herzlos
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 700
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Post by herzlos on Sept 6, 2023 4:29:08 GMT -5
On driving? Morons who, when approaching a slip road letting new traffic join the main carriage way, who pootle along at a slow speed, and don’t shift over to the middle lane. That’s genuinely FUCKING DANGEROUS, because at some point the joining traffic are going to run out of road.
Technically, the onus is on the joining car to merge, but the system only really works because people aren't asses about it. It pisses me off when the road is empty and people don't let me merge in.
I tend to sit in lane 2 if it's busy-ish, because it's safer and less hassle than moving between lane 1 and 2 and back constantly. I'd move in if anyone is wanting to pass.
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mdgv2
OT Cowboy
Posts: 487
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Post by mdgv2 on Sept 6, 2023 5:22:51 GMT -5
It’s usually some old duffer doing 45mph, with a Lorry right up their slow driving arse, creating a lovely and dangerous rolling roadblock.
If you’re not comfortable driving near ish the speed limit? Don’t drive on the motorway.
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nfe
OT Initiate
Posts: 144
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Post by nfe on Sept 6, 2023 5:39:46 GMT -5
I think fraud is shitty in general. I can't bring myself to care about 'stolen valour' specifically. It feels a pretty idiosyncratic US thing. Don't think it's the same issue anywhere that doesn't lionise and hero worship the military.
EDIT: That said I was very impressed when a bbq place in San Antonio gave a discount to my colleague who was in the army. During his national service in Iraq on the other team...
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mdgv2
OT Cowboy
Posts: 487
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Post by mdgv2 on Sept 6, 2023 6:23:47 GMT -5
If there’s a Draft, I’ll happily thank someone for their service. But outside of that it just feels….weird for me.
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herzlos
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 700
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Post by herzlos on Sept 6, 2023 6:28:15 GMT -5
Yeah fraud and tax evasion wind me up, especially by people who could afford it, and when they spend money to do so.
Only today I was reading about a woman asking for advice about adding her husband to her house deeds; they'd pretended to divorce to avoid a tax on 2nd homes, and after "making up" she wants to add him back onto her house she'd just about in the "divorce settlement". They moved from London to Scotland so ended up with something like £300k in profit from the move, but still didn't want to pay something like £20k in tax.
The same people will absolutely complain about poor service in the public section they willfully steal from.
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herzlos
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 700
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Post by herzlos on Sept 6, 2023 6:33:36 GMT -5
If there’s a Draft, I’ll happily thank someone for their service. But outside of that it just feels….weird for me. I was in the army cadets, know ex and current military people and have attended various memorial services, but I've never been in a situation where thanking someone for their service would come up. My friends would tell me to f- off.
But then I don't think any of the military people I know feel like there's anything noble about it. One got to tour the world and get a trade, one grew up in a region with no prospects and saw it was the only way out, another joined, hated it and got out as soon as they could. None would ever bring it up and would be mortified to use a special veterans space.
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Post by crispy78 on Sept 6, 2023 7:22:25 GMT -5
On driving? Morons who, when approaching a slip road letting new traffic join the main carriage way, who pootle along at a slow speed, and don’t shift over to the middle lane. That’s genuinely FUCKING DANGEROUS, because at some point the joining traffic are going to run out of road.
Technically, the onus is on the joining car to merge, but the system only really works because people aren't asses about it. It pisses me off when the road is empty and people don't let me merge in.
I tend to sit in lane 2 if it's busy-ish, because it's safer and less hassle than moving between lane 1 and 2 and back constantly. I'd move in if anyone is wanting to pass.
Recently I've been more bothered by the other way round - I suppose I might count as a pootling moron? But I've been joining a different bit of motorway this week while dropping my son off to his work experience placement, and I'm finding each time that I sit in a stream of traffic coming down the slip road, unable to go any faster due to the cars in front (OK, maybe they're the pootling morons!), and see people barrelling down lane 1 at a rapid rate of knots and filling the space that I'm about to move into as I'm running out of slip road...
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Haighus
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 902
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Post by Haighus on Sept 6, 2023 7:45:05 GMT -5
In the US, it's only the far left lane you're not supposed to travel in. Problem with changing lanes constantly to let people in is changing lanes is when most accidents on the freeway happen. Constantly changing lanes just increases the risk to you and everyone else. This. Changing lanes for every merge is way, waaaaay worse for traffic than going the speed limit in one lane, and more dangerous to boot! Besides which, in big cities here, right lanes come and go all the time, so sticking in the slow lane is impractical. It makes sense on a long desert highway with two consistent lanes, but downtown, you’re just adding to congestion and cascading braking moving over and back all the time. I suspect there are some big differences in the way traffic flows on US freeways vs UK motorways that accounts for this. I have a feeling that the expected norm on UK motorways is the "desert highway" situation you describe. Areas that regularly get congested to the point of causing merge issues are pretty much all smart motorways with variable speed limits and lane controls to improve traffic flow. On further consideration, a significant difference is the US pattern of freeways being run right through the middle of cities, even city centres, vs the UK approach of running motorways near cities but rarely through them (exceptions exist like Glasgow). I think that would encourage different traffic use.
