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Trucks; ...or why people are driving Hummers
Topic Started: Mar 20 2008, 12:50 AM (83 Views)
Eral
Kopi Luwak
This morning, I drove to the airport to assist my dad in collecting my sister and allegedly 4 children. It was pitch-black, the city only just beginning to yawn and stretch and spew forth cars.

I have discovered the ring road to the airport is a black hole of driving safety, where eighteen wheeler trucks try to use the bit of road you are on before you are finished with it, and drivers view "merge lanes" signs as an opportunity to see how many cars they can overtake on the inside before the lane disappears. It was like a gladiatorial event.

I am accustomed to driving in peak hour traffic: I prefer it actually, because the Professional drivers are out. They know that letting a merging car in front of you is a good thing, as it will enable the traffic to keep moving; that emergency lanes are not for over-taking, and if the car in front of you puts on its brake light, stopping is good. Everyone drives at the speed limit, uses their indicator, and you feel confident you will arrive alive.

None of this seems to apply on the ring road while it is dark.
Once the sun comes up, bing! normal order is restored. But while it's dark, if you slow down because the car in front of you is braking, this will annoy the driver of the eighteen wheeler truck behind you, and to punish you for this, he will attempt to overtake you on the disappearing inside lane in a tunnel.

I was intensely aware of how small my Barina is, how crushable, the whole time. I was seriously worried about my dad, who drives like an old person, and if slowing because the car in front of you is stopping infuriates the truck behind you, slowing for no apparent reason is bound to cause death. Of course, as my dad drives like an old person, that means he doesn't care what anyone else is doing, and he wasn't stressed at all - though I noted my sister drove the car home.

Is this the real reason people like driving for wheel drives and armoured vehicles? By the third time an eighteen wheeler started to move over into my lane while I was still there I said "fuck it, go ahead and kill me" and did not hastily brake and let him move in. He drove three centimetres behind me for the next few kilometres, to show his displeasure.

And do you know what? Only three of my sister's children came with her, and they all would have fitted in Dad's car nicely. No need for me to be there at all.

:faint:
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Krazy
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I haz powah!
No, the reason is they are seen as a status symbol. Driving a highly inefficient 4x4 that statistics show 97% of which will never leave tarmac is a sign you are a pretentious prick with too much money. Here anyway at least.

The "safety" aspect is also a masked "fuck you" attitude, I want my precious little snotbags to survive an accident and yours to die for driving a sensible family saloon.

As for motorways and lorries, they generally stick to the left here, occasionally occupying the next lane to overtake another lorry and then pulling over again. But for the most part only slow drivers would ever be in the same lane as a lorry which means that problem doesn't really arise. And even if the lorry got pissed off, they are stuck at 60mph with cars at 70mph so you'll soon be way ahead of them anyway.
"Well, ‘course dis one’s betta! It’s lotz ‘eavier, and gots dem spikey bitz on de ends. "
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Regullus
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Reliant
:tp:
tempus_teapot
 
I'd like to add that at this point I have taken my Spider Jerusalem action figure and tied his wrist to my Cassidy (from Preacher) action figure just so I can work out which positions are feasible with them and which aren't.

Read that and weep, internet. Weep!

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Nibsi
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Te zijner tijd
Aye, over here it's 80km/h for big lorries, and 120km/h for other cars on highways.

What bugs me out on the highway is when one lorry overtakes another on a two lane road, and a queue starts to build up behind it waiting for it to complete the maneuver. Or bastards who keep driving on the overtaking lane. Or bastards who overtake you on the slow side.

What I really liked about driving in Denmark is that on the highway, the traffic has to yield to the traffic on the acceleration lane. Makes it a lot easier to get in when it's busy or when there's a short lane.
-Nibby
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lara
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Kopi Luwak
They've been talking about putting speed limiters on all big trucks here. I can't remember if it's 100 km/h or 90 km/h, though.

The thing that bugs me here is the piss bombs. The truckers here have such long hauls, they refuse to stop to pee at bathrooms. They pee in bottles and throw them onto the side of the road, instead. It is completely disgusting.
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Inky
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Thai
My mother has loved her SUVs for years because she feels so much safer driving them. "Great," I tell her, "now everybody ELSE on the road gets to widdle themselves in fear." She did finally buy a Mini. I guess it's not scary if it's adorable.
_____________
Jobbar du naken?
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Eral
Kopi Luwak
When I think about it, I didn't see a lot of fancy 4x4's on the Ring road. Though I was occupied with not losing the game of squish the trucks were playing with me, and I could have just missed them. I have never believed there was any justification for them for city driving, before now. They annoy me because I can't see what's ahead, but I appreciate that none have ever actively tried to kill me. Also, the fact that they are more dangerous because they roll over always makes me feel better about them. :sarcasticeyeroll:

Obviously, we need speed limits on trucks lower than the present ones. Just for the Ring road. The thing about trucks = left/inside lane is a courtesy here, which applies on all the other roads in Melbourne - but the Ring road? Trucks in all three lanes and they are out to get you.
It's kind of like leaving home and entering Mad Max. :blink:

Obviously we need a law about left hand/inside lane = trucks, too.
(Sorry underdog. :blush: Knee jerk reaction.)

On the Ring Road the left lane is the turn off lane, and is often clogged by cars stopped at the lights ahead. This obviously frustrates the truckies, but the descent into murderous rage is an over-reaction, and it's really time to reconsider your career when you want to kill people in your way. :huh1:
Mr.FPS says it is the worst road in Melbourne: he had similar experiences in the day time. Peak hour brings out the worst in trucks there.

If ever I get a Pop, I will never drive it on the Ring road.
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