<VV> Different(ial) Opinions

[Tony Underwood]

At 09:55 hours 12/14/2004 -0500, JWCorvair@aol.com wrote:
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>If you think that is a problem in the UK and the rest of Europe, then I
would suggest that it is a catastrophe in the US. I'd much rather take my
chances on the roads in the UK than in the states because the drivers in
the UK at least understand that it is a better idea to avoid an accident
than to stay in a lane defending their rights, like drivers do in the
states. I've seen many accidents that could have been avoided, except the
drivers chose to stay in their lanes rather than swerve to miss encroaching
traffic.
>



This is a HUGE peeve of mine... some of the people riding in the right lane
will burn in Hell before they would give it up and move to the center lane
to allow entering traffic to merge without arguing over who's lane it is.
 Hardly a day passes that there's not an accident at the intersection of
Rt-460 and I-581 in Roanoke VA because traffic entering the south-bound
lane of the Interstate has to get past Interstate traffic which refuses to
relinquish the far-right southbound lane.   It's almost like a contest...
a car accelerates down the *short* acceleration ramp trying to merge into
the southbound lane and here comes somebody who *Refuses* to yield...  it's
almost always a matter of their ramming someone from behind, when they have
plenty of warning via those big green signs strung across the Interstate
indicating the entrance/exit at Rt-460.   I never fail to yield and change
to the center or left lane just so I won't have to play dodgecars with
merging traffic.    

One would think that people would learn... or at least see the logic in
avoiding a potentially dangerous situation.    


Corvair sheet metal is stiff stuff and hard to straighten once bent; I have
no ambitions to finding out any more additional details as to how much it
will withstand in a traffic accident, so I tend to avoid such pitfalls as
playing "king of my lane" on the highways.     


The VA DMV used to have a paragraph in the driving codes which could land
you a citation in a "no fault" accident instance, at the officers
discretion, which was called "failure to avoid an avoidable accident".
Not sure if it remains on the books or not, but it sure could come in handy
as an educational tool for those ass-holes who would crumple somebody's
sheet metal before they'd give up their "rightful place" on the highways.    



tony..