Is it something in the water? Or something in the Needle?
Every other driver suddenly seems to have difficulty driving close to the speed limit. I just encountered one doing 38 or so on a road with a 55 MPH speed limit. That’s 15 MPH slower than the legal limit and at least 20 below the actual normal flow of traffic.
It was not an ancient glaucomic oldster, either. It was a young woman behind the wheel, staring vacantly ahead of her as I blitzed past her, having had enough of her wasting my time.
I’ve had an unusual number of these Close Encounters of the Slow Kind lately – including one with another not-oldster who decided to do no speed at all – by coming to a dead stop in the middle of the road because of a bicyclist up ahead. Or rather, because it was – apparently – too hairy a task to drive past a bicycle on the road.
Just yesterday, I was following a car on a curvy road at below the speed limit (35 MPH) whose driver not only couldn’t keep his car in the travel lane at that speed, he swung so wide in every curve such that a third to half of his car was across the double yellow and in the opposing travel lane.
I can keep my car in the travel lane using my knees to steer. This is not to brag; my point is it’s not that hard to keep a car in between the painted lines unless you’re completely drunk or addled by some other thing.
Yet it seems more and more not-drunk people are having a difficult time managing this – and other basics, such as not stopping in the middle of the road.
This sort of ineptitude has of course always been a hazard of driving but it seems to have become much more common just like that.
A month ago, I generally encountered “drivers” such as those described above once or twice a week. Suddenly – beginning about two weeks ago – I am encountering them every time I go for a drive.
They crawl into the road ahead of you; they never reach the posted speed limit. They just sort of drift along aimlessly, preoccupied with . . . something other than driving.
It’s as if they are in a fog.
Which interests me because that was just the word used by the bank teller who apologized for inadvertently gave me $1,000 extra when I cashed a check a month or so ago. That is a rare thing for a bank teller to do. Their job is to focus on what they’re giving out and talking in, checking and double checking to make sure the numbers are right.
But she had just received “her” Holy Anointing (it’s another interesting thing that these Anointings are reflexively referred to by those Anointed in the possessive). She told me she’d been having difficulty concentrating since her Anointing. 
This is being reported by others who’ve been Anointed. Just covered much by the Fear Organs that endlessly, hysterically covered “the cases! the cases!”
Now there are videos of the Anointed freezing – like animatronic dolls glitching. They stop mid-sentence; some stop walking. They just stand there. Like the guy who jus stopped in the middle of the road. It’s as if their processors are no longer processing.
Call it the Holy Afterglow.
The “virus” was never a general threat. But it could be an unprecedented threat now that – according to news coverage – something like half or more of the country has received “their” Holy Anointing.
Their brains were already in a fog, before their Anointing. Proof of that being their willingness to be Anointed. What straight-thinking person voluntarily joins a religious cult and submits their body to strange religious rituals, such as the injection of strange chemicals – to “protect” them against an obviously exaggerated threat?
Well, it assumes straight thinking and therein lies the problem. They weren’t.
And now, they’re behind the wheel.
And they are everywhere.
. . .
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I have noticed an overall 1-2 mph reduction in average and prevailing speeds. It’s happening on almost every road. In OKC, people haul ass on city streets. I have noticed a little less of that lately. On the freeways on a long haul, people are going about 2 mph slower. Here, its not that noticable unless you are obsessed as I am about speed and speed limits.
Eric,
David Knight talked about The Holy Jab this morning. He was quoting what top medical people said about the spike protein, etc. Guess what? The spike can PENETRATE the blood-brain barrier! So, it looks like there is something to your theory about The Holy Jab slowing down peoples’ minds…
I heard the same thing on another program. This is dangerous as hell.
Today I was following a pickup up to a major intersection during rush hour to make a right hand turn. The light was red and the opposing traffic had a green left arrow so we stopped. When the cross traffic got green left arrows the pickup didn’t do anything. During a perfect right on red opportunity. I could only scratch my head. Only after we got green lights did he proceed. Not sure what was going on there. Even a newbie driver would have taken the opportunity. Maybe just coincidence.
I haven’t noticed slow drivers since I live in town and always have second and third lanes to use. But maybe I’ll start paying closer attention.
The video with the 2 people “freezing”… The 2nd one that was frozen standing up could have been easily faked, but it looked like it could be plausible.
The girl who froze mid-laugh, wow! That one looks like it is the real deal. Her expression after she comes out of it tells the tale. Unless she is a supremely good actress, she was scared, embarrassed and confused about what just happened.
Not sure what happened there, but it’s been caught on camera before, even with some celebrities. Do a youtube search for “glitch in the matrix” and you may find a video of Al Roker freezing on live TV after the phrase “holy ghost” was said.
When I first read this article, I thought about myself as the slow driver because I have a GPS in the company vehicle and the company demands that just 1 MPH over the speed limit is speeding. I have to drive “slow” compared to other drivers. But today I noticed, even though I was the one doing the speed limit in the right hand lane, I kept having to change lanes to pass slowpokes. Thankfully none of them were occupying the passing lane, but still, what’s with everyone driving slow?
