Thought for the Day

[RAM]

Most speeding tickets could be avoided by leaving on time.

For that matter, it just occurred to me that ALL speeding tickets could be avoided by not driving over the speed limit.

But what do I know?
Bad Bob

[Ron Mc]

watch out for overpasses on IH40 - Tennessee has the speed trap down pat.

[Midway Tommy D]

For that matter, it just occurred to me that ALL speeding tickets could be avoided by not driving over the speed limit.

But what do I know?
Bad Bob

A couple of my cop friends, and I've heard it is also done in the Denver area, would give you a ticket for "Impeding Traffic" if you're doing the speed limit and slowing down those behind. IMO, that pretty much stinks. If you really think about it 10 mph in a 30 min not-stop drive gains a whopping 5 min. When you look at the stop-start trips time saving is almost non-existent. I look, and chuckle , at most of those going "nowhere fast".

Sometimes I think the new wave dictionaries now define limit as minimum rather than maximum, and the insurance companies love every bit it.

Tom

[Ron Mc]

if you think about it, not keeping up with traffic is really stingy - how much personal real estate does one need to drive?
They did a study that if everyone kept the 2-second rule in rush hour traffic, traffic would gridlock and no one would ever get to work.

I hate the guys who practice stopping at the lights - they always get their wish. And yet somehow feel justified. The dozen cars they impede and the empty pavement they leave in front of them will leave a ripple in traffic that lasts for 2 hours.

As hateful as it is to drive in, Houston has the best drivers, with San Francisco a close second. They get out of the way, they use signals, they drive with control and determination.
San Antonio has the reckless and the control freaks. Austin drivers are just mean.
Ohio has drivers who pull out in front of you and expect you to slow down. Boston has drivers who do the same thing when they're sitting at a red light - time to run the red light, doesn't matter if you're driving through on green. They have a very short life span in Texas.

[Midway Tommy D]

Luckily me and Ole' Paint don't have to deal with any of that kind of stuff out here on the plains. We just take our time, mosey down the old trail and hope we don't get ambushed

[Ron Mc]

if you get a flash of this in your rear view - don't worry, it won't be there for long
A buddy and I fished Cheesman Canyon after a 4-hour 10-minute drive from Amarillo.

we left on time

[kingfisher]

Better late , than DEAD on time.

[Ron Mc]

Boston drivers also turn 3 lanes into 5, and yet they still triple park.
Triple parking is no problem in Manhattan, and the driving rules are simple. Lane markers mean nothing. There is a left snake and a right snake. If you're in a snake, go - if you're not in a snake, yield.

[Ron Mc]

My daughter is FAST on her new go-fast bike. On our greenway path ride the morning of the 4th she was going fast into a turn with complete awareness of oncoming riders around the turn, and in control. Coming the other way, an old fart on a mountain bike began ringing his bell and yelling at her to slow down. It hurt her feelings. So I poured it on when I went past him. He didn't say anything to me. Control freaks.

[Ron Mc]

Alaska has many roadside pull outs and for good reason.




Couldn't possibly show them all, but they're all breathtaking.
They also have a state law that if four vehicles are following you, you must pull off the road.
Unfortunately, just in the fifteen years I've been traveling there, traffic on Seward and Sterling highways has gotten so bad they can't possibly enforce the law.

[Midway Tommy D]

Neat scenery and wheels

This would be my daughter on "Ole' Paint" AKA "Dunit" in:

OKC

and Madison, NE


She's got him broke enough that even an old fogy like me can mosey across the plains and down the trail to the stream with him. He's got good brakes, and is fishing rod broke too. Still working on pulling the boat though.

Tom

[Reel Geezer]

Very nice Tom. This weekend my home town of Nampa, Idaho hosts the Snake River Stampede, as we have for 100 years. It is one of the top 12 rodeos in the country. Lots of horses and cowgirls. The Rubber Reel Lady is an avid fan of bull riding.

[Ron Mc]

they're also tough to radar (unless she's wearing a big belt buckle), though laser will still get them.

Great photos of your daughter.

[RAM]

Notion: Most people believe that speeding tickets are a result of (not necessarily in this order of likelihood):

1) Orders from the Sheriff to bring in more revenue for the local department
2) Bored or innately devious squad car officers
3) Bad luck
4) A collaboration between sheriff departments nation-wide and auto insurance companies who want to raise your rates
5) Dumb a---- people driving the speed limit who force intelligent drivers to kick the car out of overdrive and pass in frustration and getting caught (likely another collaboration)
6) Non-use of cruise controls which are worthless and costly additions to cars when set at the speed limit
7) Forgetting to put new batteries in the dash board radar detector
Deliberately miss-calibrated radar guns used by officers (another collaboration with local magistrates in case of challenges in court and the officers who will always testify they were recently tested and found to be accurate)
9) Traffic engineers having no common sense
10 Fill in the blank:______________

Bad Bob

[john elder]

So, what's your point, BB?

