American Cagers & "Some" Bikers

[GeorgiaRoller]

Why are American cagers and even some bikers so bad? Why do they do the things they do? Is there no common sense or common courtesy anymore? Does anyone even know the basic laws of driving/riding anymore?

Left Lane Confusion!

Is it so hard to realize that the far left lane on any multi-lane road is and has always been the fast or passing lane only? So if the speed limit is 65mph...but you only feel like driving/riding at 52mph...fine, no problem...BUT GET YOUR ASS OVER IN THE RIGHT LANE!

Courtesy Pull Offs!

When your riding the mountains in a mini-van, motorhome or comfort crusier and you see 8 ST bikers bunched up behind you for the last 13 miles on a double yellow line road in the twisties...those little paved patches of blacktop that you see on the side of the road every couple miles or so, you know the ones that say COURTESY PULL OFF!!!...those are meant for you! And even the ones that have no signage...THOSE ARE STILL MEANT FOR YOU!

My Time is more important than yours!

Your riding down a 2 lane country road and you see a car at the end of his driveway...you get closer and nothing happens...you look in your rearview mirrors and there is nobody behind you for miles...you get closer and the car is still at the end of the driveway...then all of the sudden he finally pulls out...you drop your speed from 65mph down to 18mph and come right up to his rear bumper because of his last second need to pull out onto the road. Then he proceeds to drive 37mph on the 65mph road from that point on. If you want to drive slow, your in no rush, you have no where important to be...then why could you not simply wait another 3 seconds and pull out after I passed since there was no traffic behind me and have the road all to yourself? I don't get it!?

Rearview Mirrors!

We might as well just have them all removed because nobody seems to use them anymore.

Turn Signals!

Ditto...see above.

Other Bikers!

You'd think since we're all bikers/motorcyclist (choose your category) that another biker would be familiar with the same issues as you since they ride too. So why is it that when you sometimes get behind a slow moving cruiser crowd (Typically cruisers but not always!) they sometimes refuse to use the courtesy pull offs themselves? Pride, they don't like being passed, they want to "force" you to ride "their ride"? So you finally have a straight away and you pass the whole lot of them and then they speed up to make it more difficult for you to pass. No bikers/motorcyclist are not all the same and we're not on the same team apparently!

-----------

Me: I check my rearview mirrors all the time. When a faster car/bike is behind me I get over and let him pass. I use my turn signals to let others know both in front & behind me what my intentions are. I'm not usually holding anybody up in the mountains but when a balls to the walls sportbiker comes up on me I use the courtesy pull offs. I've never been confused by the fast lane/slow lane concept. I don't pull out right in front of people.

I'm not perfect but I would like to think I have a measure of common sense & common courtesy. I sure wish more felt the same as I do! <_<

 

[SkooterG]

I am with you brother. Common courtesy is DEAD.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Sore spot for me. Family minivan trip out to kali, I was always pulling over for bikers...so easy to do. However others were not...it made driving some great roads out there rather exasperating. I mean WTF...it's not hard. Just some common courtesy. :huh:

 

[Bugnatr]

Believe it or not many (not all) CA drivers in the mountains are really good about moving over for bikes. It's the damn flatlanders and bozos from other states that give us the most grief.

Nice to have 145 hp under the tank to blast pass the slow ones.

 

[wheatonFJR]

Believe it or not many (not all) CA drivers in the mountains are really good about moving over for bikes. It's the damn flatlanders and bozos from other states that give us the most grief.

Nice to have 145 hp under the tank to blast pass the slow ones.

Must have been rented Kali plates on the drivers I passed in my minivan. Damn flatlanders!

EDIT: The road between Mariposa and Yosemite is so good...could have really rocked in that rental minivan. :lol:

 

[TwilightZone]

Add 1 to the above...

Some drivers 'naturally' move at 45mph on a two lane road. (Much like a Model T)

A passing lane appears and they speed up to 70.

Then they slow down to 45 when the lane ends.

Go figure.

 

[GeorgiaRoller]

Common courtesy is DEAD.

I would like the think that that is not the case...but I'm seriously wondering if your not correct.

Sore spot for me. Family minivan trip out to kali, I was always pulling over for bikers...so easy to do.

It is easy to do, people just have to:

1) Be aware of their surroundings & others behind them

2) Actually do it

It's sad how the vast majority don't. People are SELFISH.

Some drivers 'naturally' move at 45mph on a two lane road. (Much like a Model T)

A passing lane appears and they speed up to 70.

Then they slow down to 45 when the lane ends.

Go figure.

+1...Holy Cripe that pisses me off! Let's me know that that are completely aware of what they're doing and that they are indeed a :asshat:

 

[puppychow]

What do ya expect? Entitlement generation. They want everything but their asses handed to them, even though they deserve the latter and not the former.

 

[Road_Runner]

Believe it or not many (not all) CA drivers in the mountains are really good about moving over for bikes. It's the damn flatlanders and bozos from other states that give us the most grief.

Nice to have 145 hp under the tank to blast pass the slow ones.

I agree CA drivers ARE good about pulling over... when they put their cell phone down long enough to notice you are there!

 

[mcatrophy]

Why are American cagers and even some bikers so bad? ...

