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Beach Bum posted:I will downshift all the way into first to keep from tapping the brakes. The only downside is if you've got a texter behind you and they don't see brake lights they won't look up. I always tap my brakes enough to flash the lights, but not enough to actually engage. Two taps seems to get people's attention if I'm slowing down. Hell, I give it a couple of taps when I'm actually braking if it's because of unexpected traffic up ahead. Seems like people give me more braking distance when I do that.
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Jan 10, 2014 16:37
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The Midniter posted:What is it with people who drive with two feet in automatic cars?? I was on my way to the gym after work yesterday and following at a safe distance behind this Chrysler Cirrus, who was following the car in front of it very closely. It didn't matter whether we were going uphill, downhill, or on level ground - this car maintained its close following distance to the car in front of it, but its taillights were basically a strobe light of brake stabs. My cousin's boyfriend does this and brags about it; says it gives him quicker reaction time going from accelerating to braking. 
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Jan 10, 2014 16:56
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Well... yes, it probably does, if he's used to it, but I thought the only people who were advised to drive like that were coffin-dodgers with only the most vague of ideas as to which pedal their foot might select at any given moment. Left-foot braking is an extremely useful skill to learn, but that's really not what it's for.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:01
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My wife was actually taught by a driving instructor to drive with two feet, left foot always hovering over the brake. Claim was it's safer. I was going to teach her to drive manual when we moved in together but she'd been driving too long to unlearn bad habits, braking with her right foot was a total disaster and I gave up. I hope whoever that instructor was is burning in hell.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:01
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The Midniter posted:What is it with people who drive with two feet in automatic cars?? I was on my way to the gym after work yesterday and following at a safe distance behind this Chrysler Cirrus, who was following the car in front of it very closely. It didn't matter whether we were going uphill, downhill, or on level ground - this car maintained its close following distance to the car in front of it, but its taillights were basically a strobe light of brake stabs. I once saw a guy on I35 in Austin in a G5 who was constantly accelerating full speed, then hitting the brakes. He wasn't swerving lanes or anything and didn't seem to be driving aggressively, was going with traffic. It seemed like the throttle and brakes were either full on or full off, no in between. It was really strange and I don't know if he didn't know how to drive (mid 20s) or what, but I got as far away as I could.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:05
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There are some situations offroad where slight brake application can give you something similar to a lovely limited slip. If you're going to be doing that on purpose though, loving get lockers.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:06
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I taught myself how to drive in an automatic and 2 feet:2 pedals seems to logically match up. Left foot rides on the dead pedal though unless I'm actually braking and I don't have a problem with right foot braking when driving a stick.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:16
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Deeters posted:The utility company I interned with preached backing into your spot, saying you were something like 75% less likely to get into an accident pulling forward out of your spot. If you were driving a company vehicle, it was required, and if you were a passenger, you were required to get out and guide the driver in. It was actually pretty nice to see most of the cars in a lot facing out. My company requires backing in, and it has caused a significant increase in the number of accidents due to - you guessed it, backing in. Backing into a spot is retarded, you have much better visibility when traveling forwards (especially if you have a big rear end toolbox or boom blocking the rear window). Your mirrors cover a very tiny area compared to what your windshield covers. Driving in reverse changes the steering, but you still have the same turning radius. Take a car to an empty parking lot, turn the wheel to full lock and put in drive and measure the circle you make. Next shift the transmission to reverse and measure the circle, it will be the exact same. The pivot point of the vehicle will shift, and instead of the rear end end cutting the corner you will have the front end swinging out in a huge arc, so as your watching your mirrors to make sure your left and right corners of your rear bumper do not tag the vehicles on either side of you, the front end will swing and hit the vehicle across from you every time. Because cars spend 90% of the time going forwards, people are more accustomed to how the steering operates when going forwards as opposed to going backwards. So, you have confusing steering, lovely visibility, and your aiming at a smaller target when backing into the spot, gently caress backing in. I had this very conversation with my safety manager after being bitched at for "not using a spotter" (which I over turned because my spotter was present but the person who reported me didn't see them). I brought up the fact that before the policy change there were 5 backing accidents at the lot vs 40+ each year since. I brought up the fact that the people who fuel the vehicles every day do not use spotters. I brought up every point made about visibility and safety. After all that, the safety manager still tried to fire me, saying "statistically it is safer" (bullshit, we proved that wrong), and I was sent to the lot manager. You have to understand something about safety at my company, every god drat thing is the drivers fault. Passing vehicle throws a beer can and shatters your windsheild? Its your fault. Bird sitting beside the road starts to fly and hits your vehicle doing no damage, blame the driver. Rear ended while sitting at a red light? My god, why wasn't the driving pumping the brake pedal to make the lights flash to warn the other drivers! That is honest to god a loving company policy. So if you are operating your vehicle in the deadly reverse gear of doom and you are breaking policy without a spotter and you cause damage to one or more valuable company assets? You better believe the company will fire you. But, I got lucky. The lot manager is cool, I get along with the lot manager, the lot manager and I have even gone to the bar together. The lot manager said the policy is in only in place as an excuse to fire drivers who have seniority and a higher pay rate. They reviewed the tapes and found I didn't hit anything, I was using a spotter, and so I was only required to have a "free vacation week" to please the safety manager. TLDR; gently caress you if you back your vehicle in when parking.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:18
