[jjsaw5]

I feel I am a pretty safe driver I am usually going the speed limit or a little over (5-7) miles over. Sometimes I will admit on the highways I drive faster then I probably should but nothing crazy.

It drives me insane when I see people doing dumb things behind the wheel and I find that they were/are on their phone. What also drives me bat shit crazy is when people are in the left lane going the speed limit or SLOWER...or just running into the person going under the speed limit.

Where I currently live used to be all farm land but has over the past 15 years turned into a small city has made for horrible driving conditions. Small country roads are not suited of city amounts of traffic. And to make it worse people here (Mostly yuppies) feel they are above traffic laws and regulations...red lights, stop signs, yeilding does not apply to them. Thier esclade, blue tooth, and dog(sitting on their lap) have places to go and shit to do.

[baavgai]

trevster344, on 30 November 2011 - 01:39 PM, said:

if a cop asks you if he can search your car(In the states), you have the right to say no...

Yep. However, it can get you grief, so just don't travel with stupid shit. Once had a cop ask to search the giant truck after a two week camping trip. Something "smelled funny." Damn straight! After a couple weeks of the only running water being rain, everything smelled real funny. After an hour of digging through the truck, basically unpacking the thing and cursing the whole time, the nice officer admitted defeat. He made to leave, all our crap on the sidewalk. We made him repack the truck. I doubt he tried that ever again.

Craig328, on 30 November 2011 - 10:26 AM, said:

Almost every time the officer will come to your window and while you're producing your license, registration and insurance he'll ask you "do you know how fast you were going".

Helpful tip here. Never, ever, go digging for the paperwork before the cop gets to the window. Be ready for the nice man and keep both hands on the wheel until he can get a look at you. If you go diving for the glove compartment before the cop even gets there, their first thought will be "gun." I'm not kidding; cops have to be twitchy like that. A cop that feels they are in complete control of a situation is a happy cop. Much easier to deal with than an unhappy cop.

[Choscura]

I drive... well, depends on the situation. If I'm responsible for the lives of the other people in the vehicle, all laws are followed, speed limits are observed, and safety measures are taken. This is also generally how I drive in the states, because traffic laws are actually enforced.

Other than that, I drive in a way appropriate to <the physical terrain of> the road, taking every precaution that is reasonable and ignoring conventions. I don't do fast corners and I generally avoid driving on the wrong side of the road for more than a few seconds- generally, I follow the path with the absolute least turns following the absolute best condition of the road. On roads I'm very familiar with this leads to OMGWTFBBQ moments for other people when they see me zip by at 100 kph through an area that most people don't go above 40 in (no, not populated places) because I've figured out ways to mitigate speed bumps and can still react to the traffic in the area. Usually, however, it just means I go a bit faster than the herd.

[modi123_1]

You are going 100kph in a 40kph zone... *AND* crossing into the other lane... *AND* avoiding the mechanisms in place to reduce your speed? Wow... someone must live their life by the quarter mile!

[Craig328]

You forgot "mitigating speed bumps".

I'm still trying to figure out how one manages to affect the suspension and shock absorption of your vehicle...unless by "mitigate" you mean "swerve around and avoid driving over speed bumps" in which case some might call that "reckless driving".

Johnny Law would almost certainly call it that...especially when it's done at 100kph in a 40 zone.

[Mikhail]

Usually 75 - 80 in 55 MPH speed limit zone, cause Illinois sucks really even Indiana has 75 as a speed limit on their highways. There have been times I went over 130MPH god I loved that Volkswagen, but usually late at night anywhere between 2 and 4am.

[Craig328]

...and people wonder why the under 25 male driver segment pays such high premiums.

[kiasta]

The way I drive is directly related to the way I feel. Most of the time I am in a good mood, but this being Texas we have a lot of people that simply cannot drive. For instance, last night I was driving home doing about 50-55 and following traffic, this woman decided that she was going to go ahead and turn right from one of the intersecting streets right in front of me. Almost causing me to hit her. I honked at her and I even merged to the left lane to cut in front of her because she was going very slow after turning (I'm sure you all had this experience). I honked at her again while next to her, showed her my finger then sped off cutting in front of her. But yeah, usually I'm a nice guy when driving; I pay attention and I've never had any traffic tickets.

