Thanks. I have a question that i've been wondering about for a while, for those of you who have the drivers seat on the right... is it hard learnig to shift with your non dominant hand?

Even if you are as skilled a driver as you say you are (in which case you probably should, as others have alluded to, be driving at the local racetrack), the probability increases with time that someday your skill will fail you. Mistakes at 100 MPH will very likely kill someone, maybe you, or worse yet, maybe innocents. Mistakes at the posted speed limit have a decreased likelihood of causing fatality, I'd have thought. Consider the fact that your skill has not failed you since the '80s may very likely be a reflection of extremely good fortune, at least in part.

Speed limits are not completely arbitrary, at least not in this country. They are based on scientific research into reaction times, stopping distances, and so forth. The technological advancements that result in a decreased road toll are not reasons to counteract this decrease by permitting, legally, or socially, drivers to exceed the posted speed limit because in their own opinions, they are safe drivers. Do not forget that public roads are filled with drivers who have no reasonable expectation that a car is going to fly past them at frightening speed. Are they supposed to trust your superior skill, having never so much as seen you for more than a split second? I don't like sounding like a sanctimonious arsehole, but fuck it: Your behaviour likely causes terror and confusion in the minds of other drivers. This is not a healthy state in which to drive, and it is not a healthy situation for anyone sharing the road with a driver in this state. How do you know that your driving has not and will not cause accidents due to the road rage it causes in others?

Why are the goals of punctuality and safety in competition, for you? Most people simply leave earlier in order to meet both.

Don't assume everyone is right handed.:) I am a leftie and sit on the left and therefore use my right hand to shift gears and it isn/t a problem. It's the way your taught to drive so you know no different.

Knew I'd get something like this, people take offence to anything these days. I was jsut wondering if it was harder seeing as though my mom didn't want to drive my car even though she knows how to drive stick but is left handed and cited that and the fact that she hadn't driven stick in many years and that she did not want to "learn all over again".

Anyone for a long walk on the beach?

I didn't take any offence at all and don't understand why you think I did.

Sure...see you in about three days lol ;)

LOL...yes, discussing it, not living it. :)

Sory then, sometimes it's hard (for me) to understand someone online since I rely so heavely on tone and body language.

I'll note it into my diary. :D

I am so happy then that I do not drive. I pay taxi drivers to rage for me.

I used to do that, back in middle school. Do you live in a big city?

On the edge of a city and by the sea. Farmland around as well. (Strawberries)

A good driver makes good driving decissions. And speeding is not a good driving decission.

The other truth is that the time difference between driving the speed limit and speeding 10 - 20 km over the speed limit does not really change the overall driving time unless you are driving for 5 hours without stopping.

As for Road Rage - I get out of the way of a bad driver. I would rather have them infornt of me where I can act defencivly to what they are doing, then have them behind me. I refuse to let those people infringe on my enjoyment of driving.

5.2liter northstar V8 caddies don't get tailgated.. or cut off..... ever heheh

That is a BEAST of an engine!! With that kind of throbbing meat under your feet, the road would be yours and FUCK the competition. Geez, what I'd give for that kind of kinetic energy at my command.

I haven't been tailgated since forever, and only once or maybe twice been bested in a straight fight at the lights, and then only because my own lane was blocked off.

For the moment, I've traded some brute force for luxury with my Saab 2.3i SE convertible, but it still gets me ahead of the pack on kick-down. Not a great deal you can do in town traffic with a 5.3 anyway, sadly, but you must spend your weekends either screwing or driving!

I'll trade up sometime in the next 18 months, but as a convertible fan, I'm not sure what'll have a 3.0+ engine AND not cost the earth, either.

See you...in my rear view mirror!!

:)

JB

shrug my shoulders and rarely think on it again. i'm more likely to give em the benefit of doubt than rant. unless i'm in a haul-ass hurry and stuck behind thatguy in the passing lane that obviously uses the cruise control and some sort of obscure mathmatical theory to match his speed exactly to the speed of the car in the lane next to him.

look at this idiot, would you look at this idiot here just creeping a long, WOAH look at that maniac!!


i like to travel at my own speed if there is some guy traveling at my speed fuck him i slow down, i can keep an eye on that asshole from back here :D


more George Carlin for ya

If I leave out all the bad words ... I don't say anything. :D

Truth is, I try to wish them well ... just doesn't always work.

For people following to close, I'll sometimes flip my lights on and off. Looks for a moment like brake lights but without the quick slowdown that could cause an accident.

i call them something not printable and know that unlike the USA there is very little chance they will be packing wepons.

A recent thing has been my 14 year old son beating me to the punch LOL

For tailgaters I give my brake pedal a few touches to warn them they are too close

You have to hold a license (take a test) for automatic and/or manual shift? Wow! I'd never considered that. When we get a license here (in the US), we are entitled to drive either type, and switch back and forth (if the situation arises) with no need to be tested for the other.

As to the topic, I get angry at folks who think they are "king of the road", or the only person on said road. I DON'T tailgate...EVER! I bide my time and pass the ass safely. If I've passed several speed limit signs and notice that the person in front of me hasn't noticed them and is obviously scared of something or has nowhere to go and all the time in the world to get there...I'll pass him. Ironically, this procedure seems to awaken them or make them fearless and they usually speed up to a more tolerable speed before anyone else can flip them off and pass them. It's miraculous, I tell you!

On the other hand...if I am being tailgated, I brake a bit and hope they back off. Especially if the weather conditions are causing me to go slower than the speed limit and they don't care if they get there in one piece...or if I do, for that matter. I'll usually do the limit (at least), and 5-10 mph over if I "feel" I can get away with it. But, I never purposely drive slower than the limit if I have no good reason to (ie:rain, dark and rain, snow...etc.), and I resent another driver assuming his/her life is more important than mine and I should know this and get out of the way! I won't ever pull aside and let them pass just to get rid of them...if I am driving the limit and there is no reason that they should be tailgating. I'll make them wait, just as I would have to do, to pass me in a passing zone with a safe distance from oncoming cars. That's about when I mouth "fuck you asshole" (slow and overexaggerated) and flip them off! If they start doing shit to me to make sure I know how angry they are...then I did my job well and I smile!

Same here but I have found the best revenge on tailgaters is to wait until you are in an area where they cannot pass and then sloooooow right down. The facial expressions you see in your rear view mirror are priceless..

Once they backoff then and only then do I speed up again