Driving Rants

2007-06-29T20:39:00.000-07:00

a Jedi driving trick

Here is one driving trick that is kinda fun. It is a bit aggressive, and standard "don't do this, I never really would" disclaimer applies.

So, you are following someone in a single lane, and they are going 10-15 (or more?) miles under the speed limit and driving you nuts. Instead of tailgating them, try this approach. First drive the same speed as them about 2 car lengths behind them. Maintain that distance steadily for a bit. Then, very smoothly accelerate and move to within a car length or slightly less. Don't be too quick, it should be a little subtle, but not too slow either.

The other driver may speed up slightly, the idea is that they will see you moving up and feel as though they slowed down, and will react by speeding up slightly without even thinking about it. This is your goal. So next you back off, again a bit subtly. Even if they didn't speed up, your backing off gives their brain the impression that they did, hopefully creating a positive influence toward them actually speeding up the next time you accelerate.

Rinse and repeat. Don't establish a steady rhythm, mix it up. Subliminal is the trick. It can work. Not every time, but enough to be worth a shot.

2007-05-27T11:51:00.000-07:00

Surreal drive in this morning

I know, I really shouldn't be working today. In fact, to stick to the total hours on my time card through the end of today (I had to turn my time card in early) I should really only work 2.5 hours today. I will likely work more, but I intend to try to get out of the office before it is too late.

On the way in the drive was somewhat surreal. The thing that stood out the most though was the car (a chrysler maybe?) that was painted all in tiger stripes. Not big broad stripes, but thinner ones. The Whole Darn Car. I didn't get a look at the interior, makes me wonder though. It just looked really odd. Added to the floaty sensation I kept having as I swooped through the corners.

Yeah, I definitely need to leave the office before too late. If only to go for a drive on the coast. It is a lovely day outside.

2007-04-18T21:19:00.001-07:00

Smile pretty for the cameras...

In Escondido, there are a few red light cameras. I don't mind, especially since I understand how they work. In fact there is one that I have to stop at quite often, and I enjoy it when I am the first car in the lane, so that I can pull up just so and FLASH! off goes the camera. Of course I come to a complete stop, behind the limit line, but I trigger the camera.

They are set to trigger if you cross their sensors going a certain speed or above. This is only true for a Standing Red Light. Each intersection, probably each sensor, can have different speed thresholds set for triggering the cameras, the assumption being that you couldn't stop behind the limit line if you hit the sensor at that speed. The down side being that people can roll right through the red light as long as they are going under that speed threshold. I have seen this with people turning right at certain lights.

Seems like a pretty imperfect system to me, but they do on occasion catch some spectacular accidents on film. Big money maker though, nice fat fine. My advice? Stop behind the darn limit line (that is the first one if there is a crosswalk, btw, not the far line). I mean actually stop. Take a half second for the car to rock. Stop signs too, just bloody stop, it won't kill you or your car. Come on, have some guts.

2007-03-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

contact with a Mazerati
How fun, I saw the black Mazerati the other day, and the driver acknowledged me as he went by. I am surprised I noticed, since I am usually looking at the car, but this time the line of sight was perfect and we were looking right at each other.

I could tell he enjoys his car. That makes me smile. I hope he has as much fun as I do on those beautiful roads in RSF.

2007-03-25T15:47:00.000-07:00

I miss my Sunday drives
I have been working so much lately that I haven't gone on my typical Sunday drives for a couple of weeks now, instead I have actually gone into the office to work. sigh.

I miss cruising around the windy roads, although I do get lonely on those drives sometimes. They are calming though, and at least I am outside. Being here in this office is OK, I mean at least I have an office with a door. But driving is sooo much better.

Oh well, c'est la vie and all that. I will just have to try to make the best of my drive home, after all there shouldn't be many other people on Del Dios, I hope.

2007-03-20T22:18:00.000-07:00

please, learn to drive

Please, Oh Please Please Please, learn to drive. For example, when driving on a windy road, please do not slow excessively before the corner, and then also during the corner. Instead, try just letting up on the gas a little bit as you approach the corner to slow a bit. Approach from the outside edge of the corner and then dip in toward the apex, you will find you can go really quick and really smooth around some corners. Also how about just not braking in the middle of a corner, unless you absolutely have to.

As for accelerating, if you are in an automatic, I hope you are a natural driver, because otherwise I think it is a bit difficult to make up for the lack of control over the transmission. Otherwise, with a stick, don't shift too soon. I see it a lot, and it makes you lag. Wait until the RPMs are a little high for the gear you are in before you shift to the next. The gas pedal is the one on the right, don't be afraid to press it.

You could try double-clutching, if you have a manual transimission, but I don't want to go into that right now.

do I need a disclaimer? maybe, so here you go - don't do anything I say silly - I am not responsible if you do

2007-03-20T17:24:00.000-07:00

No, Really, what is wrong with people?

Sometimes, no all the time, I just wonder what is the matter with people. For example, what gives with stopping a full car length back from the car in front of you when waiting at a light. Especially at a light that has limited space to wait at? It is just plain greedy.

I will say now that the space in front of you on the road, stopped or moving, is somewhat under your control. AT least with regards to the people behind you. Or to people waiting to turn on to the road, etc. If you keep too much space, for no good reason, it can be selfish. Think about it, and pull up!

Also, what is with the tiny amount of drizzle and light fog making the freeway STOP? Come on people, it is just a little water in the air. You won't melt, and even if you would, your car won't, so you are safe! Just be a bit more chilled, give a bit more space for buffer, and DRIVE!

