What? I bought plenty of stuff in Ontario with my US dollars; in fact most of the merchants were more than happy to take it, and I didn't even mind if they ripped me off a few cents on the exchange. Serves me right.
Fat prick? 6'2" 200lbs, thank you VERY much. I'm considered skinny, you ignorant fuck.
Your father drove a truck, get over it. If he was actually in combat, then there's no doubt that he is also a "murderer" either by direct action, or by reciprocative action. You don't spray the jungle or fire some bursts at someone in a village and not expect to hit a few innocent people during war time.
Either that, or your father is a liar. Mine on the other hand, was a Ranger during the war, and freely admits to killing "innocent" people, or having some role in the death of an "innocent" person, and not doing anything about it. It's part of the game. It's war, it's ugly, people die; get over it. Don't like it? Don't support war.
My father actually says "Naw I was never in 'Nam, it was more like Laos and Cambodia." if that gives you any clue there. He spent time as a POW in a tiger pit chained up by a meat hook in his forearm, so I think I know damn well what the fuck I'm talking about.
An apology is not just fine, but Kerry is not alone in his actions. Thousands of our troops committed such acts, it's part of war. At least he was there, and served, which is more than you can say for your beloved Dubya.
Bush is a convicted drunk driver. That's just as bad as murder IMO, and in the opinion of anyone who's lost a loved one due to the moronic actions of a drunk driver. He served no time. Bush is also directly or indirectly (Yes, I know only Congress can declare war, before you even start) responsible for a few THOUSAND deaths of "innocent" Iraqis. Then there's his former love of cocaine; I'm sure through his purchasing of said cocaine, he contributed to a few deaths of innocent villagers trying to make a living in Columbia as well.
But, if you want my honest opinion, both are pieces of shit anyway. Bush is just too much of a pussy to kill somebody himself, he pays other people like Kerry to do it for him.
As opposed to voting for a convicted drunk driver, ex-coke head, and current war criminal?
You name me ONE person who was in active COMBAT in Vietnam who didn't commit a "War crime".
I'd rather vote for the man who admits wrong doing and apologises rather than the man who does wrong but thinks it's right because it's "God's will", and refuses to admit otherwise.
I think it's the weight. A small car weighs between 1 and 1 1/2 tons, usually closer to 1 1/2 tons. For example, the Subaru Impreza weighs around 3200lbs, an Acura Integra weighs around 2600lbs..any car approaching 2000lbs is considered light by race standards, if that helps any..SUVs and the like are easily over 2 tons.
I'm not 100% sure but I think the "full" and "3/4" ton pickups refer to their hauling capacity, not their weight. (hauling, not towing mind you.)
Old tanks of gasoline aren't as good as new..believe it or not there's water in your gasoline. Water rusts metal. Rust clogs fuel lines and fuel injectors.;)
(I've had to replace a couple of gas tanks because gasoline sat in them too long)
I'm sure there'll be ways to test how good or bad a battery is. If a "battery swap" station gets a bad battery, they just recycle it..
There are several electric drag cars that'll toast a viper in the 1/4...hell, they even have their own league now. Nothing new. IIRC some have 200mph+ top speeds.
The AC motor in the Prius is water cooled?? Wow. From what I recall of my electric vehicle research the major heat producer was the controller box, (I forget the name of it) and the DC-DC converter, not the motor itself..maybe Toyota knows something the rest of us hobbyists don't.:)
A linear motor for the steering rack eh? Now that's spiffy.
The main point I was trying to make is that your average grease monkey won't be out of a job any time soon. Sure, they may have to learn some new skills, but your average dealership mechanic already has quite a few electrical and computer type skills as it is. Perhaps I choose bad parts as examples. Better examples might be your suspension and drive-train parts, which all cars have, regardless of power train configuration. You'll still need a mechanic with spring compressors and the like to replace or grease/pack your worn out struts / shocks / balljoints / hubs / wheel bearings / cv-joints / etc..and I don't see those being replaced by non-wear-and-tear parts anytime soon either.
