80mph

[Boyd R]

Originally Posted by 09 harley

Never read so many posts by those who those who are think they are Mario Andretti.
Maybe we need to have the states issue a marker of some sort to these drivers so we can stay away from them. A nice big " I'm an idiot" on the front and back should do it.
I personally hate to think that my life is at risk by some cruising down the highway at 75 with 2 fingers on the wheel. Oh! I forgot that tag axle will prevent problems.

You do realize that you driving down the road in your personal vehicle, doing 60 mph, with one hand loosely on the wheel.........and have a tire blow out , can send you imidiatly into the other lane causing a head on crash ?

Glass house's..........and rocks........

[35QBA]

+1 that's what I was thinking.

[JohnRR]

At this point I need to point out that some posts are either at the point of crossing the line or have done so.

It's time to dial back some of the rhetoric of what's being posted.

[winniman]

Originally Posted by Retired_Helo_Pilot

The above video in this thread that keeps popping up confuses me. He had a left front tire blow out. Based on the lines that are 10 ft long with 30 ft in between, he is traveling about 60-65 mph. Soooooo, he blew a tire but since we can't see a speed limit sign we have no idea if he was exceeding the posted speed limit. I guess what I am saying is this appears to be related to a blow out and not necessarily speed related but it keeps getting posted as if he is doing 120 mph down the road.

Note: this is just based on a rough estimate of 60 mph equaling 88 feet per second and me trying to count the distance in a given second on my phone.

Assuming the vehicle filming the accident was doing the speed limit or near it
, the other vehicle was going considerable faster.

[dave&ginny]

Originally Posted by Boyd R

I drive 70 to 73 , have been at or over 80 to pass, but do not sustain that speed.
I have over a million miles, accident free, in a tractor trailer. Same tires on my coach that hold 80,000 lbs on a tractor trailer at those speeds.
My guess is , Rolling a Rv at 60 mph is not that much more pleasant of a experience that rolling one at 70 mph.
Tires can blow, parts can break, cars can cut you off at any speed.

The guy described by the OP was obviously driving out of control as per his description, but not everyone who drives a RV at 70 is. As we all know, there is a big difference in how certain RVs handle, especially in wind, or wind push from trucks. We have all seen that , or driven a bad handling RV.

I have driven in windy conditions and very comfortable at 70 with no wind push. Passed other RVs doing 55 and fighting it all over the road.

Well said

[Johngflyer]

Just a point. Your trucks had 80,000 lbs spread over 18 tires while a lot oh MH's have 40,000 lbs spread over 6 tires so have half the weight on a third of the tires..

[Smitty77]

I only post again because I want to see it turn page 10 before hopefully it either has run it's course, or, is politely shut down...

People will do what people will do... Some people will not agree... Some people will agree... Some people will have done even more...

And I doubt this thread will change what people will do!

Onto other threads now.

[slickest1]

Originally Posted by Johngflyer

Just a point. Your trucks had 80,000 lbs spread over 18 tires while a lot oh MH's have 40,000 lbs spread over 6 tires so have half the weight on a third of the tires..

If that is the case then you would have even less stopping power with that ratio.

[Dtwallace]

Well,

The only thing good I see coming out of this discussion, is the fact we live in a country where we can openly express our opinions, and not be executed, at least not physically anyway, although we're trying hard to do it verbally here, and I hope we all recognize that.

Relax, and enjoy your holiday weekend, partake of your favorite beverage, and give thanks for the freedoms we have.

Freedom to drive your way, and I drive my way. Freedom to make your own choices, and not have the government make them for you, (for the most part anyway).

Live and let live, life is still too short to harbor ill feelings toward your fellow man or woman just because they don't agree with your ideology.

Happy Memorial week end to all my happy camper friends out there.

DTW

[DeWat]

Originally Posted by Dtwallace

Well,

The only thing good I see coming out of this discussion, is the fact we live in a country where we can openly express our opinions, and not be executed, at least not physically anyway, although we're trying hard to do it verbally here, and I hope we all recognize that.
...
Freedom to drive your way, and I drive my way. Freedom to make your own choices, and not have the government make them for you, (for the most part anyway).
...
Happy Memorial week end to all my happy camper friends out there.

DTW

I believe that this is the reason this thread has taken on the tone it has, and gone so many pages.

