When I was taught to drive, the key term that was pounded in our heads (Drivers Ed) was "Drive Defensively". Back then cars didn't have cup holders, cell phones, infotainment centers, mirrors in the sun visors for shaving or makeup artistry, video screens/games for the kiddos................. Now a day, I always figure people are doing a lot more than driving in their vehicles - no matter what they are driving. Great thread - glad to see we here in the Heartland aren't the only ones with this problem. Oh - and bicycle riders here in the Flat-Lands ride in packs - I have been told some are as big as 30 to 50 riders...................talk about frustrating g
When I floor the accelerator,.I get a great change of engine noise and very little in the way of increase speed (8.1 L gasser). Likewise I can not stop on a dime. The cell phone and texting has made things much worse. I have a very loud horn and it is a great safety devise.
I have a tendency to stay in the right lane and go about 62 to 65 mph, I've run into a few of the merge issues as mentioned before but overall hasn't been to much of a problem. The one issue I run into often is when I loose my right lane to an exit and I'm scrambling to get over left... partly my fault for not paying attention enough and of course no one willing to let me merge left.... Mike
Many, if not most it seems, people think that vehicles ON the highway have to yield to those entering the highway. Cell phones are worse than drunk drivers now... First thing police do at car accidents now is check cell phones to see when they were being used. Majority of time it was right before the accident. Doesn't make a difference if they are hand held or not, they distract from paying attention. One of my worst experiences was coming back from Disney World with the whole family in the truck while towing our TT. Evening rush hour, highway absolutely packed, but we were cruising at 65mph. Guy comes up an entrance ramp at 65mph and comes to within a hair's width alongside my truck - kids and wife "Car! car! Car!"... Me, "I know, and I can't do anything right now". I simply could NOT move over, speed up, or slow down. The guy finally realized he was RIGHT next to me and sped up to pull in front of me. I don't know how he didn't hit me. Shockingly, he was on his cell phone....
There are some crazy drivers out there- be careful! With a long well visible entrance lane it's fairly easy to judge a cars speed and make it clear if merging behind or ahead yet some drivers will try to mimic an intercept missile when entering a freeway. My main concern when towing is heavy traffic in major metro areas that require a lot of lane changing. If I can route myself around such areas, or go through on a weekend I will. I also keep the GPS on at all times as I can usually get a warning well ahead of time if I need to be in certain lanes. I had one driver in front of me that had a hard time maintaining his lane and wondered if he was drunk or busy on the phone. I finally passed him for safety reasons, and found out it was neither- he was watching a television while driving.