[Ron Mc]

I think its funny that Bob can speak for most people.

I can tell you that the alfa drew OPs - I got 3 tickets when I was doing the speed limit and being passed. Contested them all.
I was sitting at a red light in San Marcos, and a motorcycle officer behind a tree aimed his radar at at the sitting alfa, read the reading and then got mad.

Tickets used to be a toll charge for driving fast, but fines have gone crazy in the last 10 years or so.

Control freaks on the road intentionally impeding traffic are still more dangerous than spirited drivers.

[RAM]

No point Deke. Just bored rambling.
Ron just added a couple more. Did the judge dump the tickets?
Fill in the blank offers room for an infinite number of reasons.
Rarely run into anyone intentionally impeding traffic. Dumb maybe, but not intentional.
Should have qualified by saying "most folks I hear telling why they got tickets..."
Dumb waste of time, agreed. Just a pet peeve. Who else is going to pay any attention but you guys?
BB
PS: setting myself up for some real put downs here, but I never got a traffic ticket of any kind in the past 65 years and have still lived a reasonably normal life, although never amounting to much. Maybe I should have moved faster! Certainly deserved some though. Just lucky!

[Midway Tommy D]

Don't feel bad BB.

Last ticket I got was in '73, new school 25 mph speed trap when the day before it was, and had been forever, a 50 mph zone. Judge saw through it and only fined me $25. Could have thrown the book at me though.

Only accident I ever had was in '67 and that wasn't my fault.

Used to have a '68 Road Runner and loved racing & speeding. Main reasons why finally I slowed down:
1. Hood latch weld broke while drag racing on I-80 @ 115 mph. Pretty scary trying to see over a raised hood at that speed with a car right next to you.
2. Got so many speeding & racing tickets I drove for 2 years with only 1 point left on my license. Sped anyway since I'd lose my license if I got a ticket for anything.
3. Insurance was high risk & cost a fortune for 5 years. 2K a year for liability only back then. Ouch!
4. Drove a CJ5 to work everyday for 3 years with a top speed of 55 mph and got used to slower speeds so 60 seemed like flying
5. Had a left front blowout on a '73 Ford 3/4 T, no PS, @ 55 mph & couldn't keep it on my side of the road. Crossed the center line into the opposite ditch & stopped @ a driveway culvert. An oncoming gravel truck & pup went by just as my vehicle came to rest. Head on was way too close. I drifted toward the shoulder every time I met a truck on the highway for the next 20 years. I think about that every time I see rolled off tire tread on the Highway.
6. Full coverage is less than $300 a year per vehicle now without any tickets or accidents on the record. Lets me buy more reels for the collection

Finally feeling comfortable driving around 70 on the Interstate. The way I see it, everything is just fine until something goes a muck. Then reaction time comes into play. So...o I just drive along where I'm comfortable and try to stay out of everybody else's way.

I have never thought I missed out on anything by not driving faster, just had to be better organized and leave a little bit earlier , so don't feel bad.

Tom

[Ron Mc]

Ron just added a couple more. Did the judge dump the tickets?

One the cop knew his speed trap was set up wrong and he didn't show. One was dropped. Had to take a driving class for Schertz - the judge didn't like my vehicle.

Schertz is an income-priority speed trap - the whole town. But Bulverde also polices US281, and I don't mind it because that's my grocery store route.

But you should have seen us blasting up US 87 with a radar detector pointing front, another point rear, and shotgun wielding field glasses. We also had many 5-mile views with no other vehicles - everyone else was climbing Raton Pass.

And traffic has changed. I used to be able to drive my 62 Corvair across town (not on the freeways) before I had my driver's license - with my parents' blessing.

[Ron Mc]

here you go Bob, an article written to LEOs about bicycles on the road
https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid= ... lKATQBAXYy

[RAM]

Patronize an old fool, Ron. What is an LEO? (other than someone born in early August).
BB

[Ron Mc]

I'm sorry, law enforcement officer - I hang out on a leverguns board full of retired LEOs, and that's how they refer to themselves and their comrades. (and I found my editing error - I confused me, too)

The article addresses misconceptions of all involved parties. Learned that controlling the lane is safer for the bicycle than riding along the curb - and legal.