Left Lane = PASSING LANE!

[Rowdie]

On divided highways you’re supposed to leave your brights on and not dim for oncoming traffic. Only have to dim if following someone. You overdrive your dims at higher divided highway speeds making it less safe.

I took a defensive driving course put on by ND state DOT officials and this is the only thing I remember from that course. You're 100% correct

 

[Lycanthrope]

I took a defensive driving course put on by ND state DOT officials and this is the only thing I remember from that course. You're 100% correct

I never dim my lights on divided highways, going 80 mph with dim lights seems like a recipe for disaster. Its amazing how many people will still flash you though, even on interstate, if you dont dim your lights!

 

[johnr]

My fancy Ford dims its own lights on the hwy, its pretty handy.

 

[Fallguy]

So does my Ram. It actually works pretty well.

 

[Kurtr]

On divided highways you’re supposed to leave your brights on and not dim for oncoming traffic. Only have to dim if following someone. You overdrive your dims at higher divided highway speeds making it less safe.

I get that but it was bumper to pumper and these fuckers were behind me

 

[Kurtr]

I don’t think KC is too bad…St Louis was a little worse. Nashville area is a little interesting. None of them hold a candle to Memphis or Atlanta

Kc sucked became some idiot in a piece of shit mini van cut across traffic. Got through St. Louis easy Nashville at night was wild

 

[Obi-Wan]

 

[svnmag]

I took a defensive driving course put on by ND state DOT officials and this is the only thing I remember from that course. You're 100% correct

Another reason to not ride the fucking PASSING lane.

 

[svnmag]

I never dim my lights on divided highways, going 80 mph with dim lights seems like a recipe for disaster. Its amazing how many people will still flash you though, even on interstate, if you dont dim your lights!

Bullshit. Adjust for more distance with your low beams and aim them "toward" the shoulder-- just a bit to the right and not the same gd level as HB. I still consider you a "friend" We don't have to be in lockstep.

These new gd LED's are fucking ridiculous: Little difference in lumens between low and high: The "auto" bullshit often doesn't dim until impact distance (retard not caring/ignorant not adjusting angle) and there's thousands of <5yoa vehicles tooling around the Country with a burned out headlamp like a gd motorcycle on HB. The retardation of '08 is finally pooling into a Great Idiot Sea.

On a happy note: Sean Duffy stopped the engine shutoff retardation and likely saved millions of starters, transmissions and U-joints. "Varoom/kaCHUNK". I pity the poor bastard who came up with this stupid shit to feed his family or want to deport the kiss-ass faggot to cuba.

That is all.

 

[SDMF]

Lots of issues with the new 80 mph law:

1. The lights issue you mentioned.
2. Our roads are shit. I29 north from Hillsboro to Mayville is total garbage. Shouldn't even be driving 70 on that stretch.
3. Too many shitboxes on the road that have no business going 80.
4. Semis still go 65 and take half an hour to pass each other.

1. New Headlamp assemblies w/LED's are about $250 a set. 60-90min to swap out the whole deal. Get rid of those old yellowed things that the sun couldn't shine through.

2. I am looking forward to that section of road being fixed, hopefully soon. But, I still run it @ 80. I've got good shocks and good tires, just let them do their job.

3. I'll take the driver of a shitbox over someone with 0.0% situational awareness. If the road is dry, set your cruise. Use your mirror now and then. Take the earbuds out/headphones off (that's actually illegal, or used to be, haven't looked in a while), and for goodness sake, set the daggum phone down.

3a. If your car has bluetooth, you have no business talking on your device-housed speakerphone, hook that bitch up and set the phone down.
3b. You have 0.0% business being on a "FaceTime" call while in the car while under power. If you wanna video call, pull the F over.
3c. Pair that phone w/your car and use the map on the big screen in the dash. If you can't read letters this size (26pt type) sans readers, use that MF'n 10"+ screen in the dash when you need a map. Why are you torturing yourself and pissing off the rest of the universe looking at a device @ highway speed when you can't read the F'n thing sitting in a restaurant booth?

4. The least courteous Semis on the road in ND, SD, MT? They're all hauling crops or livestock and have in-state plates. I"d hazard a guess the majority of the people @ the wheel of them couldn't tell you what the letters: "CDL" Stand for.

