Re: Toyota SECA 1.6 vs BMW X5 4.4i
Posted: Thu Jul 21, 2011 10:17 pm
Rant about behavior:
My only interest in encouraging changes in other people's driving behavior is directly about how they treat me. I believe that when I am the target of aggression I am quite entitled to avoid giving them what they want and thereby encouraging more aggression. Other than that I keep my disapproval to an opinion, not an action.
Treat me well, I treat you well. Disrespect me and I shall offer you the same.
You will not find me plodding along in the passing lane at merely the maximum legal speed with another open travel lane. There's no need to worry about that. If you find me in the passing lane it is a temporary situation and will be rectified soon.
If there are no lane options (one lane in each direction) then you will have to pass me in the oncoming lane, wait patiently with a courteous following distance in case there is a good place for me to pull over (where I hope you're skilled enough to avoid sideswiping me), or write to your legislator for increased speed limits.
I slow down to assist those who exercise courtesy before and during passing, although I believe you should not need assistance when passing someone. If you haven't got the acceleration and skill to accomplish the pass without help then you probably don't need to go that much faster than me. I can do it in my underpowered car when necessary, without help.
Rant about speed limits:
However, if the speed limit is really that unreasonable, let me reiterate that bit about requesting increased limits. It is not fair that speed limits should be unreasonably low. Nobody should need or want to exceed it under normal circumstances; if they do then either the limit or the person is defective. When most people do then it is most likely the limit that is at fault. It needn't be an acceptable speed for a tractor trailer on snow during a moonless midnight when children are playing in the street; there are additional laws requiring reduced speed for all the various conditions that indicate reduced speed. I have even been ticketed for "Conditions require reduced speed", so I know it is possible to enforce them.
Comment on the previous post:
Shiftnow: Unfortunately tailgating laws aren't enforced in the US. It is very rare for any driving laws other than speed limits to be enforced. Usually they only use the other violations if they're already bothering you about speeding or illegal narcotics or something. Traffic law enforcement in the US seems to be primarily about revenue generation and social control (that is, giving them an excuse to search your car or hassle you about other things) and combining artificially low speed limits with inconsistent enforcement is a very effective way to have an excuse to bother whoever they want to bother.
My only interest in encouraging changes in other people's driving behavior is directly about how they treat me. I believe that when I am the target of aggression I am quite entitled to avoid giving them what they want and thereby encouraging more aggression. Other than that I keep my disapproval to an opinion, not an action.
Treat me well, I treat you well. Disrespect me and I shall offer you the same.
You will not find me plodding along in the passing lane at merely the maximum legal speed with another open travel lane. There's no need to worry about that. If you find me in the passing lane it is a temporary situation and will be rectified soon.
If there are no lane options (one lane in each direction) then you will have to pass me in the oncoming lane, wait patiently with a courteous following distance in case there is a good place for me to pull over (where I hope you're skilled enough to avoid sideswiping me), or write to your legislator for increased speed limits.
I slow down to assist those who exercise courtesy before and during passing, although I believe you should not need assistance when passing someone. If you haven't got the acceleration and skill to accomplish the pass without help then you probably don't need to go that much faster than me. I can do it in my underpowered car when necessary, without help.
Rant about speed limits:
However, if the speed limit is really that unreasonable, let me reiterate that bit about requesting increased limits. It is not fair that speed limits should be unreasonably low. Nobody should need or want to exceed it under normal circumstances; if they do then either the limit or the person is defective. When most people do then it is most likely the limit that is at fault. It needn't be an acceptable speed for a tractor trailer on snow during a moonless midnight when children are playing in the street; there are additional laws requiring reduced speed for all the various conditions that indicate reduced speed. I have even been ticketed for "Conditions require reduced speed", so I know it is possible to enforce them.
Comment on the previous post:
Shiftnow: Unfortunately tailgating laws aren't enforced in the US. It is very rare for any driving laws other than speed limits to be enforced. Usually they only use the other violations if they're already bothering you about speeding or illegal narcotics or something. Traffic law enforcement in the US seems to be primarily about revenue generation and social control (that is, giving them an excuse to search your car or hassle you about other things) and combining artificially low speed limits with inconsistent enforcement is a very effective way to have an excuse to bother whoever they want to bother.