I usually look for common denominators to try and ascertain why the phenomena is occurring. For the longest time, for me to notice sub-par driving and see the vehicle tag say things like “handicapped” or “educator” explained why the less than spectacular driving. Not today. Not a single thing I could think to link every slow poke together by some little commonality. Not even something as simple as catching them with a phone in their hands.
Maybe I need to get a sign that I can hold up and ask these people as I gently pass, “R U Vaxxed”?. Maybe I will put a diaper on before I pass and hold up the sign to encourage the person to respond. If they are “vaxxed” they probably will affirm with virtue. I’ve heard that the jab can lead to mental deterioration, maybe it is happening already.
J,
Maybe they will give you a “thumbs up”, and then remain in that position, looking out the driver window with a stupid grin for 20 seconds before they smack into a tree head-on.
Thank you for the laugh. I needed it today!
Glad to be of service, J!
Also…
Eric on Clovers:
https://youtu.be/l6rUSZ4R0x8?t=69
Firstly, the “people freezing” video was undoubtedly unnerving, especially if true. I reckon that the phenomenon is likely poppycock. Any other videos of this sort of thing, or especially personal experiences from anyone? “Brain fog” is a little different from a full hard drive crash like that.
On drivers and my experiences lately: I haven’t noticed anything of the sort. Actually, more the opposite. On the freeways around here (Phx, Az), the speed limit is 65, and you see most people bordering on 75 or 80.
You know, come to mention it, there was one diapered goofball doing 30-35 in a 45 coming home today. Don’t know how unusual that is, though.
This is your captain speaking, we’re about to descend now, please fas………. *CRRRAAAASSSH!!!*
I’m glad that I’m not the ONLY one experiencing this! If it’s snowy and/or icy out, I get slowing down; your tires don’t have the same grip as they do on the dry, so it behooves one to slow down for the conditions. What tees me off is someone going 10-15 mph BELOW the speed limit when it’s clear and dry out! I’m like, WTF is you problem?!
I was coming back from the grocery store a while ago, and I turned on to the main road to take me home. The speed limit is 40-45 through there. Not only did this joker turn slow coming out of the light to the main road; he continued going slow. He was 10 below at that point. I flashed my lights (two lanes, no passing possible) as if to say, hey pick up the pace, Buddy. The SOB SLOWED DOWN to 25! I was like, WTF, Dude?! Don’t you know you can go faster through here? Again, what’s with these people?
I get it if the car’s a jalopy with bad tires and/or brakes. I get it if conditions warrant driving slowly; if the conditions are bad out, I’ll be going slow too. But to creep along when it’s clear and dry out? To creep along in an obviously modern, late model vehicle which can go fast? What gives?
I’ve been noticing the same thing for the last 6-8 weeks. The driving is a bit slower and the decisions are even dumber than usual. I don’t think it’s just the stupid finally coming out to play- the streets have been full since last June at least, though it was eerie how empty the roads got at the beginning of the Co-panic. What in hell is this gene modification doing to the central nervous system?
That’s the only thing I liked about the scamdemic. The traffic returned to pre 1980s levels. Or pre 1990’s. Driving was enjoyable again.
Generally no excuse, except poor visibility or weather conditions common sense indicates slow down then. Got fragile cargo? Pull over and let the backup you created pass.
Many roads designed years ago for cars with drum brakes, non belted bias ply tires, wallowing suspension. Our two lane state routes have 55 to 65 mph limits. So, if that was reasonable and safe for ancient tech cars you have no excuse to dwaddle along in a vehicle with four wheel disk brakes, all weather radial tires, and suspension / steering that would make an older race car jealous.
Exactly
My gf’s Santa Fe went 90+ from Pittsburgh back to Jersey despite being 2.4l 4banger with 185hp and not having the slightest pretense of being sporty
My trucks comfortable at 80+ as well, limiting factor are the Q rated Mud Tires (99), otherwise whats really stopping me?
Remember in Colorado, ALL the Pickups were lifted doing 90 like it was a walk in the park, time to reboot or remove the system at this point.
As far as move/pull over, 1000% agree. Im fast on the Road/Highway/turnpike, but I see a Fuckin’ Andretti behind me, I switch lanes, and get back once they pass. I do it with my Truck, whats hard about other people not being cunts?
A favorite bumper sticker back in the early 70s:
“Ban low performance drivers not high performance cars”
Driver 1: I’m taking my relative home from the burn center and hospital where they were just released after getting their skin grafts. Going over bumps or around curves too fast would throw them around the car and cause excruciating pain.
Driver 2: I’m delivering groceries to a certain address, but I’m having trouble finding it because the numbers on the mailboxes are smudged/falling off/faded.
Driver 3: I am making a delivery run from my farm co-op and have seven dozen eggs in the car. If I go over bumps or around turns too fast, I’ll end up with omelets all over my car.
Driver 4: I’m bringing home potted plants from the garden shop to plant in my yard. They’re kinda precariously balanced, and I don’t want them to fall over if I go around turns too fast.
My point? There are valid reasons for people to drive slow that have nothing to do with Cloverism or saaaaaaaafety. Or the lack of ability to drive faster. I myself am perfectly capable of driving fast around curves, narrow roads (we have a bunch of them in the country around here), etc. But I’ve been in scenarios 2 and 4 above recently, and I took it slower. Of course, I also know enough not to be a dick and pull over when I can to allow faster-moving traffic to pass.
