Driving slow on fast freeways?

[UNI]

We have had a high amount of crashes here on the Missouri & Illinois Interstate highways. Whats wierd is, they have all been on straight aways, not on
curves. We always drive in the slow lane with plenty of room between the vehicle in front of us, especially when pulling the trailer.

"Kind of SCARY people aren't paying attention out there"​

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdFUUbN7nLg] Mo. School Bus Crash Kills Two[/ame]

 

[VicHanson]

A few comments after driving from Minnesota to San Francisco, mostly on non Interstate 2 and 4 lane roads. I can't believe the people that don't know how to pass! In Wyoming, Utah and Nevada especially. I was driving at 55 on 2 lane highways, some state but mostly US routes, using pull outs whenever there were any. I would slow down so it was easier for people to pass but still not have to stop if it was long enough. People slowed down to pass me so I had to stop rather than keep rolling, then I had to start from a stop going up hill. Or if there was a passing zone with a straight clear view, no cars coming, they would stay a few car lengths back and not try to pass until it was too late. I pulled way over to the right in my lane and slowed down to about 50 to make it easier for them but about half of the cars wouldn't pass, nor leave enough room between us to let others pass. Very frustrating.


My camper does better than I expected in the mountains, IF I can keep the RPMs up and the turbo pumping I can keep it at 40 mph on most climbs, which kept me up with the big trucks. Thank God for passing lanes in California! Hwy 50 from Sacramento to Tahoe went pretty well. Got lots of thank you honks and waves for using the turn outs and always used the slow right lane when there was a passing lane. Right now there are 5 of us in the truck and camper, with lots of luggage, heading down Hwy 49 to Yosemite. Going panning for gold tomorrow!

Had been boondocking when I was alone but couldn't even find a campground tonight, ended up at Best Western.

 

[scarysharkface]

A few comments after driving from Minnesota to San Francisco, mostly on non Interstate 2 and 4 lane roads. I can't believe the people that don't know how to pass! In Wyoming, Utah and Nevada especially. I was driving at 55 on 2 lane highways, some state but mostly US routes, using pull outs whenever there were any. I would slow down so it was easier for people to pass but still not have to stop if it was long enough. People slowed down to pass me so I had to stop rather than keep rolling, then I had to start from a stop going up hill. Or if there was a passing zone with a straight clear view, no cars coming, they would stay a few car lengths back and not try to pass until it was too late. I pulled way over to the right in my lane and slowed down to about 50 to make it easier for them but about half of the cars wouldn't pass, nor leave enough room between us to let others pass. Very frustrating.


My camper does better than I expected in the mountains, IF I can keep the RPMs up and the turbo pumping I can keep it at 40 mph on most climbs, which kept me up with the big trucks. Thank God for passing lanes in California! Hwy 50 from Sacramento to Tahoe went pretty well. Got lots of thank you honks and waves for using the turn outs and always used the slow right lane when there was a passing lane. Right now there are 5 of us in the truck and camper, with lots of luggage, heading down Hwy 49 to Yosemite. Going panning for gold tomorrow!

Had been boondocking when I was alone but couldn't even find a campground tonight, ended up at Best Western.

If even 1 out of 10 drivers were that considerate... :smiley_drive:

Hope you're having a great trip!

John

 

[DrMoab]

If even 1 out of 10 drivers were that considerate... :smiley_drive:

X2!

And I know what he means by people not knowing how to pass.

An example... The other night I was coming home...on the freeway in Idaho and there was a grand cherokee with super bright highbeam lights on. He was literally filling my cab with reflected light off my mirrors. He was in the left passing lane and creeping up on me at probably 1 MPH faster than I was driving. I got to the point where I couldn't take it any more and kicked the cruise down a couple MPH. He slowed down too. So I kicked the cruise off and slowed to about 60 (I was doing 68). He still wouldn't pass. It finally took me getting down to 45 MPH before he got the hint and went around.

I really wish they would invent a pill for stupidity.

 

[KG6BWS]

I really wish they would invent a pill for stupidity.

Pb.......

:costumed-smiley-007

 

[rusty_tlc]

X2!....

I really wish they would invent a pill for stupidity.

They have, if we could only get the right people to take it.

 

[R_Lefebvre]

I've done that too. I'm cruising along at 100km/h in my truck, late at night in the middle of nowhere on a divided 4 lane highway. The passing lane is free and clear. Somebody pulls up behind me, and just sits on my bumper. No reason not to pass. I usually will slow down to force the issue, which normally works. But every once in a while, the person will just sit there. If the highway is totally empty, I'll sometimes have fun with it. I've sustained speeds down to 50 km/h in a 100 zone, with some retard who just will not pass.

 

[JohnMcD348]

You could possibly get a large sticker for the back of your vehicle that says you drive 55. I've seen alot of these on the backs of some of our local Government vehicles. It says, this vehicle operates at 55mph in order to save fuel. They started showing up last year when gas was up near $4+/gal.

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

So for the entire month of August I have been driving down the I-15 and the 52 to Pacific Beach to get my bike riding exercise in. I stay in the right lane and I have been doing 57 to 62 MPH every time. I'm even usually behind slow trucks and I like that.

The only problem I have ever had was Thursday of this week. The right lane keeps expanding to the right, so I keep moving over.

