The slowest drivers in America

deez · 12-04-2003, 5:33 PM

are in Seattle. I haven't been to every major city in America, but I have been to many. Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, L.A., San Francisco, Phoenix, etc. These phuckers up here drive the speed limit or right under it. I keep hearing that the pesky porkers are mighty bad up here. Holeshot said they'd write you up for 3-5 MPH over the limit

You can slice and dice through on the HWY, but you'll only be doing 65-70 MPH and it's not worth the hassle. Even in the HOV they are Sunday driving. Damnit!

Serial Thriller · 12-04-2003, 5:39 PM

They don't tell you stuff like that in the brochures...

2OHOH2 · 12-04-2003, 5:49 PM

(OT - booth, that's one of my all-time fav movies

)

deez · 12-04-2003, 5:56 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Serial Thriller
They don't tell you stuff like that in the brochures...

I moved up here for work, not for a vacation

I knew it was bad (traffic) but I didn't think it was this bad. During rush hour, it's nearly gridlock. I found some alternate routes to work now, so should be a 10 minute affair in the future. This place is definitely weird to me though

BladeRider · 12-04-2003, 6:35 PM

I know what you mean Booth, I travel up there often for work and the drivers do suck but they are even worse over in Portland, 45 mph on the freaking highway

Must be all that rain slowing down people's brains.

sweetonion · 12-04-2003, 6:53 PM

I used to think that people here would know how to drive in the rain since it rains so much. But Noooooo. The first sign of a little shower and out goes the anchor. Outside of that though you'll usually find a decent flow of traffic running 70 in a 55. When I was in WA I'd swear at the OR drivers. Now I'm in OR and I swear at all of them. Doesn't get me to work any faster.

bwhip · 12-04-2003, 7:13 PM

I don't know - I had the opportunity to have dinner with Holeshot last night (great guy, BTW), and he must know where all the good roads are, because he sure wasn't talking about going the speed limit!

ND4SPD · 12-04-2003, 8:18 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by sweetonion
I used to think that people here would know how to drive in the rain since it rains so much. But Noooooo. The first sign of a little shower and out goes the anchor. Outside of that though you'll usually find a decent flow of traffic running 70 in a 55. When I was in WA I'd swear at the OR drivers. Now I'm in OR and I swear at all of them. Doesn't get me to work any faster.

Same way here with the snow. It's ridiculous. Everything comes to a halt as soon as someone even THINKS they saw a snowflake.

Bacchus · 12-04-2003, 8:20 PM

Welcome to Seattle booth. Have you been there long enough to experience the parking (lack thereof) nightmares yet?

ND4SPD · 12-04-2003, 8:22 PM

How are YOU welcoming him to Seattle when you're in Arizona?

deez · 12-05-2003, 3:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Bacchus
Welcome to Seattle booth. Have you been there long enough to experience the parking (lack thereof) nightmares yet?

Yes and no, all depends on where you are at. They don't have as much room to build up here, so that means less places to shop (comparing it to Tejas) so you have more people in less shops. Yeah that will make parking difficult, IE overcrowding. And that is with the smaller spaces to park in. Just like with anything else, in regards to dealing with people, you just need to know when to go and beat crowds and parking hassles. To sum it up I'm feeling mixed emotions like Baketech put it, I mean Gecko in Wall Street.

"Mixed emotions, buddy. Like Larry Wildman going off a cliff in my new Maserati."

MarkN929RR · 12-07-2003, 1:25 PM

wow, didnt realize there were alot of seattlians here. welcome to seattle.

Holeshot · 12-07-2003, 1:33 PM

Ah, you just need to spend less time *in* the city and more time around it.

Yeah.. driving around here is a bit weird. I was used to 90+ MPH on a daily basis on I-80 and 680 down south but hey.. I've gotten used to it.

Most of it has to do with the Popo (hell the wife got busted for 67 in 50 on the way to get me at the airport.. those bastards!) they run enforcement days 365..

Good thing is that most of the rood roads are not used by the local Anti-Destination Leaguers and thus fewer Popo as well (I also found out about an area that the WSP's radios barely work due to terrain..... wooooo hhhhhahahahhahah

fortunatly it's also in the top-5 rides in western WA.

Totally off-topic.. I just finished installing the HID (I need to do a better job of mounting the ballest it's just tip-ties right now to test locations) in the bike. Can't wait to blind a few brain-dead cagers....

pdx954 · 12-10-2003, 1:36 AM

I totally hear you, and yes, Portland is worse. Two words, HWY 26...if those are words?

I can't stand the drivers around here and ususally have to pull some questionable moves on the hwy to get around.

Welcome to the NW!!!

Maybe I can roadtrip it up this spring/summer and we all can get together for a ride.

Sugoi8 · 12-12-2003, 3:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by booth23

are in Seattle. I haven't been to every major city in America, but I have been to many. Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, L.A., San Francisco, Phoenix, etc. These phuckers up here drive the speed limit or right under it. I keep hearing that the pesky porkers are mighty bad up here. Holeshot said they'd write you up for 3-5 MPH over the limit

You can slice and dice through on the HWY, but you'll only be doing 65-70 MPH and it's not worth the hassle. Even in the HOV they are Sunday driving. Damnit!