Rants like this are the one and only thing that I really dislike about your site because you act as if people don’t have the right to drive slower than you would like. Doesn’t sound very libertarian to me. Everything else is awesome.
Driver 5: I am driving around kids that are not my own and if something happens to them my sister will kill me.
Driver 6: I am 75 years old, fading eyesight, slower reaction time, my kids live 2000 miles away, and I still need to get to the grocery store and doctor’s office. I also hate Uber and refuse to wear a mask so mass transit is out.
Just adding a few more, Jim. 😉
RE: “as if people don’t have the right to drive slower than you would like.”
Seems to me that slowness isn’t completely the issue, rather it’s a layer on top of that.
When you’re drivers 1- 6 above, do you slow down before hills in the no passing zone and then speed up when you get into a passing zone so people like myself in my underpowered 4-banger cannot pass you due to the oncoming cars which a V-8 might have no problem with, or even then, it might, too as you’ve speed up enough to make things difficult?
You probably don’t spend the entire 20 minutes riding in the left hand lane of a two-way Interstate doing 50 m.p.h. as a fellow described here earlier and only change lanes when you get to your exit.
Eric’s other example about the driver who cannot pass the bicyclist comes to mind.
The Libertarian part of all this seems to me to be, don’t get in others way and slow them down if you can help it. It’s basic good manners, imho. The same as how it’s rude (and walks the fine line on the other side of the N.A.P.) to walk in front of someone who is looking at an item on a shelf and then stand in that persons way while you look, see, or get what you want.
Also, seems to me that drivers 4 & 5 are inviting a risk by driving too slow and are imposing such on others simply because other options are not to their taste? They Do Have other options.
At what point is driving too slow a hazard, I suppose it’s situational and YMMV?
Why do you have an underpowered 4 banger that can’t pass anything? How do you merge into interstate traffic? That sounds like an accident waiting to happen.
That’s not what he said. He said he didn’t have enough power to pass someone who is deliberately trying to prevent it.
Driver 7-10: “All these other cars are going too fast, I’ll slow them down.
Drivers 10-12: “If I drive slow in the left lane, I don’t have to watch for traffic in front of me while I’m texting”
There are good reasons to drive slower. There is no reason to drive erratically, or to obstruct traffic.
I’ll say it again – I also know enough not to be a dick and pull over when I can to allow faster-moving traffic to pass. I wish more people would think like that.
1. My wife is in labor and the baby is about to come any second i need to get to the hospital now!
2. Dad only has a few more hours left to live, i’ve got 100 more miles to go, God i hope i make it in time to say goodbye!
3. My kid’s game starts in 15 minutes, i’ve already missed 6 this year and i promised him i wouldn’t miss another!
4. If i’m late again i’m going to be fired!
We can play the what if game all day. Bottom line if you are driving so slow as to impede traffic then get out of the way. I’ve had situations where i was looking for a street in an unfamiliar area and had people come up behind me and i’ve pulled over to let them go. Hell every bump my wife hit in the first 2 weeks after my shoulder surgery back in oct used to send pain shooting down my arm, i didn’t tell her to slow down to 25 in a 45 because of it.
And this goes both ways. If i’m already exceeding the speed limit by 20mph and i’m passing a line of cars as soon as they break i’ll move over for you, there is no reason to cut across 3 lanes, of traffic, cut off the semi that can’t stop on a dime like that bmw you are driving all so you can pass me 4 seconds sooner than you would have it you just stayed behind me till my passing manuver was done.
LOL. Do you think any other forum is debating this topic?
I think all of us are in agreement that it is rude for anyone to drive slow in the fast lane and impede traffic. I don’t think anyone is advocating that. It is also boorish to speed up and not allow someone to merge safely, to tailgate, or to ride the brake.
Where I live (I realize different parts of the country experience different things) rarely anyone is driving slow. Route 29 between Charlottesville and Gainesville it is tailgating, speed limits of 80 sometimes 90 mph, texting, lane changes without signaling, etc. I believe as long as you are able to control your vehicle highway rules need not apply, but it goes both ways. If I drive fast I need to be defensive…being able to control my car when someone turns into a driveway, paying attention to my blind spots, and recognize not everyone feels comfortable zipping by going 70.
everyone knows emergency situations happen. there’s a solution for that and its called emergency signalling. there was no emergency signalling occurring in the traffic encounter we’re examining, therefore why are you bringing it up?
driving does not require the worship of speed. speeders do not have special privileges on the road, to be a burden upon slower drivers. if anything slower drivers are demonstrating a more responsible use of openly accessible roads where unexpected things happen all the time. i’d say that should earn them right of way to a point.
Hi Hickory,
What is “speeding”? It is nothing other than driving faster than someone else – or a sign – says is acceptable (or legal). In other words, it is an arbitrary standard – and deserving of the respect due all arbitrary standards. Driving ability varies hugely. I assure – I can prove it to you – that I am “safer” at 80 than my ex-mother-in-law was at 55. She wrecked her car several times over a period of five years. I’ve not wrecked once, over a period of 30. Yet I “speed” regularly… whereas she almost never did.
