Getting Flipped Off Is A Badge of Honor

I was solo driving to the dentist today. I had a big ol' dump truck ahead of me doing 40~45 in a 50 kmh zone. Which was fine by me; I was in no rush. I was keeping a goodly space to him too, just in case there was some left-over gravel. Not just that though: if he bogs down further, I can just coast up to him, maybe avoid touching the brake. Anyway:

There was a guy tight behind me, impatient to get somewhere, frustrated, I don't know, or care. He swerved out to the left lane, scooted past me, pulled back in and realized: that hadn't accomplished much; he's looking at the back of a big/slow truck. So back to the left lane, floored it.

He made the light, just. I didn't. The dump truck rumbled to a stop for it, I coasted up.

A bit later the light went green, and off we went. Life goes on.

 

I agree, except at 4-way stops in the small town, four cars get there at the same time and they set there waving "you go", no "you go", naw, you go ahead and go. Except for the Ram p/u drivers, they're all aggressive like they're mad, made three payments, have 81 more to go and finally realize they just bought a Dodge.

 

I think the rules are, first to come is first to go, and in the event of a tie: the guy on the right goes first. But yeah, I can see that, it's quite pretty actually: four vehicles arrive simultaneously, everybody's on the right of somebody, now what...

Yeah that's beautiful...

 

When I actually lived in Seattle proper, I was near a 4-way stop where multilane streets crossed and often created a multi-car backup. The experienced locals knew how to get through 4 cars at a time: two side-by-side cars from opposing sides would move forward together, any left turners would start slower, holding back just until the straights had passed. Then the cross direction could do the same. This worked best when cars in the backup ignored the order of when others arrived, and just cooperated with the pattern, allowing a high through-put.

But there were often some Nervous Nellies or unfamiliar folks who would hold back when it was their turn in the group pattern, then try to go just ahead of the opposing side. So the pattern did get disrupted, sharply reducing through-put, but was usually back into sync fairly quickly.

I haven't lived in that area for more than thirty years, so don't know how well it works in heavy commute traffic now.

 

The one that's smart enough to GO after a STOP and not wait to see who's going to do what.
It is not a STOP and WAIT sign!

 

@227...since this thread is still about measuring...might as well go with it.

I drive a $50,000,000 vehicle almost every night. No tickets and hold short when directed...but nothing beats the smell of jet exhaust, a good expedite and T/O power in the morning.

 

My daily driver, when working anyway, is a 60,000 pound National boom truck, on a Mack 425 hp carrier. It has 3 speed ranges and 5 tranny speeds. Airhorns plus electric horn, it's 40' long and 13' high. A two position Jake brake, and my company name written all over it, along with my phone number. At the end of the day, when I park it and climb in the 2013 PIP for the 13 mile drive home (rural, thank God), to say my workload is reduced is an understatement. When driving the crane, I'll do anything to keep my momentum up, to not come to a full stop, including coast thru stop signs if I think I can get away with it. In the crane, if I pull out in front of someone, making them slow slightly or change lanes, I often think "I have people behind me, wanting me to get a move on, so let me in so they can also get going." I can generally get away with this, with no finger waving by others, as it's obvious enough it's a big slow truck (and, they'd come out the loser in any physical contact), but when in the PIP, I'm a frigging Boy Scout, always wanting to NOT be "that Prius driver." Compared to the complexity of driving the crane, when i get in the car, all I have is a whoa and a go, and the fact that it generates power/range when slowing is a constant joy! What I really need and want, is a hybrid crane, and they ARE on the horizon I'm told......

People are constantly amazed, or surprised a bit anyway, when they find I don't drive a 4x4 pickup, (though I have one) living on a mountain near a ski area, and because of what I do for a living. Now and then, I'll stop at the local watering hole in the very small town a couple miles from my place, and it's common to see nothing but flat beds and pickups, and I like knowing my beer is free, in effect, compared to the money the guy next to me spent that day on fuel for his quad cab, empty bed, pickup he used to get into town that day so he could make the next payment on the thing.

 

iPhone 6s +

 

My son started working at a gas station ( Kwik Trip ) and sees the fuel bill of many different vehicles. He is absolutely floored at the fuel bill for some of these large trucks. Add to that the fact these trucks get very low MPG and he now understands why I make him drive our 2010 Prius.

 

I've had many people stop to talk with me at our local gas station. Typical story is they see my car (the red Insight) and how fast it fuels up (10 gallon tank, typically 9-10 gallons per fill up) compared to their behemoth SUVs and trucks, and ask questions about it, and are pretty shocked when they realize I usually get around 900 miles per tank in the summer and 800 miles per tank in the winter. The Prius isn't quite as efficient (50s mpg) but definitely a lot stingier than the 04 Sienna (25-30 mpg) and 99 Sierra (10-15 mpg) my family used to drive.

 

Yep...I love pulling to the pump, putting my 7-8 gallons in, and leaving before the big truckers are even done pumping.

Cool that you have an insight. I've always wanted one!