I'm sure that it was becuase here in Texas if you hit someone from behind than you are automatically responsible (unless the other drive is intoxicated), so she probably thought she could get some kind of insurance money for her pos toyota camry (it was a clucker, 15 years old at least).

[Kilorn]

baavgai, on 30 November 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

Helpful tip here. Never, ever, go digging for the paperwork before the cop gets to the window. Be ready for the nice man and keep both hands on the wheel until he can get a look at you. If you go diving for the glove compartment before the cop even gets there, their first thought will be "gun." I'm not kidding; cops have to be twitchy like that. A cop that feels they are in complete control of a situation is a happy cop. Much easier to deal with than an unhappy cop.

The window on the driver side of my car doesn't roll down because the regulator broke and I have a steel cable holding it up. It has been like this for about 5 years because I can't afford a new car, and getting it fixed isn't really on my priority list. The first time I got pulled over after this happened, I didn't think about it, and I just opened the door and leaned out as the cop approached. He quickly moved behind my car and I saw his hand move to his gun. Fortunately, he wasn't trigger happy and didn't even draw the weapon before I realized how badly I had just fucked up. We laughed a bit about it after he realized everything was safe, but I still got the damn speeding ticket.

The next couple of times I've gotten pulled over since then, I always sit there with both hands on the wheel until the cop knocks on the window, then I slowly reach for the door handle, crack the door open a bit and explain that my window doesn't roll down. You'd be surprised what a little courtesy can do for you in a situation like that. Cops have to deal with the scum of the earth, and they're trained to defend themselves if they feel threatened. When they approach someone that they have just pulled over, they're already nervous about the situation because they don't know what to expect. If you can lighten that stress even a little bit, the cops will be appreciative and I've actually been able to get out of a ticket or two because I was completely honest with the cops and I didn't make any sudden moves after being pulled over.

[lordofduct]

Before I bought my new car I was pulled over in my old Focus which had a similar problem with the window. They were manual crank windows and I had accidently ripped the crank handle and half of the mechanism off one day (FORD, quality built so that even a 120 lb retard can snap the steel mechanism inside the door).

I had already been used to to my door being that way so there wasn't any issue with the officer and my window... though most of the cops in my region get very annoyed at me that it doesn't work and they have to go to the passenger side.

Anyways I get pulled over one night when driving home with my girlfriend from our friends house. The cop had followed us for a good 10 or so miles before even pulling me over, from our discussion I deduced he was waiting for me to make a mistake somewhere, which I didn't (and I barely noticed that the cop was following me, just drove like I usually do).

When the cop finally made it around to my passenger window he began asking me questions:

[not verbatim, but damn close enough]
cop: "So... you know why I pulled you over?"

me: "No, sir... did I miss something?"

cop: "Well I saw you leaving the neighbourhood down there off belveder."

me: "yes..."

cop: "And that's not a nice neighbourhood."

me: "OK... we were visiting a friend."

cop: "Oh were you? Also I noticed that your license is expired... and you aren't 55 years old."

me: o_O "My license isn't expired, just got it renewed 2 weeks ago."

cop: "Well it shows here that the owner of this vehicle, a Mark #####, has an expired license."

me: "OHHHHHHH! Yeah, it's not expired. He's deceased. That's my dad, he cosigned my car."

cop: "OH! I'm so sorry, um... cough... well you should get his name off the registration."

me: "Still in probate..."

cop: "Still you should."

me: "Tell that to the state of Florida for me then."

cop: "Well still why were you in that neighbourhood?"

me: "Visiting my friend..."

cop: "In THAT neighbourhood?"

me: "Yes."

cop: "You maybe should think about getting new friends... it's suspicious to be hanging out with someone who lives 'there'."

me: "Where? In the historic district? OK, next time I'll make sure to only befriend the wealthy, that way I don't look suspect? Though they won't be able to visit me, you might pull them over because my neighbourhood is one of 'those'."

cop: "Ummm, yeah... heh... you have a good night now."




