Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.1a 7/7/83; site rlgvax.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!rlgvax!guy From: guy@rlgvax.UUCP (Guy Harris) Newsgroups: net.flame Subject: Re: 55mph & common courtesy Message-ID: <949@rlgvax.UUCP> Date: Wed, 3-Aug-83 18:47:00 EDT Article-I.D.: rlgvax.949 Posted: Wed Aug 3 18:47:00 1983 Date-Received: Thu, 4-Aug-83 23:57:46 EDT References: <534@grkermit.UUCP> Organization: CCI Office Systems Group, Reston, VA Lines: 66 look Guy, I don't think any of us (pro 55+) were talking about the guy in the 928 doing 50 on a winding mountain road. And as someone said, if you ARE sunday driving on a scenic road and there are 1+ cars behind you, why NOT pull over for a second and let them by? It'll make everyone involved less uptight. 1) If you are assuming I am anti 55+, you didn't read my reply. 2) The impression I got from the original article was that the aforementioned guy in the 928 was not excluded from this form of "courtesy". 3) Having to pull over to the shoulder because some idiot wants to zip by me on a one lane road makes ME VERY uptight. It is very impolite, and frankly, I'd rather people like that stayed off the road. They make life unpleasant for everyone else. There is no place for head games while driving. I think I can safely say that the majority of us drivers who resort to getting close to the {G,g}uy in front of them as a hint to please pull over to the right have at that point gone through the normal hints - (getting moderately close, quick flick of the headlights...) only to be ignored or somehow not seen. That's right, there is no place for head games while driving. So would all you impolite idiots please refrain from harassing drivers who 1) have NO CHOICE but to be in the lane they're in and 2) have no interest in going as fast as you? The times I've seen tailgaters they almost ALWAYS just pull up and don't flash their lights. And I damn well resent your "cute" little "{G,g}uy" statement. You are making the assumption that anyone who doesn't share your attitude (which, as I pointed out in my last article, amounts to "if someone wants to cut ahead of you in line, for whatever reason, it's only common courtesy to let them") makes a career out of obstructing traffic. I don't hang around in a left-more lane if I don't have to. However, I also don't pull aside just so the guy behind me can pull the same stunt on the next guy, and the next, and the next, ad infinitum. I see NO point in letting somebody go by if, due to road conditions, prevailing traffic just isn't moving as fast as they are. The original {point,flame} remains: keep an eye on your rear-view mirror. If you are impeding someone wanting to get by and it is not unreasonable to pull right, *please* do! I agree. However, it IS unreasonable to pull right if the only place to pull is the shoulder of the road. It IS unreasonable to pull right if the traffic to the right of you is moving 10MPH below the speed limit. It IS unreasonable to pull right if the right-hand lane is an exit-only lane and you don't want to exit. It IS unreasonable to pull right if the left-hand lane is an exit or turn lane and you want to make that exit or turn. Frankly, if I had to choose between the bozos who drive 45 in the left-hand lane of a 55MPH road, and the bozos who drive 75 on a road where prevailing traffic is moving 65 (or the bozos who think you should pull over to the SHOULDER to let someone not in an emergency situation go by), I'd reluctantly choose the former. Neither of them is showing anything vaguely resembling courtesy, but the former are less arrogant, and contribute less to unsafe conditions, than the latter. In short, you show a complete lack of courtesy to anyone else on the road if you believe that people should always move aside for YOUR convenience despite the inconvenience to THEM. And, as such, I don't see why someone who shows this lack of courtesy deserves the "courtesy" of having everyone pull aside for them. Guy Harris {seismo,mcnc,we13,brl-bmd,allegra}!rlgvax!guy