So I guess it’s a trend now to put your life and the lives of others in danger if you’re driving in NS.
Yesterday afternoon, on HWY 103, a moron was straddling both lanes of traffic at 90km/hr and not letting anyone pass him. There were 3 cars behind him and they were all trying to pass him at 110km/hr, which is the speed limit, even if they were doing more, it’s none of his business really, but i guess it’s now a trend in NS to control everyone else on the road but yourself.
And I thought driving in Montreal or in Florida was terrible. I came to the small realization that once i drove in those 2 cities, NS was the backwards one, because driving in Montreal and Florida was actually the same, and both were completely different from NS. Also experience in the middle east showed me that Montreal, Florida, BC, Toronto and the middle all drive the same way, and they’re all different from NS.
This article appears in Jul 3-9, 2008.
“a moron was straddling both lanes of traffic at 90km/hr and not letting anyone pass him. There were 3 cars behind him and they were all trying to pass him at 110km/hr, which is the speed limit, even if they were doing more…”If the approaching car was doing 20kms more than the guy going 90 there shouldn’t be a problem passing since you are already going faster than the guy you want to pass. And you say some were doing more than 110 so those cars should have already been past him. You can’t following someone who’s doing 90 while doing 110 yourself. Simple math.
you can be doing 110 until you almost rear end some asshole doing 90 in a 110 zone…..I’ve come up behind so many of these people on highways out here, and it drives me nuts! It’s DANGEROUS to purposly go below the speed limit on a highway- sense of speed changes a bit for drivers, an dit’s often hard to slow down, particularly coming around curvy ns highways, to accomodate people like this. I think it is a trend out here, to sanctimonously try to thwart people who want to speed or even do the posted limit- a holier-than-thou ‘ah ha this’ll teach em’ impulse that’s actually putting more peopel in danger. This is worst when slow pokes get into the left lane (the passing lane) and toodle along slowly. Meaning people that want to speed end up tailgaiting people in the right lane doing the speed limit, unable to pass because Mr. Teach Em a Lesson is taking up that passing lane…grr…
I agree- it’s pretty scary. I tend to avoid the highway and take the #1 when driving through the valley. We’ve been in a situation where we’re doing the speed limit, only to have some jerk tailgating us. Driving about 1meter (or less) behind someone doing 100 or 110kph is just plain assholish!!! If we had to make a sudden stop (there ARE lots of deer around, for example) that does not give you enough time, no matter how good a driver you think you are.
(On the same token, I agree; it’s dangerous to drive too slowly or to block the passing lanes!)
It’s also illegal. I’d call the cops on his ass (pulling over before dialing, of course) 😉
ex-haligonian, you seem to have the same mentality as the moronic driver i was talking about.. you quoted me saying “a moron was straddling both lanes of traffic at 90km/hr”, how did I know he was doing 90km/hr you idiot? because I had to slow down and wait for him to stop STRADDLING both lanes, which BLOCKED EVERYONE that was ahead of me, which i assumed was in my shoes doing at lease 110km/hr, so please before you post, use some intelligence. I guess that’s another trend, no common sense!Tasha, I used to avoid highways here until i started encountering the same issues, people not allowing you to pass on a dashed yellow line when they’re going below speed limit. I think it’s a nova scotian thing, to get pissed off that everyone wants to pass you!But obviously we have some people who posted on here that are extremely understanding and intelligent that actually agree that it’s dangerous to do whatever that guy did, but that’s just on here, we need more thinking like that on the roads.
Coyotex, you are a fine one to talk about using intelligence when you actually lowered yourself to name calling in your reply.I was correct in saying you can’t be going faster than the slow person for the simple reason people pointed out – you’d have to either drive straight into his bumper or pass him.You could have passed him anyway and if by chance he sideswipes your car then he’d be in the wrong for improper and unsafe lane changing and/or failure to remain to the far right of his lane of travel as explained in the motor vehicle act.
See, that’s the funny thing about it Ex-Haligonian. You put yourself out there for people to believe that you are a person to do such things, try to control peoples driving when you can’t control your own. It’s obvious that I care so much for the property I own that i wouldn’t risk trying to pass an idiot that’s straddling both lanes to prevent people from passing him. Like you, he seems to have no regard to his life, the life of others, his property, or anyone else’s belongings. I don’t believe this is a proper mentality. For anyone who thinks that way, I would highly recommend taking an extended vacation and removing themselves from society, because they’re a danger to themselves and others. There’s patience, and I’m a patient person. If I drive at 110km/hr, or even 120, on a 2 lane highway, I should have the right to pass based on the rules of the road. I fail to see a lot of nova scotians actually respecting those rules, from failing to drive the speed limit, to actually endangering others on the road by attempting to either block them from passing or control the way they drive. I probably failed to mention that someone attempted to pass him and he almost drove them into the ditch. He actually attempted to side swipe them. You tell me if that’s acceptable and intelligent.
Interesting. I have lived here for four years now, and have not noticed a problem with people blocking highways on puprose, and I drive for a living, so maybe it’s not a NS thing, but a HWY 103 thing? I have also spent decades driving all over Europe and North America, and also find the traffic patterns here a bit less “frenzied”, but not “Dangerous” per say, other than eliciting road rage from drivers who take serious head-on risks, to pass a slow moving vehicle. Pehaps I am not understand this wide brush attitude? Most of the time I see folks going with the flow of traffic, and those going slower with flashers on. If someone acually attempts to ram me off the road while I’m passing, I will simply call 911, (rules be damned) and follow the offender until they arrive at thier destination, and make a citizens arrest for reckless endangerment/dangerous driving (and with that type of behavior, perhaps an impaired charge?) or wait for the police to show up.What is disturbing the the rash of head on crashes that are occuring on relatively light traffic days during good weather.Drive safe out there, and don’t do stupid stuff 🙂
Dave, me either, I only started seeing stuff like that late last year and this year. It’s just funny how someone can have absolutely no regard to his/her life like that or others’ lives! It just makes you wonder about what’s going on out there. There’s a flow of traffic that everyone is following and all of a sudden you have someone coming out a side street and completely going 20-30 below that flow, which generally pisses off the people behind them. When they try to pass, Legally, on a dashed yellow, that person in front gets pissed, speeds up and prevents you from passing almost causing a head-on that doesn’t involve them. I suspect a lot head-on happen this way these days!
Any chance you think these drivers are doing this to make a statement like “dirve slow, save gas, and the planet” or something? If so they should get a bumper sticker instead….and a fine if they driving like idiots.