Time Really Flies!

[Argabarga]

Observe:

Him - I had my flashers on!
Me - Those mean absolutely nothing Sir, you don't have a permit and the sign that says you need one here is right *THERE*, you parked directly in front of it
Him - But I was only gone for 2 seconds!
Me - Sir, it takes me longer than 2 seconds to even load a car.
Him - *Cat Butt Face*

Another victim of Customer Standard Time, with a bit of the "amber shift" going on as well, the belief that flashers buy you extra time.....

It's too bad Einstein never got a chance to check out these odd time anomalies that only affect the self-entitled, they're fascinating!

[Tama]

Where did these people get the idea that flashers buy you time anyway?

[Argabarga]

Because most of the time, they park for such short periods of time, that they don't suffer the ticket/tow the "no parking" sign warns of.

So, in their mind they think, "Aha! I just put em' on and I'm good ta go!" when in reality, they just never got noticed.

So the one time they DO get noticed and towed, they're upset because to them, I'm the one who isn't playing by the rules....

It's like a guy who shoplifts tiny items from a crowded store with no LP on duty and attributes his success to the fact he wears his "lucky hat" while doing it. Then the day they hire an LP guy who busts him, he demands to know HOW it could have happened, he WAS WEARING HIS LUCKY HAT!!!!!

[Pixilated]

Where did these people get the idea that flashers buy you time anyway?

They figure that obviously nobody would leave their lights on for a long period of time, so obviously they only planned to be there for a few seconds, so why are mean people like Argabarga towing them when they'll be gone in a few seconds? Why why why why???

[Seshat]

Or they see someone with a legitimate use of the hazard lights (eg, car breakdown, or using their car as a metal shield for a medical emergency); and think it's because of the hazard lights that the vehicle isn't being towed.

In the 'car breakdown' case, I expect (don't know for sure) that as long as you've moved your car to someplace sensible and safe, are with the vehicle, and have contacted your auto club (or whomever), you probably won't be towed for parking 'in the wrong place'.
I know I've moved my car to 'park with permit' space or very short term parking spaces to get it out of the way of traffic while I wait for the RAC to either fix it or tow it to my mechanic.

I've never done the 'metal shield' trick (and since I now don't drive, probably won't ever do it); but it's one way to protect someone injured and stuck on the road.

[Argabarga]

We get a surprising amount of that too, the "but it broke down!" people who think that since they had no control over the fact it quit running, or where it coasted to, they can't be held liable if that happens to be someone else's lot.

I always tell them, if you had called us, or another company immediately and stayed with the car, nothing bad would have happened. You can't just throw up your hands, walk away and figure "Yeah, I'll get back to this when it's more convenient" A true emergency situation means you need to take emergency measures in an expedient time frame, i.e. RIGHT NOW. It doesn't mean you get a couple hours to go have a leisurely lunch and ponder the meaning of a broken down car in the grand scheme of things....

In the end, all that happens is they get a more expensive tow. Calling me for one is $50, someone ELSE calling in for you? $115

[bhskittykatt]

I use my hazards on the paper route since some parts require me to crawl down the shoulder on the wrong side of the road to get the customers on that side or to double-park/stop in the middle of the street/otherwise park illegally. Of course, I literally am there for ten seconds or so before moving on to the next customer.

[raudf]

The only time I've ever used the emergency flashers and it wasn't an emergency was when I had to help a friend move a big item from one area to another via vehicle. And even then we had someone in the getaway veh.. err, truck to let people know what was going on.

[Sarlon]

I've used my flashers when I got a flat tire on my mom's van when I was using it to move...and was driving on a donut at 35 mph in the right lane (of a 4 lane road), had some idiot riding my ass for MOST of that long stretch of road til DARED get into the left hand lane to turn left to get to my tire guy to do something for the tire.

the guy riding my tail....there was NO traffic on our side of the highway/road, I wasn't risking going ANY faster just so you could get around the non existent traffic....this had gone on for almost 4 miles on a stretch of road that had almost nothing on it, but a major connector of two parts of town.