And Juan Pablo Montoya is safer than almost all of us, at any speed.
alls it would take would be one deer through the windshield and we’d never get to see you recant your tale of being safe at 80 mph. i had a deer surprise. there are plenty of things happening on public roads beyond the relevance of any individual’s human reaction time or skill, especially as speeds increase.
speed limits and advisories aren’t perfect, but they aren’t arbitrary either. they are a studied reaction to carnage and fuel consumption. maybe you haven’t spent much time talking to ems, rescue squad workers, or engineers. aerodynamic drag increases exponentially with speed.
public roads aren’t a race track for top tier drivers, they are a public accommodation. race tracks tend to be in good condition, cleared of debris, not wide open to animals, children, bicyclists, horse drawn carriages, scooters, jaywalkers, lawn mowers, cars pulling out of side streets, and so forth.
speeders make life hell for people pulling out of driveways with limited line of sight, slicing opportunities to enter a roadway in half or more.
Spare me the hypotheticals, Hickory. They are the stock in trade of control freak hysterics. The same who “locked down” and Diapered the country – because “someone” might get sick.
The actuality – as regards my driving – is that I haven’t so much as scuffed the paint in decades of driving – fast. Either I am beyond lucky or maybe – just maybe – I drive at a pace that comports with my skill set.
Just as I am healthy – in spite of not having once worn the god-damned Face Diaper.
It is beyond tiring to have people like you insist I must be bound by their fear of harms that might be caused – as opposed to the facts about the harms I haven’t caused. For decades. At what point do your got-damned fears take a back seat to my actual record?
And: The hypothetical hysteria goes the other way, too. “All it would take” is the same deer jumping through your windshield at 38 in a 55… which you “didn’t see” for whatever reason.
You should drive at whatever speed feels “safe” – to you. But don’t use your vehicle to impose your view of “safe” on others.
Your simpering “talk to EMS,” etc. reminds me of the wretches who urge Diapering for all… because the “experts” told them so.
My finger hovers over the Clover button. Wait, scotch that. I just pushed it.
Aww, Eric, c’mon. There was nothing that old hickory said that was clover like. He made valid points whether we chose to agree with them or not. He didn’t name call. He wasn’t a menace. The point of the forum is to take on opposing views otherwise we sound like an echo chamber.
Are you okay? Is something bothering you? This isn’t like you.
Hi RG,
I disagree. This dude implies I am in the wrong for “speeding” – even when I’m not and the other driver is driving 15-20 MPH below the speed limit. He does not understand – or denies – that it’s a dick thing to use your car to slow other people down. Yeah, it made me mad. I’m sick of people like him. It is people like him who have turned this country into a miasma of passive-aggressive virtue-signaling, with “safety” as its prime directive.
I’m tired of it.
hypotheticals are a problem, but you’re afraid of what the herd might do. their record hasn’t specifically involved catastrophic harm to you, but imagine what could occur. you’ve went on and on about now haven’t you. yes of course. foreseeable risk only matters when you think it applies to you speed racer.
you are most certainly lucky to have taken such little damage to your vehicles in an environment where nearly anything can happen regardless of skill. i congratulate you. but must caution overestimating your role in the outcome you’ve enjoyed.
i wouldn’t trust that your record is not free of harm caused. you haven’t been racing around in a vacuum. people have been terrorized and provoked. i’m not a fan of the need for speed cult coming out to play on public roads or for them dictating who has right of way.
the thing about EMS is that i can see them on the scene, i can see the carnage, and i can hear their horror stories. it’s not just a guy on a tv telling a story.
funny enough my deer surprise was at about 38 mph. thankfully the windshield remained intact. that’s the thing about lower speeds. less kinetic energy, less breakage of components.
Hi Jim,
I’m not following… I don’t think I ever said there aren’t legitimate reasons to drive slowly; my point was not yielding to those trying to get by. It’s a common courtesy, easily performed. I do it all the time when hauling a load in my old truck.
The same as not standing in the way of a door others are trying to get through.
Your commentary, from the video (my transcription, could be slightly off): “So, this road is a 55 MPH, as you can see we’re going about 38 miles an hour. Been following this guy for a couple of minutes now and I have absolutely no idea, other than possibly he’s on ludes, why…” (presumably you started to say “why he’s going so slow” before you started making fun of him). Well, I gave you four possible reasons above as to why. RG listed a couple more. There could be a multitude of reasons why. We (and face it, you) just don’t know why someone could be going slow. Could be the eggs stacked up in the tailgate of their vehicle that they’re delivering (which would also explain why they’re braking while going around curves). Could be they’re looking for an address and can’t read the mailboxes very well, certainly not at a higher speed. Etc. So, yeah, you did seem to indicate that there aren’t legitimate reasons for people to go slow, except that they’re on ludes.
I agree that speed limits are shit. In most cases, they’re arbitrary and not based on any kind of traffic studies to determine what is truly a safe speed to operate on a given stretch of road. And I agree that in a truly libertarian society, if speed limits did exist, they would be based on such traffic or engineering studies. However, in that same truly libertarian society, there is also no compulsion to drive fast, and that people have the same right to go slow as they do fast.
