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(35 posts)

so slow?

Started 2 years ago by jim
Latest reply from dawsonct

jim
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Just moved to WS from East Coast. Question, why do most WS folks drive below the speed limit, and I don't mean just on Alki? On California and Fauntleroy I am perplexed at the 25 mph drivers, of all ages. Help me here.

Posted 2 years ago #
Diane
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can only speak for myself; I drive so ridiculously slow apparently, when I come upon those speed trap signs, usually under speed limit by 1 or 2; for me it's WAY more about getting older than which coast; I was a maniac speed demon in younger years

Posted 2 years ago #
JanS
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Jim...where from on the east coast? I was a transplant from PA 35 years ago. Have been in WS ever since. We go slow? Maybe it's to look at the beauty around us.....keeps the blood pressure down :)

Posted 2 years ago #
christopherboffoli
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jim long: Welcome, fellow East Coaster! I hope you brought your own supply of bagels because you're not going to find any here. (Paradoxical considering all of the excellent salmon we have in Seattle)

Let me lay something else down for you if you haven't noticed it already: Seattleites seem to have the colors red and green reversed too. When they see a red light they drive through it. But if you are behind them when the light turns green you'd better get used to waiting because you're not going anywhere.

Posted 2 years ago #
datamuse
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Also, apparently your car horn is deactivated upon entry to the state. It's the only explanation.

—Another East Coast Transplant

Posted 2 years ago #
JanS
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Christopher..not us...we'd NEVER do that - lol...

Posted 2 years ago #
Diane
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so when you hear a car horn here it usually actually means something; back east with all the horns all the time, it just becomes ambiance

Posted 2 years ago #
johnnyblegs
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Not sure what you mean. I'm a native Seattleite and I drive fast. It must have been that 4 month stint in California that changed me. Driving slow is still better than driving like Queen Anne Hiller's. They can't seem to navigate a four way stop properly at all.

Posted 2 years ago #
Leroniusmonkfish
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Kinda related to this topic...when I moved to Arizona seven months ago I would frequently have oncoming cars during the day flash their lights at me. I would check to see if for some reason I had mine on and they were on bright but that wasn't the case. I soon figured out that whenever that happened lo and behold just around the bend would be a police car. I don't recall that ever happening to me in the 41yrs I lived in Seattle...I was born in Boston but was too young when we moved but when I asked my folks they said that was common on the East Coast too...kinda a strange courtesy I suppose?

Posted 2 years ago #
pigeonmom
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People here also FREQUENTLY forget to use their turn signals!

Posted 2 years ago #
JanS
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now, Pigeonmom, that's only on signals optional Fridays ;-)

Posted 2 years ago #
JanS
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Mr. Fish...yes, that happened on the east coast to me, and I haven't lived there since 1974. Also, truckers would flash their lights, travelling in the same direction , like on freeways/turnpikes,when passing, to let you know it was safe to get back in the lane.

Posted 2 years ago #
Escondido
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I tend to drive slower because the streets are so congested and there are lots of pedestrians and children and pets. With so many cars parked on the side of the streets, it is difficult to see what may be coming out onto the street. My conservative speed has helped me stop "just in time" quite a few times. Plus, as mentioned before, relax and enjoy the beautiful neighborhoods, especially with all the colors out there with the season change!

Posted 2 years ago #
datamuse
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Diane: this is true, however on more than one occasion I have witnessed the following:

Lineup of cars at a stoplight.

Light turns green.

First car doesn't go.

Not ONE car of the dozen or so behind it honks.

Ten seconds pass. Fifteen. On one occasion it was twenty. (I counted; I was at a bus stop and had nowhere else to be.)

Now I've never been one to lean on the horn out of sheer cussedness, but every time I see this it sort of defies belief, and I've never seen this behavior anywhere else so I've concluded it's a regional cultural thing.

Posted 2 years ago #
austin
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Don't forget to yield to the oncoming left turners at a green light. Especially at Avalon turning to go to the bridge.

Seriously though, drivers, keep the speed down. You're not paying enough attention to be going fast.

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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leroniusmonkfish...

they assume you are speeding in Arizona and that the policeman they just passed is a speed trap :)

and they are probably right

Posted 2 years ago #
CMP
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Jim, you must not drive on 35th often...that's where most people speed, but I agree with your problem streets b/c I've been stuck behind plenty of morons driving 22 mph on California which baffles me. I learned to drive here and gladly use my horn (honked at three drivers yesterday), drive fast and park normally. Prius, Volvo and Jetta owners are the worst so watch out for them.

Posted 2 years ago #
KBear
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I was in Phoenix recently, and the drivers there were as rude and aggressive as Seattle drivers are clueless and oblivious. Either way they're just as dangerous.

Posted 2 years ago #
GAnative
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Jim - Drives me crazy especially on the interstate where people line up next to each other blocking all lanes and all doing less than the speed limit.

Posted 2 years ago #
swimcat
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I'm always amazed that people here don't give you a little warning flash of the lights when there is a cop up the road. I'm always tempted to do so, but then figure that no one here would understand. When I was in Costa Rica, other drivers extended this warning flash for all kinds of things- it was a life saver given some of the things we encountered on those roads!