Cops deal with the scum of the earth... yep, that scum of the earth are my neighbours and my friends. They're pretty good people actually.

(note, I know you were referring to gun toating jack wagon criminals. But that's not what they spend most their time in those neighbourhoods dealing with. Nah, they beat my friends over stupid shit like "looking suspicious".)

This post has been edited by lordofduct: 30 November 2011 - 01:31 PM

[Kilorn]

One of the many problems with the world today. It's a shame that even the cops look at neighborhoods that way.

[lordofduct]

Plebs represent!

[Rhymer]

There seems to be a big difference between the way I used to drive <25 than I do now >50. And that is one of the main reasons insurance rates drop due to age. The weather has a lot to do with how fast I go as does if it is dark and if both (bad weather and dark) exist I'd prolly not even do the limit. In Ohio the max speed is 65 mph and most people drive 65-75ish. I always allow a lot of room to the next car ahead. My metric is one car length gap per 10 mph as a minimum.

My sister was with my grandmother who owned a heavy 1964 Imperial, 4 barrel carb, dual exhaust, 440 cu. in. engine, push button tranny and she (my grandma) raced a guy next to her after he egged her on by gunning his engine. She floored it up to just over the limit then backed off as the next light was coming up. In the next block a cop pulled her over and asked 'Were you drag racing?' and she said 'Who, me, officer?' My sister was mortified at the entire incident.

I inherited the car and drove it for quite a while. Let me tell you that when the exhaust fell off at the manifold after a fair bump the noise from that engine was astounding! To replace the double exhaust (and dual resonators) was well over $400 (I just did one side) and that was in the early 70's.

I just got a new 2011 Impala with all the goodies (heated leather seats, etc) and after one week a stone hit the front windshield and left a mark/chip. Wife got my 2001 Impala. But generally I drive safely. I used to get out of the car when pulled over by a cop but they don't want you to do that anymore. If you are nice to them I think things go way smoother.

I know many people feel uncomfortable when a cop is following them or just nearby on the road. I, for one, am glad to see them as they are out there to protect me from bad drivers. I have the highest respect for any cop or trooper. I tend to increase speed unknowingly so I really like to use cruise control usually set at 73-74 mph.

[Choscura]

Quote

You are going 100kph in a 40kph zone... *AND* crossing into the other lane... *AND* avoiding the mechanisms in place to reduce your speed? Wow... someone must live their life by the quarter mile!

You've got to remember, I'm on a motorbike 99% of the time when I'm driving. Sidewalks are legitimately wide enough for me to get both tires on, two cars in adjacent lanes are generally far enough apart for me to drive between, and this is true at any speed, and last, my body weight is a significant enough portion of the total weight of the vehicle that I can basically 'bounce' the motorbike over a speed bump- I don't know how else to describe it, I basically do a small jump before I hit the bump so the shocks compress and begin to rebound when or slightly before the wheels hit the bump.

And none of this is done in areas with pedestrians, I might be an asshole and a crazy driver but I'm not a sociopath.

[tarmizi_adam2005]

Nice experience you guys sharing... didn't think this thread would be this interesting...

Choscura, on 30 November 2011 - 06:33 PM, said:

Quote

You are going 100kph in a 40kph zone... *AND* crossing into the other lane... *AND* avoiding the mechanisms in place to reduce your speed? Wow... someone must live their life by the quarter mile!

You've got to remember, I'm on a motorbike 99% of the time when I'm driving. Sidewalks are legitimately wide enough for me to get both tires on, two cars in adjacent lanes are generally far enough apart for me to drive between, and this is true at any speed, and last, my body weight is a significant enough portion of the total weight of the vehicle that I can basically 'bounce' the motorbike over a speed bump- I don't know how else to describe it, I basically do a small jump before I hit the bump so the shocks compress and begin to rebound when or slightly before the wheels hit the bump.

And none of this is done in areas with pedestrians, I might be an asshole and a crazy driver but I'm not a sociopath.

Where do you live Choscura ?