Doing the Speed Limit and Being Abused For It!

[Oldgringo]

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?

[jmra]

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.

Fear not though. Eventually those people will run into me or one of my colleagues, and we'll make sure they they are taken care of.

I think some of the drivers I see every morning have no clue they can actually drive in the right hand lane. I (along with most other traffic) have to pass them on the right every day. You have to wonder where/how these people got their DL.

[Cedar Park Dad]

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.

[puma guy]

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.

Fear not though. Eventually those people will run into me or one of my colleagues, and we'll make sure they they are taken care of.

Good for you, Chris. I thought I had read somewhere that DPS was going to start a full court press on the passing lane issue. Any word come from on high regarding that?

[03Lightningrocks]

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.

[RoyGBiv]

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.

Fear not though. Eventually those people will run into me or one of my colleagues, and we'll make sure they they are taken care of.

I'd like to see more tickets written for tailgating. I'm rarely (never ) the slowest guy on the road, and it drives me crazy when people tailgate me. More unsafe than speeding, IMO. I'll get out of the way as soon as it's possible and safe to do so, but get off my tail!

[03Lightningrocks]

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

[VMI77]

Yeah, the guy in a white mini van showed me one night by not letting me pass on a two lane road by almost killing my sister that was going into anaphylactic shock from eating some salad at my house one evening that unbeknownst to us had a preservative on it. That tough guy stood his ground and didn't let that obnoxious speeder by. He should be real proud. He even slowed down below the speed limit to show me he was boss and didn't have to move over to the shoulder.

Before you start, I had my flashers on and flashed my lights. It's a twenty minute drive to the hospital, her epi injections didnt work and if we would waited for an ambulance she would have died.

But it's much more important to show the sorry speeders up than to let them pass. Who needs courtesy? By gosh this is America. One thing I will say, he is very fortunate she survived as I took his license plate down and was prepared to track him down.

I've come up behind drivers going way UNDER the speed limit...like 50 in a 70, and had them speed up to way over the speed limit when I tried to pass to prevent me from passing. And then there are the drivers going 60 in a 70 on the highway outside of town who then proceed to drive 45 in a 30 in town.

[jbarn]

[quote="mojo84"
I've come up behind drivers going way UNDER the speed limit...like 50 in a 70, and had them speed up to way over the speed limit when I tried to pass to prevent me from passing. And then there are the drivers going 60 in a 70 on the highway outside of town who then proceed to drive 45 in a 30 in town.

lol If you have a CHL remember the Non Violent Dispute Resolution Training, specifically the Ego states? People tend to slip into the Child ego state when driving, don't they?

[VMI77]

Is it illegal here to make rude gestures? I can't remember. I will throw up my hands in exasperation, but never make a rude gesture no matter how much I may want to. Lol. I should probably stop doing that too. Don't want some crazy prosecutor trying to pull a gun on me!

Growing up here in Texas, it's always been that slower moving vehicles move onto the shoulder to allow you to pass, especially in small towns. A friendly wave is given from both drivers. I've not seen anyone move over if they were going the speed limit though.

I feel your irritation, I do the speed limit most of the time even with my radar detector. Hey, it tells me when the train is coming and emergency vehicles. I do love it when people impatiently pass me and my radar is buzzing like crazy!

The common practice now, at least in this part of the state, is a brief burst of emergency flashers from the passing vehicle once they've pulled back into the lane in front. Used to be the wave when I was young, now I see the flashers about 9 times out of 10.

[JSThane]

I'd like to see more tickets written for tailgating. I'm rarely (never ) the slowest guy on the road, and it drives me crazy when people tailgate me. More unsafe than speeding, IMO. I'll get out of the way as soon as it's possible and safe to do so, but get off my tail!

Out here, we've got a lot of two-lane roads, and a lot of drivers that either drive 20 under or 20 over. Some of the second category will ride your bumper to "push" you faster, even if there's no oncoming traffic and they can safely pass. My standard practice for dealing with them is to slow down to just slightly under the speed limit (I fall into the 5-over crowd, unless I'm inside city limits, where the speed limit isn't just an excuse for a ticket, but an actual practical number, due to other vehicle and pedestrian traffic). If they're unhurried enough to take the time to sit on my bumper and flash lights, horn, and/or finger instead of passing, then they're unhurried enough for me to slow down a bit more. Usually, they'll swerve around me once I do this, and then I get plenty of time to laugh at them when they rage out over getting stuck behind the combine tractor ahead.

I'm a bad person, I know.

[Cedar Park Dad]

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.

On 290 thats before 5AM and after 8.00PM. Just wait until they really get started on construction...

[Chris]

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.

[jmra]

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.

Slow traffic in the left hand lane is much more dangerous than a speeder on an open road. 97 year old ladies are often more dangerous than teens.

[FML]

Have we become so sensitive that a one finger salute in passing is now considered abuse by Texans?

FML