Random thoughts that are pointless and too dumb to say anywhere else thread: 2020

[AKCheesehead]

I hate the guy that when you pass them on the a freeway and then they speed back up because they don't want to be passed. Or after you pass them, they speed up and are on your bumper.

This reminds me of a situation I had a few years ago. In a short stretch I ended up passing the same person at least 3 times while being on cruise control the entire time. It was really weird.

 

That sounds like Minnesota plates.

[CheezWizHed]

I hate the guy that when you pass them on the a freeway and then they speed back up because they don't want to be passed. Or after you pass them, they speed up and are on your bumper.

This reminds me of a situation I had a few years ago. In a short stretch I ended up passing the same person at least 3 times while being on cruise control the entire time. It was really weird.

 

That sounds like Minnesota plates.

 

Well, as an original WI plate guy that now has MN plates... I've seen both.

 

Drive the I-90/94 corridor and you will see this many, many times. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the times (more recent instances anyway) its because the person is doing something on their phone.

[owbc]

I nearly got taken out by an SUV on my bike yesterday. I was cruising along in the right side bike lane while the cars were stuck in a traffic jam and moving at maybe 2 mph. Out of nowhere one of them decides to cut right into an open parking spot while I was alongside them, causing me to quickly swerve right and try to avoid their right front fender. Fortunately the curb happened to have a cut right there so I was able to get into the open parking spot and ride up onto the sidewalk, otherwise I would have slammed into a parked car at 10 mph.

 

I should really attach my GoPro to my bike helmet so I have a better record of cars doing illegal things, since I see it all the time. Lesson also learned to be more careful while riding in stopped traffic since nothing makes cars do stupid, unpredictable things like a traffic jam.

[nate82]

I am not saying it is Aliens but....... Aliens!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/politics/pentagon-ufo-harry-reid-navy.html

[homer]

I am not saying it is Aliens but....... Aliens!

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/23/us/politics/pentagon-ufo-harry-reid-navy.html

 

That dude is absolutely giddy right now.

[young guns]

If something were to happen to cause the cancellation of the NFL season with either no games or just like 2 or 3, how would they go about seeding for the 21 draft...

[LouisEly]

I hate the guy that when you pass them on the a freeway and then they speed back up because they don't want to be passed. Or after you pass them, they speed up and are on your bumper.

Or the guy in Wyoming who was driving 10-15 mph under the speed limit, and when I passed him he stuck his middle finger out the window at me.

 

Of course, I had no choice but to clean my windshield and spray windshield wiper fluid while going 70 mph.

[stalton]

I knew I should have taken the under on the Brewers wins

[DHonks]

Does Wisconsin have a passing lane law? We were never taught that in Drivers Ed. Another one I’ve learned elsewhere is that in some states it’s the law to move away from the lane when there is a vehicle on the shoulder, especially if it’s an emergency vehicle. My wife always prods me about it and she’s from a Texas, but it was something we weren’t taught in WI. Of course we were taught in WI that if a minor is ever caught with alcohol, they won’t be able to get a license until they’re 21....never heard of that being enforced though.

[brewcrewdue80]

Does Wisconsin have a passing lane law? We were never taught that in Drivers Ed. Another one I’ve learned elsewhere is that in some states it’s the law to move away from the lane when there is a vehicle on the shoulder, especially if it’s an emergency vehicle. My wife always prods me about it and she’s from a Texas, but it was something we weren’t taught in WI. Of course we were taught in WI that if a minor is ever caught with alcohol, they won’t be able to get a license until they’re 21....never heard of that being enforced though.

 

2002 it became law in WI to move over for emergency vehicles and others in the shoulder. I know vividly because I was pulled over for not doing so my first day of work at my current job.

 

My biggest pet peeve are Truckers who pass other Trucks in the passing lane at what seems to be 1mph faster than the Truck they are passing. Like it takes 3-5miles driving to pass the truck. Doing 61 in a 70mph zone because they couldn't sit behind a truck doing 60.