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The Midniter posted:What is it with people who drive with two feet in automatic cars?? I was once behind someone in a Suburban going 75 on the 450 in Long Beach CA that also had their brake lights constantly lit up. I bet they wondered why they had to get new brakes every 5000 miles.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:19
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My buddy who is a toyota tech had an older gentleman come in who always rode the brakes while driving. ALWAYS. the brakes on the guy's camry would only get a few thousand miles on them before they had to have new pads and rotors and would just keep coming back every few months for the same service.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:20
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All this talking about left foot on the brake in the automatic causes me to have flashbacks to every time I've driven an automatic car and as I'm slowing to a stop I think "And now to avoid a stall I'll just push in the clu-AUGH my face"
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Jan 10, 2014 17:35
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Crankit posted:All this talking about left foot on the brake in the automatic causes me to have flashbacks to every time I've driven an automatic car and as I'm slowing to a stop I think "And now to avoid a stall I'll just push in the clu-AUGH my face" My current car has its drive selector where the shifter would be, and to this day I cruise with a hand sitting on it. When I park, I keep a foot on the brake even after shifting to park and killing the engine, as when I drove manual I kept the clutch in until the engine fully died. Old habits die hard.
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Jan 10, 2014 17:39
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Crankit posted:All this talking about left foot on the brake in the automatic causes me to have flashbacks to every time I've hired an automatic car and as I'm waiting at a stop I think "And now to practice my launches"
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Jan 10, 2014 17:40
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Beach Bum posted:Protip, assholes: If I can't see all of both of your headlights in my mirror and the largest distinguishable feature is the manufacturer logo YOU'RE TOO loving CLOSE. Don't be hogging your slipstream like a dick, he's just trying to save fuel
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Jan 10, 2014 18:06
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Some bastard in a Ka was tailgating me, being really aggressive, swinging side-to-side trying to get by, honking the horn, dropping back and zooming up to me a few days ago, because I was going at 20 in a 20 (school) zone. Which was crowded with kids. Who were constantly running back and forth across the street. I also don't understand how someone thinks they can intimidate somebody on the road if I'm in a huge-rear end Land Rover covered in mud and dents and they're in a tiny Ka.
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Jan 10, 2014 18:13
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I have a co-worker who regulates her speed by speeding up faster than she would like to go then just dropping off the gas until she's going about 5 under, then just repeat this process for the entire trip. She doesn't grasp the concept of light pressure on gas pedal = constant driving speed. It's annoying as poo poo to ride with her, I cannot even imagine being behind her.
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Jan 10, 2014 18:44
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Colonel Sanders posted:TLDR; gently caress you if you back your vehicle in when parking. I won't disagree with anything you said, but the way I understood it was backing into a spot was safer because it avoided having to back out of the spot. I'd rather bang into someone's parked car on the way in than not be able to see the SUV flying through the parking lot as I back out.
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Jan 10, 2014 18:54
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Industrial posted:I have a co-worker who regulates her speed by speeding up faster than she would like to go then just dropping off the gas until she's going about 5 under, then just repeat this process for the entire trip. She doesn't grasp the concept of light pressure on gas pedal = constant driving speed. It's annoying as poo poo to ride with her, I cannot even imagine being behind her. I can't imagine how much extra gas that burns, the ECU's not gonna know what the gently caress is going on and its fuel mapping will be useless. How does she feel about hypermilers? If you want her to stop you could try telling her that "burn and coast" is a hypermiler trick.  (that only works below 35mph, at highway speeds the advantage disappears)
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Jan 10, 2014 18:59
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Depending on what route I take to/from work I drive under this bridge a few times a week - http://goo.gl/maps/qU4dF (check the street view) Yesterday I apparently slowed down too much for the dip poo poo behind me. He lays on the horn then goes into the left lane to pass me as I'm turning to go under the bridge. Poor guy coming the other way had to do a panic swerve off the road (blowing out both passenger tires) to avoid being run into. There's an accident here at least every other week, usually single vehicle. It's marked as a 10mph but so many people blow through it I usually avoid it.
