Driving tips - whatcha got?

[Otis 13,624]

On a long drive today I was thinking probably lots of wisdom here on this topic. What driving tips ya got?  Like, how to avoid speeding tickets, shortcuts, drive behind the ambulance, etc. 

 

[Mister CIA 8,603]

Pimento cheese sandwiches and Munchos. 

... and podcasts.

[belljr 11,271]

The "equator" of the ball should be even with the top of the club

[Otis 13,624]

I generally drive 10-15mph over the speed limit. Don’t think I’ve ever been pulled over in that range. Feels safe.

[jamny 6,592]

Don't use an ambulance to get ahead of traffic. I hate those people.

[belljr 11,271]

I still use a radar detector.......

[MTskibum 492]

39 minutes ago, Otis said:

I generally drive 10-15mph over the speed limit. Don’t think I’ve ever been pulled over in that range. Feels safe.

Depends where you are at, in Wyoming you better not go 6 over the speed limit. 

Rural texas you are pretty safe at 10 over.

Houston on 59 I have never been pulled over going 15-20 over.

[Otis 13,624]

39 minutes ago, belljr said:

I still use a radar detector.......

Same. It’s saved my butt a few times. I’ll do 20-25 over with the radar on. Drop down to 10 over when a cop is near. Works really well; only thing it doesn’t save you from is laser. When it gets hit with laser the thing goes bananas, and it’s already too late. 

[The General 24,978]

Anyone that drives faster than me is a lunatic

Anyone that drives slower is a moron

[FBG26 754]

1 hour ago, belljr said:

I still use a radar detector.......

Waze. 

ETA: if people aren't familiar, it's a navigation app with crowd sourced traffic reports like construction, speed traps, etc. It's awesome. 

Edited February 14 by FBG26

[belljr 11,271]

53 minutes ago, FBG26 said:

Waze. 

ETA: if people aren't familiar, it's a navigation app with crowd sourced traffic reports like construction, speed traps, etc. It's awesome. 

Google maps does the same now since they bought Waze

Edited February 14 by belljr

[[icon] 10,049]

100 is an ideal cruising speed on the freeway. 

[Ron Swanson 3,063]

Many years ago I got a speed trap ticket on I-10 in between Houston and San Antonio in a little town called Luling. I was so angry about it I spent time researching different tactics to beat speeding tickets.  I wound up settling on the "prove the calibration of the device that calibrated the radar" defense and took a day off from work to drive 150 miles to go fight it. On the day of the "trial" no one was at the "courthouse" when I arrived to hear the case. They couldn't believe I was really going to contest it.  They literally called the judge in and radioed the officer to come testify.  I am not kidding. It was surreal.  And the crazy defense worked and I won. It was such a freakin' rush. I fought the law, and I WON.  Yeah!

I swear on the 150 mile drive back to Houston I never got below 100 MPH. I was cackling like some movie villain most of the way. "I'm invincible, speed limits no longer apply to me, Ahahahahahaha!!!! And I spent the next few years speeding everywhere.  Never got another ticket and never got to have fun in court again.

I was awesome. 

But now I got old and don't speed much anymore.

[shuke 22,898]

Waze

[Brony 7,669]

1 hour ago, The General said:

Anyone that drives faster than me is a lunatic

Anyone that drives slower is a moron

I believe it is idiot and maniac... 

https://youtu.be/XWPCE2tTLZQ

 

[SWC 15,742]

dude brandy and the windows down take that to the bank bromigo   

[belljr 11,271]

14 minutes ago, [icon] said:

100 is an ideal cruising speed on the freeway. 

A long time ago went to a florida / florida at football game. My father and I and 2 others. We flew into jacksonville and drove to Tallahassee. I think it was route 10 not sure. Anyway cars are blowing by me, my dad is giving me ####.  I keep up with traffic, people are still passing me, he goes how fast are you going, 115.... He's like and people are passing you?   

[MTskibum 492]

11 minutes ago, Ron Swanson said:

Many years ago I got a speed trap ticket on I-10 in between Houston and San Antonio in a little town called Luling. I was so angry about it I spent time researching different tactics to beat speeding tickets.  I wound up settling on the "prove the calibration of the device that calibrated the radar" defense and took a day off from work to drive 150 miles to go fight it. On the day of the "trial" no one was at the "courthouse" when I arrived to hear the case. They couldn't believe I was really going to contest it.  They literally called the judge in and radioed the officer to come testify.  I am not kidding. It was surreal.  And the crazy defense worked and I won. It was such a freakin' rush. I fought the law, and I WON.  Yeah!

I swear on the 150 mile drive back to Houston I never got below 100 MPH. I was cackling like some movie villain most of the way. "I'm invincible, speed limits no longer apply to me, Ahahahahahaha!!!! And I spent the next few years speeding everywhere.  Never got another ticket and never got to have fun in court again.

I was awesome. 

But now I got old and don't speed much anymore.

My only ticket in the last 10 years was in a small town between Houston and San Antonio off i-10. It was driving back from my inlaws in el paso with my wife, daughter, and son, who at the time were 3 and 1 respectfully. Everyone had a pretty nasty cold except me and at the time we had been driving for 8 hours. I pulled off into a small town because of some reason i do not remember and I got turned around and was driving down a town street. I had no idea what the speed limit was and a cop pulled me over.