 

Another pet peeve would be when drivers are coming to a full complete stop turning right in a right turn laned 4way stop sign, while no one is to their left. Meanwhile Im at the opposite turning left waiting for them to turn right. And worse they wave me to go because I was there first. Happens all the time for me coming home from work. Stop sign etiquette altogether. Turn signal left and the person across going straight waiting for me to go. Or the opposite, going straight and the person turning left trying to turn first.

[CheezWizHed]

Does Wisconsin have a passing lane law? We were never taught that in Drivers Ed. Another one I’ve learned elsewhere is that in some states it’s the law to move away from the lane when there is a vehicle on the shoulder, especially if it’s an emergency vehicle. My wife always prods me about it and she’s from a Texas, but it was something we weren’t taught in WI. Of course we were taught in WI that if a minor is ever caught with alcohol, they won’t be able to get a license until they’re 21....never heard of that being enforced though.

 

Don't lump us all in that. My driver ed teacher taught us all of those (passing lane, vehicle on the shoulder). And that was 30 years ago before we needed the laws to dictate common courtesy. Just because you had a bad teacher...

[AKCheesehead]

We have a law here that states if a driver has 5 or more vehicles they are holding up on a 2 lane highway, they must pull off and let them all pass when they get a safe opportunity to do so. I like that law, though I would like to see it obeyed more often. By far the biggest violators are people in RVs.

[CheezWizHed]

We have a law here that states if a driver has 5 or more vehicles they are holding up on a 2 lane highway, they must pull off and let them all pass when they get a safe opportunity to do so. I like that law, though I would like to see it obeyed more often. By far the biggest violators are people in RVs.

 

"Here" being Alaska (from AKCheesehead)?

[AKCheesehead]

Correct. The "here" part I guess is technically not true, as Bethel (where I live) is far from the connected road system and there's only a short half mile stretch of our main road where passing is legal. But on Alaska highways, that is the law.

[CheezWizHed]

Are most major roads in AK highways (two lane with cross traffic)? Or freeways/expressways? Seems like 20 years ago in WI/MN, most major highways were turned into freeways (4+lanes on/off ramps only) or expressways (4 lanes with limited cross-traffic) to prevent backups such as you mention.

[AKCheesehead]

Yah, outside of major municipalities it's pretty much all 2 lane highways. The only major stretch of controlled access multi-lane freeway I can think of offhand is the Glenn/Parks Highway between Anchorage and Wasilla.

[owbc]

Washington State has the same 5-vehicle law as Alaska, it's a must in a state where most of the 2-lane highways are in hilly or mountainous terrain. It's very difficult to pass. A really nice feature is that they have constructed paved turnouts in the problem areas with signs stating the above law. I've seen very high compliance thanks to these turnouts.

[DHonks]

Does Wisconsin have a passing lane law? We were never taught that in Drivers Ed. Another one I’ve learned elsewhere is that in some states it’s the law to move away from the lane when there is a vehicle on the shoulder, especially if it’s an emergency vehicle. My wife always prods me about it and she’s from a Texas, but it was something we weren’t taught in WI. Of course we were taught in WI that if a minor is ever caught with alcohol, they won’t be able to get a license until they’re 21....never heard of that being enforced though.

 

Don't lump us all in that. My driver ed teacher taught us all of those (passing lane, vehicle on the shoulder). And that was 30 years ago before we needed the laws to dictate common courtesy. Just because you had a bad teacher...

 

Not saying it wasn’t courtesy, just saying you couldn’t get ticketed for those when I was in driver’s ed in 1996. Courtesy yes, but sometimes the inside lane is busy enough that it’s not easy to move over

[CheezWizHed]

No, not ticketed (drivers ed in 1990 for me), but still taught. And the rule changes if there is enough traffic to have both lanes occupied.

 

In Germany, it is illegal to pass on the right. So much so that people don't look right when moving over. Cars in the left lane will flash their headlights at you or put on their left blinker to tell you to get out of the way. But people are very used to passing a car and moving back over right away, so it works well.