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Jan 10, 2014 19:32
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Deeters posted:I won't disagree with anything you said, but the way I understood it was backing into a spot was safer because it avoided having to back out of the spot. I'd rather bang into someone's parked car on the way in than not be able to see the SUV flying through the parking lot as I back out.  There is no speed limit in the parking lot I can go as fast I want! *drives 90MPH*That is a valid point, one of my biggest pet peeves is people who sail across parking lots at odd angles going 50MPH, I have had so many near collisions because of some SUV tearing across a lot from somewhere I never expected. Not long ago I was backing out of a spot near the end of the parking lot, I got about half way out and saw some teenage girl came swerving around the corner all tires screeching to slam on her brakes, honk at me, and flip me off as she tried to squeeze past me in the narrow drive. JC Penny parking lots are hell, I should have known that was going to happen. I watch my mirrors carefully, make sure everything is clear, and I assume if my car is half way out and some moron rams me, the insurance will probably find them at fault, that is the best I can hope for. But I know if I tag someone's parked car when backing in there is no question that the insurance will put all the blame on me. NitroSpazzz posted:Depending on what route I take to/from work I drive under this bridge a few times a week - http://goo.gl/maps/qU4dF (check the street view) Yeah gently caress that bridge. . . and especially with a name like Racoon Valley Drive I'm sure you get tons of  on the roads.
Not Wolverine fucked around with this message at 19:40 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 19:32
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Weinertron posted:I frequently heard that this would be a bad, bad thing in cars with most of the weight central and that I should slowly let off the throttle to avoid snap oversteer. Of course, the examples I can think of come from a friend of mine who has only driven MR vehicles and managed to snap oversteer a supercharged minivan off the road and is now daily driving a pre-1993 AW20 MR2. Depends on the car and the drivetrain. In his case braking moved weight to the front and allowed the front wheels to fight off the under steer. On a rear engined car that probably would have turned understeer into epic oversteer.
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Jan 10, 2014 19:40
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I was nearly side-swiped yesterday while driving home and made me realize that I cannot wait to start being a driving instructor. I was in the left lane and a Liberty was in the right lane behind a semi truck. Now I don't know what makes people think that because they're behind a truck going five over the speed limit still somehow equates to "being the slowest" but its a huge issue that needs to be stricken. The Liberty slows down slightly, which puts me right next to them. Out of the corner of my eye I see the Liberty's driver still looking forward as they just drive right into my lane, forcing me into the snow-filled median. Luckily I was paying attention, that no one was behind me, and that I had my snow tires on. I lay on the horn and all I see is a hand gesture of either "Thanks!" or "gently caress you!" as the Liberty speeds around to get in front of the truck to turn right half a block later. All the rear end in a top hat had to do was just wait about ten seconds but because of his move and endangering me, he shaved off about five seconds. "Gotta get to Eggcetera Cafe!!!!!" Must have been going through their mind. I mean seriously, how do you lane change without even looking at your mirrors? I've always looked over both my shoulders while lane changing because of the number of motorcycles in the area that tend to sneak up.
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Jan 10, 2014 19:45
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Deeters posted:I won't disagree with anything you said, but the way I understood it was backing into a spot was safer because it avoided having to back out of the spot. I'd rather bang into someone's parked car on the way in than not be able to see the SUV flying through the parking lot as I back out. The big thing my company emphasized about backing into spots was the reduction in running kids over when backing in using a spotter combined with the orange cone. This makes someone get out and go around their vehicle and actually see if someone/thing is around their vehicle. It was never about reducing incidents getting into your parking spot, but getting out of them and minimizing the possible severity of the incident. They specifically talked about how minor incidents will increase from people not familiar to backing into spots.