I guess what I’m saying is that I’m tired of hearing people complain about how slow someone is driving, when there could be perfectly valid reasons why they’re doing so that have nothing to do with their ability to drive. Unless we can crawl into their brains, we have no idea what they’re thinking or why they’re doing what they’re doing.
Now, having said that, I’ll repeat what I said earlier – I also know enough not to be a dick and pull over when I can to allow faster-moving traffic to pass. I wish more people would think like that. Enough drivers in Nebraska (used to live there) have driven me insane (no pun intended) by going slow in the left lane. Typically this was in the fall, during deer mating season. Their excuse was that they didn’t want to hit a deer. Well, maybe they wouldn’t hit a deer in the right lane if they actually paid attention to their surroundings and driving, and if they’re going to go slow, that would be easier for them to do.
Around here, if you have a good reason for going super slow, it’s a courtesy to put on your hazard lights. Even then, it’s also understood you need to pull over when you can to let traffic pass if they are getting lined up behind you.
Hi Jim,
Anyone who is driving 38 on a road with a 55 PSL has to know they are impeding the flow of traffic – and ought to be scanning their mirrors for cars caught behind them and yielding to them at the first opportunity, in order to avoid impeding traffic. If they don’t, they’re incredibly inconsiderate. If they don’t realize it – that they are driving 15-20 under the speed limit and creating a rolling roadblock by not yielding – then they ought not to be driving.
Driving slow is not a sin. Driving as if you are the only one on the road is.
Exactly, John!
Everyone knows what the speed limit is – and while it’s not a totem to be mindlessly worshipped, it does indicate the usual/normal approximate average speed of travel on a given road. To drive considerably below that without making an effort to get out of the way is as rude as standing or shuffling on a busy sidewalk, not making any effort to let people go by you.
i agree this is a problem on this site Jim. i like your points and i’d like to try a few thoughts towards explaining why there’s a problem.
i have to start by saying it’s certainly understandable to lose perspective or have difficulty adapting to unusual circumstances momentarily. it’s much less ok when these character issues are praised as desirable traits by a fast drivers club. these are the ingredients for tailgating, road rage and creating more strain on society.
few in human history have been entitled to move as quickly as even slow drivers, so how can one complain if they realize how fortunate they are? history indicates it’s nothing to do with necessity.
another consideration would be revealed by an audit of a complainers time utilization. the time they spend behind a slow driver is no where near their biggest issue. how can you complain about slow drivers if you realize your own time inefficiencies are a mountain (and likely addressable) compared to this mole hill?
if time is valuable consider that complaining is usually *especially* a waste of time.
i used to race around public roads full throttle constantly as a kid, then i realized i could go to a race track for a much more worthy and appropriate thrill. as budgets tightened i realized i could get better gas mileage and less maintenance if i slowed it down. there are plenty of reasons to pursue slower average speeds on public roads. there are plenty of other ways to pursue efficiency with time (e.g audio books to add value to drive time) and have needs met. there are plenty of ways to have a thrill without losing perspective or turning nasty on people you know nothing of…
Hi Hickory,
I don’t believe I ever defended much less advocated tailgating or other rude/dangerous forms of driving. I did criticize drivers who operate at a speed well below the normal speed of traffic (and the PSL) who refuse to yield. Whether this is deliberate or due to inadvertence, it doesn’t excuse it. We all have an obligation to pay attention – and to be considerate.
this is all about your personal interpretation of a gray area and has nothing to do with what the other driver has understood or accepted. keep in mind interstate minimum speed postings are usually 40 mph and you were on a much more narrow curvy rural road with reduced line of sight.
where has it been decided that any drivers traveling 38mph on this particular highway must bear all of the burden of a speed mismatch and immediately pull off the road and stop to make way for a single car? there is no designated speed for when yielding must begin. the posted speed limit, the upper bound, is not a guaranteed rate of travel for operators and does not itself exclude lower speed uses of the road. were you even signalling your desire to pass? obviously you miss no opportunity to mock vehicular safety concerns, but it’s not necessarily safe to be pulling on and off the shoulder along a highway, especially a curvy one with a likely often exceeded 55 mph PSL.
this may’ve been an elderly combat veteran that isn’t comfortable traveling at high rates of speed anymore, but can do just fine at 38 mph. maybe you don’t respect your elders that just want to get a couple miles down the road without stopping on the shoulder for every johnny come lately hotshot that believes they own the road.
Hickory,
It is a simple matter of etiquette. Driving substantially below the normal (and legal) speed of traffic means you are creating an obstacle – and holding up other people, for your own reasons. I don’t understand the mentality. What is so difficult about moving briefly off onto the shoulder and waving the car behind you past? I do this myself when I am the one creating the obstacle (as when hauling a load in my truck).
