great numbers.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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el Mental, You are part of the problem too. As a basic rule of highway driving, if there is ANYONE behind you, then you are going too slow for that lane and should move over to the right. Buh,buh,but then they're SPEEDING! Yeah? So? The rule is keep right except to pass.

Posted 2 years ago #
wolfden

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Don't flip me off. Since it isn't legal to break your finger, I will drive you insane.

Yes, that's going to help matters. Well done sir.

Posted 2 years ago #
racerX

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"if there is ANYONE behind you, then you are going too slow for that lane and should move over to the right"

Yes, exactly!

Posted 2 years ago #
teigyr

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Yup re moving to the right. I drive 99 daily and even during the wee hours there are the requisite cars driving side by side, one in each lane.

Funny re the Prius drivers. They DO suck and I think it's because the car tells them when they get the best fuel economy so they abide by that speed no matter what the actual speed limit is. Either that or they think they're better than us folk that drive regular cars despite the fact our cars still get 40-ish mpg.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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I don't drive a Prius, but if you fixate on any make or model of car you will start to notice them and be able to assign all sorts of behavior to them. For example, you'll never notice the Ford Focus until your best friend buys one. Then all of a sudden you'll see them everywhere. Now that you see them everywhere you'll realize all the Ford Focus drivers are idiots*.

*Apologies to anyone who drives a Ford Focus and hasn't read one of my other rants where I basically explain that ALL drivers are occasionally idiots including you. Yes you. Sometimes. And me. But not as often as that guy. But still. I've pulled a couple idiot moves and so have you. And we will again so don't completely freak out the next time someone is an idiot in front of you because sometimes they're the idiot and sometimes you're the idiot.

Posted 2 years ago #
cdpenne

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I knew you were an idiot! Bwaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha. Just kidding.

Posted 2 years ago #
Elemental

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Oh hell, I wrote a long rebuttal to the "get over" "you are a part of the problem" people but then I realized--I don't care. I'm already speeding. Get off my ass or rear-end me.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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elmental, uh, no. If you're traveling on a multi lane road, like 99, you MUST keep right except to pass. By blocking people and bottling up the flow of traffic you are creating a hazard (bbbbut they're SPEEDING!!!) causing traffic jams, and just being a pain in the ass. You don't have sirens and a flashing light and you don't have the right to enforce the speed of the rest of traffic, so just move to the right like you're supposed to and stop pretending you're doing something righteous.

Posted 2 years ago #
Elemental

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spg

it isn't that I think I'm doing something righteous, it's that I'm following the law (RCW 46.61.100, (2), b): 'when traveling at a speed greater than the traffic flow.'

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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elmental, YOU said:"And there is always one buttclown going 50 in a 40 until he gets right on my tail, and I'm already speeding, and then flips me off. I tap my brakes or turn on my head lights so it looks like my brake lights came on. And if he clings to me, I get next to one of those 29-mph folks and stay there. Don't flip me off. Since it isn't legal to break your finger, I will drive you insane."

You're clearly stating that you intend to bottle up traffic for your personal entertainment. You say that you get next to someone going ten under the limit and stay there. That's not keeping right except to pass, that's you trying to enforce your own whims on others. Get over it and get over to the right lane. Let the faster traffic go by.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ernie

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Clearly the WSP needs to do an educational media blitz on this topic kind of like they've done in the past, ie: "Click it or Ticket" or "Drive Hammered, Get Nailed".

Maybe "Keep right except to pass, or we'll slap a freaking ticket on your ass!"

BTW, if you all are even talking about going the speed limit or speeding your commute can't be all that bad compared to, for example, SB I-5 between Everett and Seattle in the AM.

Posted 2 years ago #
Odin

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Good thread.
A friend of mine years ago had "keep right" in reflective lettering stuck backwards on the front of his ski rack (like the ambulances). He had spent quite a bit of time in Germany and loved driving 100+. I am frequently on the road at 3-4am for long drives to recreate and I will often see 2-3 cars all side by side going slowly in this town. Any transplant will tell you that Seattle drivers leave much to be desired. I am a Seattle native but have traveled enough to see just how bad we are.

Posted 2 years ago #
lyl

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Elemental, I think they have informed you well. Just move over and let the speeders go on by.

I don't get mad about drivers anymore since I started using this method: If someone is speeding and/or driving recklessly I just imagine that they have just pooped their pants and are in a mad hurry to get home and get cleaned up. If they are going slow or indecisively or straddling two lanes I just imagine that they are totally stoned and I need to just get away from them because they are entirely unpredictable. I either take another street or stay back away from them or get around them very cautiously.

It works and makes me laugh instead of getting angry.

I give you permission to use this method.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrammarGirl

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Sometimes using common sense is better than following the law of the land. After all, the law can sometimes be an ass.

