One thing I like about Chicagoland drivers is that it's ingrained in them to pull over to the right lane/shoulder and stop as soon as you hear a siren. When I was out at my sister's in Las Vegas last week, I was shocked that nobody pulled over until the last possible minute for an ambulance.

OMG, that makes me INSANE here. Don't people know that they can use it to their advantage? I.e., slide through a red light to make room for the ambulance? Man, I hope I never need emergent care in midtown Manhattan.

Well, the body really does need a place for bumper stickers. Lapel pins just aren't big enough.

When I was out at my sister's in Las Vegas last week, I was shocked that nobody pulled over until the last possible minute for an ambulance

I believe there's some sort of Western belief that pulling over too soon is cowardly and lets other people take advantage of the space. I want to see a firetruck shove some idiot in an SUV out of the way.

you don't want to give them the valuable intel that you're about to move into their lane.

Wrod. It's unAmerican to give your opponent warning.

In re: firetrucks, when Hubby was in the Forest Service, he and a buddy took out a couple of the heavy-duty brush engines and went cruising the firelanes of the city, especially some alleys behind businesses. They put the engines in low gear and went.

One alley was behind a Cadillac dealer, who stored overstock in the alley and ignored warnings to keep the firelane clear. Hubby often talks about the joy of ramming brand new Cadillacs and hearing them crunch before a fire engine designed to bull its way through wilderness scrub oak as they get shoved down an alley and out the other end.

Not surprisingly, the dealer raised holy hell. Not surprisingly, no one could be found who admitted to having been at the wheel of the brush trucks. And the trucks were so dinged up from regular duty that it was hard to tell what was new damage. The judge confirmed that the wrecked Caddys had indeed been blocking a firelane, smirked, and handed out fines for each smashed car.

I noticed when I used to drive between Chico, CA and the Bay Area a lot that I could go the same speed for a couple of hours on I-80 and sometimes everyone was passing me and sometimes I was passing everyone else. Never did figure out why.

-t, I experience the same thing on I-5, though there you have to be in the 80+ range to keep from being mowed over. I try very hard to keep with the flow of traffic, going up and down as necessary - but all the speeds seemed to be above the speed limit.

I have no trouble driving the speed limit when everyone else is blowing past me. I'm not going to drive beyond my confidence level because other people are drunk on the power of internal combustion.

Come to think of it, part of that trip was on the 5. Maybe that's the key.

Uh, I drive like a bat out of hell. I admit it. Only on the highway, though. It's fairly common for me to look down at the speedometer and not realize I was doing 80.

Side/residential streets -- no, I don't haul ass on them. Too many kids.

Passing on the right is just rude!

One of my biggest pet peeves.

Truly, one of MY biggest peeves is being on a 2-lane highway (er, 2 lanes in each direction), and being in the left lane so that I *can* go fast, and getting some joker in front of me doing 45 or 50.

I know it's rude and wrong, but I pass people like that on the right. 2 lanes, rush hour, they're not moving out of the left lane -- what the hell else is a person to do? And in situations like that, I'm far from the only one being a dick and passing on the right.

Yes, I know -- just because other people are doing it doesn't make it right. But it's also not right -- or safe -- to go below the speed limit on the highway, particularly in the left lane, particularly during rush hour.

Yup, I admit it. I am the driver you all hate. But I do use my blinker.

t edit And I *love* driving. Open road, car go vroom, all that jazz.

Yup, I admit it. I am the driver you all hate.

You're not the driver I hate unless you whip around me on the right before I have a chance to get out of your way on the left. I have my blinker on! I'm moving! Just wait two seconds!

Teppy is me behind the wheel.