 

Contrary to what I saw the other day where someone pulled on to a 4 lane divided expressway. This person turned right into the right lane (correctly), then immediately changed lanes to the left while the right lane was wide open and cars bearing down on them in the left lane. They drove for 3 miles just at the speed limit, causing several cars to pass them on the right. I pulled onto that same expressway behind them, but in the right lane and eventually overtook them. I can understand it if they need to turn left soon, but they were just cruising to wherever...

[young guns]

Contrary to what I saw the other day where someone pulled on to a 4 lane divided expressway. This person turned right into the right lane (correctly), then immediately changed lanes to the left while the right lane was wide open and cars bearing down on them in the left lane. They drove for 3 miles just at the speed limit, causing several cars to pass them on the right. I pulled onto that same expressway behind them, but in the right lane and eventually overtook them. I can understand it if they need to turn left soon, but they were just cruising to wherever...

I wonder if it was one of those vigilante drivers who make it their mission to slow the passing lane down to the speed limit because speeding is against the law.

[hawing]

Keeping it random, this driver's ed talk is reminding me of the driver's ed instructor in my high school, who between my taking the class and my 5-years-younger sister taking it...was arrested for OWI and was allowed work-release access to his car. This would have been the mid-1980s.

[CheezWizHed]

Contrary to what I saw the other day where someone pulled on to a 4 lane divided expressway. This person turned right into the right lane (correctly), then immediately changed lanes to the left while the right lane was wide open and cars bearing down on them in the left lane. They drove for 3 miles just at the speed limit, causing several cars to pass them on the right. I pulled onto that same expressway behind them, but in the right lane and eventually overtook them. I can understand it if they need to turn left soon, but they were just cruising to wherever...

I wonder if it was one of those vigilante drivers who make it their mission to slow the passing lane down to the speed limit because speeding is against the law.

 

Possibly, but most traffic is at 5 MPH over (myself included) and not excessive. Plus they pulled into the left lane well before getting to the speed limit (55mph) so they caused cars to move to the right lane and passing them while they were still accelerating around 35-50 mph.

[GAME05]

A weird trend I’ve noticed in the last 2 years in AZ is cars that stop AT LEAST one full car length behind the line at a stoplight. Sometimes I wish I had a smaller car and I could pull in front of them (and proceed to wait at the light) just to see their reaction

 

I see this all the time. I feel like it must be a Southern thing because I never saw it in Wisconsin.

 

It doesn't even make sense. Why stop that far behind the white line? It reminds me of Denver, where most all traffic lights were motion/weight sensitive and you had to move ahead of the white line for it to ever register. So drivers like that wouldn't even be able to get around town.

 

And it's not even those first drivers, but at least by me, it's every vehicle. Guy in front stops 20' behind the white line; guy behind him leaves 20' of space, etc. I've seen 2.5 car-lengths of space before. Sometimes it can really cause issues when you've got block-to-block lights yet only four vehicles are taking up all the space. Or when there's a turn lane people could move into if only the vehicles ahead could just move up.

 

And most frustrating is when you're that vehicle that wants to move into the turn lane, but the car ahead of you is blocking your entrance yet they have 20' of space in front of them. Will they be nice and move up to let you through? No, of course they won't.

[FVBrewerFan]

TIL "irregardless" is not a word. Well, technically it's a non-standard word. Irregardless, I won't be using it since it has the same meaning as regardless.

[adambr2]

Keeping it random, this driver's ed talk is reminding me of the driver's ed instructor in my high school, who between my taking the class and my 5-years-younger sister taking it...was arrested for OWI and was allowed work-release access to his car. This would have been the mid-1980s.

 

Keeping it along the same randomness and talking work release, could a corrections officer at a local jail qualify for work release? Like literally be let out and change into guard clothing for their shift and then change back into an inmate jumpsuit at the end of the shift and go to the other side of the bars?