Non-Cruise user from earlier this eve. White 3/4 or 1Tn Crew-Cab long-box pickup, apparently had some sort of birthright to the left lane. Try to pass on the right and he'd speed up to pace you and jam you up behind the next vehicle in the right lane and of course, then slow down as he passed them and become a rolling road-block again. Both times I had to deal with it, he had 12-15 vehicles backed up behind him for 1/2Mi or so. Luckily, pickups that haven't been worked over are still governed around 95ish and most smaller vehicles can go faster. I set my cruise again, about 5Mi later he passed me again going 90+ and at one point he was almost 2Mi out front. About 30Mi later, I had to pass him again as he'd diddled about pacing slower drivers in the right lane again. He used an off-ramp shortly after. Had he played the game again, I'd been tempted to take note of the Company name on the door and the plate number and made a call in the AM.

 

[wslayer]

My fancy Ford dims its own lights on the hwy, its pretty handy.

It is at times but I have found that it dims awfully early when it senses approaching lights. I deactivated mine but might give it another shot.

 

[johnr]

Non-Cruise user from earlier this eve. White 3/4 or 1Tn Crew-Cab long-box pickup, apparently had some sort of birthright to the left lane. Try to pass on the right and he'd speed up to pace you and jam you up behind the next vehicle in the right lane and of course, then slow down as he passed them and become a rolling road-block again. Both times I had to deal with it, he had 12-15 vehicles backed up behind him for 1/2Mi or so. Luckily, pickups that haven't been worked over are still governed around 95ish and most smaller vehicles can go faster. I set my cruise again, about 5Mi later he passed me again going 90+ and at one point he was almost 2Mi out front. About 30Mi later, I had to pass him again as he'd diddled about pacing slower drivers in the right lane again. He used an off-ramp shortly after. Had he played the game again, I'd been tempted to take note of the Company name on the door and the plate number and made a call in the AM.

I run into this same MF asshole all the time, my job entails lots of road time, and I might have to retire, just because of these pieces of shit.

Not sure the pleasure in cobbling up traffic, but it has to give them some sort of joy doing this crap.

 

[1lessdog]

1. New Headlamp assemblies w/LED's are about $250 a set. 60-90min to swap out the whole deal. Get rid of those old yellowed things that the sun couldn't shine through.

2. I am looking forward to that section of road being fixed, hopefully soon. But, I still run it @ 80. I've got good shocks and good tires, just let them do their job.

3. I'll take the driver of a shitbox over someone with 0.0% situational awareness. If the road is dry, set your cruise. Use your mirror now and then. Take the earbuds out/headphones off (that's actually illegal, or used to be, haven't looked in a while), and for goodness sake, set the daggum phone down.

3a. If your car has bluetooth, you have no business talking on your device-housed speakerphone, hook that bitch up and set the phone down.
3b. You have 0.0% business being on a "FaceTime" call while in the car while under power. If you wanna video call, pull the F over.
3c. Pair that phone w/your car and use the map on the big screen in the dash. If you can't read letters this size (26pt type) sans readers, use that MF'n 10"+ screen in the dash when you need a map. Why are you torturing yourself and pissing off the rest of the universe looking at a device @ highway speed when you can't read the F'n thing sitting in a restaurant booth?

4. The least courteous Semis on the road in ND, SD, MT? They're all hauling crops or livestock and have in-state plates. I"d hazard a guess the majority of the people @ the wheel of them couldn't tell you what the letters: "CDL" Stand for.

Non-Cruise user from earlier this eve. White 3/4 or 1Tn Crew-Cab long-box pickup, apparently had some sort of birthright to the left lane. Try to pass on the right and he'd speed up to pace you and jam you up behind the next vehicle in the right lane and of course, then slow down as he passed them and become a rolling road-block again. Both times I had to deal with it, he had 12-15 vehicles backed up behind him for 1/2Mi or so. Luckily, pickups that haven't been worked over are still governed around 95ish and most smaller vehicles can go faster. I set my cruise again, about 5Mi later he passed me again going 90+ and at one point he was almost 2Mi out front. About 30Mi later, I had to pass him again as he'd diddled about pacing slower drivers in the right lane again. He used an off-ramp shortly after. Had he played the game again, I'd been tempted to take note of the Company name on the door and the plate number and made a call in the AM.

I few yrs ago I was coming home from work and a guy in the left lane was texting. So I called the number on the door. When the guy answered I told him his guy was texting and driving and holding up traffic in the left lane. I was in middle lane and watched when the boss called him. It was maybe a 30 second conversation. He hung up and moved to the middle lane. I have often wondered what the boss said to him.

 

[Obi-Wan]

My fancy Ford dims its own lights on the hwy, its pretty handy.