The valve guides should be adjusted before your alternator or any of your power steering hoses are replaced. Things like that aren't high failure, but they do need to be adjusted and such. (Which still takes a grease monkey to do) My car is 14 years old and I haven't had to replace any of the high failure parts aside from pad/shoes, thermostat, 2 radiator hoses, and spark plugs. I'll replace the tranny before I replace my starter. It's all in how you treat your engine really. Most starter failures I've seen have been due to idiots trying too hard to start their car (running the starter for more than 10 seconds at a time), and breaking the teeth off of the gear that engages with the flywheel.
I agree we have gone a long way, but we have much longer to go before this is all common place. I for one love electric vehicles, and can't wait to have one. Having a motor that runs forever would be pretty bad ass, but I'm waiting until the battery tech is good enough where I can actually get some kind of *speed* out of the thing without lowering my range to 2 miles.;)
I think for the time being though, a hybrid approach is the best solution; but I have issues with the normal gasoline-electric hybrid approach...I think there are better setups we could be using. I'd like to see someone perfect the Tesla turbine, and have a steam generator in the trunk...only thing you need to fill up would be water, and perhaps some propane or something, unless the heater was electric..of course if the man would have perfected the wireless transmission of power, we wouldn't need batteries or generators..ahh what a dream that'd be.
Raise ball pythons, the most common pet store variety. People in the know get them for $20 as babies, but they go for around $50-$60 (sometimes $100!!!) at mall pet stores. You could probably find a few local pet stores and sell direct to them. (I don't know about laws n such..but I don't think there are any)
Or you could grab a couple of female emerald tree boas and a male or two..the exotics go for prices you wouldn't believe.
"I decided I was tired of going home greasy, busting my knuckles, and working out in the cold."
After 8 *years* as an Auto Tech, it didn't dawn on you to wear a Dickies work suit, and some freaking gloves? I figured that out my first day on the job buddy. Hell, I knew that BEFORE I went to work my first day. Stop changing oil with your bare hands. DUH!
"Once school is completed I'll make at least twice what I did working on cars." HAHAHAHA!
You were obviously some half-assed Lube or Tire Tech at your local Jiffy Lube. Had you applied yourself and gone to school for mechanics, you could be making twice as much as you *hope* to be making after your schooling is done. Master Tech's _bank_, especially at dealerships. Most of the master techs I know make from $80K up, and it's easy work. The industry is, for the most part, a HELL of a lot more stable and secure than the IT industry.
Also, you could have looked into the Auto Collision Repair industry. Painters for dealerships START at around $80k a year. START. That's someone who does nothing else but spray, and spray, and spray. Worst case scenario is you end up working for a Macco type place, getting around $15-$20 per car, at ~10 cars per day on average. That's not chump change there. $15 for 30 minutes or less of work?
There's even more money to be made if you own your own shop, or do custom work. A few cars per month at around $6-$10k per car adds up. Plus you get to meet all those hot asian models (or breast implanted blondes if you're into domestics..yuk) at the car shows while they're posing half naked on one of YOUR creations..;) "Yea, I made this car.." "Oh really, it's so hot" "...Yea, yea, thanks."
That doesn't happen to your average CS degree holder.
So in other words, not a very smart move there. Best of luck though.;P
Sure, how the engine is _managed_ changes a lot. How a reciprocating internal combustion engine _works_ will NEVER change. It's been the same, for the most part, since the damn thing was invented. It'll be the same until battery tech evolves to the point where we can all drive electric vehicles. _Not_any_time_soon_.
Your car is a hybrid, so to quote you: "A bad example."
Technically it has a starter, the electric motor. That's all a starter is, BTW. ICE's don't start spinning by magik. Your cam is also not completely under computer control, it's still spinning off the timing belt/chain, and AFAIK only the phasing is controlled by a computer. Oh, and technically, it has an alternator also; the electric motor under regenerative braking. (I'm pretty sure..) Where do you think your car gets the juice to fire the plugs? Run all those electric non-belt driven accessories you're bragging about? The radio? The head lights? Recharging the batteries? The electric power steering pump? (It _has_ a pump, just not belt driven, line pressure doesn't come from nowhere either)
So while a guy with "just a torque wrench and a feeler gauge" won't be able to fix _everything_..you still have pistons, a crankshaft, connecting rods, a cylinder head, valves, valve springs, valve seals, piston rings, cam gears, camshafts, get the picture?
pffft...I think not! Diesel! (Had to nitpick since you added the "oline" part)
Have you ever looked into the cab of a modern semi? I'd bet the technology inside would rival anything you've got laying 'round. Hell, there are more buttons in those things than I have in my entire HOUSE.