PS: There were three other cars stacked up behind the inconsiderate “driver” doing 38 in a 55. And being elderly or a veteran doesn’t entitle you to be a pain in the ass.
the shoulder isn’t a well regulated surface and visibility of hazards is limited. i’d hate to pull onto an average shoulder in my current car for anything besides an emergency, with its regrettable cast aluminum oil pan. trucks are better suited for off road conditions for obvious reasons.
your pain derives solely from your mentality and it isn’t limited to occurring during situations like this one. impatience knows no such bounds. in my opinion there’s no reason an elderly 38 mph driver on a short trip should attempt to save the average speeder a minute on their commute time. the average speeder has already made enough lives hell and saved enough minutes in times past to deal with it.
Oh for god’s sake…
You don’t need to pull entirely off much less stop; just move over some and by doing so make it clear to the car behind you that you’re yielding – as well as make room for them to get by. It takes a moment, it causes you no delay or problem. And you would pull off to the side for a cop, wouldn’t you? Why then? Does you “safety” suddenly take a back seat? Or is it because you know that if you don’t pull off, the cop will pull you over. But if it’s not a cop, then people like you feel empowered to not budge.
Look: The obligation is on you to not use your car to impede traffic. Drive like a glaucomic old lady, if that suits. It’s fine with me – provided you don’t expect me to “patiently” drive like a glaucomic old lady, too.
Is it that hard a concept to grasp?
It’s only a “minute”… no, it adds up to hours, days – more – of time wasted by inconsiderate, obstinate people like you – who think it is the obligation of other people to “be patient” with them. Really? Must I also shuffle patiently down the sidewalk because there’s an old geezer ahead of me shuffling along who won’t exercise the basic politeness of telling me to go on ahead of him?
Do you also drive up to a take out window and ponder the menu for 15 minutes before ordering, oblivious to everyone else waiting to get their food?
The world’d turned upside down.
no i don’t go around trying to block people from proceeding at a normal pace, but i also don’t think the occasional slow driver should be harassed by race car drivers.
Hickory,
Who is “harassing” them? Not I. All I’ve said is that slow-moving traffic ought to yield and that it is rude not to.
you’re avoiding definitions or negotiations and using vague accusations to tip the balance in your own preferred direction. there are huge problems on the road that you’re contributing towards as evidenced by the harassment, road rage, and all manner of carnage.
I’m trying to parse this gibberish. Let’s see:
“you’re avoiding definitions or negotiations and using vague accusations to tip the balance in your own preferred direction”
O Quann Tangin Wan? Qua Omsa Lagee Wann?
And then:
“there are huge problems on the road that you’re contributing towards as evidenced by the harassment, road rage, and all manner of carnage.”
Errrr… hmmm…
And they ask me why I drink…
Feels like a disaster/horror movie, like the prelude to everyone dropping dead or the zombie apocalypse
Theres a meme out there, shows TWD where the zombies are outside the prison gate and the one survivor is on the other side like “when its 2024 and you’re the only person not to take the vaccine”
So do the cars of the dead immediately end up on auction lots or?
Funny you mention this Eric. We have been noticing the same thing. In acquaintances, family members and on the roads.
I suspect the reason you are encountering more of them is because since the tyranny has somewhat subsided, for now, more folks are likely to be getting out and about. More drivers means more morons. Just like more testing produces more cases.
When I am driving and see someone with poor driving skills, I stay behind them until they have moved on to a different road. You have to kind of help them drive, they can’t do it themselves. Can’t/Don’t trust their driving finesse whatsoever.
At Rumble, they have a video of vaxxed people unexpectedly ‘freezing’. One vaxxed person just stood there not moving any which way at all.
Funny dat.
https://rumble.com/vhtpzj-vaxxed-people-are-starting-to-freeze.html
If you have ever seen the movie Kingsman ‘Golden Circle’ this is what happened when the world drug supply was poisoned.
First the user would go into a happy hysterical phase for a while, next was a freeze phase, than a day or two later death.
Pretty creepy.
Hi Eric,
I was driving behind some poltroon the other day who was going about twenty in a twenty five through a golf course community nearby. No problem, I’m not in a hurry, its a short stretch till I can pass him and I’m in a good mood. All of the sudden this old feller slows to a crawl. WTF? I can’t see a bicyclist, a dog walker or any thing he could be slowing down for. He is now down to five MPH being extra careful because….A baby, in a wheeled basket, being pushed by a women on the opposite side of the MFn road. Now I’m flashing the lights and laying on the horn, cursing up a storm. Apparently we now must defer to walkers on the opposite side off the road.
When I passed him he flipped me off as well as driving faster. He got behind me for a while trying to keep up, you guessed it flashing his lights and honking his horn. I was tempted to stop the truck and beat his ass but remembered that getting old sucks. And that is one of the only things that suck about living in AZ, the amount of old drivers that shouldn’t be on the road. Problem is even 70 year olds routinely get DLs good for ten years or more. Fortunately I quickly went back to having a good day.
Hi Norman,
A good (bad) one – and they are everywhere! The spoiled fruit of Safetyism are ripening everywhere. I think the Holy Needling may have accelerated the process, though. Seriously. The degree of space-out/terrible/hyper-cautious driving is becoming noticeably worse all of a sudden. I mean, over just the past two weeks or so.
What’s changed?
Mass Jabbing.