Scenario #1: I'm driving down the highway and come upon you who is driving 5, 10, or more mph slower than I. If I can, I'm going to get around you and get on down the road.

Scenario #2: I'm driving down the highway and you blow my doors off driving 5, 10, or more mph faster than I. I'm going to look at you, maybe comment to DW about you or your driving, but still, let you just get on down the road.

It's when we feel we must infringe on someone else's freedom that causes the problem. If you're driving slower than I and purposely not trying to keep traffic back (say by driving beside another car for 10 - 15 miles), what is tailgating/light flashing really going to do? Even if you are purposely doing it, there are enough people on the road these days that if I'm patient, someone else is going to do it anyway. If you're driving faster than I and in front of me, why would I want to be in front of you? That just makes me have to constantly drive harder and fast than you.

The problem comes when we feel the need to regulate the driving of others, right or wrong. Unless we are the authority for that area, who made us judge to try and slow someone else down, or speed someone else up? That's what 911 is for! This thread is simple evidence of how serious this issue has become... it's even started a form of thread rage.

Personally: I set my cruise on 52 or 53 in 55s, and 62 or 63 in 65s, while staying right unless passing. I do this because I feel it helps in keeping my safety cushion since a lot of people drive set on the 0s and 5s, and when they pass me, the gap continues to widen. If my speed brings me to someone I need to pass, I will do the limit plus 5 just to get around, and clear the lane. While I feel this is my form of road courtesy, it still does not give me the right to judge the other driver for not driving my way.

[biggcrisp]

Yes, but how many times have you experienced someone driving in the left lane -- and not move to the right lanes after passing? I lost count many years ago.

The really, really bad drivers are the ones hanging in the left lane and then they speed up when someone tries to pass them on the right.

"Americans are terrible drivers" according to the German drivers I have been with. Why should you care what they think? Because our freeway system is modeled after theirs and they take every drive seriously. Their roads are still far more advanced than ours.

I'm not shocked at all that folks don't know why they have to obey speed limit signs or why roads have not been modernized. Answer: lack of public participation at the local legislature.

And no, a toll road is not modern, nor is it a freeway.

[palehorse89]

One of the biggest reasons for riding the left lane is that our road's/infrastructure is in such bad shape and the trucks have beaten the right lane so bad as the right lane is where 90% of the traffic travels. When I drove truck over the road, I traveled at night, no traffic and I could use the smooth left lane and move over when headlight came up behind me.......I do the same today, when I travel. I have traveled where the right lane is so bad I can't even maintain the speed limit! but to much traffic to use the left lane.........this is why you see a lot of truck's parked during the day time when we travel.........

[biggcrisp]

That's not a problem and professional drivers don't mind getting passed on the right, under that circumstance, as long as the one passing gets the job done asap.

Another quirky thing is; say you are coming up on slower traffic and what happens? Even though you are one vehicle with no one for miles behind you, snail man pulls into the left lane to make his 30 minute pass.

The op point is: stay out of the left lane, and the poor conditions of the roads (causing the rv's ball joints to bounce around).

[marknpeg]

Originally Posted by biggcrisp

The op point is: stay out of the left lane, and the poor conditions of the roads (causing the rv's ball joints to bounce around).

My original point was don't drive in an unsafe manner, and a 30k pound RV being driven as I described was unsafe...alarmingly so. I do like how this thread has evolved and you can tell that a discussion about driving habits hits a lot of hot buttons. I will say the way I drive my car vs the way I drive the RV is quite different. I tend to be very conservative with the RV and that's my preference.

I have experienced the horrible roads out there and it's usually the right lane that is the worst. I will absolutely drive in the left lane when it's that much smoother, and move right for upcoming traffic. I don't tailgate, preferring to leave several car lengths ahead of me. That results in lots of people cutting me off because of the perception I'm holding them up. I also won't change lanes into someone's blind spot and I prefer not to move into a lane when someone two lanes over might also want that same piece of real estate. That means I'm not cutting the nose off folks when I change lanes, which means my lane changes will take a bit longer. If everyone drove like me, the world would be a much better place.

I will never forget the sight of that big white behemoth in my mirror practically leaving the ground, slamming back into the ground HARD, and then bouncing around. How he kept it in the lane I have no idea, but his speed dropped dramatically after that. At that point, yes I was very glad to have him behind me.