Here's the deal Booth. When the sun is out in Seattle, slow down and enjoy the sun. When it rains, speed up and follow as close as you can. At intersections always sit and wait and never use the "free right rule". When on the freeway, never let the merging traffic in. NEVER, NEVER use your turnsignals. If there is an HOV lane, weave in and out and be as indecisive as you can as to whether you belong in the HOV lane or not. Speed up only when some-body is trying to "overtake you". If you go to Oregon, "slow down when merging on their freeways". Now you know why "cagers rule". By the way--most of the drivers who drive like this, are from other states like California. For those of you who think this is just sh*t. Ask the guy who got a "parking ticket" for leaving his lights on in downtown Seattle.
Sugoi8

MYGRASSISBLUE · 12-22-2003, 10:37 PM

Welcome to Seattle. The sun will be back in the spring.

If your into the track days
http://www.adrenalinefreaks.com/main.htm
hosts about one a month at Pacific Raceways. And if you don't mind the drive, Spokane Raceway hosts two a month. Maybe I'll catch you at the track.....but you might have to catch me!

sweetonion · 12-23-2003, 11:04 AM

And for an even shorter drive check out www.pssrtrack.com

Holeshot · 12-23-2003, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MYGRASSISBLUE

Welcome to Seattle. The sun will be back in the spring.

Seemed pretty nice Sunday and Monday.

I've not yet tried thier operation but many that I know find Adrenaline Freaks to be a well run and value priced track experience. Some like Spokane better than Pacific Raceway (the one just south of Seattle proper, off of Hyw 18). I've not tried out either. Also heard the PIR (Portland International Raceway) is supposed to be really cool!

Can't wait for track season to start (hopefully I won't be working too hard again, just working)

deez · 12-23-2003, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MYGRASSISBLUE

Welcome to Seattle. The sun will be back in the spring.

If your into the track days
http://www.adrenalinefreaks.com/main.htm
hosts about one a month at Pacific Raceways. And if you don't mind the drive, Spokane Raceway hosts two a month. Maybe I'll catch you at the track.....but you might have to catch me!

I know a guy who has just started a track school locally

sweetonion · 12-23-2003, 12:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Holeshot

Seemed pretty nice Sunday and Monday.

I've not yet tried thier operation but many that I know find Adrenaline Freaks to be a well run and value priced track experience. Some like Spokane better than Pacific Raceway (the one just south of Seattle proper, off of Hyw 18). I've not tried out either. Also heard the PIR (Portland International Raceway) is supposed to be really cool!

Can't wait for track season to start (hopefully I won't be working too hard again, just working)

Spokane is nice because it's cheap ($80 last time I went) and it's rarely crowded. We went up there once and there were 7 people there. It's not the safest track though. There's three corners in particular where there's little to no runoff. If you respect those corners and rail the rest it's an inexpensive good time. Portland has it's safety issues as well since it's another drag and return track (concrete walls on drag strip etc..). Never been to Pacific but it too is a drag and return track so it's probably similar.

Zippy · 12-23-2003, 3:34 PM

In Wisconsin, people increase speed at the first fall of snow. Each time we have a good snow fall, I drive past a few flipped cars and maybe a semi on the way to work. I have seen more flipped cars since I've lived here than I've seen collectively in my whole life. Just dozens. Lots of rolled SUVs

I had a semi w/trailer get almost blown over right in front of me once. The wheels on one side were all 3 or 4 feet off the ground. The driver turned into the direction it was tipping, and it slammed back down to the ground. We were only moving 20 miles per hour at the time. That is because we were both trying to get past another double trailer semi that had blown over and was blocking most of the freeway.

deez · 12-23-2003, 4:39 PM

Here is an update. I've been giving someone the finger at least once a day.

This is what happens...... Someone is in front of me, in town at a light, etc. Light turns green and we accelerate, get up to speed and travel. All of a sudden, cage in front of me will slow down rapidly (hell, all at once) and throw on their blinker about 6ft from the turn. So they slam on their brakes and use the turn signal at the last possible minute or don't use it all. I haven't locked up my brakes yet, but close. I cheered up a little the other day (driving here will make you bonkers, and I already don't need any help

) when I saw a guy with a bumper sticker that read, "Visualize using your turn signals"

Zippy · 12-23-2003, 5:00 PM

Ha ha!

I used to flip people off constantly in L.A. Now, I dont' often do it. People actually get offended here. Also, it is likely to be a customer or aquaintance in the other car. Too small town. I barely flip anyone off anymore. OK, maybe a teenage girl once in a while, but that's it.

tigerblade · 12-23-2003, 5:05 PM

Booth, I don't know why but your posts reminded me of a comedy bit. I think it was maybe Richard Jenni? He was about to get beat up in some hick bar and the guy asks him "I bet you think I'm some kinda country asshole, don't ya?" "No sir, as far as assholes go, I think you have international potential."

It's just nice to see you're making friends in your new environment.

deez · 12-23-2003, 5:12 PM

The ladies are hot and nice, so that makes up for the traffic and then some