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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 07/23/2003 : 03:42:17 [Permalink]
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quote:
You can avoid having accidents. It is difficult work in heavy traffic, but it is possible.
I've often found that being in an eigthy thousand pound, seventy foot long tractor-trailer helps a lot.  
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 07/27/2003 : 04:32:33 [Permalink]
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quote:
I've often found that being in an eigthy thousand pound, seventy foot long tractor-trailer helps a lot.
Oh, I give all trucks a lot of room. I realize that the truck drivers cannot always see cars which are attempting to pass them, so I am very, very careful around trucks.
I am courteous (except with tailgaters in heavy traffic). Where can one go to get away from them. I simply leave my reaction time IN ADDITION TO THEIR REACTION TIME in front of me, plus some more for my own safety. The stupid jerks [more often jerkesses] can always go into the next lane and tailgate somebody else. I do not like to drive next to those idiots, either. I do not want to be a part of THEIR ACCIDENT/S. Since my drive is exceptionally long, and since there is a lot of road construction work to get around, I have to plan my trip carefully, both to and from work. I have been getting up early to avoid the heavier traffic. However, at night, driving is murderous.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2003 : 18:01:34 [Permalink]
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Last night, on my way home from work, I passed by a multi-car accident (approximately 10 or 12 cars, where the one in front looked like a total wreck [perhaps coming from the opposite direction and hitting the other cars]). I cannot understand how people permit themselves to travel so close to each other. I leave a tailgater's reaction time in addition to my reaction time in front of me, so a multiple car accident is less likely to happen.
quote:
Another amazment is the number of 4X4s you see in the ditch every time it snows. They don't know how to use 4X4, but they think it makes them invincable (never put it in 4 unless you have to. If you lose traction, you've lost it all, including your steering).
filthy: I am glad that you informed us (and me) about 4X4s, because I had heard somewhere that 4X4s were safer in inclement weather, and Iwanted to get one for the long distances I must drive in inclement weather (25+ miles each way). Now, I know. I am glad that I never mistakenly bought one. Exactly what are 4X4s good for? Showing off one's ignorance, probably.
ljbrs  |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
| Edited by - ljbrs on 07/30/2003 18:04:36 |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 07/30/2003 : 19:06:06 [Permalink]
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filthy writes:
quote:
Another amazment is the number of 4X4s you see in the ditch every time it snows. They don't know how to use 4X4, but they think it makes them invincable (never put it in 4 unless you have to. If you lose traction, you've lost it all, including your steering.
ljbrs writes:
quote:
filthy: I am glad that you informed us (and me) about 4X4s, because I had heard somewhere that 4X4s were safer in inclement weather, and Iwanted to get one for the long distances I must drive in inclement weather (25+ miles each way). Now, I know. I am glad that I never mistakenly bought one. Exactly what are 4X4s good for? Showing off one's ignorance, probably.
ljbrs
 Ho, ho, ho!, ljbrs. I'll keep that in mind tomorrow as I drive to work in my 4wd jeep (have driven 4wd on and off for many years). I think you may have mis-read filthy's comments a bit. One -does- need to learn how to use 4wd and understand its limits.
My experience is four wheel drive is ALWAYS better than two wheel WHEN traction is getting very poor on the road. I don't know if I'd buy a -full time- 4wd myself. With what I'm driving now, I can select 2 or 4wd with just a pull of a lever; saves gas, wear and tear.
I think what filthy was saying above can happen anywhere, two and four wheel drive. True about many that drive them on the road and the false sense of security they may get from it. 4wd is just another machine that takes its own type of finesse or feeling to use correctly. It also can allow one to get that much stucker. But on the positive, it can get you many, many miles down the road where 2wd might just leave you spinning in the driveway.
One interesting xmas a couple years ago, I drove my jeep to visit mom. The night of xmas was a couple inches of snow and sleet (Abilene, Texas). The entire city was shut down. Local news early in the a.m. was crying for 4wd's to deliver meals on wheels. We quickly jumped in the jeep and carefully made our way across town, picking up some 25 meals and addresses and safely delivered them all. All roads were completely glazed over. If I had pushed it, yeah, I would had ended up in the ditch.
As you know , one needs to know the vehicle's driving characteristics and their own limitations in all types of conditions. |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2003 : 16:17:27 [Permalink]
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quote:
One interesting xmas a couple years ago, I drove my jeep to visit mom. The night of xmas was a couple inches of snow and sleet (Abilene, Texas). The entire city was shut down. Local news early in the a.m. was crying for 4wd's to deliver meals on wheels. We quickly jumped in the jeep and carefully made our way across town, picking up some 25 meals and addresses and safely delivered them all. All roads were completely glazed over. If I had pushed it, yeah, I would had ended up in the ditch.
