Big Wheels Keep on Turning

I’ve got driving on my mind.
I am driving about 1800 miles a month as I drive between Zion and Flatlandia.
That’s a lot of miles and a lot of road time.
Driving this much doesn’t mean I’m becoming an expert on “road manners”
but I have learned (I think) how to be a better, more courteous driver.

I add this list not to preach, but to give people something to think about as they are driving
down the road.
Are you thinking about the other cars/travelers out there?
Or are you just thinking about your destination; about how hungry you are; or that you have to go to the bathroom?
I want to encourage people get out of your bubble and pay attention to your surroundings!

(Okay, it DOES sound like I’m preaching.)

TWO LANE HIGHWAY TRAVEL

1) When you’re traveling with a group of people, PLEASE make sure that you’ve at least two car lengths between each car.
In my experience, groups that travel together travel more slowly and for some reason,
think they have to stay right on each other’s bumper. It seems that they’re afraid someone will get lost if they allow space between each car.
Let me say you WON’T get lost! And you make it virtually impossible for
people who travel faster to pass and get around.
For example: Last weekend I got behind a U-haul truck that was traveling 60 mph in a 70 mph zone.
Attached to the truck was a trailer on which was the family’s mini-van.
Immediately behind the moving truck was the wife driving the family’s pick up truck, packed to the rim.
The wife was only 2 seconds behind her husband, who was driving the moving truck.
He happened to be right behind a semi with only 2 second between them.
That’s the equivalent of about 5 vehicles that I had to pass.
Because, realistically, if the speed limit is 70, that is what I will drive.
Getting stuck behind such slow moving vehicles is not fun when I still have 5 hours left of my journey.

I fully believe that these people have the right to drive that speed if that’s where they feel comfortable.
They had their life’s possessions in those vehicles and I can appreciate their caution.
However, not allowing space for me to pass them one at a time was unsafe.
I had to wait until there was a fairly straight part of the road and floored it.
I ended up going about 90 mph to get around all three vehicles,
which was incredibly unsafe.
And it could have been avoided, if they had paid attention to the road around them.
They were in the middle of Montana.
There was no where for them to get lost.
ALLOW THE SPACE!!

2) What about the people who drive super slow and then, as you move to pass them, speed up?
When you’re on a two lane highway, you want to minimize the time you spend in the left lane.
But when the person you’re passing all of a sudden decides he wants to drag race,
that’s unfair and unsafe.

(These next items pertain to highway and interstate travel)
3) USE YOUR CRUISE CONTROL!!*
It was installed in your car for a reason.
The reason the person felt like they had to speed up when I passed them in #2 was because they
weren’t using their cruise control.
They had gotten tired, and had slacked off on their speed, and when I started passing,
they realized they were traveling slower than they wanted, so they sped up.
If you use your cruise control, this is not a problem.
Your speed stays constant.
You’re not always playing speed-up pass/slow-down get passed with the neighboring car.
(Or the person in #2 just liked being in the first of the line and was ticked that I was passing.)
*It is unsafe to use cruise control on slick or wet roads.

4) Flashing your bright lights at an oncoming car
Sadly, I do a lot of night driving through mountains that have high deer/elk/moose populations.
When I’m driving in the dark, I always slow down and I use my bright lights to
illuminate the road to (hopefully) help me see any 4 legged friends who are standing on the roadside.
I try to be extremely cautious because I want to avoid a collision if at all possible.
When I have a car approaching me, I do my best to remember to dim my
headlights at the appropriate time.
But sometimes, I forget.
I appreciate it when the oncoming vehicle will give a slight tap to flash their lights which reminds me to dim mine.
I don’t appreciate it when the oncoming car puts up with my brights for as long as they can, then turn their
headlights on bright and don’t turn them off.
It’s like they want to teach me a lesson. A tit-for-tat moment.
What good is it if we’re BOTH blinded?
I know these people aren’t in my car and they can’t hear me say,
”Oh! I’m sorry!” as I realize my headlights have blinded them.
But that slight reminder when they flash their lights is safer for both of us.
I can dim mine immediately and then we BOTH have better vision of the roadway in front of us!

Interstate Driving
5) Driving in the Left Lane
The Interstate has a minimum of 2 lanes going in each direction. The right lane is for driving. The left lane is for passing.
Feel free to drive in the left lane if traffic is light.
Frequently there are grooves in the right lane due to the heavy amount of traffic that is traveling down that side.
Grooves are hard to drive in.
BUT…. when a car is approaching and is faster than you are, please pull over to the right lane
and let them pass you on the left.
That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
That’s the law of the road.

6) Passing highway patrol
Ok. This is a touchy/risky subject.
What do you do when you’ve got highway patrol “pacing cars” on the interstate?
If he’s driving 75 mph, then you’d be crazy to pass him/her.
But what if he’s only driving 60 or 65?
He’s obviously under the speed limit. Why can’t you pass him while driving the speed limit?
So, you’ve got a long line of cars who are dying to drive the actual speed limit but are unsure if they can pass.
I’m not a lawyer or a police officer, but I have passed a highway patrol who was driving
under the speed and I wasn’t pulled over.
Honestly, I think it’s okay.
What do you think?

♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦

It must sound like I’m a speed demon on the highways.
I’m really not. I drive the speed limit and up to 5 mph over,
which I believe is legal in most states.
I haven’t had a speeding ticket in over 20 years (knock on wood).
And the only car accident I’ve been in was when I was a Junior in High School.
The only animals I’ve hit have been birds and (one ground squirrel who ran under my tire on a dirt road)
I try to be a safe courteous driver.
I’m not perfect.
Sometimes I get bored and I find that I’ve zoned out.
I hate when I do that and I work hard at staying alert.
I listen to (and sing along with) a lot of music and have long conversations with Scooter (books put me to sleep).

And now that winter is fast approaching
(Zion received 7 inches of new snow today!)



I’m even more worried about the driving that we’ll be doing this winter!
I just hope that we can stay safe on the roads until we’re living together again and we can
stay off the highways/interstate for a week or two!

(As a side note, we’ve spent over $11,000 on gas so far this year! OUCH!)