A study of drivers in Atlanta (awesome!)

[Yippee38]

I thought it was cool as hell. Too bad there wasn't a cop around.

You guys should try driving Lake Shore Drive at rush hour. THAT is insane. Add snow too.

In my experience, the further east you go, the worse the drivers are (with the exception of CA, which - I hear - has some pretty crazy drivers).

 

[Angrafan]

LOL! I've made that trip from just north of LA to San Diego a few times.
It was the Pacific coast autobahn

For Angrafan - I don't know the GA state laws (Shaye? Glenn? Anybody?) but in Illinois & Wisconsin, there is random enforcement of the ultimate road courtesy law "Slower Traffic Keep Right". It has nothing to do with the speed limit law.These idiots DO deserve tickets and the rage of other motorists they encountered. I've been licensed to drive for 25 years now, and I really have to wonder what kids (generally speaking) have been taught in Driver's Ed the last couple of decades. On a 2 or more lane highway, the left lane is for passing. What irritated me more than these dolt's protest was the guy who said something along the lines of hoping that people would see him on his cell phone and figure he was busy, or whatever. Personally, if I could do no jail time, I would rip that cell out of his hand and bury so deep up his posterior orifice that Glenn, and the entire ER staff would take HOURS to remove it. I drive a bit on the fringes of Chicago, 60 miles each way to work and back. People like this are the reason I don't carry weapons within arms reach (but I might throw tollway change if I didn't have I-PASS...)

Nice sweater, dickweed!

J-Dubya

I agree! Slow drivers on the left lane piss me off!

In Florida this law does not apply... They recommend that slower traffic should stay on the right lane, but I don't think there is a law banning it.
The highways have a minimum speed (45 miles per hour)..


I still think the video was funny as hell!

 

[Unca Kev]

That was awesome! I'm going to show that to a co-worker that is applying to be a cop!

 

[kittybeast]

whatever happened to 55 saves lives???? I too drive the freeways of southern California where IF you are actually moving most drivers average 80 miles an hour, of course while on the phone.

 

[Greykiller]

whatever happened to 55 saves lives???? I too drive the freeways of southern California where IF you are actually moving most drivers average 80 miles an hour, of course while on the phone.

55 Saves lives??? LOL.

Speed does not kill. Speed differential kills. If you are at the speed limit, and someone going 30 over tries to go around you and there is an accident, it was because he is going too fast. If everyone on the highway drove 55 there would be less accidents but that is a totally unrealistic expectation.

The 55mph speed limit had nothing to do with saving lives. It was enacted because of the oil crisis at the time. Don't ever think the government believes in keeping you safe!

BTW...What does any of this have to do with ProgPower????

 

[Kenneth R.]

Best not be driving 55 on a frozen New Hampshire pass in mid-January

I've done 45 and a 720 later kept on rockin, but I'm used to these conditions. Generally I drive the speed of the cars around me. I'm definitely not going to do 55 if everyone is doing 80. I'll cause an accident that way.

One thing that's always mandatory: stereo to the MAX

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I thought it was cool as hell. Too bad there wasn't a cop around.

You guys should try driving Lake Shore Drive at rush hour. THAT is insane. Add snow too.

In my experience, the further east you go, the worse the drivers are (with the exception of CA, which - I hear - has some pretty crazy drivers).

I used to deal with LSD (the road) when I was a medical courrier.
I love Chicago (was born there) but I avoid it like the plague unless there is some really cool reason to be there.

J-Dubya

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I agree! Slow drivers on the left lane piss me off!

Hugely....most of the time, it's a douchebag on a cell phone....
Which, without using a headset, is banned in Chicago city limits.
(not that it helps much, IMO)

In Florida this law does not apply...

They let people in golf carts drive in the left lane there don't they? :Spin:

They recommend that slower traffic should stay on the right lane, but I don't think there is a law banning it.
The highways have a minimum speed (45 miles per hour)..

It boils down to the ultimate courtesy as I mentioned previously. These a-holes were what 3-4 across backing up traffic? I'd have been pissed too, and I would have used the shoulder and taken any consequences for my actions.
I guarantee that if you drive 45 in the passing lane. You'll get pulled over.(weather & congestion issues obviously come into play)

I still think the video was funny as hell!

In a sadistic way for me. Then I got angry as soon as these morons opened their mouths to speak.......:hotjump:

J-Dubya - Glad he WALKS when he's in Atlanta

 

[lady_space]

The reason it pisses me off is because what they did was amazingly unsafe, for no ultimate purpose. They KNEW there would be people passing on the shoulder, and actually found it amusing when some idiot lost a mirror... what would have happened had there been somebody crouched down in front of or asleep in a car on the shoulder, and somebody, in an effort to pass those guys, hit it? they were purposely causing road rage in one of the largest US metropolitan areas, with notoriously impatient drivers. how is that NOT pissing YOU off???

Slower traffic not keeping right is a rule if not a law (not sure) and reading or even being on your cell phone while driving are ticketable offenses.

They were not proving that driving the speed limit was unsafe--all they proved is that driving slower than everyone else, 4 abreast, blocking all lanes, on 285 is unsafe. They should go back to their little classrooms and learn a little more about scientific experimentation.

I'm done ranting on this subject. Enjoy.

 

[lady_space]

J-Dubya - Glad he WALKS when he's in Atlanta

But we're even worse when it comes to pedestrians!!!

This is older info (1998, I think), but according to one web site, "The Atlanta metropolitan statistical area (MSA) is reported to be the third most dangerous large metropolitan area for walking, behind Fort Lauderdale and Miami, Florida."

Didn't you know we've had a reputation for being unsafe for pedestrians since Margaret Mitchell was struck and killed by a speeding driver??

