Road Construction/My Hazard Flashers my new Best Friends!

I had to make a short trip last night and had to drive on the expressway an hour each direction. I was determined to drive the speed limit and nothing higher than that. The expressway I was on has a 55MPH max speed limit but people go at least 65 or 80MPH. I stayed in the far right lane and drove between 48-55MPH with only going just a bit over once in a while.

I achieved an average of 59.5 MPG on this 95 mile roundrip last night

But what I realized is that even driving in that far right lane I had people driving right up onto my bumper and just tailgating me waiting for me to speed up. Even a few large semi trucks and it was really pissing me off as I was doing the speed limit and in the far right lane, if I drove any farther right I would be driving on the shoulder. One truck was practically on my nice person and I was so pissed, I ever so gently tapped my brake and they were not happy about that at all.

So, finally I decided to just put my Hazard flashers on and drive with them on just to see what the reaction would be.

Well, I discovered that by putting the hazard flashers on, I was treated like the car had Leprosy. Everybody stayed far away from me and moved from behind me long before they reached my bumper. They would pass me at a normal distance and not run up on my nice person and sit there waiting for me to speed up. I was so happy at this revalation. I see nothing wrong with putting my hazard flashers on as I was driving much slower than the average driver, yet, I was driving the speed limit, and sometimes a few MPH faster than the speed limit, so technically I was speeding at certain times, 57mph 58mph, but obviously that was not fast enough for others.

Also the road construction was so fun for me, because I could legally reduce my speed to 45mph which is what all the signs in Illinois are for road construction MPH, sometimes lower, but the standard is 45MPH, with $375 minimum fine for going over that speed limit. A good stretch of the expressway had major road construction and the speed dropped down to 45MPH and I loved it!!!!

It was amazing to see that nobody at all wanted to drive behind me while I was only driving 55MPH or 45MPH in the construction zones. I was happy. I just wanted them to all get away from me, far away from me. I laughed at a couple hummers that were stuck behind me in the construction zone for a while. I am sure they were looking at my 55MPG sticker on my Prius and cursing me out.

 

I don't really agree with this, because the trucks are speeding, they are not supposed to be doing over 55mph as well as the cars. They have no special right to go faster than us because of time constraints, that is why we have so many accidents with trucks killing people because they are rushing to meet a deadline, this has to come to a stop at some point and overall road safety has to take over.

For the particular lady truck driver that drove up on my nice person, she had plenty of time to move over as the lane to my left was clear for miles and she just chose to be an nice person and drive right up to my bumper. The expressway was not crowded at all, it was well after rush hour and it was the opposite commute, so she did that on purpose and was not at all in a situation where she was not able to move over miles ahead of me. And if she was not watching her speed and did not realize that I was going slower than her, then she is a bad truck driver. She was also eating a hamburger and talking on a cell phone as I saw her reflection in her side mirror as she passed me and then got back in front of me. So she was distracted and just did not feel like passing me when she had ample opportunity.

I chose to drive the speed limit because my around town driving kills my MPG because I don't drive enough during the week, so when I get the chance to get out on the open road and get good MPG, I will do it.

Yes, the Hazard lights are a good idea. I put them on after I got sick of people riding my bumper.

I am a fairly curteous driving, however, I will not speed up anymore just to satisfy the fool behind me that wants to burn their gas, and the truck drivers are sometimes the WORST offenders. They are speeding at 75mph soemtimes and think they own the road.

So for this lady trucker last night, she deserved the tap on my breaks, she was far enough behind me that she was not going to actually hit me, but it was a wake up call to her, that I saw what an donkey she was being and I was not going to move just for her, when she had miles of space to get out from behind me. And she should not have been eating her hamburger and talking on her cell phone while she was driving some huge hunking semi.

I don't feel I was crawling around on the expressway, I was doing the speed limit, which means I was driving at the top maximum speed allowed by law. So in my opinion that is not crawling. Maybe if everyone else is driving like a fricken fool at 75-80 it would be considered crawling or creeping along, but it is the speed limit, and it was not a crowded expressway by any means, very light and I mean very light traffic.

 

Here is a clip from the Illinois rules of the road about speeding and keeping up with traffic.

Vehicle Speed
Driving too fast or too slowly may create a dangerous situation. Regardless of the posted speed limit, weather and traffic conditions may make it necessary to drive more slowly. However, driving too slowly also can be dangerous. Your speed should be adjusted for the conditions and match the flow of traffic, as long as it does not surpass the maximum posted speed. Doubling your speed quadruples your stopping distance.

According to our law here in Illinois. You are never allowed to pass the speed limit to keep up with traffic. So the law is on our side. You should follow the speed of traffic unless the rest of the traffic is speeding, then you are not required to speed at their level to keep up with the flow no matter the situation. Now I would never drive at the speed limit in the other lanes as that is just asking for someone to rear end you. However, driving in the farthest right lane possible is legal and allowed and we do not have to speed up to the flow of traffic as the Illinois law clearly states. Nor do we have to move over to a left lane or speed up for truckers if they want to speed in the slow lane.

 

Yes Tom, so true, I really wish the entire country could get the speed limit back down to 55 and really have the cops enforce it. But I fear this will not happen until gas prices go over $10 per gallon and people finally understand that going faster burns more gas.

 

That is a cool idea!!!!