[XxATOLxX]

It happens, don't let it bog you down too much.

One thing you want to do is try to fight your way out of it or get it reduced. A single traffic violation for a 17 year old with a G35x and an Evo under his belt could spell disaster for your insurance bill.

By the way, how much are you paying in insurance for the cars?

 

[DouglasQuaid]

You quickly changed four lanes while almost missing your exit with a car in the 4 lane ahead of you and slowing down... I'd say you deserved your ticket. I, as a passenger, was nearly driven off the road last weekend from someone pulling a stunt just like yours only with us in a poorer position compared to the guy who was ahead of you. Would it have inconvenienced you that badly to simply take the next exit considering you were not prepared to take your own? Was it worth the citation and potentially harming other people?

 

[Usagi]

I wholeheartedly respect the law, but something struck me as peculiar. I recently drove from Alaska to California. This track took me through the west-side of Canada. Would you believe that I didn't see one law enforcement officer during my trip through this country. As soon as I crossed the border into Washington, cops swarmed the city. I couldn't go a few a few blocks without seeing one.

It didn't occur to me until that moment that I we live in a "police state".

 

[vagarach]

I think for normal driving, in the exception of avoiding an accident, you should never have to make any sudden movements, and hit 60 in 20 seconds rather than 5.

When driving in traffic, drive like your grandmother would drive. Changing 4 lanes? Change lanes 4 times, each change being as sedate as possible. Hey, it sucks driving like a granny, but it is safe, and controlled.

 

[aaron313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by vagarach /img/forum/go_quote.gif I think for normal driving, in the exception of avoiding an accident, you should never have to make any sudden movements, and hit 60 in 20 seconds rather than 5. When driving in traffic, drive like your grandmother would drive. Changing 4 lanes? Change lanes 4 times, each change being as sedate as possible. Hey, it sucks driving like a granny, but it is safe, and controlled.

Yes, I don't ever change multiple lanes in one continuous motion.

 

[Bob_McBob]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheRobbStory /img/forum/go_quote.gif My last ticket:

I wish the police would give tickets to bicyclists here. Driving around at night without a light or reflectors is dangerous. Add not wearing a helmet and randomly switching between pedestrian (sidewalk) and vehicle (road) and you're being really reckless. I have had bicyclists doing ALL of these things at once almost drive into the side of the car when they come shooting across the pedestrian crossing from an unlit area. And don't get me started on the ******** who bike down country roads 2 or 3-abreast and refuse to move over

 

[olblueyez]

Still cant get my head around why you were in the left lane when you knew you needed to be in the right lane. Blaming that on one car means you waited till the last minute. You said you had to floor it, if traffic was moderate could you not slow down to move over instead of passing and crossing 4 lanes? Did they not teach you in school that crossing multiple lanes like that is reckless? Did it never occur to you that crossing 4 lanes all at once would get you pulled over? I dont get the part where you got singled out. You were chosen because you were driving in a reckless manor. 1 + 1 = 2

 

[Stephonovich]

I'm 20, and have a Honda Prelude. Owned it for a little over a year. I've been pulled over 6 times in that period. Out of those, one was for speeding, one was for not signaling, and one was for doing something loud and stupid behind a mall. The other three were for "bull**** citations". Let's see, one time the cop thought my tags were expired (no), another time my exhaust was apparently too loud (this on an interstate in traffic, with me calmly driving along at 55. You picked me out of the bunch? Yeah, right), and I don't remember the other one. Out of all of those, I've received one ticket, for speeding. I completely take the blame for that one, and the officer was 100% in his right to ticket me. I was in the left lane, admittedly keeping up with traffic, but still speeding. I was on the phone, not paying attention, and didn't see him in the trees until it was too late.

The point of all this? I drive a loud car that says "pull me over now!" Driving aggressively adds on top of that. Since my speeding ticket (all the others were before that, with the exception of the loudness complaint) I've slowed down. Now I stay in the right or middle lane, do 5 over, and generally drive like a granny. I don't think I've hit 100 MPH in months, nor done a burnout, drifted, and so on. If I do feel the need to do more spirited driving, I make sure there's no police around, that it isn't going to endanger anyone else, and won't increase my risk of an accident too much. (I defy anyone to say driving even slightly faster does not increase your risk of crashing. I'm not saying I don't do it, but face it, it is more dangerous)

Want an easy way to start driving more gently? Pay close attention to gas prices and your mileage. Start doing things like not flooring it all the time, short shifting, shutting the car off at long lights, and coasting. Coasting in particular, while illegal in some places, is quite fun and a challenge. Yesterday I coasted more than a mile to the grocery store. The light timing gods smiled upon me, and lo, traffic didst part before me.