Randy: I am glad you explained that one. Actually, I have little use for a 4X4 and (not being a repair genius) only drive cars which have been written up glowingly in Consumer Reports. However, with the miles I have to drive, on snow days, I stay home from work (and take the day as one of my vacation days, which I seldom use) on each snowy/icy day. When I am caught at work with a snowy day, I leave early (again counting it as vacation time) and drive very carefully home.
I just hate winter driving! It is the other stupid (or merely ignorant) drivers who do not take precautions who terrify me. They do not understand that F=ma which requires that they leave room both in front and in back of them. I simply supply the room in front (doubled) if necessary because of an idiot tailgater behind. I am death on tailgaters. With me, they can never win. Poor, poor things...
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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Randy
SFN Regular
USA
1990 Posts |
Posted - 08/02/2003 : 16:55:18 [Permalink]
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Sounds like a good plan, to stay on-top of changing weather conditions; skip out when really bad. You really have too when hyper cold temps/conditons warrant it. I had great luck during snowy conditions using all weather radials on front wheel drive cars. This was when living in the frigid South Dakota for many years.
So, here I am, back in Texas the past 12 years. About the only time I do use 4wd in my jeep is when camping/off-roading. Winter is virtually non-existant. |
"We are all connected; to each other biologically, to the earth chemically, to the rest of the universe atomically."
"So you're made of detritus [from exploded stars]. Get over it. Or better yet, celebrate it. After all, what nobler thought can one cherish than that the universe lives within us all?"
-Neil DeGrasse Tyson |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/03/2003 : 15:16:01 [Permalink]
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quote:
So, here I am, back in Texas the past 12 years. About the only time I do use 4wd in my jeep is when camping/off-roading. Winter is virtually non-existant.
I admire that. However, I do not mind winter. A friend of mine (many years ago) was an ORIGINAL Hawaiian. He just loved the changing seasons (because in Hawaii, it was "same ole, same ole.") I do not mind winter here in Michigan -- so long as I do not need to drive in the snowy weather. The only problem with Michigan is the cloudy/snowy/rainy season (which means practically the entire year). It is lousy for astronomy.
I am not great at roughing it, so 4X4s would be of absolutely no use to me. The most "roughing it" kind of thing I do is amateur astronomy. Even that has its problems, because of the horrible mosquitoes here in Michigan. We need to use a lot of DEET mosquito repellant to keep the little darlings away...
ljbrs  |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 08:29:32 [Permalink]
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I mistakenly started a forum a short while back in the Skeptic part of this site. Dumb. However, I have found a thing that has worked EVERY SINGLE TIME. I should not hold my breath, however, because some nut is bound to come along and ruin the percentages. However, during the past two weeks or so, driving has been very pleasant as far as tailgating is concerned, because of my little routine which I reserve for tailgaters. I only need to do this in heavy traffic, because I am not a pokey driver except when in heavy traffic.
I will not go into it here, since I have already wasted a lot of space over in the other section.
Dumb...
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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rantanplan
New Member
Greece
25 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 12:11:22 [Permalink]
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well i must admitt that some drivers that drive in front of me really irritate me, they are on the left lane of the highway and they drive slower than the right lane..ok sometimes i drive really close to those ones to make them realize that they are not the lords of the highways!!! (of course i am aware of the fact at least in my country that if he suddenly pushes the break, i will carry all the responsibility and my insurance will cover the damage) but they should respect others as well...or some drivers in front of you tend to drive very awful, the best thing you can do is to find the correct time to drive in front of him/she..and for that necessary is to come very close to the other car..
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u talking to me? |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 08/23/2003 : 21:47:38 [Permalink]
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I seldom drive in the left-hand lane, particularly in heavy traffic. I am not a slow driver. In heavy traffic, there is no choice. It is in heavy traffic that I must resort to tailgater-control tactics. I do not want to be a part of their stupid little chain accidents. My latest method works splendidly. Driving in traffic has suddenly become somewhat pleasant, without the dim-witted drivers needlessly bothering me. I do not know where the tailgaters expect drivers to go to get out of their way.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
| Edited by - ljbrs on 08/23/2003 21:49:06 |
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rantanplan
New Member
Greece
25 Posts |
Posted - 08/24/2003 : 15:50:51 [Permalink]
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| I agree..in traffic jams they can be really annoying... |
u talking to me? |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 09/03/2003 : 18:18:39 [Permalink]
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I now have a little ritual that I run through, first signaling that there should be two seconds in front and two seconds in back and that if there is not two seconds in back, I leave four or more seconds in front. Then I draw a huge I Q in the air, point to my head, and add a few flourishes. That has stopped most of them so far. They have backed off. They have probably thought "crazy lady" or something like that. However, I will do whatever works, and that seems to work. Of course, I leave double the space in front (and more) if they continue to tailgate, so that there will not be a chain accident and so that at least I will have a chance to avoid an accident.
