catblaster
Well-known member
Sarge...I do believe that you have been on a motorcycle once or twice, good responses 
Road rules
- Thread starter chatter33
- Start date
The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
- Status
SargeW
Site Team
Thanks Will, yes I have quite a bit of 2 wheel time. I see motorcycles do stuff all the time that just makes me shake my head. Times like that I just tell the DW "see that guy? He's racing to the scene of the accident he is about to be involved in!".
Actually diehard, that language is there for a purpose. If the posted limit is 45 MPH, then anything faster than that is excessive and citeable. However, road conditions or weather always preempt the posted limit. You can be doing 40 in a 45 and be cited for excessive speed for conditions.
That's why the speed laws are written that way. And there is also "letter of the law, and spirit of the law". Letter of the law may say that the max speed on the open highway is 75 MPH. However doing that speed while triple towing a 40' fiver and 30' boat with a 3/4 ton pick up is not reasonable. See what I mean?
diehard said:
Actually diehard, that language is there for a purpose. If the posted limit is 45 MPH, then anything faster than that is excessive and citeable. However, road conditions or weather always preempt the posted limit. You can be doing 40 in a 45 and be cited for excessive speed for conditions.
That's why the speed laws are written that way. And there is also "letter of the law, and spirit of the law". Letter of the law may say that the max speed on the open highway is 75 MPH. However doing that speed while triple towing a 40' fiver and 30' boat with a 3/4 ton pick up is not reasonable. See what I mean?
Lady Fitzgerald
Well-known member
DearMissMermaid said:
No rotten eggs.
However, most States have laws that state slower traffic is to keep right with no qualifiers such as unless you are doing the speed limit. If you drove like you said in CA, you could wind up with a ticket. It won't kill you to let the speeders hurry to their ticket.
DearMissMermaid
Well-known member
I could get a ticket for doing 70 on a posted 70mph highway for going TOO SLOW???
Has the world gone crazy or what? I value my cheap insurance and surely don't want to muck it up with a bunch of tickets, but if the sign is posted for 70mph, I am not going to exceed it just so some bent for hell pest can get there 30 seconds earlier.
They will just have to throw their rotten eggs and tickets at me. I can't understand how I could get a ticket for going the maximum speed and be accused of going too slow! Why don't they just tear down the speed limit signs if they are handing out tickets to folks like me who are doing the posted limit?
Of course I use the right lane, if there is one. I often do alternative highways, I am not often on interstates, as I prefer the much nicer views of the byways. Everyone else may be scared to death of reaching there 30 seconds later, but I am not.
I have no tickets and cheap insurance, so I am just NOT going to risk getting tickets by breaking the posted speed limits. If going the posted speed limit is too slow, then they will just have to shoot me.
America gone crazy!
Has the world gone crazy or what? I value my cheap insurance and surely don't want to muck it up with a bunch of tickets, but if the sign is posted for 70mph, I am not going to exceed it just so some bent for hell pest can get there 30 seconds earlier.
They will just have to throw their rotten eggs and tickets at me. I can't understand how I could get a ticket for going the maximum speed and be accused of going too slow! Why don't they just tear down the speed limit signs if they are handing out tickets to folks like me who are doing the posted limit?
Of course I use the right lane, if there is one. I often do alternative highways, I am not often on interstates, as I prefer the much nicer views of the byways. Everyone else may be scared to death of reaching there 30 seconds later, but I am not.
I have no tickets and cheap insurance, so I am just NOT going to risk getting tickets by breaking the posted speed limits. If going the posted speed limit is too slow, then they will just have to shoot me.
America gone crazy!
Tin man
Well-known member
What are you doing on my road?
Jim
Jim
SargeW
Site Team
DearMissMermaid said:
No, you would never get a ticket for going the speed limit unless the speed was too FAST for conditions. Some states do post minimum acceptable speeds on highways. That is usually 45 MPH on all the ones that I have seen.
My comment was just made to emphasize that the posted speed limit is not always the safe limit, say in heavy fog. That is where the "reasonable" part of the language comes in. Most states have signs posted that say "slower traffic keep right". That is just a safe thing to do as well.