I travel 75 on my way from Tulsa to The Colony all the time, and for Sherman it's getting that way. Shouldn't be too long now...scary isn't it? (Do people in that area actually commute to Dallas?)
You're probably right about the IBM thing...it's all upper-middle-class housing now, so that's probably pretty close to it....
Good to see someone else from that neck of the woods.
What's made it far worse is the extension of the tollway, the building of that stupid mall, Frisco, etc..etc..I don't ever recall it being that bad when it was just the Stonebriar (I think that's the name of the uber-expensive subdivision) folks crossing 121.
I recently went back to that area after being gone for six years. I grew up in The Colony. It's insane how much that area has changed. INSANE.
And to go even more off topic: Do you know what the purposed use of all that IBM land in The Colony was? It's all subdivisions now, but when I was a kid, I always wondered why they'd own all that land out there..someone once told me they were going to build some kind of school.....
They usually won't tell you about these circumstances in the booklet, but in a lot of states these rules do exist. In Georgia these rules certainly do exist, I'm friends with many police officers and they confirm this. These types of rules are unspoken, but that doesn't mean they dont exist. Some other types of these rules are:
A police car sitting on the side of the road checking for speeders must be visible from 300ft in either direction. (Length changes on state, some states don't have this one but mine certainly does)
If a cop were to pull out behind you because you were speeding, they must then follow you until the first posted speed limit sign, and if you slow down, they can't pull you over. "Well officer I had just turned onto this road and was unsure of the speed limit, as there were no signs." This one obviously doesn't work if you're doing 90MPH in a 45MPH zone, but it's handy for 55MPH in a 45MPH zone.
They of course don't put these rules and laws in the little driver's handbooks, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
The next time you want to cry "Bullshit" make sure you know what it is that you're talking about. Just because your little driver's handbook doesn't tell you that having a crack in your windshield over 3 inches in length is illegal, doesn't mean it isn't illegal, or that a cop won't use it as probable cause to pull you over. Same thing goes for driving more than 100ft with your dome light on, or rolling more than 100ft in a center turn lane.
What about the unspoken "10 over" rule? It most certainly is effective, but not legally documented. The handbook doesn't say anything about this rule, but try getting a speeding ticket doing 50MPH in a 45MPH zone; it just doesn't happen. (You could get it thrown out in court using either a speedometer inaccuracy defence or a laser/radar inaccuracy defence..which, btw, I have seen both work in court..) There are several times when you are allowed to break the speed limit, either legally or through unspoken rules that the police hold as strict as law.
Indeed. This also applies to you "light creepers" out there. Light creep is a bad thing people. Bad. Driving a manual transmission, stick it in second, and let it coast along. Living in Atlanta, I rarely had to touch the brakes at all.
4) Get over early. You having to slow down your lane so you can get over in a hurry, slows down your lane and causes others to change lanes.
Not always as easy as it seems, but sound advice. Most of the traffic problems I've noticed are assholes who drive the exact same way EVERY SINGLE DAY but somehow always fail to remember when the time comes which lane their exit is. This causes most of the traffic. Get in the lane you NEED to be in, and stay there.
Atlanta has had this for a while, actually. There's several GADOT websites that show traffic reports in real time overlaid on a map. It uses those cameras that are every mile or so. It's pretty spiffy, actually. Around this time, all of 75N, 85N, I-20 and the northern half of 285 should be Red. (less than 10mph, IIRC)
Well, if they're doing 30 over, that's not exactly "cutting you off", now is it? 30 over would put them several yards infront of you before their brain even thinks about getting back over. Get over it. As for them giving you the finger, big deal. Get over it. Kudos for staying in the right lane though.
Speed limit? Moot. There is no speed limit. Flow of traffic determines speed limit. Period.
