What do other drivers do as they pass?

[redyaris]

The day in court storey; Weather Spotter was convicted of using the sholder as a lane of travel... and the fine was $1.- . The message to the cop stupid enough to bring such a charge? stop wasting the courts Time!!!

[Weather Spotter]

na, I would get off free and clear. All I would need was a jury of my peers (ecomodders)!
The cop would get some tips on better FE!

[Thymeclock]

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

na, I would get off free and clear. All I would need was a jury of my peers (ecomodders)!
The cop would get some tips on better FE!

Nice fantasy. But in the real world (at least in my part of it, 'Bloomberg Village') it would get you a hefty fine. Most jurisdictions depend on traffic violations as revenue generators. As the economy worsens, judicial leniency will also decline.

[VegasDude]

As they pass, they usually hit the gas pretty hard, and then brake hard a few seconds later as they reach the red light I was coasting to. Sometimes I can see people in the mirror doing the "C'MON!" or the "SERIOUSLY?" gesture with both hands. Again, usually 100 feet from a red light or when I slow to let a fire truck pass. No amount of tailgating, horn blaring, finger saluting or engine revving is going to make me re-start the engine, speed up, then shut it down within 100 feet.

[Tweety]

Originally Posted by rmay635703

Actually given the average duration of a cop stop, the actual cost is in the neighborhood of $0.35-$0.65 cents idling, also remember many police sit on the sides and between roads idling to a tune of roughly $2 an hour depending of coarse on which motor and which local we are talking.

Good reason to develop instant on gasoline motors for NON hybrids, like the old spring start diesel prototype from many years ago.

Also the police camera can likely function regardless of the motors operation, I have one that only uses about a half watt.

Originally Posted by comptiger5000

I agree. Good deep cycle batteries, instant start ability, and a charger to make sure the batteries stay topped off while the car isn't being used, and they should be able to idle a good bit less. There will be times when it's still better to have it running, but it certainly won't be necessary as often.

Ok, so tha camera can probably work a while without idling... But how about the other 1-2 cameras, the radio, the computer, the GPS, the lights... And the list is most likely twice as long...

No... Deep cycle batteries won't help... For one you would then need to have a system that keeps all accesories on regardless of the car is on, and lets you start the car without things re-starting... And you would need to charge the deep cycle batteries during running so it has enough juice for the next non-idle situation... That add's fuel consumption...

Then add to that the fact that lugging around the additional weight of that battery adds to the consumption... With the fact that most police vehicles are already loaded with a pretty large list of tools/first aid/whatever that the officers need...

As a matter of fact, a lot of police vehicles have uprated generators and electric systems to handle the loads... So no... There are no efficient solution available that will let them reduce idling... Adding the time and safety aspects, the money spent on that fuel and the environment impact becomes a non-issue if you ask me...

[comptiger5000]

Tweety - With bigger, or dual alternators, and chargers kept running when the cars aren't in use, so they start each day with full batteries, the batteries could be kept charged enough. As far as having to use fuel to recharge the batteries while driving, yeah, that's true. However, the little bit of extra load is less of a penalty than having the engine idling with almost no load (particularly with gas engines, not as much with diesels).

[Weather Spotter]

I hear you Thymeclock. I only used the shoulder once, I do not plan to make a habit of it. Special circumstance use only.

Oh, on my last trip I had to use the shoulder twice, not for FE, but for safety.
#1 I had a state owned van, (should be setting the example) fly up on my tail (I was going 55 in a 55) it had a light bar on it but it was off. He flashed his head lights at me and hugged my bumper. I will not speed up for jerks. He took the next chance to pass, which was not a good choice as there was not much space. He floors it on past me and this county plow truck was coming the other way. I hit the shoulder (so did the plow truck) to allow the jerk to get back into the lane before being crunched. The state van flies on up the road (must have been going 70+). 10 min later I see it parked in a restaurant lot (same tag #). I do not see why he needed to risk his and my life to get to lunch 1 min sooner.

#2
A cop car has someone pulled over on the other side of the road. I MI you must slow down or move over a lane for emergency cars. This cop car has his bumper in the traffic lane (not on the shoulder). He was also getting out of the car. Trying to pass him is a whole string of cars. I had two options, be a jerk and stay in my lane and make these cars come to a stop and wait to pass or use the wide shoulder (used as a lane during construction zones) and let the cars by. I took the shoulder and let the other cars use half of my lane to pass the cop. I got an odd look from the cop (seeing my odd car) then a friendly nod of the head for my move.