[SongsOfDragons]

We get a surprising amount of that too, the "but it broke down!" people who think that since they had no control over the fact it quit running, or where it coasted to, they can't be held liable if that happens to be someone else's lot.

I always tell them, if you had called us, or another company immediately and stayed with the car, nothing bad would have happened. You can't just throw up your hands, walk away and figure "Yeah, I'll get back to this when it's more convenient"

I've only ever seen this work once. Car parked on hatch marks near the council building, hazards on, no-one to be seen. Bemused parking inspector studying the car. Sign hurriedly scrawled and taped to the window...

"Car broken down, RAC aware, eta [time]. Have run to answer call of nature - sorry! Please call Mob ###. - Name"

It worked too. As I was strolling past, the man who owned the broken-down car was legging it back up the street. As far as I saw, he didn't get in any trouble, because I heard him demonstrating the brrrrurgghurrghcoughhackflumph of the engine.

All I can say is poor bugger!! There's no convenient bushes to pee behind in a city.

[Kagato]

I've used my flashers when I got a flat tire on my mom's van when I was using it to move...and was driving on a donut at 35 mph in the right lane (of a 4 lane road), had some idiot riding my ass for MOST of that long stretch of road til DARED get into the left hand lane to turn left to get to my tire guy to do something for the tire.

the guy riding my tail....there was NO traffic on our side of the highway/road, I wasn't risking going ANY faster just so you could get around the non existent traffic....this had gone on for almost 4 miles on a stretch of road that had almost nothing on it, but a major connector of two parts of town.

Whenever someone was driving too close to the tail of my car while I still had my Silvia, I was SO tempted to slam on the brakes so that they would have to fork out for repairs - laws in New Zealand state that if you run into the back of a car in front of you for ANY reason, you were following too close and you were at fault - END OF STORY.

[gerund]

Whenever someone was driving too close to the tail of my car while I still had my Silvia, I was SO tempted to slam on the brakes so that they would have to fork out for repairs - laws in New Zealand state that if you run into the back of a car in front of you for ANY reason, you were following too close and you were at fault - END OF STORY.

You want to be right or DEAD right? Whenever someone tailgates me, I pull over and let them through. If I can't, I slow down until they pass me or we are doing a safe speed for the distance they are following me. If that is 1 MPH - then that's the speed I do, no matter how they yell, beep or flash. They get sick of it before I do, and I have never caused an accident doing this.

If you ever slam on the brakes for no reason you risk killing yourself or someone else. Is the misdemeanor of tailgating worth the death penalty? Can you control a smash so that the person driving behind you is not killed or injured, or the child (you can't see) standing on the back seat is not catapulted through the windscreen?

I change lanes. Pull off the road. Turn a corner. Park in someone's driveway. Then when I can't do any of those I take my foot off all the controls and let the car coast to a safe speed. If they get the idea and drop back I resume my journey at the speed limit or whatever speed I think is safe.

Leave the policing to the police. They are paid for it.

[EricKei]

You want to be right or DEAD right? Whenever someone tailgates me, I pull over and let them through. If I can't, I slow down until they pass me or we are doing a safe speed for the distance they are following me.

I much prefer the latter. If I'm in the passing lane (it's NOT a "we all wanna go 20 over the limit lane", despite how some drivers act), doing the expected *mumble* mph over the limit there, yeah, I'll pull over one lane if there's some asshole riding my ass. If I'm in the "slow lane", especially with my hazards on? I just go a little slower until they figure out that that the passing lane is meant for passing (note -- I won't drop below the posted "minimum speed", however, unless I'm riding on a donut, in which case one really should not exceed 35mph anyway)...

[Argabarga]

I think 50 might be the "safe" limit on donuts, whatever it is, it's usually stamped on the side in yellow caution font, and very few listen to it anyway... another peeve of mine.

That mountain of personal peeves is getting quite high lately

[wolfie]

!@#$%^& those space-saver spares - if I wanted a donut, I'd go to Tim Horton's. My car came with one of those, but the "well" is big enough to accommodate a full-size tire. After visiting 3 or 4 auto parts places (rims that were SUPPOSED to fit my car didn't - finally found one that did), I now have a spare that's good for 100,000 km at highway speeds.