Mindless drivers...

DirtFlier

DirtFlier

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Joined
Dec 13, 2010
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Location
Troy, OH
Bike
2010 Silver NT700V/ABS
On Saturday afternoon, I drove my car to a dinner gathering of friends and it was about 35-miles away and I'd be coming home after dark so I took the Slab. There are way too many critters on the road after dusk for me to feel safe on my bike!

I was driving at the posted speed limit +5 MPH and using my Cruise Control. What always gets me is how some people seem to lack a steering wheel in their car or a brain (!) because they can catch me from way, way back, then park on my bumper while both the slow and fast lanes are open. Often times when I pull into the slow lane (staying at the same speed) to get off, they will suddenly zoom by. Why didn't they just pull over a pass me about 5-miles ago?

I live in a semi-rural area so the experience related above was not going through a large city where people often play bumper tag. End of rant. :mad:
 
Misery likes company. Same thing happened to me last night. I was driving my wife's car bringing her home from the ER on a 2-lane road with passing lanes in places (wife is OK). Some guy in a big pickup truck (probably lifted) as his headlights were shining directly into my back window was behind me. He came up on me quickly and when we got to a passing lane he fell back. Then he came up on me quickly again and stayed there while going through several passing lanes. Then two miles from home he passed and drove away from me. People just like to follow another vehicle. I like space in front of me not someone else's bumper.

Does this post make me a "me too" ????
 
Whenever possible I use my Cruise Control on the slab but I'd never use it in rush hour traffic or when the slab goes through a large city.

Out in the boonies, I see people NOT on cruise control with speed constantly being varied by right foot. At least to me, being in Cruise on a mostly empty highway makes my life a lot easier plus it increases my MPG. :)
 
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I don't even like driving anymore. When I go out on the NT, I choose times and routes where the traffic hopefully is sparse.

I remember years ago when driving was actually fun, guess that time has passed.
 
Here's the deal. I think people get behind us and are afraid to pass because that puts them front and center for Johnny Law and his radar gun. They catch up to us, then let us run point while they crowd our bumpers and act impatiently. Either pass or get off my ass, thank you very much. As a general rule, I also drive speed limit +5 and have experienced much the same thing. Usually, I'll slow enough so they have to pass and take point. šŸ˜ There is no substitute for age and experience.
 
Forgive my ignorance as I have never used Adaptive Cruise Control, but doesn't it work just as Dirtflier and junglejim have described their experiences?

Macka
 
Adaptive CC will reduce speed if your car gets too close to the car in front. Deb's newer CRV has adaptive CC but my older Accord has the normal CC.
 
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I have had cruise control on all my cars/trucks for the last 30 years but I have seldom used it. I didn't like the feeling of turning over control to a machine whose only objective was to maintain N MPH come hell or high water. My dislike of cruise control ended when we got our Subaru Outback with adaptive cruise control. What a difference!

Mike
 
Well, I have owned 3 iterations of Nissan Rogue, with varied levels of CC:

1) 2014: normal CC: good, but still needs a lot of effort, so long distance driving is tiring. Constant vigil on the car in front.

2) 2018: Adaptive CC: This is a game changer, now driving on interstates is less stressful, as the car slows down (or even stops) or speeds up as the traffic in front moves.

3) 2020: Adaptive CC with Lane Keep: Wow, I am blown away as it reduces the stress of driving substantially. Car follows the curve of the road as long as the road has lane markings. Drinking water / snacking while driving is so much more easy as I donā€™t have to frit about keeping the car in lane. The car beeps loudly if you take away your hands from the steering wheel form more than 15 seconds.

All cars had emergency forward and rear braking.

CC gives me pretty decent fuel economy also.
 
I hate the adaptive cruise control. My wife's Hand CRV has it and when I drive her car I want to turn it off but I can't figure out how. I"d have to pull over and read the owners manual to do that. And then I'd forget how before driving her car again.