 

[scompton]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephonovich /img/forum/go_quote.gif I'm 20, and have a Honda Prelude. Owned it for a little over a year. I've been pulled over 6 times in that period. Out of those, one was for speeding, one was for not signaling, and one was for doing something loud and stupid behind a mall. The other three were for "bull**** citations". Let's see, one time the cop thought my tags were expired (no), another time my exhaust was apparently too loud (this on an interstate in traffic, with me calmly driving along at 55. You picked me out of the bunch? Yeah, right), and I don't remember the other one. Out of all of those, I've received one ticket, for speeding. I completely take the blame for that one, and the officer was 100% in his right to ticket me. I was in the left lane, admittedly keeping up with traffic, but still speeding. I was on the phone, not paying attention, and didn't see him in the trees until it was too late. The point of all this? I drive a loud car that says "pull me over now!" Driving aggressively adds on top of that. Since my speeding ticket (all the others were before that, with the exception of the loudness complaint) I've slowed down. Now I stay in the right or middle lane, do 5 over, and generally drive like a granny. I don't think I've hit 100 MPH in months, nor done a burnout, drifted, and so on. If I do feel the need to do more spirited driving, I make sure there's no police around, that it isn't going to endanger anyone else, and won't increase my risk of an accident too much. (I defy anyone to say driving even slightly faster does not increase your risk of crashing. I'm not saying I don't do it, but face it, it is more dangerous) Want an easy way to start driving more gently? Pay close attention to gas prices and your mileage. Start doing things like not flooring it all the time, short shifting, shutting the car off at long lights, and coasting. Coasting in particular, while illegal in some places, is quite fun and a challenge. Yesterday I coasted more than a mile to the grocery store. The light timing gods smiled upon me, and lo, traffic didst part before me.

I'm happy I don't live anywhere near you.

I hope you coast by pushing in the clutch and leaving the engine running. Turning off the engine and coasting is illegal because it's dangerous. What do you do if you have to make an emergency maneuver that requires acceleration?

When I was 20, I got a summer job with the phone company repairing phones. Before I could drive one of their vans, I had to take a week long defensive driving class. It was a real eye opener and made me a much better driver. I think there are a lot of people on this thread that would be lucky if they were forced to take that class.

 

[bonkon]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stephonovich /img/forum/go_quote.gif Want an easy way to start driving more gently? Pay close attention to gas prices and your mileage. Start doing things like not flooring it all the time, short shifting, shutting the car off at long lights, and coasting. Coasting in particular, while illegal in some places, is quite fun and a challenge. Yesterday I coasted more than a mile to the grocery store. The light timing gods smiled upon me, and lo, traffic didst part before me.

Coasting is not fun nor a challenge, driving in general is not a game outside a circuit ,why don't kids understand that. There is a reason it is illegal, pedestrians and cyclists can't hear you. How many times do headfiers had almost somesort of accidents because of their canalphones and can not hear anything? This is even worse because unlike using canalphones you don't pay extra attention.

I have a friend who had an accident on his bicycle because some jerk was coasting and didn't even bother to stop in front a stop sign. People who sees it as a challenge are even worse cause everytime they coast they intend to beat their previous record therefore taking more risk and thus be more dangerous to others.

Don't use it as an excuse to save gas, buy a small car or hybrid if you really want to save gas. I have nothing personal against you but understand that is dangerous and I feel concerned because of my friend who a part a few stiches is doing fine.

 

[Stephonovich]

Quote:

Originally Posted by scompton 'm happy I don't live anywhere near you. I hope you coast by pushing in the clutch and leaving the engine running. Turning off the engine and coasting is illegal because it's dangerous. What do you do if you have to make an emergency maneuver that requires acceleration?

I leave the engine running. I have shut off the engine while coasting in my apartment complex, but that's at about 10 MPH, and I don't do it very often. I just wanted to see how much harder the car was to control without power steering/brakes. Answer: quite a bit. As to the acceleration bit, I have never been in a situation, nor can I think of one, where immediate acceleration is the only way out. Braking and steering will get you out of most anything. Short of being dumb and running a red and then having to gun it to avoid being T-Boned, I don't think a small delay in the re-application of power is really that dangerous.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bonkon /img/forum/go_quote.gif There is a reason it is illegal, pedestrians and cyclists can't hear you.

