Quote:
Originally Posted by AXMonster
So I can quite safely sit in the inside lane at 55 as cars will pass me in the middle lane, and faster cars pass them in the outside lane. So I can be at 55 while others are 90+  |
Unfortunately in the States it seems the vast majority of Americans forget everything they're taught in Driver's Ed just as soon as they get their mitts on their first Driver's License and just take whichever lane suits them. So we get folks tooling along on the leftmost lane at 10mph under the limit, crazyass riceracers flying down the rightmost lane at 20mph over the limit, and everybody passing on whatever side suits them. Last week some kind in a souped-up Mitsu flew by me on the shoulder.
American drivers are stuck with a "me first" kind of mentality, and it reduces the safety for everyone. I think it's a large part of why we have so many gigantic, hugely powerful vehicles on the road that have only one person in them.
Think about it: a lot of those sales are justified as being for the safety of the driver, in that the larger vehicle is probably safer in a crash. Well, what about the poor ******* in the little econobox just squashed in a hypothetical accident. Let's listen:
"What about him?"
"Well, you squashed him with your Excursion."
"He should've driven something bigger. And in the meantime, I'm not hurt. That's what matters." This is an excerpt from an actual conversation I had with an Excursion owner. Ouch.
I'm not saying all SUV owners are as shallow as that, but I think it's representative of a lot of the attitudes behind much American vehicle ownership.