Like most people I use cruise on the open road in light traffic. On the interstates people who pass pull in quickly snd the cruise detects them and slows my speed which causes more cars to pass who cut back in quickly and pretty soon I'm slowed way down. I know the gap is adjustable but it is just way too sensitive which makes it useless. So I turn the cruise off off even though I'd like to use it.

The Honda has many great features but most of them require using the touch screen on the dash to manipulate them. I'm just unwilling to take my eyes off the road long enough to figure all that out while driving. I don't even attempt to use th radio. I wish it had an on/off/ volume k nob and a tuning knob. And touching the right place on the touch screen on our lousy bumpy roads is a challenge in itself.
 
When I drive my wifeā€™s 2019 CRV she handles all the info screen stuff from the passenger seat. I donā€™t have a clue how it works and have no interest in learning since I only drive it when we go on trips. It took me awhile but I have grown to appreciate the adaptive cruise control and the lane assist on long road trips. When I bought my 2016 Honda Fit I intentionally bought the low end model that still has knobs for the radio and no touch screen. You can pretty much control everything without taking your eyes off the road.
 
My ancient (2016) Accord has radio control buttons on the left side of the steering wheel but only for volume control. I may be able to change radio stations from that same rocker switch but I've never tried.
 
I think driver controls should be more standardized. Thatā€™s never going to happen.
 
Try using Adaptive Cruise Control anywhere around here and you'll be slowing down every few seconds as folks cut in and out of your lane. And the gap will get bigger and more folks will cut in...regardless of the ACC distance setting. šŸ™„ I have the option of turning off the Adaptive feature and making it regular cruise control which works a lot better. Automatically braking because some idiot just cut in front of me, and is already out of the way, is more trouble than it's worth. My dash cam will show who cut in too close if it comes to that...:)
 
I live in and near a mega-metropolis, Los Angeles. I have already seen it all and experienced it all with every flavor of bunghole driver. The most common is the ā€œLane Wandererā€ at high speeds.

Yesterday I experienced an @-hole that came up behind me while I was in the carpool lane going 75 MPH. He started flashing his high beams at me to get out of his path of travel. I flipped on my amber warning strobes and he dropped way back and out of view for a while. Later on, while I was climbing up the grade to drop into Simi Valley. He came out of nowhere going over 100 MPH taking any lane opening not to slow down and then back into the carpool lane a tenth of a mile ahead of me.

You country folk have it easy compared to the BS I have to put up with whenever I have to go anywhere, in any type of vehicle.
 
Brillot2000, this will make your day. A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I went for a little drive in our Polaris SlingShot. In the area around Elma, Iowa, there are quite a few Amish and Mennonites. We must have passed a dozen one-horse buggies. In one, three kids were looking out the back and waving like crazy. I thought about stopping, but the parents would not be too happy. They have their believes and who am I to say they're not right?
A few miles further, we came up on 3 buggies traveling together. They pulled WAY of the paved portion and over into the gravel. In ALL cases, I slowed WAY down passing. They are good, honest, polite people. Showing a bit of deference to them took no time. We should all learn from each other and respect each other.
Once in awhile, you will come across some "exhaust" from one of the four legged "engines". I always try to run one of the wheels over it, mainly to irritate my wife. Always works.
 
Brillot you can have you metropolis. I live in a vary rural country. We have no interstates, no traffic lights, no railroads, and not even any 4-lane highways. We do have logging trucks, potholes, unsaved roads, and lots of deer. Requires a different set of driving skills.
In snowy weather Iā€™ll see more cars in the ditch in one trip to Minneapolis than Iā€™ll see all year at home.
 
My girlfriend is very amused that I never take the interstate highways when I go out for a ride, but I can't stand them. Doing 80 mph while on the bumper of another vehicle seems insane to me. The reaction time is nil.
So I take my sweet time on the backroads, leaving plenty of room between me and any vehicle ahead. If someone is on my tail, I pull aside and let them fly by thinking "all that stress is going to get them someday".
Then I pull up behind them at the next stop light and just shake my head...
 
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