It's not just in America. The UK is just as bad. I'm sure it's due to more and more regulations making driving "safer" that makes drivers less aware of what's going on outside their little (mobile) world.
Having been in some of the far east, where regulations are generally ignored, the level of awareness is much higher.

 

[NW Jeff]

Omg GR, you have completely read my mind! Lmao, rofl..even snorted a bit, thanks. Add in some environmentals and it gets even worse. Here, it's light rain, which of course means slower traffic. Then the sun comes out and the traffic is still slow because of - sun glare! go figure...

 

[SacramentoMike]

Boy, all that stuff really pisses me off too! :angry:

That, and quite a few other things. Like the sun. Way too bright! And the damn weather. Always too hot, or too cold, or some damn thing or another. Boy, it would be great if I could control all that stuff.

 

[Fred W]

Alright, here's one that bugs me:

You're on a two lane in the mountains and come to an uphill section where they add a truck / passing lane. They have several of them on Rte 101 across NH and Rte 9 across VT. The jerk in the car ahead of you stays left and sloooowly passes the car ahead of him, using the entire length of the passing lane. If he'd have stayed right you could have passed a half dozen slow pokes.

The one great thing about VT is that it is legal to pass on a solid or double yellow center line. There are road sections that are marked with No Passing signs, but those are usually places that you couldn't do it safely anyway, even on a bike. And then you'll see a sign up the road that says "End of No Passing (but there is still a solid double yellow). When it isn't marked not to, it's fair game, as long as you do so without being dangerous. I think that this is a best practice, and all states should adopt the practice! It's even better for motorcyclists than lane splitting

 

[Aasland]

You forgot to add one:

Traffic Circles / Roundabouts!

In traffic circles / roundabouts, American's never use their indicators properly ... if at all. I even followed a cop through three of them with nary a blink.

At least most people don't stop before entering, but the utter lack of any attempt to use an indicator has me thinking they just don't even know they are supposed to be used or they know but are embarrassed to use it when nobody else is.

 

[wheatonFJR]

The one great thing about VT is that it is legal to pass on a solid or double yellow center line...

Yes!

It should be written into the statute, that for motorcycles only, a double yellow means "pass with care".

 

[Fred W]

You forgot to add one:

Traffic Circles / Roundabouts!

In traffic circles / roundabouts, American's never use their indicators properly ... if at all. I even followed a cop through three of them with nary a blink.

At least most people don't stop before entering, but the utter lack of any attempt to use an indicator has me thinking they just don't even know they are supposed to be used or they know but are embarrassed to use it when nobody else is.

:huh:

Gonna have to 'splain this one to me. We have lots of them (we call them a Rotary). But I have never used a turn signal in one.

Why would you? Once in the rotary you can only turn right. So if a vehicle has its right turn signal on, how would you know which of the many right turns he's making?

Besides, it doesn't really matter. The driver already in the circle has the complete right of way. That's really all you need to know. And I never pull out in front of another vehicle just because they have their turn signal on. Too many cars (and especially bikes) drive around with one flashing away for miles and miles...

 

[mcatrophy]

You forgot to add one:

Traffic Circles / Roundabouts!

In traffic circles / roundabouts, American's never use their indicators properly ... if at all. I even followed a cop through three of them with nary a blink.

At least most people don't stop before entering, but the utter lack of any attempt to use an indicator has me thinking they just don't even know they are supposed to be used or they know but are embarrassed to use it when nobody else is.

:huh:

Gonna have to 'splain this one to me. We have lots of them (we call them a Rotary). But I have never used a turn signal in one.

Why would you? Once in the rotary you can only turn right. So if a vehicle has its right turn signal on, how would you know which of the many right turns he's making?

Besides, it doesn't really matter. The driver already in the circle has the complete right of way. That's really all you need to know. And I never pull out in front of another vehicle just because they have their turn signal on. Too many cars (and especially bikes) drive around with one flashing away for miles and miles...

Many of our roundabouts have two or three lanes going round them.

If you are going three-quarters round it [i'm trying to avoid "left" and "right" 'cos you over there drive on the wrong side of the road

]. You enter the roundabout in the offside lane, at some point you're going to cross into or over the nearside lane. You want to tell whoever might be behind not to come up your nearside. So, you use your near-side indicator. At least, I do

.

But, I s'pose, if you're going faster than anyone else, it's not an issue

.

UK-way round roundabout:

 

[azitlies]

Wow, it seems like threads of this type are turned into

"Rant about anything and everything you want to rant about threads..."

GR brings up some very good and valid points. It's not a rant about "anything"... it's a rant about some very valid and obvious things... Let's just stick with one of them..

"left lane confusion"...

is this happening all over the world? I mean, I don't know but it's a good question right? If it is then yeah, maybe that has some bearing on why it seems so prevalent here? If it isn't than it's a US of A thing? Which one is it?

I can say this much, on the Auto Bahn, if u pass someone on the right, they may potentially set up a road block just to stop you and talk to you. It happened to someone I use to work with. He passed a school bus on the right. Damn near got himself thrown in jail.

Why is it that we accept the incompetency? why do we accept the "I don't give a sheet about anyone but myself" attitude?

 

[GinaMcD]

Around here many have apparently decided that yeilding, even when clearly marked with a sign, Is optional, especially when merging onto highways or entering rotaries. And then there's the four way stop intersections that become a big game of chicken, and he/she who has the biggest vehicle usually wins!