The auto dim light feature are fkn junk and shut it off on both trucks I drive. the rural area I live in the lights keep flipping from dim to bright and back constantly from nearby housing or even going in and out of tree cover, both the ram and ford I drive now do the same thing. but what is worse it the 23 F350 lowers and intensifies the brightness of the lights as the computer sees fit, highbeam is not highbeam but adjusted to somewhere in between high and low.

 

[Rowdie]

They need to OUTLAW those overly bright LED headlights! When driving a car and passing an oncoming pickup on a 2-lane HWY, it's like they have their brights on!

 

[1lessdog]

I purchased a Mini Cooper a few yrs ago for mileage and running around town. Now I hadn't been in a car in years. Always a pickup. The first morning going to work and every vehicle headlight were shining in the back window. I instantly hated the Cooper. I had it for 6 month, it rode like crap and 26 mpg. It wasn't worth it for me.

 

[guywhofishes]

I purchased a Mini Cooper a few yrs ago for mileage and running around town. Now I hadn't been in a car in years. Always a pickup. The first morning going to work and every vehicle headlight were shining in the back window. I instantly hated the Cooper. I had it for 6 month, it rode like crap and 26 mpg. It wasn't worth it for me.

this has to land in the “what was I thinking?” category

 

[tikkalover]

Maybe you guys that "over drive" your low beams at 80mph and drive with your high beams on all the time, should slow the fuck down and drive the limit of your low beams.

Instead of being an inconsiderate, noncaring asshole to the people driving towards you.

There I said it.

 

[SDMF]

Maybe you guys that "over drive" your low beams at 80mph and drive with your high beams on all the time, should slow the fuck down and drive the limit of your low beams.

Instead of being an inconsiderate, noncaring asshole to the people driving towards you.

There I said it.

In just under 2 Million miles of driving ND, SD, MT, MN, WY, NE, and IA, since I started traveling for work, I've hit 1 deer, and none before that either having received my driver's license in 1989. I hit that deer maybe 5-10min after sunrise, on Hwy 2, driving west, with the rising sun @ my back, on the way to MT to go deer hunting. Headlights wouldn't have mattered at all. They've mattered a whole bunch of other times, but, given that I've never hit a deer in the dark and I drive exponentially more miles than the vast majority of folks, my take is that most folks aren't overdriving their headlights. Most people are overdriving their attention span/alertness/situational awareness. I've also gotten 1 big raccoon in the middle of the night. Beyond that, all of my car/animal incidents have been birds during the day. Never a coyote, stray dog, cat, rabbit, badger, or skunk, day or night. I've braked-for, avoided, and or dodged Moose, elk, wolves (MT and MN), horses, and cows. No accidents at all with other vehicles, ever.

I've logged hundreds of thousands of miles through very thick "deer country" when ND/SD/MT were one giant ocean of CRP and managed to keep the deer off my vehicle, whatever vehicle that's been. A miss-mash of work and personal vehicles. Cars, mini-vans, SUV's, and pickups, 9 manufacturers I can think of off the top of my head. Older dimmer headlights, and fancy new LED's. It's not the lights.

Focus on the task at hand, keep your eyes where they need to be, on the road and scanning ditches.

It's not a light brightness problem, and it's not a speed problem, and it's not the 2 coupled together, unless the driver has an attention/awareness problem.

 

[SDMF]

I few yrs ago I was coming home from work and a guy in the left lane was texting. So I called the number on the door. When the guy answered I told him his guy was texting and driving and holding up traffic in the left lane. I was in middle lane and watched when the boss called him. It was maybe a 30 second conversation. He hung up and moved to the middle lane. I have often wondered what the boss said to him.

I've done that exactly 1x. Played the leapfrog/grab-ass BS with a delivery vehicle from Fargo all the way to Jamestown on '94. No cruise, weaving all over the road, but not like a drunk, like a texter. Speed would vary from high 60's to over 90. Delivery Driver was 100% committed to being in the left lane. I don't know how many times that driver passed me, slowed down, passed me, slowed down, weaved onto the rumble strips, drove miles on end right down the middle of both lanes but after 100Mi of that, I'd had enough and called the number on the van.

Again, I really don't care what lane people want or what speed they want to drive. Just don't be inattentive and become a rolling road-block. Don't speed up when a faster car is going to pass you because you weren't paying attention and are now driving slow. Don't lose focus and slow down in the left lane when you're passing someone because you don't have your cruise set making yourself a rolling road block. Don't come speeding up behind me and then sit in my blind spot when I move over to let you by.