Believe me, my car is loud enough even at idle it's not an issue. And in any case, stock hybrid cars will automatically kill the engine at idle conditions, rendering them almost completely silent. Coasting is illegal because you don't have full control of the vehicle, not noise considerations.

Quote:

I have a friend who had an accident on his bicycle because some jerk was coasting and didn't even bother to stop in front a stop sign. People who sees it as a challenge are even worse cause everytime they coast they intend to beat their previous record therefore taking more risk and thus be more dangerous to others.

I'm sorry for your friend. One person not obeying traffic laws does not mean the entire group of people is to blame, though. I never put my gas mileage ahead of safety.

 

[scompton]

My wife got t-boned when someone else ran a red light. She didn't see it coming so she couldn't gun it, but breaking or steering would not have done any good.

I was stopped at a stop sign at the end of a highway. A T intersection with enough traffic that I had to be stopped. A woman rear ended me at 40 mph. Completely collapsed the trunk and pushed me across the street through traffic. I saw her only a few seconds before she hit. There was too much traffic to gun it and 2 seconds was not enough time to wrap my head around what was about to happen. Just yelled to my brothers to hold on at about the same time she hit. Fortunately the cross traffic was able to react and not hit us. There were signs for a half mile that the high was ending, huge stop signs, and flashing lights. The other side of the cross street there was a 30 foot drop. If she hadn't hit me she would have been flying.

I've also witnessed 2 accidents while I was stopped at a light and some one ran the light and t-boned someone. Once the person T-boned was stopped to make a left turn. If they had seen it coming, flooring it was their only choice.

IMO, though coasting with the clutch pushed in is not that bad, you just let the clutch back out and away you go.

You're right about hybrids. I drive a Prius and it took a while to get used to the fact that people don't move out of the way in parking lots. With a regular car, people hear you coming and move to the edge of the lane. Not with a Prius. They keep walking down the center of the lane.

IMO, that just means you have to be extra defensive. No talking on the phone or playing with the radio while driving. You pay attention to driving. I tended to be that way before, but I'm even more that way now.

 

[Stephonovich]

After I wrote that, I thought about seeing accidents coming. Forgot about those. I had a similar experience to yours, where I was sitting stopped on a highway in a line of cars, waiting for some large trucks to move up ahead of us. I heard something behind me, and then *BOOM*. Truck not paying attention hit a Neon which hit me (Escort), and then I hit a Jeep. I had no time to react, but I suppose if I had happened to look behind me, accelerating quickly out of the way would have saved me.

I am noticing something, though: all of these accident scenarios presume you're sitting still, whereas you are in motion during coasting.

When I'm coasting, I feel safer than 99% of the drivers on the road. Why? I'm looking 2-3 stoplights ahead, am acutely aware of what everyone ahead, behind, and beside me is doing, and I'm anticipating their future actions. What is the average driver doing? Waiting for brake lights before reacting.

 

[troymadison]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob_McBob /img/forum/go_quote.gif I wish the police would give tickets to bicyclists here. Driving around at night without a light or reflectors is dangerous. Add not wearing a helmet and randomly switching between pedestrian (sidewalk) and vehicle (road) and you're being really reckless. I have had bicyclists doing ALL of these things at once almost drive into the side of the car when they come shooting across the pedestrian crossing from an unlit area. And don't get me started on the ******** who bike down country roads 2 or 3-abreast and refuse to move over

I don't wanna wear a helmet.

 

[Yikes]

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxATOLxX /img/forum/go_quote.gif By the way, how much are you paying in insurance for the cars?

Not a dime, his parents foot that bill also.

When I was 16 I purchased my first car with money that I'd been saving since I was 13 (paper route, mowing lawns and the like). I have found that most people appreciate something more if they earned it, as opposed to having it given to them.

Some parents now days give their kids everything. I'm amazed seeing 17 year old kids riding scary fast sport-bikes that their parents bought for them, or even cars like the Evo. What 16 or 17 year old child could actually resist racing around with such machines? Sure the OP never drives aggressively or speeds, he's 17 driving an Evo, this means he either races around or he's a girly-man, kids will be kids.

FYI - That first car that I mentioned was a 69 Camaro Z28. My father tried to talk me out of buying it, but he finally said; "It's your money, it's your decision." and it's a miracle that I survived owning that car, the car certainly didn't. So yes I was stupid and raced around. I was lucky that I didn't kill myself or anyone else. In my defense it was a different time, there's now 42% more people in the US. Back then there were a lot less people to run into.