Good morning Mott,
You’re wasting your time on TDAK Poli. He’s a Stormfronter.
I have pretty much assumed that.
I am perplexed as to why he has not gone off on me yet. I figured he would have been on my IgList a long time ago.
As long as he wants to avoid flaming me or expressing overt racism I will patiently offer my take on his posts where I see fit.
America is great because we have diversity of opinions, and because we allow everyone to express their views.
TDAK, I do commend your concern for highway safety, btw. Texting while driving does cause wrecks. Just say no to TWD.
Personally, I am very opposed to aggressive driving. We see a lot of it, and it also causes wrecks and highway deaths. And it is completely idiotic.
Some people think they have to be aggressive drivers to get anywhere these days, that if you don't drive aggressively that it will take you twice as long to reach your destination. That is just not true. It is entirely possible to follow every traffic law and drive courteously and still make reasonable time in traffic.
Some say: "Well, everyone else is doing it. That's the world we live in so you might as well accept it."
That also, is not true. If you take the time to really look around, you will find that there are many other drivers who drive safely and courteously. And it is OK for you to do it too. You should.
I used to be afraid to use my signal for lane changing prior to beginning the lane change. My fear was that if you signal your intent, that the person in the next lane will speed up to cut you off. Sure, that happens, but it doesn't happen every time. I decided to try signalling in advance as a new habit. What I learned was that, actually, MOST people will let you in. Only rarely do you get cut off.
I don't flame on people on the internet, and I don't tailgate or drive aggressively.
All that tailgating, speeding and near-miss lane changing does not produce significant time savings in driving. Driving times for most city traffic are controlled by the number of signals you encounter, not how quickly you get up to the next red light or how many other drivers you cut off. Once in a while you might make a light you would have missed without all the dangerous risks, but what's that do for you? All you do is get up to the next traffic signal one flip earlier. And then you are waiting again. So if you have a 25 minute drive with 14 signals, and you manage to make one light that safe driving would have not allowed you to make, you save the amount of time for one signal to cycle: really, around 2 minutes. And you cannot be assured to do that every time you make a 25 minute drive. So the average time savings from aggressive driving is much less, perhaps a minute or less per trip.
Now what is so important about that ONE MINUTE that you had to take dangerous risks with your life and the lives of others over?
30,000 people die every year on our highways.
Ever person who is responsible for the death of some other person because of their driving lives with that for the rest of their lives.
It is NOT worth it.
The only way to avoid living with such guilt is to change the way you drive now, before something like that happens.
Because after it does, you can't take it back.