Current mood:

Suicidal

It's not rocket surgery.
Msnbc.com has a recurring feature, "Ads of the Weird". This week's column discusses an Australian PSA which implies that men who speed are deficient in the sausage department. (I know, I know, a clever idea that no one ever thought of before!)

The comments are full of everyone's Personal Philosophy of Driving, which (like driving itself) turns wanky and obnoxious immediately:

Or maybe people just like to drive fast and it has nothing to do with being macho or manly. Driving fast doesn't mean you have to drive stupid, and I think it's just as likely that people driving BELOW the speed limit cause an equal number of accidents as SOBER drivers driving ABOVE the speed limit. If you don't like someone driving fast behind you, GET OUT OF THE WAY. Especially if you're in the left lane people c'mon, learn how to drive.

John B

Aaaaand they're off. After wading through a couple pages of this, it's enough to make me want to give up driving forever and dust off my trusty old bicycle, rather than chance sharing the road with some of these people.

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	kadath 2007-07-19 03:19 pm UTC (link)
	quick mental math That's not even 75! I usually cruise at around 80 and get passed like I'm standing still. This may have something to do with living in Massachusetts. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	soupspooks 2007-07-19 03:22 pm UTC (link)
	I always see American speeds and think "Why are you driving so slowly?!" and then I glance down at the speedometer and go "...oh" gulp (Reply to this)(Parent)

	eilan 2007-07-19 03:33 pm UTC (link)
	regulary goes 150 km/h with her Citroen C3 German autobahn FTW! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	waltraute 2007-07-19 04:52 pm UTC (link)
	I love the autobahn. I caught a Mitfahr ride from Stuttgart to Berlin one time and we went 150-170 the whole way (when not in traffic). :) (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bemysty 2007-07-19 06:01 pm UTC (link)
	As long as they go those sorts of speeds ON the Autobahn, and not off... unfortunately that's too much to wish for with a lot of people >_> (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	waltraute 2007-07-20 03:47 pm UTC (link)
	Ummm, yeah, the guy who was driving also did some insane speed on a two-lane backroad going from one stretch of autobahn to another. I wanted to stop at Bayreuth, but we didn't have the time. :( (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cat_mcdougall 2007-07-19 03:41 pm UTC (link)
	I think it's Massachusetts. I usually cruise around 70-73, and I'm usually cruising right along with traffic (Ohio though). Until I cross the state line into Pennsylvania, and then I'm going too slow. And then I cross the New York State Line and then there are offerings and sacrifices... It isn't pretty. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

oar
2007-07-19 06:59 pm UTC (link)

Super word to that, from a fellow Ohioan. I've spent who knows how many hours on the interstate driving to and from college, and usually 75 is perfectly fine. Other states . . . damn. City freeways, too, even in Ohio--seeing people taking near ninety-degree curves at 65 is nervewracking. At least when you're doing 80 out in the middle of Buttfucknowhere, OH, you're going in a straight line.

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	cat_mcdougall 2007-07-19 07:00 pm UTC (link)
	The Innerbelt in Cleveland at 75mph. still has nightmares about that (Reply to this)(Parent)

	rachel_pi 2007-07-22 02:28 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, if you're doing 70 on any of the big highways in PA (and some of the smaller ones), you're going to get passed like crazy. I've been tailgated and then passed by some dude in a huge truck when I was on the Turnpike and I was doing like 75 or 80. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	dark_puck 2007-07-19 03:57 pm UTC (link)
	I'm with Cat McDougall. 75-80 is my cruising speed of choice, along with that of everyone else in the left-hand lane. ...okay, so on 664 I'm more likely to be doing 85-90, but fuck, I'm late for class when that happens. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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