So This Guy Was Driving An '08 Beemer...
. . . and he was going down I-81 at what we might imagine was a decent rate of speed. The big truck ahead of him was also going down 81, but not quite at the same decent rate of speed. So the ’08 BMW ended up kissing the arse end of the truck rather hard, ripping off the hood and sending the Hoodless Horsepower off into the median strip like you see in the movies.
Rule Of The Road #1: Never argue the right-of-way with a vehicle that has more wheels than yours.
ROTR #2: You have the R-O-W if the other guy gives it to you. If he doesn’t give it to you, you haven’t got it.
ROTR #3: No matter how much $$ you have, no matter what you are driving, you do not have some sort of right that allows you to drive into the back end of an 18-wheeler and think you can get away with it.
Of course, it’s hard to see where you are going when your head is up your @.
It reminds me of the guy who ran into a stopped city bus a couple years ago. “It’s all my fault,” he said. “I was talking on a cell phone and I didn’t even see a bus!” He was amazed at how distracted he could be. Maybe the fellow who owns what used to be a BMW just couldn’t see a tractor-trailer in front of him. One wonders.
Rule Of The Road #1: Never argue the right-of-way with a vehicle that has more wheels than yours.
ROTR #2: You have the R-O-W if the other guy gives it to you. If he doesn’t give it to you, you haven’t got it.
ROTR #3: No matter how much $$ you have, no matter what you are driving, you do not have some sort of right that allows you to drive into the back end of an 18-wheeler and think you can get away with it.
Of course, it’s hard to see where you are going when your head is up your @.
It reminds me of the guy who ran into a stopped city bus a couple years ago. “It’s all my fault,” he said. “I was talking on a cell phone and I didn’t even see a bus!” He was amazed at how distracted he could be. Maybe the fellow who owns what used to be a BMW just couldn’t see a tractor-trailer in front of him. One wonders.
posted by Tom Carten at 11:20 PM
2 Comments:
I ride in a carpool with 3 other people. When it's my turn to sit in the back, and there's no interesting conversation going on, I look out the window and play a game: car counting. It's got one simple rule, and that's to increment numbers until I see a car where the driver is talking on a cell phone, then I have to start back at 1. I played this all but 2 days last week, and I never got past 12, and usually had to restart after 5 or 6. I often see 2 or 3 drivers in a row on the phone.
I have a bluetooth to use my phone, but recently realized that even hands-free, it's still a large distraction. I found myself doing just under the speed limit in the fast lane - NOT something that will make you friends in this neck of the woods. So now if the phone rings, I answer it with "I'm driving so I can't talk. Is this an emergency, or can I call you back later?"
I realized that I'd rather not tangle with the back (or front!) of a vehicle with more wheels than mine.
And I'm trying to teach my girls (one has her permit, the other will follow in less than 2 years) RotR#2 as written by tomc: You have the right of way only if they other person gives it to you. If they don't, you can't assume that you have it. It's a good lesson to learn early.
Take off the bluetooth, pick up that cell phone, light a cigarette, enjoy a scolding hot latte and decide you want to change CDs. All while behind the wheel. That's driving in NEPA, baby!
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