I call this appropriate threat avoidance (defensive driving).

[redyaris]

Originally Posted by Thymeclock

Nice fantasy. But in the real world (at least in my part of it, 'Bloomberg Village') it would get you a hefty fine. Most jurisdictions depend on traffic violations as revenue generators. As the economy worsens, judicial leniency will also decline.

Your seem perceptive when it come to other peoples "nice fantasy" but quit blind to your own. For one the Idea that Judges pass down hefty fines because "most jurisdictions depend on traffic violators as revenue generatos" and that "as the economy worsens, Judicial leniency will also decline" is fantasy. The notion that judges first consult the records of public finance before asessing financial penalty is fanciful as well as offensive to the judicial system and judges... most of whom are reasonable and fair.

[Thymeclock]

First, here is what I actually said:

Nice fantasy. But in the real world (at least in my part of it, 'Bloomberg Village') it would get you a hefty fine. Most jurisdictions depend on traffic violations as revenue generators. As the economy worsens, judicial leniency will also decline.

Originally Posted by redyaris

Your seem perceptive when it come to other peoples "nice fantasy" but quit blind to your own. For one the Idea that Judges pass down hefty fines because "most jurisdictions depend on traffic violators as revenue generatos" and that "as the economy worsens, Judicial leniency will also decline" is fantasy. The notion that judges first consult the records of public finance before asessing financial penalty is fanciful as well as offensive to the judicial system and judges... most of whom are reasonable and fair.

This is a good example of reading into a post and drawing erroneous conclusions to argue against. I never said that judges pass down hefty fines because... that is your inference, not mine. I merely stated that traffic violations and surcharges in this area are very high, and that is a FACT, simply stated.

I also said "(m)ost jurisdictions depend on traffic violations as revenue generators" and that also is an observable fact. The revenue generated by such enforcement is substantial and the budget of the local government would be impacted if it were to suddenly disappear.

Generally speaking, as an economy worsens people do become less charitable or lenient and call for stricter laws, rules, penalties, etc. That is an observable, universal tendency in society at large.

You drew the final conclusion that "The notion that judges first consult the records of public finance before asessing financial penalty is fanciful as well as offensive to the judicial system and judges... most of whom are reasonable and fair." I never stated that either. You took my several statements, wove them into a unified argument that I never made and contested it. That's known as creating a 'straw man' argument. (click here)

[groar]

Sadly everyday I can see young males doing silly things while passing me, nearly at every commute.

If they are not going too fast then they keep my speed and drive while they are taking pictures ( how can they concentrate on taking pictures if they are driving at the same time ).

If they are going too fast then once they pass me they try to slow down as much as possible to force me to pass them. Sadly for them, they don't know by how much I accept to slow down... In France on car roads (freeways & highways) slowest speed limit is 50km/h (31mph). On my daily commute I have 90km/h (56mph) 2-3 lanes freeways. I usually drive at a constant 75-80km/h (47-50mph) or I P&G at 70-85km/h (44-53mph). Until now none have slowed down under 60km/h (37mph).

Several times I saw people stopping in the urgency stop lane and restarting when I passed them. In this case I slow down as much as possible so they think they have no other choice than to pass me, which is always above 60km/h (37mph).

I have other stories in round about... but these ones make me too

Often when someone is driving while they are taking pictures, I take my cell phone and pretend to take them in picture. They are usually embarrassed and put down their cell phone/camera and disappear.

What I do prefer is the looks these young male can launch to me, noticeably when they have over tuned cars (usually an old BMW...). What make me laugh is when then have rear windows shadows with childish cartoon characters (Nemo, Dora...) and/or when they are re-accelerating crunching down their p*n*s substitute.

Lately I put a piece of paper on the rear left window with my last tank result. Since then I have lots of thumbs up from other people (old men, young women, motorcycles...) and lots of smiles from women

Yesterday I got 2 young males laughing at me, when suddenly the passenger read my paper and got , so I got but the driver quickly accelerated.

Anyway, I know that I do my best with what I have and I have a lot of fun at the same time Smiles from children (and their mothers now ) are invaluable

Denis.