The left lane is for PASSING ONLY. Not for eating a hamburger or talking on your cellphone. It's for passing, and to pass, one must break the speed limit, and legally it's allowed. You're allowed to break the speed limit when overtaking a vehicle. There's also certain other conditions that allow you to break the speed limit legally, such as going down certain grades of inclines.
And, technically (As another poster has pointed out but not for this reason) driving the speed limit in the far left lane *is* illegal. The left lane (on a two-lane highway) is for passing, and passing only. Period.
I completely agree. Totally agree. On the topic of driving:
I think parents should stop being bitches. Don't want your kid to speed? Don't buy him that brand new Cobra Mustang for his 16th birthday. Complaining that he wrapped said Cobra around a tree and died? You should have taught them how to drive. Period.
Parents in the USA make me sick. They look for any excuse to not parent their children, but then complain when they turned out bad, or do things wrong. Point the finger at yourselves people. You have complete control over what your child does, and when they do it. Anything less is just pathetic. The new "Graduated drivers license" laws prove just that. Parents don't teach their children proper driving skills, buy them brand new sports cars and turn them loose. They go out and wrap their cars around a telephone pole at 60mph. Well, what the hell did you expect to happen? I'm sick of bad parents making everyone else suffer for their ineptitude.
And for the record, when/if I do have children, they will be taught how to drive at age 11. I will continue to teach them how to drive until they turn 16, and I am fairly confident that I will have no worries. But then again, my children will have several years of AutoX knowledge thrust upon them, as well as the knowledge and experience of someone who hasn't gotten a single traffic violation in his life.
Slashdot Mirror
What? I bought plenty of stuff in Ontario with my US dollars; in fact most of the merchants were more than happy to take it, and I didn't even mind if they ripped me off a few cents on the exchange. Serves me right.
Fat prick? 6'2" 200lbs, thank you VERY much. I'm considered skinny, you ignorant fuck.
Your father drove a truck, get over it. If he was actually in combat, then there's no doubt that he is also a "murderer" either by direct action, or by reciprocative action. You don't spray the jungle or fire some bursts at someone in a village and not expect to hit a few innocent people during war time.
Either that, or your father is a liar. Mine on the other hand, was a Ranger during the war, and freely admits to killing "innocent" people, or having some role in the death of an "innocent" person, and not doing anything about it. It's part of the game. It's war, it's ugly, people die; get over it. Don't like it? Don't support war.
My father actually says "Naw I was never in 'Nam, it was more like Laos and Cambodia." if that gives you any clue there. He spent time as a POW in a tiger pit chained up by a meat hook in his forearm, so I think I know damn well what the fuck I'm talking about.
An apology is not just fine, but Kerry is not alone in his actions. Thousands of our troops committed such acts, it's part of war. At least he was there, and served, which is more than you can say for your beloved Dubya.
Bush is a convicted drunk driver. That's just as bad as murder IMO, and in the opinion of anyone who's lost a loved one due to the moronic actions of a drunk driver. He served no time. Bush is also directly or indirectly (Yes, I know only Congress can declare war, before you even start) responsible for a few THOUSAND deaths of "innocent" Iraqis. Then there's his former love of cocaine; I'm sure through his purchasing of said cocaine, he contributed to a few deaths of innocent villagers trying to make a living in Columbia as well.
But, if you want my honest opinion, both are pieces of shit anyway. Bush is just too much of a pussy to kill somebody himself, he pays other people like Kerry to do it for him.
As opposed to voting for a convicted drunk driver, ex-coke head, and current war criminal?
You name me ONE person who was in active COMBAT in Vietnam who didn't commit a "War crime".
I'd rather vote for the man who admits wrong doing and apologises rather than the man who does wrong but thinks it's right because it's "God's will", and refuses to admit otherwise.
It's cool, we forgive you; it's in our nature ya know. ;)
I think it's the weight. A small car weighs between 1 and 1 1/2 tons, usually closer to 1 1/2 tons. For example, the Subaru Impreza weighs around 3200lbs, an Acura Integra weighs around 2600lbs..any car approaching 2000lbs is considered light by race standards, if that helps any..SUVs and the like are easily over 2 tons.
I'm not 100% sure but I think the "full" and "3/4" ton pickups refer to their hauling capacity, not their weight. (hauling, not towing mind you.)
Hey hey!
