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Re: A Left Lane Laggard Wants to Know



In article <3uqb8g$86g@murrow.corp.sgi.com> Corey Alambar <corwyn> writes:
>a-mikem@ac.tandem.com (mckay_michael) wrote:
>>In article <3unsdc$52l@murrow.corp.sgi.com> Corey Alambar <corwyn> writes:
> find that often I do have to pass on
>>the right, unless I want to do 40mph (cars of limited hp trying to go up
>>hill if nothing else) following behind cars that don't pull over.
>I find myself seriously disliing passing on the right, especially on curves,
>precisely BECAUSE there are slow trucks (doing between 15 (!!) and 45 mph) that
>you might not see save for their effect.
    I did not say this was a "good" feature, just one that [in my experience]
was unique.  This used to bother me a lot more before I changed my commute 
car to one with more power (no accident that).  My old Datsun 310 only had
65hp!  Actually, by carefully watching traffic, you can reduce the risk 
somewhat, I can usually tell there is a slow truck ahead by watching the way
people drive.

>Good suggestions all.  But there is anothe problem:  A uniquely Californian
>thing, I have noticed.  Even New Yorkers on the Long Island Expressway, who
>drive inordinately close, would consider the average following disance out here
>to be insane.  I measured it once.  I can't give more than a 1 second following
>time, or someone WILL jump in in front of me, and almost invariably step on the
>brakes because they were moving pretty fast to be able to get into the spot in
>the first place.  So I have to jump all over the brakes.
    I come from a strong anti-tailgaiting background.  Still after years of
commuting over highway 17 I've noticed myself driving closer than before.
It usually goes in cycles, I start to drive close for several weeks than
drop back.  Having said that, too close for me starts at 1 second, and dropping
back means 1.5 to 2 seconds.  Basically you have to allow people to get in
front of you.  This is often somewhat difficult for me personally because I
go slow in the straights (where they pull in front of me) and I have to live
with them slowing me down in the curves.  But since I'm not in a race, just
a necissary commute, I live with it.  Still, I average over 50K between brake
jobs, and get 50-60K out of soft-performance tires.  I just avoid pushing 
things unless they are really needed.
>
>Basically,. it's a matter of common courtesy, lack of skill/confidence, and
>necessity.  Most everyone who commutes over 17 does it in part because they
>HAVE to.  There is no rail corridor, and the 17 Express bus is infequent and
>useless to get to points outside of San Jose in any kind of timely fashion.
>(to get to Mountain VIew, for example, from Santa Cruz takes 45 mins. to 1 hr
>by car.  It takes 3 1/2 hours by "mass transit") -Corey
   Agreed!  Late commute take 38-45 minutes one way, bus + transfers is 1 hour
45 minutes (not counting driving to the park&ride).   -mjm-


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