My maximum speed in the rig is usually 65 MPH, even in 80 MPH posted areas. That is my comfort zone. I just stay right and let folks go by.
Lou Schneider
Site Team
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
- 13,296
Make sure your speedometer is accurate if you're going to use going the speed limit as a defense. Believe it or not, there's no requirement that the speedometer remains accurate over the life of the vehicle. It's readings are affected by things like tire diameter, mechanical wear on the speedometer, etc. It's not unusual for a speedometer to be several miles per hour off at highway speeds.
You might think you're doing the speed limit while actually going 4-5 MPH slower than the speed indicated in the cars following you.
You might think you're doing the speed limit while actually going 4-5 MPH slower than the speed indicated in the cars following you.
Lady Fitzgerald
Well-known member
DearMissMermaid said:
No one said you would get a ticket for going too slow while doing the speed limit. You could get one for other reasons, such as failure to stay to the right when you are the slower traffic or for unnecessarily obstructing traffic. In at least one State (CO), you will be ticketed for driving in what the State considers to be a passing lane only.
Larry N.
Well-known member
Lou Schneider said:
Which is why I periodically check my speedometer reading against the speed reported by my GPS, and even against the radar signs placed by police or the city in some areas. So I know (for example) that my F-150 reads 1 mph fast at 65 mph indicated (original tires with about 37,000 miles on them), while my Jeep reads four mph fast (bigger than original tires with less than 5,000 on them) at that speed. I generally try to memorize every five to ten mph reading from about 30 mph and up, or at least the most common posted limits in the area.
I was pulling my 5ver in my dually and go up behind a 3 wheeled bicycle. we were on a small 2-lane road and he waved to have me pass him on the right. I don't think he knew what I was. I waited for the appropriate time and safely passed him.
I think most of us are courteous and polite. It's just the 2% that aren't and they give us all a bad rap.
I think most of us are courteous and polite. It's just the 2% that aren't and they give us all a bad rap.
Lou Schneider
Site Team
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2005
- Posts
- 13,296
A few years ago I was riding the Cable Cars in San Francisco. A woman pulled into a loading zone such that her car was sticking out into the traffic lane further than the others that were parked along the curb. When the Cable Car approached, the motorman saw there wasn't enough clearance to get by, so he stopped short and started ringing the bell.
She was talking on her cell phone and couldn't be bothered just then, so she rolled down the window and motioned for us to go around.
She was talking on her cell phone and couldn't be bothered just then, so she rolled down the window and motioned for us to go around.
Tom
Administrator
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2005
- Posts
- 51,958
That's funny Lou. The cable car operator should have called the police and had her ticketed.
Molaker
Well-known member
Was she a blond?
SargeW
Site Team
Cell phones and cars. The worst combination EVER.
catblaster
Well-known member
I want a jammer Yea I know they are illegal, I still want one and it may keep me from running over the dumb masses.
Yea I know they are illegal, I still want one and it may keep me from running over the dumb masses.
R
rockin rockwood
Guest
Dear, Dear Miss Manners, Here in NEW JERSEY that action is affectionately known as being a "left lane dick". No one appointed you as the rolling road block! Basically you're causing people to drive aggresively to get around you...on the right hand side. If you were to try that on the jersey turnpike or garden state parkway, you'd be run off the road!! OK I've thrown my rotten eggs. Just stay out of the left lane!!!DearMissMermaid said:
Many years ago I was the second bus approaching the Angel Islington in London.
A Mercedes parked two wheels in a bus stop, two on the sidewalk, with his hood hard up against a lamp post, and then opened his door, the bus in front of me came to a stop inside the arc of his door, I pulled up right behind him.
The car driver started shouting at the bus driver to move the bus, the bus driver tried to explain he could only move forwards, as without competent supervision it was illegal.
A beat cop, came to assess the problem and deal with the situation.
Another 6 or 7 buses had pulled into line behind me.