Posted 2 years ago #
dawsonct
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I have driven on streets and highways all around the U.S. and can assure everyone that clueless drivers are abundant all over this fine country of ours (you Canucks aren't exempt). Directional signals as optional equipment is epidemic from coast-to-coast.
You ever drive in Texas? Speeds range from 100+ down to however fast you can get the old jalopy rolling, everyone drifting from lane to lane, seemingly totally unaware anyone else is on the roads with them.
Inquiring about his recent visit to R.I. and Conn., the first thing my brother said to me was, "the drivers would P (me) off, they never use their signals."
-
I really love having someone from the Midwest think that driving on a snowy hill is the same as driving some flat, featureless landscape. Or a drylander who doesn't understand how much oil builds up on the roads around here between rains. Or someone straight out of college who spent most of their childhood in the car playing their PSP, as novice drivers surrounded by better drivers, or in college not driving, so when they get here their only real experience is with Seattle drivers and they end up parroting the same line you hear from every driver in EVERY region of this country:
"the drivers around here sure do suck!"

Posted 2 years ago #
Jiggers
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Why are you in such a rush?

Posted 2 years ago #
jim
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I moved here from Richmond, VA, which hardly is the speeding capitol of the USA. I'm not in any rush usually, I just would like be allowed to drive at least the speed limit so my engine gets cleaned out now and then and I can get from Admiral/California to the junction in less than 30 minutes!. The slowmovers on Alki and Beach Drive seem courteous and pull over but those on California and Fauntleroy just mozie along at a snails pace hogging the road. Isn't it illegal here to drive below the speed limit? It is in VA. Are there a lot of medical marijuana clinics around here or something?

Posted 2 years ago #
austin
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Not a lot a lot but we're working on it. :)

Posted 2 years ago #
Bikefor1
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Something I read about Captain Sully in Parade magazine applies to cars, not just planes. It was a fortune cookie fortune he had saved and stuck into his manual: “A delay is better than a disaster.”

So please everyone, slow down and leave a lot of space.

Posted 2 years ago #
rockhills
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The ten-miles-under-the-limit thing seems to be associated with a total incomprehension of the concepts of the smooth merge and the Keep Right Except to Pass law. A sense of humor is your best defense. Have you seen Pemco's "you go-no, you go" stop sign commercial yet?

Posted 2 years ago #
itneverrainsinwestseattle
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Do you want to hit a 8 inch deep pot hole going 30?

Posted 2 years ago #
JoB
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Do you want to hit the car door someone just opened without looking doing 30?

do you want to hit the kid/cat/dog/skateboarder/bike rider/elderly person/etc that just stepped in front of you doing 30?

do you want to hit the guy in front of you who just slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the kid/cat/dog/skateboarder/bike rider/elderly person/etc doing 30?

Getting from one place to another in the shortest time possible isn't my goal. Getting there safely without hurting anyone else is...

and if i hold you up a bit in the process... I'm sorry.. but it isn't going to change my priorities. Your frustration matters less to me than our mutual safety.

Posted 2 years ago #
CMP
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So does that make it okay to drive 20 mph instead? Take the bus if you want to ride around at a leisurely pace and aren't in a hurry!

This reminds me of these two lazy kids I saw the other day by Garfield HS. They got off the bus, then jaywalked across 23rd, taking their sweet time to cross the street. I've never seen healthy young men walk THAT slow. It baffles me how people don't seem to have a sense of purpose or urgency in life. Yeah, it's a matter of seconds when driving, but you're being inconsiderate to others who might want to get somewhere in a timely manner. Believe it or not, you CAN drive fast and safely at the same time. What a concept!

Posted 2 years ago #
JanS
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CMP...hang out by Adm. Safeway during WSHS lunch hours. Yes, they're slow walking across the streets, don't even look up to acknowledge your presence if you're driving. Your choice is to either just stop and wait, since they're so much more important than you or anything you have to do...or you can hit them. Oh, the temptation. ;-)

JoB...I totally agree...getting us all there safely should be the goal...and if that means going 27 mph in a 30 mph zone, y'all will just have to deal :)

Posted 2 years ago #
datamuse
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Hey, go as slow as you want, but if you're doing 50 in the left lane on I-5 I reserve the right to make sweeping generalizations about this state's comprehension of Keep Right Except to Pass.

Don't get me started on merging.

Posted 2 years ago #
Julie
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I can't resist pointing out that the difference between Admiral Jct.-to-CA Jct. at 20 mph and at 30 mph is 1.4 minutes--84 seconds--and that between CA Jct.-to-Morgan Jct. at 20 and at 30 is 1.2 minutes, or 72 seconds.

I find 20 mph for more than a short distance on these routes uncommon, by the way. But as there're plenty of stops, and it's not possible or efficient to jump from a stop to 30 mph immediately, at some points people will drive at 20 mph.

I generally assume that if someone is driving that far below the limit for some distance, they can see something I don't--so I give them plenty of room. If I'm driving 20 mph on California for longer than it takes to accelerate through 20 to 30, I generally have a reason, even if the person driving behind me can't see it.

Posted 2 years ago #
jim
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OK, I know that I am beating a "dead horse" here, but there are laws for maximum and minimum speed limits for a reason. Driving below the speed limit is appropriate under certain conditions. I have zero issue with that and appreciate the courtesy. I am talking about feeling completely perplexed and confused following a slow-goer when conditions don't warrant. I hesitate to pass, because they don't seem to be paying attention. It is dangerous to me and my safety! Like the kids mentioned above who walk ever so slowly across the street. If one feels that the public streets are theirs to drive at their complete leisure, how is that different than the self entitled high school kids?

Posted 2 years ago #
CMP
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Exactly Jim...I was going to make the same argument about the slow walkers! Datamuse, I feel your pain with merging and keeping right to pass. I drive to Portland regularly and am perplexed by Washingtonians inability to figure out appropriate freeway driving.

Posted 2 years ago #
dawsonct
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CMP, I reiterate, and strongly stand by my previous post.
Seattleites and Washingtonians do NOT have the market cornered on lousy drivers or odd regional driving habits.
And all the highways entering Seattle exit it as well.

Posted 2 years ago #