An angry guy is now flying down an on ramp, on my right, some 100 yards behind me, and he is somehow offended that I went into the right/slow lane in front of him.

I was on the freeway! He was not! He can just go around me once he gets on the freeway!

He began flipping me off, and tailgating me among other things.


That's when I clearly let him know that he can kiss my Grass! That's when he left....:REExeSquatsHL1:



.

 

[tamangel]

like this:

couldn't copy the pic..
http://www.cafepress.com/dd/29686904

Mike

 

[Scenic WonderRunner]

like this:

couldn't copy the pic..
http://www.cafepress.com/dd/29686904

Mike

Cool!

Did that work?



I actually had to do 55 in my 18 wheelers back in the 1970's!

But I was OK with that. And it felt safer with a huge load. That guy behind me has No Idea where I've been!



.

 

[AUTO360]

Guess I'm a slow driver also. Doing a coast to coast trip right now. Driving my 03 E350 7.3 with 2 Kayaks on top, a bike on the front and a trailer with 3 motorcycles and a quad. Plus the van is loaded.
I'm driving about 60-62 mph. Thats 15 mpg. Its great because its relaxing and its a reasonable speed. Speed limits are from 65 to 80mph when I get to west Texas. I wouldn't drive 80mph in my Tacoma either. Why? Fuel mileage, plus my vehicles aren't made for speed. I have been taking many backroads which I love.
Funny how some people get mad. I would have to say that anything slower than 55 is getting a bit dangerous though. But look at Ca...trucks go 55, cars go 70. Go figure. Many states have split speed limits. If your paying attention then you should not be surprised when you come up on a slower driver. I do agree on 2 lane roads though not to hold others up.
On this same topic, even when riding my motorcycle 65 seems to be the most comfortable. Yeah, sometimes I might run 90mph for a stretch but it gets old.

 

[thedjjack]

Wow...This has to be the saddest thread I have ever read!

Not all vehicles are capable or should be driven at or over the speed limit.

The normal for $$ should not be based on driving at maximum speed. "professional" drivers have posted that cresting a hill they may not be able to stop if the meet a slower vehicle over the top? THEN YOU ARE DRIVING TOO FAST.

Yes slowing down takes time to get back up to speed....this does not mean you should be avoiding slowing down.

Honestly reading this thread made me feel that 70mph is too fast for the driving abilities of the posters in this thread.

If you cannot make money driving responsibly it is time to look at a new career.

Ever think that some of those RV are not trying to save $$ but instead are driving for the conditions? 1 Ton Chassis with huge back over hangs in cross winds, it may just not be safe to go 70mph!

 

[AchillesBogart]

This thread got me looking. My home state (Wa) doesn't have a minimum speed limit, you just can't drive so slow that it impedes other traffic. I wish the state patrol wrote tickets for it here, people are horrible here for trying to force you to go 50-55 mph (saving the planet by going slow or just jerks, or both). A 4 lane interstate can have 10 cars on it here and traffic will be backed up because the first 4 will be going 55 in all 4 lanes.

RCW 46.61.425
Minimum speed regulation — Passing slow moving vehicle.

(1) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law: PROVIDED, That a person following a vehicle driving at less than the legal maximum speed and desiring to pass such vehicle may exceed the speed limit, subject to the provisions of RCW 46.61.120 on highways having only one lane of traffic in each direction, at only such a speed and for only such a distance as is necessary to complete the pass with a reasonable margin of safety.

(2) Whenever the secretary of transportation or local authorities within their respective jurisdictions determine on the basis of an engineering and traffic investigation that slow speeds on any part of a highway unreasonably impede the normal movement of traffic, the secretary or such local authority may determine and declare a minimum speed limit thereat which shall be effective when appropriate signs giving notice thereof are erected. No person shall drive a vehicle slower than such minimum speed limit except when necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law.

I also grew up spending a lot of time in the Olympics and I've actually worked for the Forest Service up there the last 2 summers and driving Hwy 101 is the worst during tourist (terrorist) season. Going around the Olympic peninsula it is a windy road without a lot of passing areas, though there are marked pullouts for slow vehicles. It is a pretty drive too and the tourists drive it like they have never seen a tree or water before. Being stuck behind someone doing 10-20 under the limit isn't the most fun, but one can live with it, if they used the signed slow vehicle turnouts and let people by. But they don't, so it turns the drive into a slow slog where you're stuck behind a motorhome and can't see around to pass and thoughts of unspeakable violent filter in.

 

[AUTO360]

Many times I try to figure out why someone might be driving slow. Such as maybe their vehicle just doesn't handle well over 65mph. Maybe they find fuel mileage is much better at 65 instead of 75. Maybe they have a horse trailer so 75 isn't such a great idea. So many different reasons.
Now, what does bother me a little is the people who are driving slow because they are simply afraid and don't have the confidence in their driving ability or the person who is clueless as to whats going on around them because they are yacking on the cell phone. Today I came up on an old guy driving 52mph on Hwy 290 going towards Austin...speed limit was 65. That to me seems excessively slow...even I had to pass But looking at him as I passed gave the impression to me that maybe he shouldn't be driving much longer. He just had that "look"...but maybe I'm wrong