posted
Thank you Dagonee. As I stated in a much earlier post in this thread (granted it was over a year ago) there are over a dozen signs each way in the 50 miles from Fort Collins to northern Denver that either say SLOWER TRAFFIC KEEP RIGHT or, in case someone believes that SLOWER TRAFFIC is a matter of perspective, KEEP RIGHT EXCEPT TO PASS. Now I submit to you this: even if there are no signs, we already have cops to remind us that we ought not to speed. Do you need a reminder to have some courtesy on the highway and let me get around you?
Tom, are you sure that it is an incoherent thought? Don't you think it might just be an idea that you disagree with?
No, speeders are more dangerous, because of the excessive speed. They are probably more likely to be reckless as well, but reckless driving and speeding are not the same thing. I'm fast, but I'm not reckless. Slower drivers are probably older and more experienced. But I bet the speeders are more alert.
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
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posted
I thought that staying in the passing lane was acceptable as long as you keep with the flow of traffic. Maybe it depends on the state? Or maybe maybe my google-fu is fubar.
Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Reshpeckobiggle: Tom, are you sure that it is an incoherent thought? Don't you think it might just be an idea that you disagree with?
You haven't presented any data to support the claim and it isn't deducible by pure rational thought.
Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
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Threads, you are a perfect example of the problem. "But, but, but I thought-" YOU THOUGHT WRONG!!!
Where does your "pure rational thought" come into "well, I'm going the same speed as the everyone in the right lane (i.e; flow of traffic), so I may as well hang out in the left lane!" You're going the same speed, so stay in the same lane!
Oblivious. Open your eyes and realize you aren't the only one who exists in the universe. Are you like that in the rest of your life too? Or does that trait only show up when you're driving?
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
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quote:I have a harder time with some other behaviors. Cutting in a queue without at least excusing yourself to those already waiting -- and with a good excuse -- isn't one I can come up with a good excuse for doing.
I can't excuse calling a line a queue.
I'll bet you're a foreign spy.
Posts: 16551 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:For the times that I am in an emergency, that philosophy of "well, you should have left earlier" doesn't make sense.
Great. Too bad 'the times you are in an emergency' doesn't constitute the whole of your conspicuous attempt to justify your lawbreaking to the extent that you are angered by people inconveniencing your criminal activity.
Nor was it in any way relevant to your teacher's quip.
quote:I bet they are the causes of more accidents than speeders
Pretty dumb thing to bet on.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
I actually don't speed in Idaho, because the cops are like hungry mosquitoes here. But the speed limit is 75 and that's plenty fast enough. Set the cruise control and concentrate on steering.
In Utah, on the Wasatch Front, on I-15 from about Ogden down to Spanish Fork, however...
It's a fantastic thing to experience. The freeway becomes a battleground. The right lane is the slowpokes and the occasional ricer with the big muffler trying to cheat the system by passing in the slow lane. The middle lane is the reasonable folks. The left lane is long strings of cars going about 85-90, close enough together that no one from the middle lane can change lanes in front of them. If you dare turn on your blinker, everyone behind you speeds up to cut you off. You have to earn your place in the left lane by muscling into it and holding your spot. You can almost taste the increase in adrenaline and testosterone when you hit that stretch, coming from either direction.
Thing is, if you live on the Wasatch Front you're on the freeway quite often, and you develop this aggressive/defensive mentality of not wanting the really crazy drivers to cut you off or get away with weaving through the lanes. You want to keep a decent space between you and the car in front of you, but you also don't want 3 cars jumping into that space the moment it gets too wide.
I have to admit I'm a different driver in Idaho than I am in Utah. In Idaho (and just about every other state I've driven in) people slow down to let you in when you turn on your blinker. People generally follow the left lane rule. They don't cut you off. I respond by trying to be just as courteous. In Utah, I can feel myself becoming more aggressive and protecting my space, because all of a sudden it's dog eat dog.
Posts: 5957 | Registered: Oct 2001
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Kind of a stretch to call speeding "criminal activity," Sam. And it was relevant, he was referring to his view of anyone who is trying to get around him when he's going the speed limit.
By the way, do you follow me around looking for things to argue with me about? Why don't you find a different obsession?