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Jan 10, 2014 19:49
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NitroSpazzz posted:Depending on what route I take to/from work I drive under this bridge a few times a week - http://goo.gl/maps/qU4dF (check the street view) On a back country road near my old work, Kickapoo Creed Rd goes under a set of railroad tracks. Here, the two lane road splits with pylons of the trains' bridge on either side and a third set in between the two lanes. https://maps.google.com/maps?q=6161...nois+61616&z=17 I was driving down the road at 1 am after getting "lunch" with a coworker (3rd shift) expecting nothing but deer jumping out. When I got to the overpass, I saw a set of uncoming lights, but they looked weird and I slowed down. Just before I got under the overpass, I notice the lights look weird cause the oncoming car was in my lane going under the overpass the wrong way with no room to maneuver because of the pylons. I saw able to brake and pull off the road while they served around me. At least I learned my brand new car brakes better than my old one and that the emergency lights come on during panic stops. EDIT, oh, yeah, street view. I was in the right lane. They were also in the right lane. No room to move once you pass the guard rail. 
Uthor fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Jan 10, 2014 |
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Jan 10, 2014 19:55
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Terminus Est posted:The big thing my company emphasized about backing into spots was the reduction in running kids over when backing in using a spotter combined with the orange cone. This makes someone get out and go around their vehicle and actually see if someone/thing is around their vehicle. It was never about reducing incidents getting into your parking spot, but getting out of them and minimizing the possible severity of the incident. They specifically talked about how minor incidents will increase from people not familiar to backing into spots. Hang on, where are you parking that requires an orange cone and a spotter to ward of kids? I mean I know the mall parking lot is bad, but not that bad. What kind of vehicle are you driving?
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Jan 10, 2014 20:22
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Colonel Sanders posted:Hang on, where are you parking that requires an orange cone and a spotter to ward of kids? I mean I know the mall parking lot is bad, but not that bad. What kind of vehicle are you driving? The story I heard is this whole backing in movement started with utilities, like your local water and electrical utility. It was surprisingly common for workers to come out to their work truck after messing with a pole or something and find kids playing on or around the truck. There are recorded incidents of kids playing in wheel wells and then promptly getting run over as well. You are supposed to park your truck and then put out the orange cone. If you showed back up to the shop without your orange cone then that meant you didn't do a walk around before driving off. The orange cone, spotters, and backing in kind of go together as a way to inconvenience the driver into checking that their are no hazards around their vehicle.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:40
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Vindolanda posted:Some bastard in a Ka was tailgating me, being really aggressive, swinging side-to-side trying to get by, honking the horn, dropping back and zooming up to me a few days ago, because I was going at 20 in a 20 (school) zone. Which was crowded with kids. Who were constantly running back and forth across the street. I also don't understand how someone thinks they can intimidate somebody on the road if I'm in a huge-rear end Land Rover covered in mud and dents and they're in a tiny Ka. Colonel Sanders posted:
Colonel Sanders posted:JC Penny parking lot
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Jan 10, 2014 20:46
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InitialDave posted:Maybe he's being chased by irate Libyans in a VW Kombi, who just shot his friend for selling them a fake nuclear weapon, and are now trying to kill kim with a rocket launcher. Lies. Would never have gotten up to 90 mph as time travel happens at 88.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:48
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What's with these kids driving around with wearing unzipped hoodies and the hood up over their head? I've seen this multiple times, usually a VW Golf or a Focus Hatch, usually with 4chan stickers on the back window. I don't understand which facet of youth culture this fashion belongs to, or why they hate peripheral vision.
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Jan 10, 2014 20:52
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Shhh, they're trying to stay Anonymous.
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Jan 10, 2014 21:04
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Terminus Est posted:The story I heard is this whole backing in movement started with utilities, like your local water and electrical utility. It was surprisingly common for workers to come out to their work truck after messing with a pole or something and find kids playing on or around the truck. There are recorded incidents of kids playing in wheel wells and then promptly getting run over as well. You are supposed to park your truck and then put out the orange cone. If you showed back up to the shop without your orange cone then that meant you didn't do a walk around before driving off. The orange cone, spotters, and backing in kind of go together as a way to inconvenience the driver into checking that their are no hazards around their vehicle. That makes sense, in part because when I was little the park I played had a fire truck (more like red metal box but you couldn't convince 8 year old me that it wasn't a real fire truck) that kids were supposed to climb on and crawl under. If kids are supposed to play on the fire truck at the park you cant convince them not to crawl over that boom truck outside the house.