:)
Styles of music _do not_ embrace points of view!!
It's simply a style of music, period.
For every nihilist punk rock band, there's equal numbers of positive punk bands.
Just defending my culture here. Please refrain from lumping us all into your generalisations.
(I'm an American, BTW)
;)
"And when it happens, I will rejoice in the ironic justice of it all."
As will I.
"or the European taste for marijuana."
Can I come live with you? We can rejoice together.
Old tanks of gasoline aren't as good as new..believe it or not there's water in your gasoline. Water rusts metal. Rust clogs fuel lines and fuel injectors. ;)
(I've had to replace a couple of gas tanks because gasoline sat in them too long)
I'm sure there'll be ways to test how good or bad a battery is. If a "battery swap" station gets a bad battery, they just recycle it..
There are several electric drag cars that'll toast a viper in the 1/4...hell, they even have their own league now. Nothing new. IIRC some have 200mph+ top speeds.
Good points.
:)
;)
The AC motor in the Prius is water cooled?? Wow. From what I recall of my electric vehicle research the major heat producer was the controller box, (I forget the name of it) and the DC-DC converter, not the motor itself..maybe Toyota knows something the rest of us hobbyists don't.
A linear motor for the steering rack eh? Now that's spiffy.
The main point I was trying to make is that your average grease monkey won't be out of a job any time soon. Sure, they may have to learn some new skills, but your average dealership mechanic already has quite a few electrical and computer type skills as it is. Perhaps I choose bad parts as examples. Better examples might be your suspension and drive-train parts, which all cars have, regardless of power train configuration. You'll still need a mechanic with spring compressors and the like to replace or grease/pack your worn out struts / shocks / balljoints / hubs / wheel bearings / cv-joints / etc..and I don't see those being replaced by non-wear-and-tear parts anytime soon either.
The valve guides should be adjusted before your alternator or any of your power steering hoses are replaced. Things like that aren't high failure, but they do need to be adjusted and such. (Which still takes a grease monkey to do) My car is 14 years old and I haven't had to replace any of the high failure parts aside from pad/shoes, thermostat, 2 radiator hoses, and spark plugs. I'll replace the tranny before I replace my starter. It's all in how you treat your engine really. Most starter failures I've seen have been due to idiots trying too hard to start their car (running the starter for more than 10 seconds at a time), and breaking the teeth off of the gear that engages with the flywheel.
I agree we have gone a long way, but we have much longer to go before this is all common place. I for one love electric vehicles, and can't wait to have one. Having a motor that runs forever would be pretty bad ass, but I'm waiting until the battery tech is good enough where I can actually get some kind of *speed* out of the thing without lowering my range to 2 miles.
I think for the time being though, a hybrid approach is the best solution; but I have issues with the normal gasoline-electric hybrid approach...I think there are better setups we could be using. I'd like to see someone perfect the Tesla turbine, and have a steam generator in the trunk...only thing you need to fill up would be water, and perhaps some propane or something, unless the heater was electric..of course if the man would have perfected the wireless transmission of power, we wouldn't need batteries or generators..ahh what a dream that'd be.
Breed snakes, no shit.
Raise ball pythons, the most common pet store variety. People in the know get them for $20 as babies, but they go for around $50-$60 (sometimes $100!!!) at mall pet stores. You could probably find a few local pet stores and sell direct to them. (I don't know about laws n such..but I don't think there are any)
Or you could grab a couple of female emerald tree boas and a male or two..the exotics go for prices you wouldn't believe.
Sorry to be an ass but:
;) "Yea, I made this car.." "Oh really, it's so hot" "...Yea, yea, thanks."
;P
"I decided I was tired of going home greasy, busting my knuckles, and working out in the cold."
After 8 *years* as an Auto Tech, it didn't dawn on you to wear a Dickies work suit, and some freaking gloves? I figured that out my first day on the job buddy. Hell, I knew that BEFORE I went to work my first day. Stop changing oil with your bare hands. DUH!
"Once school is completed I'll make at least twice what I did working on cars."
HAHAHAHA!