Most of the ignorant tailgating drivers never studied physics and cannot understand that basic idea that force equals mass times acceleration (F=ma). Tailgaters never win. You see tailgaters' long combined chain accidents regularly. So, regardless of anything else, avoid tailgaters at all costs.
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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nukular
New Member
USA
10 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2003 : 14:04:17 [Permalink]
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I am a little late jumping in the discussion, but here is my two cents worth. Unlike other, I am a physicists but also the descendent of midwest farmers. Learning to drive in the corn fields of Iowa during spring can really teach a person the rules about moving objects, especially after having to repair a fence or two due to going a little faster than you should be; and while 4 wheel drive can be a good thing, it can lead to a misleading sense of control. Growing up (since I learned to drive, like many farm kids, at a fairly young age) my father would always tell me "it is easy to go fast, the hard part is stopping." I fear that it is this idea that escapes many of the drivers on the roads, especially in the during winter.
Many, in my opinion, that they are invinsible while behind the wheel of their SUV and that they can stop on a dime, even during a nice hard midwestern ice storm. It is this false sense of control that, in my opinion, leads many of them to travel faster than they should and to leave far too little space between vehicles while driving, particularly in heavy traffic. While not limited to SUVs owners, it is probably applicable to any driver who thinks they are greatest thing on the road. Nonetheless, I must agree with the original sentiment, these people really cheese me off (with a similar feeling extended towards those idiots who think they are more important than everyone else and prove it by merging at the last second before entering a reduced lane area, which are all too common during construction season). |
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ktesibios
SFN Regular
USA
505 Posts |
Posted - 09/05/2003 : 19:24:34 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by nukular
... these people really cheese me off (with a similar feeling extended towards those idiots who think they are more important than everyone else and prove it by merging at the last second before entering a reduced lane area, which are all too common during construction season).
Here in LA, we have a lovely little example of roadbuilding called Laurel Canyon Boulevard, which passes through the Santa Monica Mountains and links the Valley with West Hollywood.
At the northern (Valley) end, it's a four-lane road; it reduces to two lanes during the climb up to the crest at Mulholland Drive. (After that, it's several miles of hairpin turns that will have you climbing the wheel like a spider monkey.)
Obviously, this doesn't change from day to day; if you start in the right-hand lane you're going to have to merge left every time.
And yet, every time I take this road there are plenty of people who wait until the lane actually ends to try to merge, creating a nice little bottleneck.
The odds are that most of these folks have taken this road before and must know that they'll have to move over, but can't be bothered until the lack of any other option stares them right in the face.
I have to surmise that an awful lot of my fellow drivers are unable to remember 24 hours into the past, or think 5 minutes into the future.
Makes me wonder if there isn't something to this "cell phones fry your brain" stuff after all. |
"The Republican agenda is to turn the United States into a third-world shithole." -P.Z.Myers |
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ljbrs
SFN Regular
USA
842 Posts |
Posted - 09/11/2003 : 17:50:26 [Permalink]
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Perhaps the best idea is to stay in the slow lane and keep at least 3 seconds in front of you at all times. You do not need to gesture (and sometimes the right-hand lane is the fastest), but the impatient drivers will soon go around you and leave you in the dust while they work on their next accident.
I have found, sometimes, that my I.Q. thing does not work. Perhaps they are "on to me" by this time. You are quite safe with three seconds in front of you.
When there is enough room, I have to watch out that I do not get a speeding ticket, however.
Oh, well, some things work and some do not work. The good things work most of the time. Just avoid the fast lane and you have a chance of coming out alive in heavy traffic.
ANOTHER IDEA:
When you are stopped at a stop light and somebody is rushing up behind you, put on your blinkers and wake them up. I once saw a car (in the fast lane) who was stopped at a red light and an idiot came up behind him, did not even brake, and crashed into him at a very fast rate of speed. From that day on, I have learned that you have to wake people up to avoid some accidents. Also you have to drive defensively and think that everybody else on the road is a nut or an idiot.
Well, winter is coming up here in the northern states and the real agony begins with the imbeciles who do not understand ice.
ljbrs BRRRR...
ljbrs |
"Innumerable suns exist; innumerable earths revolve about these suns in a manner similar to the way the seven planets revolve around our sun. Living beings inhabit these worlds."
Giordano Bruno
(Burned at the stake by the Roman Catholic Church Inquisition in 1600) |
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