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Haighus
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 902
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Post by Haighus on Sept 6, 2023 7:51:48 GMT -5
It’s usually some old duffer doing 45mph, with a Lorry right up their slow driving arse, creating a lovely and dangerous rolling roadblock. If you’re not comfortable driving near ish the speed limit? Don’t drive on the motorway. I'd argue that driving 50-60mph is entirely acceptable on the motorway, and shouldn't cause traffic issues on a 3 lane motorway as it is the typical speed range for lorries. If it is starting to clog things up, there is probably too much traffic to safely drive at 70mph anyway. I say this because travelling at those speeds is markedly more fuel efficient than at 70mph (especially if you sit behind a big lorry for extra draughting) and is also much better for air pollution. A lot of motorway and dual carriageway stretches near urban areas have started implementing 60 or 50mph speed limits for air polution reasons. Examples include the southbound M60 near Stockport (50mph), the M6 overnight past Birmingham (usually 60mph), or the average speed zone past Wrexham on the A483 (50mph). These were all 70mph zones previously.
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mdgv2
OT Cowboy
Posts: 487
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Post by mdgv2 on Sept 6, 2023 7:55:44 GMT -5
I’d call 60 close-ish, due to lorries being speed limited.
But Lorries overtaking each other at the same snail’s pace needs to get to fuck. I’ll tell you that for nowt.
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Haighus
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 902
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Post by Haighus on Sept 6, 2023 8:18:19 GMT -5
Ah. The slowvertake. That is annoying, especially if there is only two lanes, but there isn't anything wrong with it per se.
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Haighus
Ye Olde King of OT
Posts: 902
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Post by Haighus on Sept 6, 2023 8:22:00 GMT -5
Ooh, on the subject of speed limits, people who are not confident enough to drive faster than 40mph on an open 60mph country road, but then think they are then still safe to plough through the 30mph village at 40mph. Why they think their reaction times or whatever will suddenly improve when the kid runs into the road after their football baffles me.
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Post by redchimera on Sept 6, 2023 8:49:25 GMT -5
Cyclists on the pavement (sidewalk for those over the pond). Adults, kids, whatever. Bicycles go on the road or a designated cycle path. They barrel down the pavement forcing pedestrians onto the road. Makes me grind my teeth.
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Post by pacific on Sept 6, 2023 8:50:41 GMT -5
Oooh, middle-lane hoggers are a good one. They really get my goat. Motorway driving is covered in the highway code and therefore the theory test, so I still see no excuse for middle-lane hogging. Regarding practical experience- One of my friends learnt to drive in Manchester, and never drove faster than 40mph before passing their test. The test routes never went faster than that (because they were in urban Manchester) so his instructor never "wasted time" practicing something that wouldn't be on the test. I was in the car with him when he first went on a duel carriageway to give advice, it was quite the experience! In contrast I had 70mph sections on my driving test and had done plenty of practice at that speed prior to sitting the test. Now learners can go on motorways with a qualified instructor and dual controls, so there is more scope for motorway practice. I doubt many do though, and you could learn the same skills on dual carriageways anyway (middle + "fast" lane is supposed to be the same technique as just "fast" lane, as you say they are overtaking lanes not "speed" lanes). I will never forget my bike instructor during one of my lessons. Myself and another lad pulled up at a set of red lights on a section of dual carriageway, someone in some sort of hot hatch pulled up next to us. The instructor spoke over the headset "This guy thinks you are learners and going to be going slowly, I expect you to both show him a clean pair of heels." Was a bit shocked but we both followed instructions and flew away from the lights, leaving the car behind (even the bog-standard 500 or similar that you learn on will out-accelerate anything short of a performance car). But an important lesson learned, in that you quite often when riding a motorbike have to use your speed to escape from tricky situations. Obviously you are more vulnerable on a bike, but I think it can be helpful in a car too - having a bit of power to escape from getting boxed in etc. At least that's my excuse, officer!
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Post by pacific on Sept 6, 2023 8:54:07 GMT -5
Cyclists on the pavement (sidewalk for those over the pond). Adults, kids, whatever. Bicycles go on the road or a designated cycle path. They barrel down the pavement forcing pedestrians onto the road. Makes me grind my teeth. There is a counter-point to this though. If the footpath is empty and on a busy B road or similar, and no cycle path is available, I have no problem at all with cyclists following their self-preservation instincts and riding on a footpath. Especially in the UK where our trunk routes are often woefully inadequate for the amount of traffic going down them, or funnel everyone down a narrow route. Obviously not though in more populated areas, which is unacceptable.
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