Oh, I should say--I have a new car! Or, new to me. Some friends are long-term-loaning me their Taurus until I can get my '79 Mustang road worthy again. This is the first car I've driven on a regular basis that was built after I got married. I'm having to learn how to drive an automatic again--not to mention the power steering. I nearly put myself in the gutter this morning turning to get out of my driveway. Plus I had to spend 15 minutes finding all the controls for the seat and the defroster and the headlights. So many buttons! And they're all mine!
No, no, no, sir. No more chick pit for you. Come on.
Riley ,'Lessons'
Natter 54: Right here, dammit.
Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.
Connie Neil - Oct 16, 2007 8:55:17 am PDT #6940 of 10001
brillig
Steph L. - Oct 16, 2007 8:56:41 am PDT #6941 of 10001
I look more rad than Lutheranism
So many buttons! And they're all mine!
Do NOT push the one marked "ejector seat" until you can ascertain that it's for the passenger side....
Connie Neil - Oct 16, 2007 8:57:30 am PDT #6942 of 10001
brillig
In Indiana the highways are straight and flat and empty.
When I moved out to Utah in '82, I went back to Pennsylvania so I could retrieve my car. Somewhere in west Kansas, the road unkinked itself to lay flat and straight for the next 300 miles. Not another car in view. I looked at my passenger and said, "I've always wondered how fast my car can go."
86 mph, fully loaded.
Connie Neil - Oct 16, 2007 9:02:03 am PDT #6943 of 10001
brillig
Do NOT push the one marked "ejector seat" until you can ascertain that it's for the passenger side
I keep channelling my father by looking at a button and saying, "Who the hell needs a button for that? Can't they open the trunk/move the seat/adjust the mirror by themselves?"
I think I am going to invest in a small hammer just in case I get caught in a situation where the power windows fail and I can't get the door open.
Gudanov - Oct 16, 2007 9:02:31 am PDT #6944 of 10001
Coding and Sleeping
While I'm not proud of it, there was a time I settled down behind a Porsche with a radar detector on a midwestern highway and was going 105mph. The thing is, we got passed. Twice.
Connie Neil - Oct 16, 2007 9:04:35 am PDT #6945 of 10001
brillig
The thing is, we got passed. Twice.
90 MPH in Arizona. Passed by a cop eating a sandwich.
Trudy Booth - Oct 16, 2007 9:08:13 am PDT #6946 of 10001
Greece's financial crisis threatens to take down all of Western civilization - a civilization they themselves founded. A rather tragic irony - which is something they also invented. - Jon Stewart
While I'm not proud of it, there was a time I settled down behind a Porsche with a radar detector on a midwestern highway and was going 105mph. The thing is, we got passed. Twice.
Yeah, those are the guys who should be proud.
Susan W. - Oct 16, 2007 9:08:48 am PDT #6947 of 10001
Good Trouble and Righteous Fights
Ex-Army Brother once got pulled over for running a red light because he didn't notice it, being so busy showing off all the controls on his new car to Dad and me. Controls that allowed him to adjust the thermostat, radio volume, etc. without looking away from the road, as he said at just the moment he breezed through that intersection.
Dad and I saw him do it, raised significant eyebrows at each other, and said nothing. It was too late for us to stop him, because we only saw it coming a split-second before he drove through. (Had Mom been in the car, she would've screamed. The rest of us only comment upon each other's driving when necessary to avoid an imminent crash or turn missage.)
When the cop pulled him over, we confirmed that yes, he had in fact run the red light. He got off with a warning--I think it was the combination of his very abashed apology and being a major in uniform just outside of West Point.
Nutty - Oct 16, 2007 9:12:19 am PDT #6948 of 10001
"Mister Spock is on his fanny, sir. Reports heavy damage."
someone going too fast the wrong way. In reverse.
Wait, that's exactly the way to go the wrong way down a one-way street! Okay, in the Boston area people do it all the time. (Not in garbage trucks.)
Also, in CT they have this lovely rural highway (the Merritt Parkway) that everyone flies along (because they're all driving beemers and saabs) and it basically has no on-ramps, plus is hilly and tree-y.
It basically has no on-ramps because you have to start from a STOP SIGN!! with no acceleration lane. Onto a highway with narrow lanes, no margin on the sides, and a prevailing average speed of 75. So unless you drive stick or have a V6 engine, good fucking luck.
It's fairly common for me to look down at the speedometer and not realize I was doing 80.
You drive too good a car. My car starts to shimmy when I hit 70. Doesn't stop me from driving it faster, but I know it when I'm doing it!
Strega - Oct 16, 2007 9:14:24 am PDT #6949 of 10001
He went off on this incredibly detailed rant that culminated with " Who am I signalling for? WHO?! Am I signalling for God?! GOD DOESN'T CARE!!! HE ALREADY KNOWS WHICH WAY I'M TURNING AND GOD.DOESN'T.CARE!!!!!"Hee! But yeah, I'd rather people signal out of habit even if nobody's within 10 miles. Because that's simpler than making a habit of checking your blind spots before signaling.
Incidentally I have a question about the study where x percentage of driver violate the speed limit. Does the percentage change as the speed limit increases? I have 55 mph highways and 75 mph within a few miles of each other. And it looks to me like every time I move from the 55 mph segment to the 75 mph segment, all the people who were going 75 mph in the 55 mph zone speed up some more when they enter the 75 mph zone.From what I can dig up the answer is... sorta. Raising the limit on local/arterial roads to the actual rate of most traffic doesn’t cause the traffic to speed up further to compensate. With highways the data aren't as clear but my impression is that a percentage of drivers do increase their speed a little more if the limit goes up.
Though I suspect in the situation you're describing, it's because of the progression from "I'm going faster than traffic" to "Hm, now I'm going the same speed as traffic. I'd better accelerate a little more." Not that they're thinking it through consciously.