Shaye

 

[Angrafan]

I l ive in Ft. Lauderdale and work in Miami!

Pedestrians are pretty much ignored down here.. Everything is soooooo spread out that there is not a thing you can do walking! Everybody drives everywhere..
The only place in South Florida you actually see people on the streets is by the beach.. And in a very small area of downtown Miami and Downtown Ft. Lauderdale!

 

[Magius]

The reason it pisses me off is because what they did was amazingly unsafe, for no ultimate purpose. They KNEW there would be people passing on the shoulder, and actually found it amusing when some idiot lost a mirror... what would have happened had there been somebody crouched down in front of or asleep in a car on the shoulder, and somebody, in an effort to pass those guys, hit it? they were purposely causing road rage in one of the largest US metropolitan areas, with notoriously impatient drivers. how is that NOT pissing YOU off???

Slower traffic not keeping right is a rule if not a law (not sure) and reading or even being on your cell phone while driving are ticketable offenses.

They were not proving that driving the speed limit was unsafe--all they proved is that driving slower than everyone else, 4 abreast, blocking all lanes, on 285 is unsafe. They should go back to their little classrooms and learn a little more about scientific experimentation.

I'm done ranting on this subject. Enjoy.

They were demonstrating not experimenting, and whether or not there was an ultimate purpose is yet to be determined. Things like speed limits don't get changed unless somebody gets pissed off. They were demonstrating that obeying the law is unsafe, and I hope somebody in Atlanta/Fulton/Dekalb government takes note.

They didn't MAKE anyone to do anything illegal. The decision to pass on the shoulder is totally the responsibility of the drivers doing it. Granted that they were pissed off about being forced to conform to the law, I would have been too I assure you, but being pissed off doesn't justify illegal acts. It damn sure won't work as a defense in court.

Slower traffic to the right is not a law in Georgia. And technically it means those doing less than the speed limit, because speeding is a crime after all. Unlike Florida there is no minimum posted speeds on expressways. In Georgia speeding 25 mph over the limit is an arrestable offense. That's a mere 80 mph in Atlanta. Left lanes are open to traveling, not just passing in this state too.

Cell phone us is NOT a ticketable offense in Georgia. It's not an offense at all, though it should be. Only Athens has tried to pass a driver's cell phone ban, and it got voted down in the city council.

Everything they did is legal by state law. I normally drive 80-85 mph out here in the 'burbs where the limit is 70. Atlanta's limit is idiotic, and needs to be changed. I'd have been highly pissed if I'd been stuck behind that, but kudos to them anyway.

 

[lady_space]

Cell phone us is NOT a ticketable offense in Georgia. It's not an offense at all, though it should be. Only Athens has tried to pass a driver's cell phone ban, and it got voted down in the city council.

I said I was done... sorry, I lied. I guess I should have been clearer... it *is* a ticketable offense under certain conditions. I.e., you cause an accident while you're on the phone, and it's my understanding you can get a ticket for it. Now, I'm hardly an expert on the law, but that is what I've been told, by a cop.

They didn't MAKE anyone to do anything illegal.

Nope, but they most certainly encouraged it to occur. It was irresponsible at the very least.

As far as what they were demonstrating and not, I guess you and I are just going to be on opposite sides of the fence. I don't think their little "demonstration" had any merit *whatsoever*, and I also am pretty damned sure that driving 55 is not in and of itself dangerous. It couldn't be clearer to me. Agree to disagree, I guess. *shrug*

Shaye

 

[J-Dubya 777]

As far as what they were demonstrating and not, I guess you and I are just going to be on opposite sides of the fence. I don't think their little "demonstration" had any merit *whatsoever*, and I also am pretty damned sure that driving 55 is not in and of itself dangerous. It couldn't be clearer to me. Agree to disagree, I guess. *shrug*

Shaye

It couldn't be more clear to me either. THis SO reminds me of the people who blocked traffic in Chicago protesting the Iraq War. It wasn't the size of the crowd, it was the people literally laying down in traffic.....Turn up the music, and enjoy the speedbumps! The cell phone guy in the video, hell I'd run him over TWICE! :Spin:

J-Dubya - Will learn to laugh at these future Darwin award winners

 

[Michael TEOF]

I'm with Shaye and a few others on this one. This "protest" was pretty idiotic. What they did is an offensive called "reckless driving" which they should have gotten a ticket for. Under the guise of a protest it seems incredibly lame, but as a practical joke... I find it damn hillarious Unless, I was one of those drivers... or that guy clipped by the driver

 

[Pellaz]

They were demonstrating that obeying the law is unsafe, and I hope somebody in Atlanta/Fulton/Dekalb government takes note.

Not quite. They demonstrated that obeying the law is unsafe when a vast majority of other drivers want to disobey it. Totally different issue.

Should Atlanta's freeway speed limit be 55 mph? Sure, in areas where the lane-width is 11 feet. Elsewhere, the lanes are 14 feet wide, which is the usual standard for interstate highways, and I think 65 would be okay.

This difference in width is a legacy of the 1996 Olympics. As Atlantans will remember, there was a massive repaving project conducted on the in-town interstates that was completed right before the Games began. By removing a few feet from each lane, they were able to carve an extra lane out of the existing right-of-way. 11 feet is perilously narrow. If you drive into town from the 'burb and you notice that your lane has gotten a lot 'tighter,' you've gotten to the narrower section. This was also the reason why thru trucks were banned from inside the Perimeter.

I usually 'top out' at about ten mph above the posted limit, since -- by unwritten agreement -- only Georgia State Patrol officers are 'allowed' to issue tickets for less than 10mph above the limit, absent any unusual circumstances (weather, collision, construction zones, etc.)