You were obviously some half-assed Lube or Tire Tech at your local Jiffy Lube. Had you applied yourself and gone to school for mechanics, you could be making twice as much as you *hope* to be making after your schooling is done. Master Tech's _bank_, especially at dealerships. Most of the master techs I know make from $80K up, and it's easy work. The industry is, for the most part, a HELL of a lot more stable and secure than the IT industry.
Also, you could have looked into the Auto Collision Repair industry. Painters for dealerships START at around $80k a year. START. That's someone who does nothing else but spray, and spray, and spray. Worst case scenario is you end up working for a Macco type place, getting around $15-$20 per car, at ~10 cars per day on average. That's not chump change there. $15 for 30 minutes or less of work?
There's even more money to be made if you own your own shop, or do custom work. A few cars per month at around $6-$10k per car adds up. Plus you get to meet all those hot asian models (or breast implanted blondes if you're into domestics..yuk) at the car shows while they're posing half naked on one of YOUR creations..
That doesn't happen to your average CS degree holder.
So in other words, not a very smart move there. Best of luck though.
Sure, how the engine is _managed_ changes a lot. How a reciprocating internal combustion engine _works_ will NEVER change. It's been the same, for the most part, since the damn thing was invented. It'll be the same until battery tech evolves to the point where we can all drive electric vehicles. _Not_any_time_soon_.
Your car is a hybrid, so to quote you: "A bad example."
Technically it has a starter, the electric motor. That's all a starter is, BTW. ICE's don't start spinning by magik. Your cam is also not completely under computer control, it's still spinning off the timing belt/chain, and AFAIK only the phasing is controlled by a computer. Oh, and technically, it has an alternator also; the electric motor under regenerative braking. (I'm pretty sure..) Where do you think your car gets the juice to fire the plugs? Run all those electric non-belt driven accessories you're bragging about? The radio? The head lights? Recharging the batteries? The electric power steering pump? (It _has_ a pump, just not belt driven, line pressure doesn't come from nowhere either)
So while a guy with "just a torque wrench and a feeler gauge" won't be able to fix _everything_..you still have pistons, a crankshaft, connecting rods, a cylinder head, valves, valve springs, valve seals, piston rings, cam gears, camshafts, get the picture?
And to be pedantic, it's "alternator".
Do you not take a shit at work? Does the hospital not have plumbing? Taco Bell employees use an out-house?
Not all plumbing jobs are for residental clients, ya know. The Pentagon has toilets, lots of 'em..and they aren't going anywhere any time soon...
"and gas(oline)"
pffft...I think not! Diesel! (Had to nitpick since you added the "oline" part)
Have you ever looked into the cab of a modern semi? I'd bet the technology inside would rival anything you've got laying 'round. Hell, there are more buttons in those things than I have in my entire HOUSE.
I travel 75 on my way from Tulsa to The Colony all the time, and for Sherman it's getting that way. Shouldn't be too long now...scary isn't it? (Do people in that area actually commute to Dallas?)
You're probably right about the IBM thing...it's all upper-middle-class housing now, so that's probably pretty close to it....
Good to see someone else from that neck of the woods.
What's made it far worse is the extension of the tollway, the building of that stupid mall, Frisco, etc..etc..I don't ever recall it being that bad when it was just the Stonebriar (I think that's the name of the uber-expensive subdivision) folks crossing 121.
I recently went back to that area after being gone for six years. I grew up in The Colony. It's insane how much that area has changed. INSANE.
And to go even more off topic: Do you know what the purposed use of all that IBM land in The Colony was? It's all subdivisions now, but when I was a kid, I always wondered why they'd own all that land out there..someone once told me they were going to build some kind of school.....
They usually won't tell you about these circumstances in the booklet, but in a lot of states these rules do exist. In Georgia these rules certainly do exist, I'm friends with many police officers and they confirm this. These types of rules are unspoken, but that doesn't mean they dont exist. Some other types of these rules are:
A police car sitting on the side of the road checking for speeders must be visible from 300ft in either direction. (Length changes on state, some states don't have this one but mine certainly does)
If a cop were to pull out behind you because you were speeding, they must then follow you until the first posted speed limit sign, and if you slow down, they can't pull you over. "Well officer I had just turned onto this road and was unsure of the speed limit, as there were no signs." This one obviously doesn't work if you're doing 90MPH in a 45MPH zone, but it's handy for 55MPH in a 45MPH zone.