The Mercedes driver began to order the cop to move the bus, the bus driver explained the problem, the car driver insisted the cop make the bus move, so the cop said to the bus driver, "you heard him driver"? The bus driver shrugged and crushed the Mercedes door, folding it in half then ripping it off it's hinges.
The car driver was apoplectic looking like he was about to stroke out.
The cop cited him, for parking on the sidewalk, parking in a bus lane, wreckless endangerment, and towed his car for him.
I laughed so hard I almost needed medical attention myself! ;D
A Mercedes parked two wheels in a bus stop, two on the sidewalk, with his hood hard up against a lamp post, and then opened his door, the bus in front of me came to a stop inside the arc of his door, I pulled up right behind him.
The car driver started shouting at the bus driver to move the bus, the bus driver tried to explain he could only move forwards, as without competent supervision it was illegal.
A beat cop, came to assess the problem and deal with the situation.
Another 6 or 7 buses had pulled into line behind me.
The Mercedes driver began to order the cop to move the bus, the bus driver explained the problem, the car driver insisted the cop make the bus move, so the cop said to the bus driver, "you heard him driver"? The bus driver shrugged and crushed the Mercedes door, folding it in half then ripping it off it's hinges.
The car driver was apoplectic looking like he was about to stroke out.
The cop cited him, for parking on the sidewalk, parking in a bus lane, wreckless endangerment, and towed his car for him.
I laughed so hard I almost needed medical attention myself! ;D
Jarlaxle
Well-known member
DearMissMermaid said:
It is called "failure to yield" and/or "obtructing traffic". Keep right except to pass! The fine for being a left-lane bandit should be $10,000 plus $2000 for every car being held up.
B
bucks2
Guest
That's some interesting reading. Driving in numerous different states makes it difficult for me to know exactly what the word of the law states in the particular place I am. So it's almost impossible for me to stand on the exact word of the law. Even if I did know the exact "rights" I was entitled to, the guy next to me doesn't so why would I want to debate it with him in court after the incident?
Miss Mermaid insisting that if she's driving the speed limit she doesn't need to worry about the drivers behind her is indeed a valid stand to take. I mean after all she's doing exactly what the letter of the law requires on a one lane in each direction road. Well, as far as speed is concerned she is.
What she isn't doing is thinking about the reason for the rules in the first place. Wouldn't you agree that all traffic laws are supposedly aimed as safe and efficient travel on our roadways? It's not my job to enforce the laws. If someone wants to get around me in order to go faster, I'll do what I can to let them around as safely as possible. If I need to slow down some to let them around, whether it's a group of bikers or an impatient Ferrari, why not? As she says, she's in no hurry anyway. I'm retired, I spent 31 years rushing to the next accident, and God knows I saw a bunch of them. I'm in no hurry to get to the next one.
Don't worry, be happy. My mother used to have a saying we heard a million times as kids: "Go on ahead now, hell ain't half full".
ken
Miss Mermaid insisting that if she's driving the speed limit she doesn't need to worry about the drivers behind her is indeed a valid stand to take. I mean after all she's doing exactly what the letter of the law requires on a one lane in each direction road. Well, as far as speed is concerned she is.
What she isn't doing is thinking about the reason for the rules in the first place. Wouldn't you agree that all traffic laws are supposedly aimed as safe and efficient travel on our roadways? It's not my job to enforce the laws. If someone wants to get around me in order to go faster, I'll do what I can to let them around as safely as possible. If I need to slow down some to let them around, whether it's a group of bikers or an impatient Ferrari, why not? As she says, she's in no hurry anyway. I'm retired, I spent 31 years rushing to the next accident, and God knows I saw a bunch of them. I'm in no hurry to get to the next one.
Don't worry, be happy. My mother used to have a saying we heard a million times as kids: "Go on ahead now, hell ain't half full".
ken
Lady Fitzgerald
Well-known member
bucks2 said:
That's just a one lane road in each direction. Pretty much all States require slower drivers to keep to the right and I know of at least one (AZ) that makes it illegal to unnecessarily obstruct traffic. Not moving over to allow traffic to pass would garner her a ticket if she got caught.
- Status
