You laugh but this is not a joke. Oregon drivers are too fucking courteous and drive slowly. It’s like they are so happy to live in such a beautiful place that they can’t be bothered to rush about.
Among us bicyclists, they’re called niceholes. They’re just trying to be nice to the bicyclist, but we would rather they just follow the traffic law so that they’re predictable.
Sounds like what happened to former drill sergeant Bob Ross after he moved to Alaska
Ok, so hear me out, what if instead of treating it as a race, fight or other expression of competition, we would just treat driving as a way to get from point A to point B? Speeding on a highway is a great example of diminishing returns coupled with high risk, so why not just enjoy the ride and sit back for a moment?
There are a few simples principles that would make traffic a lot better, and yielding the left lane for faster cars is one of them.
The other simple one is if you are not passing another car, stay on the right.
I assume that’s the law pretty much everywhere. That said, most of my troubles have been with people who speed by a lot and weave through traffic. Slower cars are less of a problem because while it might be the same speed difference, I see them much better and they usually don’t switch lanes erratically.
That said, I like traffic where I live now, because speeding 15% will get your license suspended, 30% will get you into jail. Traffic tends to be speedy, but coherent, everyone drives around the limit.
They weave because of the slow cars not moving properly
Even better would be taking the train, because it gives you time to study nature, read a book or take a short walk if you feel like it without delaying your arrival.
Have you ever taken the coast starlight or the Cascade trains? Last time I took the former it arrived 14 hours late.
I drive 3 hours round trip commuting every day. I can assure you those “diminishing returns” result in days of my life back at the end of the year.
The average commute is 24 miles a day. If you’re doing a 3 hour commute like it’s a NASCAR event then you need to reevaluate something. Not put everyone’s lives at risk with reckless driving.
Cool. I’m assuming you live in a population center? Possibly over paying for a house or apartment to keep your “sensable commute” down?
Yes and no. But if you’re commuting 3 hours a day at an average 65 mph your burning 500 dollars a month in gas. More if you’re going faster.
At that point eating 250 more a month in rent to live closer in isn’t the world’s worst idea.
And you’re still putting other people in a lot of danger just for your convenience. If an accident does happen then survivability drops off sharply after 65-70 mph.
I commute 5 hours a day for work, and have to go in 3 times a week. I take the train now, but still have to drive 25 min to the train station. Taking the train takes exactly the same time as driving to my job. Which by itself is ridiculous. Up until recently, the option of taking the train in was not available. So I spent 5 hours in my car. The price difference between moving closer to work Vs living where I am right now is almost 2.5k a month. I don’t get paid enough to pay 48 to 52k a year in rent. I work in cancer research. The jobs are in the city, not outside. So I don’t have a choice, because every company that does what I do is in the city, and doesn’t do remote work.
I have a feeling you don’t really understand how things work for people sometimes
If you have a train then you’re not the one concerned with the speed of traffic. Unless you’re trying to shave seconds off that drive to the Park and Ride?
At any rate the answer to the housing crisis is not turning our highways into a racetrack. Your edge case in no way justifies that.
I drive with traffic, sometimes 90, sometimes 30, sometimes 70… And no, with 40mpg I spend 200 a month in gas. I can assure you driving 97 North/south, driving the posted speed limit will get you killed.
I’m not sure why I’m even arguing with you about this, you’re West Coast, correct?
The east and west coast have the same popular myth. And it’s bullshit. The stats don’t lie. Fatality increases with accident speed. If you want to survive an accident then stay 70 or below.
Okay but I have a counterpoint…
Vroom vroom
I rest my case your honor
The gas is meant to hug the floor tightly, engine is meant to roar, adrenaline to be pumped, and zoomies to be upheld.
…in a race. However, zoomies apply everywhere.
You can do that in the proper lane, the right one
What if each morning we send out a few grannies driving side by side to accumulate traffic so everyone can enjoy an hour drive instead of 20 minutes
You’d have some dead grannies
Because you are not important. I am very important. I have places I need to be yesterday. And, yes, it IS a truck. I have never used the bed of my truck or it would get dirty. /dont drive //dont have a car ///but I DO have a DL! Has my picture and everything
Until the get to the other side of the Cascades. Then they turn into dumbfucks of the highest order.
Aka, niceholes.
I will admit to being new to Oregon after getting here from DFW about 10 days ago. And I have been trying to balance driving safely while admiring the views with being mindful of other drivers and allowing them to pass on the left when a turn-out area (or whatever they’re called) presents itself on mostly-one-lane-each-direction roads.
But sometimes, man, these people wanna go 25 miles over the limit on winding mountain roads. I’ll go 10, maybe 15 mph over when it’s safe to do so and I’m going with the flow of traffic. But I’m new to the state, new to mountain driving, and have no idea the prominence of cops and staties and their speeding ticket quotas in this place. Basically, if you see my Texas plate, please don’t ride my ass…I’ll move over as soon as I can!
Oregonian drivers are normal people, drivers in NY/NJ/MA/RI however are lunatics
Oregonians almost take pleasure in driving slowly in front of you. Maybe they’ve just gotten used to going slow because the entire state freeway system is always under construction. People driving crazily is infuriating for a completely different reason.
Well I know in the states I mentioned “slow” means 80 mph in the left lane, if they’re going 65 or 70 it’s expected. The caveat being it’s lawful to let faster drivers pass, ie if you’re in the left lane and someone’s faster behind trying to pass, you move over if you can
https://www.mwl-law.com/slower-traffic-keep-right-a-summary-of-state-keep-right-traffic-laws/
Yeah but I’m doing 64 in a 55, passing the person doing 58 in the right lane and someone comes up behind me doing 75, acting like I’m impeding the flow of traffic.
It takes a little while to pass someone without wildly breaking the law.
Oh not not breaking the speed law…
Move the fuck over or don’t pass
Try the brain of a random Maga loonie, slowest thing on earth.
I feel called out a little bit there. But you’re right.
We have speed limits for a reason, why does everyone insist on ignoring them? Serious question, as I live in a mountainous area and cars are constantly crashing because people insist on speeding. The roads are winding and narrow with lots of traffic and wildlife, so you never really know what’s around the bend.