It’s pretty bad, Eric, they’re out in force. What makes it even worse is almost all local roads now have double-yellow lines even if there is good line of sight for passing. I don’t care about the lines themselves but you never know when there’s a bear hiding in the weeds ready to mulct “honey” from anyone daring to cross them.
Last week I got in behind 2 clovers on 2 different occasions. The first one I passed and then the Ahole speed up to keep me from passing. after I completed the pass, he flipped me off. The second occasion, I passed the vehicle and got the horn and another “bird” from the passenger. Strange days indeed!
It’s funny to me how some people get so pissed off when you pass them. Like you insulted their mother or something.
When it happens to me, I don’t mind. I’m often more interested in what kind of car is passing me and watching their technical proficiency (or lack thereof) while performing the maneuver.
The only time I get pissed is if they do it dangerously by getting too close to me. Or if they get pissed (and show it) getting stuck behind me while I’m going plenty fast enough over the speed limit. You can never drive fast enough for some people.
Was driving home in the rain on Friday night, on a wet and winding 2 lane road, stuck for 15 miles behind some douche doing 25-30 in a 55, who also the whole way tapped the brakes every half mile or so and also when a car in the opposite direction would approach. The vax clearly is further addling their diaper-hypoxic brains.
Hi BAC,
Was she driving a Toyota? If yes, this was me. Dark, rainy night. I drive slow because the glare from the oncoming cars blinds me. The joys of bad eyesight. I actually try to stay off the road, especially during rain, but sometimes it sneaks up on me and can’t be helped. 😁
How come libertarians are such a tense lot? If somebody cuts me off or feels the need to tail me when I am going 70 in a 55 I just pull over and blow kisses to them or will applaud so they can see me rooting them on. I get some strange looks, but no road rage incidents, fortunately.
Hi RG,
The tension arises not from slow driving but from slow drivers who make obstacles of themselves by not yielding to faster-moving traffic. By the same token,it’s rude to cut someone off or to tailgate. My own practice is to simply go around the slow driver who won’t yield/move right.
Not only making obstacles of themselves, but in many cases insisting on being an obstacle. Doing whatever they can to FORCE you to remain obstructed.
Libertarians are a tense lot because we are on the verge of losing the last vestiges of liberty to the culture of fear. and such drivers are quite often a representation of that culture. A culture that will not tolerate any deviation from it by others, if they have the means to stop it. Such as speeding up to keep you from passing, which is more dangerous, far too common, and illegal, I might add.
Hi Eric and John,
I have not noticed any worse driving than normal. As I have hightailed it up and down Interstate 95 several times this year drivers still suffer from a “me first” attitude that I don’t believe is any different since pre pandemic. I might add there are significantly more cars on the road, which may make it seem worse. Bad drivers don’t upset me. Anyone that grew up driving 495 or I 66 in NOVA realizes that with mix of cultures in the region and residents from various countries one should expect the unexpected. I also live in farm country so it is very typical to get behind a tractor or have a steer grazing along a side road.
Most people are impatient. They are legends in their own mind and I just get out of their way. Honking, yelling, and notifying them that they are #1 will likely get someone killed in this day and age. If I have Speedy Gonzales riding my tail I pull over, somebody else swerving all over the road I back off, a constant breaker I give them a car length or two. The upset isn’t worth the increase in my blood pressure or the quickening of my heart.
Hi RG
It was an Audi in CT, so I think you are safe from my intensity. 😉
I practiced social distancing from this car. Random braking was creating an unusual safety hazard. But after driving up 95 for 3 hours in the rain, I just wanted to get home.
Nope, not me. Never been to CT. I start hyperventilating once I cross over the Mason Dixon line. 😉
Was it an R8? If it was I could totally understand them driving slow. It’s a beautiful car.
Eric does a great job exploring the nexus between various aspects of collectivist totalitarian gov’t, its pretensions to safety, the car biz, and the myriad laws and regulations pertaining to owning and driving cars. This is in addition to the push and pull on liberty provided by mobility, and the constraints on it, generally. In my opinion, however, the irritation of some with slow drivers and/or “clovers” in the sense of certain driving preferences (real safety issues aside, of course) tends to leave the realm of libertarianism and enter the realm of a kind of machismo centered around machines and prowess controlling them. This is on a spectrum of, say, the extremes of a true aficionado in a Hot Rod Lincoln on the equivalent of the Autobahn on one end to the more questionable and somewhat sad affectation of needing to drive fast (note, definitely NOT “speed”) in their daily driver from traffic light to traffic light at any and all times in connection with an otherwise empty and meaningless existence. Obviously, there’s a lot in between. Personally, I’m a cruiser when I drive in my buckets, taking in the scenery and enjoying the tunes. No worries, no hurries. I consider it a luxury to live like that. I too laugh at what I consider the maniacs driving so fast on their next trip to Food Lion.
Thanks, Zek!
To be clear: I advocate consideration and courtesy – and esteem competence. I also understand that skill varies and that everyone has a right to use the pubic thoroughfares (assuming they don’t cause actual harm to others). My objection lies solely with the people who make no effort to not be an impediment to others as by refusing to yield when they are traveling below even the posted speed limit. That’s needlessly obnoxious. I also regard tailgaters just the same.