Posted 2 years ago #
racerX

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lyl, that method sounds fun. Will have to try that next time.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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Gramma's Girl, The law may in some instances be an ass, but if everyone were to follow your advice and re interpret the law to their own version of common sense we would be surrounded by nothing but asses.

Posted 2 years ago #
Kat

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Whats even worse than a bad driver not getting over is there reaction when you flash your lights to tell them to get over. I was on the freeway and three cars were side by side so we got in the right lane and flashed out lights at the car and he slowed down! When we were finally able to pass him he honked and both him and his female passenger flicked us off and followed us for a while continuing to give us the finger. All we wanted to do was pass and he was the one not getting over. I'm not for sure if there was a better way to handle this...

Posted 2 years ago #
ballardmike

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It was WIIIDE open today about 9:00. Nice for once. Was like a holiday.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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Kat, You flashed your lights at a slow car in the RIGHT lane? Uh, no wonder he got annoyed. You realize that you're supposed to pass on the left side, right?

Posted 2 years ago #
wolfden

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Gramma's Girl, The law may in some instances be an ass, but if everyone were to follow your advice and re interpret the law to their own version of common sense we would be surrounded by nothing but asses.

The S stands for special needs? "Re-interpreting" is not really using common sense is it? When someone is heading straight for your lane and there is a risk of a collision, I bet you would stay right there since you have the right of way and have been following the law instead of using common sense.

Posted 2 years ago #
wolfden

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Like SPG said, you are supposed to pass on the left and getting to the right lane and flashing your lights = just asking for trouble. Not surprised they reacted with road rage.

Posted 2 years ago #
SPG

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wolfder, Using "common sense" instead of the law IS reinterpreting. It's a belief that the law is wrong and you are right. You're not. Everyone has their own version of "common sense". To some that means that they don't have to go around the traffic circle to turn left. To others that means that they can go slow in the fast lane or pass on the right. To some it means that they don't have to make a full stop at a red light when turning right. To some it means they don't have to stop for peds crossing at a marked intersection or entering a crosswalk. To some it means that they can block your driveway because "they're just going to be a minute". To some it means that they can turn left at the red light on 8th because it's just a crosswalk signal. This is a small sample of the "common sense" approach to Ballard Driving that I see every day.

Posted 2 years ago #
iPlod

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SPG is right on.

To see his vision in action, go drive in Italy where the traffic "laws" are considered just a suggestion in the mind of the average citizen.

Posted 2 years ago #
racerX

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I'm guessing Kat was referring to the other right. ;)

Posted 2 years ago #
Ernie

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LOL,

"To see his vision in action, go drive in Italy where the traffic "laws" are considered just a suggestion in the mind of the average citizen."

Last time we were in Europe we rented a car in France and the only rule, as far as we could tell, was "don't drive in Italy".

Posted 2 years ago #
Kat

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I'm sorry, yes, we were in the FAR left lane. The "fast" lane.

Posted 2 years ago #
GrammarGirl

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Senior Policy Group: TLDR. Paragraphs are your friend.

Posted 2 years ago #
cdpenne

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Damn that girl has game! "Senior Policy Group" - I couldn't come up with that in my best moment. SPG, the gauntlet has been thrown down!

Posted 2 years ago #
GrammarGirl

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I have more: Senile Peer Guardian or Silly Prince George or Stupid Permanent Grade. However, let us go with Socioeconomically Profoundly Gifted because I am not a bitch...yet.

Posted 2 years ago #
Ballardemician

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"To some that means that they don't have to go around the traffic circle to turn left."

yep that's me if I can clearly see for a looooong way that no one else is around.

iPlod's argument that everyone in Italy is using common sense to guide their driving (and that that place is a cluster-f) is specious. Common sense certainly doesn't mean just doing anything you want. It is, in fact common, meaning generally culturally specific, and some cultures' sense works much better for things like driving w/o dying and running down pedestrians. Common sense is not equal to anarchy.

And SPG you have a blind spot in the way you figure human behavior. We (mostly) don't control our social behavior because of some Foucauldian panopticism backed by formal (written) codes enforceable by the state (aka the organization sanctioned to enact violence in a society); 98% of why and how we behave has to do with informal (unwritten) codes and informal systems of support and sanctions for those codes. We do in fact figure these out "on our own" (as part of the nearly irresistible web of social influence) and quite well generally speaking.

I'm not saying we don't need cops and rules -- we do -- but that understanding social control as descending from the written law is a caricature.

In places other than Seattle drivers sanction each other by using their horns; here or culture dissuades that - we value other things more. And so Seattle drivers sit at red lights and don't turn right because don't teach each other how to drive.

Posted 2 years ago #