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
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It's not flattering. Just... disturbing. And with your little "time to take an exam" thing there, I'm starting to feel like I'm being molested by my fourth grade teacher (who was kind of a creeper.)
quote:Traffic violations can be felonies, misdemeanors, or infractions. Felonies and misdemeanors are crimes, but traffic infractions are usually not thought to be part of the criminal justice system. Driving over the speed limit is usually classified as an infraction in those systems that use the infraction category and as a minor misdemeanor in those systems that do not. If driving over the speed limit is classified as a misdemeanor, it is technically a crime, but often such crimes are excluded from consideration in a person's criminal record. Whether speeding is an infraction or a crime, it is usually punished by a fine and court costs. A common scheme is for the fine to increase in proportion to the amount over the speed limit for which the ticket is written. Most jurisdictions tell the speeder the amount of the fine right on the ticket and often give instructions for pleading guilty and paying the fine by mail. The offender may have to pay a special fee to get a trial on the ticket and may not be entitled to a jury trial.
Traffic violations may be crimes or may be classified as violations and not considered part of the criminal law. Where they are crimes, they are typically considered the lowest level of misdemeanor and are generally only punished by a fine. However, some traffic violations can rise to the level of more serious crimes, such as vehicular homicide or leaving the scene of an accident, and driving under the influence.
That came on the first page of a google search in which I asked Is speeding a crime? So like so many things in life, it's all a matter of perspective (and local legal definitions).
To call it "criminal activity" necessarily implies that the person doing it is a criminal, and described in such a way in is more a statement of who the speeder is rather than what he is doing.
Posts: 1286 | Registered: Dec 2005
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In this thread, Resh compares me to his creephat molester teacher from days of yore. A+, would read again.
quote:So like so many things in life, it's all a matter of perspective (and local legal definitions).
Whether or not an act is criminal is not a matter of perspective (as defined here, 'personal opinion').
quote:To call it "criminal activity" necessarily implies that the person doing it is a criminal, and described in such a way in is more a statement of who the speeder is rather than what he is doing.
No, it's 100% a statement of what the speeder is doing, which is "breaking the law."
Jeebus.
I went ahead and did the exact same google search to see all the pages you ignored in an attempt to contort wildly around this issue.
The very first entry, hilariously, was
quote:Is speeding a crime? Good Lord! If you don't know that is a crime...please don't get behind the wheel of a car...or a lawn mower...or a bike.
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head: I can't excuse calling a line a queue.
I'll bet you're a foreign spy.
The word has been in the English language since the 16th century and in this modern usage since the mid-19th century.
I can't do anything about your lack of "queue"ness. (Though I do have to admit that I am far too familiar with the referent myself.)
Posts: 14017 | Registered: May 2000
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quote:Originally posted by Reshpeckobiggle: Threads, you are a perfect example of the problem. "But, but, but I thought-" YOU THOUGHT WRONG!!!
I searched for highway laws in New Jersey and that's all I could come up with. If you are so sure of the law then it would be nice if you could link me to a place where I could actually read it.
quote:Originally posted by Reshpeckobiggle: Where does your "pure rational thought" come into "well, I'm going the same speed as the everyone in the right lane (i.e; flow of traffic), so I may as well hang out in the left lane!" You're going the same speed, so stay in the same lane!
Clearly you didn't understand what I posted. You said "I bet they are the causes of more accidents than speeders." That is not supported by factual evidence ("You haven't presented any data to support the claim"). That claim has no merit without evidence ("it isn't deducible by pure rational thought"). Why you felt the need to ridicule the phrase "pure rational thought" is beyond me.
Posts: 1327 | Registered: Aug 2007
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posted
I've never lived in a state where it was illegal to drive at regular speed in the "passing" lane. I've lived in one where it was illegal to go slower than "average traffic" while remaining in the left lane, though.
Note that cruising along in the left lane while speeding is still legally a misuse of the passing lane, even in those states where slow driving in the passing lane is also outlawed. Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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posted
I have a new group of people I desire tarred and feathered:
People who leave their shopping carts in the parking lot and don't put them in the corral things they have. Shopping carts damage cars, people - and it's not that long of a walk to put it away, dagnabbit.
I am very annoyed with this.
Posts: 3932 | Registered: Sep 1999
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(Though I do have to admit that I am far too familiar with the referent myself.)
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