I drive fast – but I don’t ride up on slower moving drivers. I just pass them, as soon as I can. And when I am not the fast-mover, I make the effort to yield/move to the right, to let the fast-movers pass.
I agree with you, Hat. Put on some good music and enjoy the view. I am partial to back roads myself. I have found some excellent breweries and diners off the main drag that way.
Hi RG,
“How come libertarians are such a tense lot? ”
I was think about this recently because here is the time when honest, decent freedom minded people are really going to need each other for survival and sanity. There is much power, strength and feeling of security in numbers.
Yet, navigating this modern environment while prioritizing personal integrity (for me and mine anyways) has left us quite anti-social and constantly working on our patience when dealing with the general population. This is not a helpful psyche for us Liberty lovers to have in these times we are living in. We really need to overcome this.
Hi Bear,
Libertarians can be a tad anti social. The few that I know are brilliantly smart, determined, and articulate, but extremely stubborn and a bit close minded. 😊
I agree with you we need to surround ourselves with like minded individuals, because believing we are our own islands will ensure our demise. The problem is trust. How do we know who we are dealing with? I think knowing someone for a long time helps, but we have seen so many relationships dissolve over the last year from people who we believed thought like us and understood us, but were the first ones to turn tail and run. When someone is willing to listen to the media’s propaganda, don a mask, and get a jab, what stops them from turning you in when you refuse to comply? I think the unsureness of the people around us and their true positions is going to be a hard barrier to overcome, but I agree we need to.
In politics, it is quite interesting how the word “social” is always abused so it ends up attempting to put an implicit positive spin on the most evil, anti-Liberty, collectivist schemes.
Social-ism
Social Distancing
Social Security
Social Democracy
Social Credit Scores
If you’re against these things, you must be “anti-social.” See how that works? Another word that gets abused in service of evil collectivist schemes is “selfish”, which simply means concerned with one’s own interests. People who profess to not be selfish are either lying or stupid.
The slowest of the slow are the ones driving suvs. These hideous top heavy mobiles do crazy stuff when met with a challenge a car can handle with no ill effects. I make it a point to pass these sloppy drivers in suvs at every opportunity. Mainly so I can see something besides their sameness monotonous asses filling my field of vision. And I never signal because as soon as you signal they speed up. In an era when vehicles are so much more powerful than their predecessors, people are driving at slower speeds than ever.
I followed a slow guy in the “fast lane” down I-35 between Austin and San Antonio once just to see how long he would camp there. He was driving about 5mph under the speed limit in the fast lane of a NAFTA-corridor Interstate Highway (this wasn’t I-70 in western Kansas, this was I-35 between two large cities and there were people trying to get from place to place). Normally, I’d be frustrated, borderline postal, and just pass on the right but for whatever reason, I just got curious and wondered how long he would stay in the left lane.
I was close enough that he knew he was holding up traffic, but I wasn’t tailgating. I had enough room to avoid a collision if he slammed on the brakes (which I though was a possibility). I could see the guy looking in his rear view mirror and saying things to his wife or girlfriend. A few times he gestured at the rear view mirror. But it never occurred to him to keep right and let faster traffic pass. Note that there are signs recommending this all along the Austin-San Antonio stretch (“slower traffic keep right” and “left lane for passing only”).
When he finally pulled out of the left lane (something like 20 minutes later), it was because his exit was coming up and he left I-35. So the answer to my question about how long he might camp there was “forever.” If his exit never came, he’d never leave the left lane. It obviously bothered him that I was right behind him, but he preferred to be stressed and upset rather than follow our ad-hoc road standards. I feel sorry for him.
When I get behind those people, I flash my lights. Far more effective than a horn or tailgating.
Eric, what is your channel name on Rumble? I went to search there for your site but come up empty.
Hi to5,
Should be under:
LIBERTARIANCARGUY
That works. Thanks Eric.
This was a while ago, so I don’t remember if I flashed my lights or not. I do recall giving him the left blinker for a spell though.
Between the governor’d semi and commercial trucks, the old mad hatters and the “fast & furious” types it’s a wonder there’s anyone gets anywhere in a reasonable time these days. Just add in a few speed traps and you get a rolling gridlock that just ends up frustrating everyone. What ever happened to go with the flow? Is it just another symptom of the anti-driving conspiracy?
At least they remembered to shut off the school zone lights by you (Memorial Day Monday). The solar powered (yes really!) school zone lights were on this morning in spite of it being a holiday. It’s doubly stupid since school actually let out for the summer on Wednesday so they should have been shut off on THURSDAY already (and they weren’t). They will undoubtedly be left on a few more days before someone probably has to call and complain about it.
School lights are so stupid in suburban and rural areas as the schools are almost never fronted on the street. The school I work at is 500 feet from the edge of the road! The students are almost never on the front 200 feet of it (as most of the front yard is off limits for students). They are more likely to drown in the fake man made ponds in the front yard, than be run over by a motorist.
Rich,
There is a school near me where they have one of those solar powered radars that flash at you if you pass faster than 25 when school is starting or getting out….
Or so that is when its supposed to be on, but drive by the school at 11:00 at night on a saturday in the summer and that radar station will flash at you the whole time because you are over its preset speed limit.