Driving Fail

[fireheart]

So I encountered THREE driving fails today. Surprisingly despite me being a P-Plater and probably driving BETTER than them I managed OK.

Story the first:

Not so much a suck, but more a bitchrant. I had to make a nice long trip this morning, through an area that was COVERED in fog. There were parts where it was like pea soup-you could NOT see through it. I therefore opted to travel at a slightly slower distance.

Short little factoid: the legal limit on this stretch of road starts at 110km/h from where I start, then drops to 100km/h at one point, then 90km/h at a tunnel, then 80km/h towards the end, then finally 60km/h to finish (yes this is a freeway, but I sort of made it deliberately vague). On the 110km/h stretches, I am required to go 100km/h BY LAW. The maximum speed for a provisional driver (me) is 100km/h ONLY.

Several times today I kept seeing people going at 110km/h or at 100km/h on the roads that were marked at 80km/h due to the fog (the signs saying it's 100km/h change if it's raining or foggy). Seriously-it's FOG! What would've happened if another car came out of nowhere?

Suck The Second and Third:

Driving down to the library today and I encountered two short fails. The first was just after I'd turned onto a main road, and a minivan decided that it was a brilliant idea to overtake someone on a single continuous line. If the line is solid you CANNOT CROSS OVER (only exceptions are to move around hazards i.e. tree branches, mattresses, or to get in/out of a driveway)

The second fail came shortly after at the roundabout. I'd already entered when some guy decides it's time for him to move and almost rammed me when I was trying to complete my turn. GIVE WAY AT THE ROUNDABOUT!

[Daemonmonkey]

Here i Scandinavia, you ARE required to slow down when sight conditions are bad. We also have day-light by law, that means the head lamps are the only acceptable, except for fog lamps. That helps in those situations when it's hard to see if there are oncoming traffic, like fog, low-sun, etc.

We have those speed-changing signs here too. When we had this year's snow blizzard, the freeways quickly turned to a washing board of packed ice. The signs were down to 70 kph, still there were idiots driving at 120+...

[fireheart]

And another round of fail yesterday.

Was driving down to the uni and along a highway, there are signs that were recently put in that change according to the road/weather conditions. These only apply when you're going downhill, not uphill. The signs are normally set at 80km/h, but yesterday they were set at 60km/h due to the massive fog on the highway.

And yet people still do 80km/h-100km/h. And worse still, I am DOING the speed limit and people can't evidently wait. I am NOT going to go an extra 10km/h because you are.

Just to clarify as well, a provisional driver is the step after your learners permit. If you pass a test or complete a bunch of competencies (same thing either way), you're awarded your provisional licence, which means that you can drive on your own or with friends, your max speed is 100km/h (even in 110km/h zones), you only get 3 demerit points, you cannot have ANY alcohol in your system when you drive (that is, you have to have a zero BAC) and there are certain cars you're not allowed to drive....which funnily enough, are mostly the high-end expensive cars that no teenager in their right mind can afford.

[infinitemonkies]

Here in Victoria, BC, despite being part of Canada, we only get an average of 3 or 4 days of snow per year, and rarely more than a couple inches worth.

I absolutely hate winter, and I hate snow, but I love it when it first snows here. I'll sit and listen to the radio, and hear about how many accidents there have been. And sometimes make bets about it.

Now, victoria is not a particularly big city, but generally there will be around 300 car accidents in the 6 hours following the first snowflake. Every one of these accidents will be caused by a driver who did not take the slippery conditions or reduced visibility into account. A few months ago, we had a locally-unheard-of foot of snow come down in about 3 hours. During those 3 hours of heavy snowfall, there were over 500 accidents. One particular exit off the highway had over 30 accidents in under 30 minutes.

And every single one of them would have been avoided if people had just slowed down and paid attention.

[Daemonmonkey]

Ahh, yes, first snow...

Winter is coming, snow much likely, and people still wait until AFTER first snow to change to winter tires...

And people ALWAYS get surprised that it snows during winter, in a nordic country... because, of course, it never had happened the previous years.

[Yarnil]

you cannot have ANY alcohol in your system when you drive (that is, you have to have a zero BAC) .

You do know that your body makes alcohol itself? So a 0% isnt possible.

[Geek King]

You do know that your body makes alcohol itself? So a 0% isnt possible.

It is on a breathalyzer, at least. I've blown a 0.0% everytime I've had to take a drug test for work. Perhaps they are calibrated to compensate for natural levels?

[Pagan]

Fireheart, welcome the wide, wide world of driving.

You will find that a lot of people think that the speed limit is a suggestion.

And just because there's a law saying you should (or shouldn't) do something while driving doesn't mean that everybody obeys it.

Take the fact that we have no cell phone use (except with hands-free )/texting while driving in ABQ. What do I see every single fracking day? You're also supposed to signal when you're going to make a turn. Rarely happens. There's even a joke here that turn signals aren't used because just confuses us natives.

I'm not saying I'm a perfect driver either. I'm the queen of the California stops and, depending where I am, I've been known to speed. But I've never gotten a ticket and had only one wreck (other diver 100% at fault).

[fireheart]

It is on a breathalyzer, at least. I've blown a 0.0% everytime I've had to take a drug test for work. Perhaps they are calibrated to compensate for natural levels?

The breathalyzers here are calibrated for that, as both times I've been breath-tested I've only come up with 0.00, ditto for boyfriend (both of us are on our provisionals, but I can go for my provisional 2's sooner). I think most breathalyzers are.

[Nyoibo]

I think one of the reasons people ignore those signs on the freeway is they always chnge them but then never change them back, arond the tunnels are the worst spot for it too. I remember those days though, I'm pretty sure it was the same day I had a guy go past me at at least 120.

[Yarnil]

The breathalyzers here are calibrated for that, as both times I've been breath-tested I've only come up with 0.00, ditto for boyfriend (both of us are on our provisionals, but I can go for my provisional 2's sooner). I think most breathalyzers are.

That sounds logicall, but doesnt work if you need to take a bloodtest. But at least there is something to prevent unfair tickets.