TexasCHLforum.com

chocolate bayou wrote:i've lived in Texas all my life. Ihave always tried to pull over to shoulder on 2 lane roads, AS A COURTESY. Now that I am in my sixties, I have found my reactions aren't as quick as when I was younger. Now if it's a wide shoulder or broad daylight I will still pull over, but if I am not comfortable in a situation then the guy behind me is either going to have to go the speed limit or have a car with enough punch to pull around. Let him be the one taking the chances.

JMO

Actually, it isn't just him at risk. If a driver is trying to pass and hits a vehicle coming from the other direction with you right beside or even behind them, you are almost certainly going to be a part of the wreckage the emergency rescue crew, has to cut apart. Even if the driver simply looses control on gravel, you are at extreme risk of being swerved into.

Oldgringo wrote:

Chris wrote:

Oldgringo wrote:

Chris wrote:Slower traffic failed to keep right used to be one of my favorite tickets. That's where road rage starts. I'd sit in the center median and laser cars. Speeding or not going fast enough, didn't matter to me, a ticket is still a ticket.

You have a quota to meet or is motorist safety your concern?

Ticket quotas are illegal. My last department I was strictly traffic, and I had a stop quota, but no department can tell me I'm required to write even one ticket. Here is the thing though, people know what they are and are not supposed to do. Why bust my hump trying to chase someone down only to sternly tell them not to do what they already knew was wrong in the first place? If you're in the left lane blocking up traffic making people mad, how is that any less of a violation than speeding? I wrote a 97 year old lady her very first traffic ticket for blowing right through a stop sign. I caught flak for it, but what's the difference between her doing it, or a teenager in his Mustang? The danger is the same.

Thanks for the clarification...sic 'em. (FWIW, I did get a speeding ticket on U.S. 27 in Florida in 1986.)

Since we are talking tickets. Last night I was bored and decided to go pick up some red box movies around 12:30. I have a f250 diesel and it runs like crud until it gets warmed up. I either have to sit in my driveway while it warms or go ahead and leave with it stuttering along down the alley. A few years ago I figured out I could put the pedal on the floor for the first few minutes and she would run without stuttering along. Well, low and behold I get pulled over for speeding down the only stretch of road leading to red box. He asks if I have an emergency or some other reason for speeding. I tell him the story of how my truck only runs properly if I speed. Until it gets warm. I hand him my license and CHL. He asks if I am armed and I say yes. Here is where it gets funny. He said, where is your weapon. I point to my right side and tell him one is right there and one in my left coat pocket. He then says, " Two guns. Are you expecting trouble?". Thanks to reading posts on this forum, I say the first thing that pops in my mind. "No sir, if I was expecting trouble I would be carrying my shotgun". The guy about wets himself laughing and tells me, good point. He hands me back my stuff without even running my license. He tells me, "slow it down, warming up your engine is not considered and emergency. Have a nice evening". Off he goes. Just like that. I guess I am lucky he didn't take my response as being a wise guy.

Any driver,(be it speeder, slow poker, teenager, old person), who takes it upon themselves to regulate the speed of others in any manner, becomes the most dangerous driver on the road. If we can move over enough to allow a driver who is driving faster to go around, we should. If we drive up on a person who is going slower than us, we should not try to "push" them down the road. It is not our job to "teach other drivers a lesson". If you are guilty of this, you know it. If you are playing teacher on the road and someone yanks you out of your car and beats you with that concealed handgun that makes you so brave, you deserve it.

How about we all use the same courtesy while driving that we always preach to each other about using in everyday life?

People will do stuff in their cars they would not have the guts or ignorance to do face to face. If you were walking through the grocery store and you saw a person behind you trying to go around you, would you intentionally make them walk at your pace? Would any of us come up behind another shopper with our grocery cart and see how close we can get without hitting them?

I suppose it is natural to feel safe and protected in a big metal box, but it is definitely a false sense of security.

I have to give you credit Abraham. You have a talent for bringing up a topic that is sure to get some interesting responses.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

03Lightningrocks wrote:

VMI77 wrote:Just about every time I drive through Houston, doing the speed limit seems downright dangerous with all the other cars whizzing by.

Now that is funny to read. I experience the same thing every time I visit my son in Houston. I have no problem driving ten over. I do it all the time. In most cases it is usually just about the right speed to keep with the flow of traffic. In Houston they drive by me so fast I question if I am actually moving.

I work in Houston. Most of the time on the freeways I wish I could even make it to the speed limit. Usually the freeway is a parking lot - no need to worry about a speeding ticket.

Note to self. "Always time my trips to miss the Houston rush hour traffic". I suppose, given a choice, I will go with having my doors blown off over sitting in a traffic snarl.

Oldgringo wrote:It never fails, on this learned forum where laws and the constitution are frequently quoted and debated, someone will propose that posted speed limits are not the law and/or do not apply to/when.........

I always thought those signs were the suggested minimum speed.

VMI77 wrote:Just about every time I drive through Houston, doing the speed limit seems downright dangerous with all the other cars whizzing by.

Now that is funny to read. I experience the same thing every time I visit my son in Houston. I have no problem driving ten over. I do it all the time. In most cases it is usually just about the right speed to keep with the flow of traffic. In Houston they drive by me so fast I question if I am actually moving.