When you’re driving from Cole Harbour to Burnside, please remember there are ZERO passing lanes or safe opportunities to go around you. If you cannot drive at least 10 below the 100km/hr speed limit on an ideal day, stay off the highway and take Main Street instead. The cops keep a heavy traffic presence there so you have nothing to be afraid of. If you really must drive on that highway, please pull over when you see a line of 20 cars in your rearview. While you might think you’re doing everyone a favour by driving 70, all you’re doing is increasing the likelihood that some dumbass will cross the double yellow line thinking, “fuck this shit!” and into traffic going the other way that you can’t see in most spots. It’s a dangerous road, I get that, but if you go the posted limit and pay attention, I guarantee you’ll stay out of trouble. —I Can Drive 55
This article appears in Sep 6-12, 2012.
Very valid bitch. Slow drivers can be just as dangerous (and sometimes more) than speeders
agreed, and please don’t slow down on a highway merge lane. true story, several times
Slow drivers disrupt traffic flow but are not dangerous just annoying. Impatient leadfoot drivers are dangerous though.
Troodon, it is my experience that slow drivers, for the most part, are also nervous drivers, and that is what makes them dangerous.
Drove that stretch a few years ago, I guess it hasn’t changed, just brutal some of the drivers on that road, BRoc is right, those nervous drivers can cause a lot of trouble.
passing lanes, what the hell are they? if there is nothing coming your way, and asshole is too slow, floor it and say bye bye.
Say bye bye is right… bye bye to a functioning spine, attached head, working nervous, respiratory, and circulatory system.
Just suck it up and arrive safely a few minutes late.
Granny’s gotta get to church too…
I’m with Zed on this one, he really hit the nail on the head…trust me. I KNOW…..
If the driver feels safe at that speed then whats the problem? Maybe you should contact some elected officials to have the speed limit law changed to “you have to go the speed thats posted, no exceptions!” The next time I go that route I’m going to drive 65, and if theres a line of cars behind me then maybe I’ll go 60 just to make sure we’re all slow and safe. Actually, I’ll take my bicycle, I average about 30 on it, and for safety sake I may have to take up the whole lane instead of just the shoulder. Just safer that way.
You CAN get a fine for going too slow, too, (i.e. impeding the flow of traffic), especially if it’s determined that you’re doing it intentionally. If you don’t feel comfortable driving at the posted speed limit, then stay the hell off that particular road. Find an alternate route or way of getting to where you have to go. It’s called driving within your abilities.
I think we should do what they do in certain parts of Quebec, (God help me, I’m actually agreeing with something out of Quebec!). Along stretches of certain highways, there is a max speed limit posted, like anywhere else, but then there is also a min speed posted as well. (Example: Speed limit max 100 km/h, min 80 km/h). It makes perfect sense and helps to keep traffic flowing smoothly.
I’ve heard of people getting pulled over on the QE2 for going the speed limit because they were going too slow for the flow of traffic…
never a witness to it but still.
I imagine it’d be compromising to be an officer in that situation having to give a warning for obeying the law.
“Do you have any idea why I pulled you over?”
“Ummm, cuz I was doing the posted speed limit?!”
“‘Zactly. You punk kids never learn.”
Isn’t the number one rule “share the roads”, but it seems thats only when its convenient for someone to get to work, the drivethru or a corner store thats down the road. The law also clearly states that a cyclist can take up the whole lane if they feel the safety of the situation requires it. Also, the shoulders of most roads are covered in glass and rocks that bike tires don’t like. I do agree with the min/max speed limits. There are times when they would be appropriate, just not on the wrost of some of our roads.
So, share the roads and slow down. I honestly can’t remember the last deadly car crash that the end cause was ruled out to be the driver going to slow. I could put the links on here of a dozen speed related car crashes that resulted in numerous deaths. I’ve also never seen, read or heard about someone getting a ticket for going to slow. And once again I could post the links of a dozen speed realted incidents that resulted in tickets and/or driver license suspensions.
“Driving too slowly.
Driving below the posted speed limit in ideal conditions can also be dangerous. Studies show that a vehicle moving at a speed considerably below the posted limit is much more likely to cause or be involved in a crash than a vehicle moving at a normal speed.
Driving slowly is especially dangerous just beyond the crest of a hill or around a curve. The slowly moving vehicle is often hidden by the hill or curve. Faster moving vehicles may crash into the slower moving vehicles before they can slow down.
You should not drive your vehicle at such a slow speed as to block the normal and reasonable flow of traffic. A slow driver must stop where it is safe to do so and allow blocked traffic to pass. Once the blocked traffic has passed, the slow driver may resume driving until the following traffic begins to build up.” – pages 47-48 of the Nova Scotia Driver’s Handbook
http://www.gov.ns.ca/snsmr/rmv/handbook/DH…
Section 107(1)(2)(3) of the Nova Scotia Motor Vehicle Act: Slow driving
“107 (1) Except when necessary for safe operation or to comply with this Act, no person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable flow of traffic.
(2) Where a person is driving a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede or block the normal and reasonable flow of traffic, he shall stop where it is reasonably safe to do so and permit traffic so impeded or blocked to pass his motor vehicle.
(3) The Minister may fix minimum rates of speed for motor vehicles traversing any part or portion of a highway and may erect and maintain signs containing notification of such rate of speed so fixed, and thereafter while such signs remain so erected and displayed, the driver of any vehicle who wilfully drives at a rate of speed less than such minimum rate of speed shall be guilty of an offence. R.S., c. 293, s. 107.”
I’m not disputing that speeding is dangerous and according to Transport Canada stats from 2008, “speeding is a factor in about 25% of deaths from vehicle crashes in Canada.” I’m also, all for sharing the road. But driving considerably slower than the posted speed limit because you “don’t feel comfortable” is not the answer either. It’s just as likely to cause an accident and almost certainly increases the road rage factor, (which is a pointless, but nonetheless, very real problem on the roads). In fact, it usually results in speeding.
So, by intentionally driving too slow, you are, in affect, increasing the instances of speeding as the ragers attempt to get by you and take more risks than they perhaps normally would.
It’s the whole ‘self-licking popsicle’ scenario.