They of course don't put these rules and laws in the little driver's handbooks, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.
The next time you want to cry "Bullshit" make sure you know what it is that you're talking about. Just because your little driver's handbook doesn't tell you that having a crack in your windshield over 3 inches in length is illegal, doesn't mean it isn't illegal, or that a cop won't use it as probable cause to pull you over. Same thing goes for driving more than 100ft with your dome light on, or rolling more than 100ft in a center turn lane.
What about the unspoken "10 over" rule? It most certainly is effective, but not legally documented. The handbook doesn't say anything about this rule, but try getting a speeding ticket doing 50MPH in a 45MPH zone; it just doesn't happen. (You could get it thrown out in court using either a speedometer inaccuracy defence or a laser/radar inaccuracy defence..which, btw, I have seen both work in court..) There are several times when you are allowed to break the speed limit, either legally or through unspoken rules that the police hold as strict as law.
Legitimate, probably not. Legally? Yup. At least in my state. It applies to all highways.
3) When in a backup let the gap be made
Indeed. This also applies to you "light creepers" out there. Light creep is a bad thing people. Bad. Driving a manual transmission, stick it in second, and let it coast along. Living in Atlanta, I rarely had to touch the brakes at all.
4) Get over early. You having to slow down your lane so you can get over in a hurry, slows down your lane and causes others to change lanes.
Not always as easy as it seems, but sound advice. Most of the traffic problems I've noticed are assholes who drive the exact same way EVERY SINGLE DAY but somehow always fail to remember when the time comes which lane their exit is. This causes most of the traffic. Get in the lane you NEED to be in, and stay there.
Indeed. Bowties are for children.
My favourite MOPAR one:
Mistubishi's OverPriced American Replicas.
It's so true.
MOPAR stands for "Motor Parts". How stupid is that. Genuine MOPAR Parts, Motor Parts Parts?
Oh yea, one other thing:
Atlanta has had this for a while, actually. There's several GADOT websites that show traffic reports in real time overlaid on a map. It uses those cameras that are every mile or so. It's pretty spiffy, actually. Around this time, all of 75N, 85N, I-20 and the northern half of 285 should be Red. (less than 10mph, IIRC)
Well, if they're doing 30 over, that's not exactly "cutting you off", now is it? 30 over would put them several yards infront of you before their brain even thinks about getting back over. Get over it. As for them giving you the finger, big deal. Get over it. Kudos for staying in the right lane though.
Speed limit? Moot. There is no speed limit. Flow of traffic determines speed limit. Period.
The left lane is for PASSING ONLY. Not for eating a hamburger or talking on your cellphone. It's for passing, and to pass, one must break the speed limit, and legally it's allowed. You're allowed to break the speed limit when overtaking a vehicle. There's also certain other conditions that allow you to break the speed limit legally, such as going down certain grades of inclines.
And, technically (As another poster has pointed out but not for this reason) driving the speed limit in the far left lane *is* illegal. The left lane (on a two-lane highway) is for passing, and passing only. Period.
I completely agree. Totally agree. On the topic of driving:
I think parents should stop being bitches. Don't want your kid to speed? Don't buy him that brand new Cobra Mustang for his 16th birthday. Complaining that he wrapped said Cobra around a tree and died? You should have taught them how to drive. Period.
Parents in the USA make me sick. They look for any excuse to not parent their children, but then complain when they turned out bad, or do things wrong. Point the finger at yourselves people. You have complete control over what your child does, and when they do it. Anything less is just pathetic. The new "Graduated drivers license" laws prove just that. Parents don't teach their children proper driving skills, buy them brand new sports cars and turn them loose. They go out and wrap their cars around a telephone pole at 60mph. Well, what the hell did you expect to happen? I'm sick of bad parents making everyone else suffer for their ineptitude.
And for the record, when/if I do have children, they will be taught how to drive at age 11. I will continue to teach them how to drive until they turn 16, and I am fairly confident that I will have no worries. But then again, my children will have several years of AutoX knowledge thrust upon them, as well as the knowledge and experience of someone who hasn't gotten a single traffic violation in his life.