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Jan 10, 2014 21:05
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Colonel Sanders posted:TLDR; gently caress you if you back your vehicle in when parking. It is safer to back in than drive in, provided you know how to loving drive. Backing in allows you to drive past the spot, look in for any obstacles, and the only things you can hit are stationary objects. Driving in means that you're less likely to notice a hazard in the spot, and when backing out you have the possibility of hitting anything moving in the lane as well as stationary objects. The safest entry into a parking spot is to drive through one spot into the next, removing the need to back up. It takes practice, and as has been mentioned the number of minor instances will go up while people learn how to back up. You should also always do a quick check walking around your vehicle when you park in a public (or uncontrolled) area, as you'll notice any damage then & there, as well as any possible hazards (tire goes flat, etc). I can't find the specific reference, but the Canadian occupational health and safety organization indicates that you should always back in, as does the traffic engineering course I took.
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Jan 10, 2014 21:39
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InitialDave posted:Please tell me it opened up to a 60 on a country road, they nipped past, and you spent the next five miles bullying them incessantly to go faster. It went to 30, he overtook me (dangerously), then went to 60 on a country road and he shot up to...40. so I overtook (safely) and left.
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Jan 10, 2014 21:50
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Ok, so we have a consensus yet? Yes:  No:  No, but points for  : Vindolanda posted:It went to 30, he overtook me (dangerously), then went to 60 on a country road and he shot up to...40. so I overtook (safely) and left.
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Jan 10, 2014 22:02
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My cousin made me drive around the parking lot backwards for like three days before he let me go forward at all. Taught me skills like, how to drive backwards at varying speeds, how to handle my car when I'm looking over my shoudler, how to check my mirrors when parking, etc. I think it's a skill that everyone should master. This is the same cousin that yelled at me the first time I tried to drive it was with two feet. He was all "Where the gently caress did you learn to do that!" angry angry face. I said, I saw my dad do it! So we go over to my dad and my cousin tells my dad I was trying to drive with two feet (I learned it from watching you, DAD) and my dad starts laughing his rear end off. He explains the only reason he drove that way was only in that one particular car, because if you didn't keep gassing it then it would stall out.  the things he would do to keep from having to fix his cars.
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Jan 10, 2014 22:40
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Vindolanda posted:It went to 30, he overtook me (dangerously), then went to 60 on a country road and he shot up to...40. so I overtook (safely) and left. The Driver Who Can Only Go 40 is bizarrely common. (Not common on an absolute scale, just more common than you might expect given how strange a behavior it is) 35MPH surface street? 40. 25MPH School Zone? 40. 55MPH rural highway? 40. 15MPH residential street? 40. 70MPH freeway? Sometimes they'll wind it out to 50, but usually 40. It always seems to be 40, I've never seen a driver who does this with any other speed. Also if you do anything to prevent them from driving 40 (like, as in your case, try not to run over kids in a school zone), they get super loving angry and aggressive and will pass you while honking and flipping you off at the earliest possible moment. Only for you to have to pass them once the limit goes above 40 again. You see tons of weird inexplicable poo poo while driving, but I think this particular phenomenon is by far the weirdest thing I've seen more than a couple times.
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Jan 10, 2014 22:42
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InitialDave posted:Ok, so we have a consensus yet? Good behind the scenes on that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ftuOY8grdag
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Jan 10, 2014 22:48
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Last month I slowed down to turn into a grocery store parking lot in the evening. Being in a lowered car, I slowed down to about 5mph or less as I turned in. This apparently pissed off some moron behind me who "passed" me on the other side of the entrance and then swerved over and cut me off. Of course this pissed me the gently caress off, so I dumbly followed the driver. It took them about 3 seconds for them to stop abruptly in an attempt to get me to rear end them. Narrowly avoided it, say gently caress it, and trying to cool off, I drove around looking for a parking space. I came face to face with the driver a few moments later and it was a young black woman who, when I made eye contact, started bobbing her head around and talking poo poo from her car.  Laughed at the absurdity, drove past, parked and went into the store without seeing her again.After I walked out of the store, I saw her getting her toddler into (or out of) a kid seat. Walking past I asked her if that's how she drives with a kid in the car, at which point she got up in my face and yelled all sorts of things as the kid came up next to her. In hindsight I shouldn't have said a word for the kid's sake but something tells me that kid is already used to that sort of bullshit. 
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Jan 10, 2014 22:49
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BraveUlysses posted:My buddy who is a toyota tech had an older gentleman come in who always rode the brakes while driving. ALWAYS. Great news! If he gets a new Toyota he can't do that anymore. Hitting the brake will instantly kill the throttle.
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Jan 10, 2014 23:59
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CharlesM posted:Great news! If he gets a new Toyota he can't do that anymore. Hitting the brake will instantly kill the throttle.
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Jan 11, 2014 00:18
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