All right, I am venting a bit, because I am sitting in the office (not billing for this time, so :P~~) looking at the traffic cams and wishing I didn't have to go home. I hate driving slow. I hate hate hate it. And I only have 10 miles on the 5N, I can't imagine if I took freeways the whole way home. YUCK.

2007-03-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

an open corridor

Today, a lovely thing happened on the way home. As I approached a key intersection, and traffic stacked up in the right and left lanes, I stuck to the middle, as usual. There were two cars ahead, and as I approached, lo and behold the first one broke right, and the one in front of me slowly broke left, just in time to leave an empty corridor, free and clear for at least a mile in front of me.

I didn't go tooooo fast, after all it was a city street, not the freeway. We won't mention how fast I hit on the freeway sometimes. Not for long usually, and I am oh so careful...but we won't get specific. I wouldn't ever go over the speed limit, of course...

Can you hear me smiling?

2007-03-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

the ones that go the other way

So, as noted, my commute is along a 2 lane highway. This means that I often see the same cars and people going the other direction, both in the morning and the evening. It is interesting, at least to me.

Mostly I remember the more unique cars, the ones that stick out. For example;

There are 3 different Bentleys

recently I saw all 3 in one day.

Two Mazeratis, a black one and recently a new silver one.

Is it the same driver? unsure.

There is a red Mini driven by a man with a black beard.
There is a beige Mini with a female driver.
An older orange BMW, the cool boxy ones.
A older VW squareback.
Two Rolls Royces,

as with the Bentleys, I saw both of these RRs in one day recently, in fact one was two cars ahead of me and the other was oncoming. I wonder if they waved to each other?

There are more, but those are the most interesting ones. I especially like the Mazeratis and the black Bentley. I wonder who I will see tomorrow.

2007-03-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

This is a cool site, with lots of amusing writing. This article in particular is quite funny, and true. Check it out!

What's That Clicking Sound?

READ THE ARTICLE AT DRIVL.COM

2007-03-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Games from when I was younger

More driving games that is. Here is a fun one, and I am sure not unique to me. You need an open freeway preferably with no traffic, so like in the middle of the night or something. The game is to slalom between two lanes, missing all the bumps. Continue at various speeds, progressively increasing speed. Not hard, but kinda fun.

Disclaimer - of course I don't play this one anymore, I mean really, I am rarely on the road at 3-4am any more.

2007-03-06T19:11:00.000-08:00

Flow games - part 1

I enjoy the state of mind called Flow (named thus by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi). I also enjoy driving, and a good thing since my commute is 30 miles, most of which is a two lane highway. A pretty highway too, with fun curves. Del Dios Highway to Linea Del Cielo. The only downside to this portion of my commute is that there is often a bit of traffic, or just slow people. Instead of being annoyed though, I choose to entertain myself and practice Flow.

The basic flow games are just to maintain a constant distance from the car in front, without applying the brakes (I drive a stick). I imagine a tow bar between their car and mine and try not to make it elastic. This is actually pretty easy, so I usually add on something else, but this is the basic.

It is important to mention that I don't do any of these things except under certain conditions. Easier to tell the exeptions I suppose, for example, if there is a bicyclist, I pay more attention to that and passing them safely then any flow games. Inclement weather also severly limits any activity but driving itself. Safety first and all that.

I have recently had to add another layer, another challenge level if you will, to my flow games on this commute, which is what prompted this post in the first place. I have yet to decide how much I want to reveal of the other levels, you never know who is reading...

2007-01-31T19:17:00.000-08:00

Insanity...
If you drive on Del Dios highway at all, you would be familiar with the fruit stand, near Bing Crosby, and how for a short length, there is an extra lane for pulling into it. An SUV went diving down into this lane the other day on my way home, passing myself and the SUV in front of me. This still left a couple cars in front of this crazy guy. Woe to them.

And yep, he passed them one at a time, on the big downhill by Lake Hodges, with oncoming headlights staring him down. I wonder what they thought of it. I was just hoping the fool had control, because the debris would fill the roadway if he didn't.

It isn't just his life he is risking...and he just doesn't care.
Didn't get his plate, too astonished, and frankly, he was moving really quick, and I was paying attention to the guy in front of me. oh well.

2006-02-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

Okay, I guess I will also rant about things that happen specifically, after all, if someone does something in a public place (the road) then describing their actions is allowed, in detail. This morning, on El Camino Real, some hotshot decided I wasn't accelerating quite fast enough for him (sooooo sorry, enjoying the trees for a moment!) so, he passed me. Now, this is a two lane part of ECR, between Linea Cielo and Via de la Valle, and guess what? Someone was coming the other way, about a quarter mile away. And that person and myself both had to move almost off the road to avoid this jerk.

So, I slipped back into Mario mode (Andretti, not Brothers) and caught up. It was a black Acura, plate # = 4NHC604. The only reason this really bothers me, is that it was quite dangerous, and if he had miscalculated, or the person in the other car had been looking down as he made this stupid move, they would have hit. And I would have been right there, and could not have avoided an accident if that happened. Endangering others is Not Cool.

another topic to add to the list is turn signal usage and abusage. heheheee.

2006-02-01T12:24:00.000-08:00

Oh, there are so many, I swear every day I think of new topics to write about here, and then I don't get around to it. Well, I am at least going to list some topics, and then I can write later.

Merging, Stopping, Headlights on Bright, turning right from the far left, dangerous moves to correct mistakes (from inattention usually), Merging (yeah, its a biggie), big vehicles.

that is enough for a start. Stay tuned for some rants on these topics....