He was very unsympathetic and did not care that I had a sick family, was in the car for 8 hours, and did not know the speed limit. He said i just past a speed limit sign but in all honesty if i did i did not see it.

 

I have deserved all of my other tickets, but that one I think was unfair.

[Uncle Leo 186]

Buy a Tesla. 

[bostonfred 30,952]

Don't look for speed traps, look for brake lights ahead of you from people who already saw the speed trap. 

[[icon] 10,049]

1 minute ago, bostonfred said:

Don't look for speed traps, look for brake lights ahead of you from people who already saw the speed trap. 

Yep! This is a good one 

[Ron Popeil 18]

Always be checking the rearview for headlight shapes at night.  Many a perceived ticked dodged by taking the foot off the gas a the right time.  And a couple were actually cops.  

[Ron Popeil 18]

1 hour ago, shuke said:

Waze

Also this.  

[Don't Toews Me 606]

The classic maneuver that no one should ever use but my dumb ### used one time. It worked, but don't do it. 

So I sped by a cop. Like 85 in a 65. No bueno. It's night time. I see his headlight lights turn on. Three lane highway.

Was in the left lane. I pull into the middle lane, slow back down to 70. Big 18 wheeler behind me now in the middle lane. 

As the cop was speeding up, I pull into the right lane (cop can't see me now around the big 18 wheeler), slow down to 55, then pull back into the middle lane (now behind the 18 wheeler). 

Cop speeds by in the left lane doing about 90 thinking I'm still doing 85 in the left lane. It's all about the timing of it.

[sports_fan 2,700]

3 hours ago, jamny said:

Don't use an ambulance to get ahead of traffic. I hate those people.

I always assumed it was illegal 

[Dezbelief 804]

If you're traveling with kids do it early in the morning or late at night so they fall asleep.

[EYLive 5,471]

Always use your blinkers. Don't be that selfish jerk that think everyone else needs to avoid your unpredictable lane changes.

[2Squirrels1Nut 2,496]

It's not a sign of weakness to let your wife drive so you can booze the entire trip. 

[Terminalxylem 3,094]

6 hours ago, Otis said:

I generally drive 10-15mph over the speed limit. Don’t think I’ve ever been pulled over in that range. Feels safe.

Having garnered plenty of 16 and 11 mph over the limit speeding tickets, I firmly believe most cops use those as thresholds for pulling you over on highways and residential roads, respectively.

[Terminalxylem 3,094]

3 hours ago, MTskibum said:

My only ticket in the last 10 years was in a small town between Houston and San Antonio off i-10. It was driving back from my inlaws in el paso with my wife, daughter, and son, who at the time were 3 and 1 respectfully. Everyone had a pretty nasty cold except me and at the time we had been driving for 8 hours. I pulled off into a small town because of some reason i do not remember and I got turned around and was driving down a town street. I had no idea what the speed limit was and a cop pulled me over.

He was very unsympathetic and did not care that I had a sick family, was in the car for 8 hours, and did not know the speed limit. He said i just past a speed limit sign but in all honesty if i did i did not see it.

 

I have deserved all of my other tickets, but that one I think was unfair.

If you didn’t know the speed limit, how can you possibly believe the ticket was unfair?

Short of a medical emergency, there’s no reason to expect a cop to let you off the hook for speeding.

[Terminalxylem 3,094]

2 hours ago, EYLive said:

Always use your blinkers. Don't be that selfish jerk that think everyone else needs to avoid your unpredictable lane changes.

Yep. A lot of traffic is caused by the braking chain reaction resulting from unexpected lane changes and tailgating.

[MTskibum 492]

13 minutes ago, Terminalxylem said:

If you didn’t know the speed limit, how can you possibly believe the ticket was unfair?

Short of a medical emergency, there’s no reason to expect a cop to let you off the hook for speeding.

Because I was not trying to speed. I was driving a speed I thought was reasonable.

[Otis 13,624]

29 minutes ago, Terminalxylem said:

Having garnered plenty of 16 and 11 mph over the limit speeding tickets, I firmly believe most cops use those as thresholds for pulling you over on highways and residential roads, respectively.

Interesting. Where is this?  I’m convinced 10 over is completely safe. The 11-15 range is where I’m still unsure. 

[Terminalxylem 3,094]

2 minutes ago, MTskibum said:

Because I was not trying to speed. I was driving a speed I thought was reasonable.

I understand. I firmly believe speed limits are too low, as many were determined for vehicles with old-school safety and performance features. I also feel pretty safe driving 100+ mph on the highway, if traffic and visibility are optimal.

But it’s not our place to determine what constitutes an appropriate speed limit. I see people driving irresponsibly nearly every day, but I bet they think they’re being “reasonable,” too.

[Terminalxylem 3,094]

2 minutes ago, Otis said:

Interesting. Where is this?  I’m convinced 10 over is completely safe. The 11-15 range is where I’m still unsure. 

I’m in HI now, but my guideline also applies to places I’ve lived in GA, NC and MI.

Other states have been a little less predictable. I was issued a warning in Iowa for 5mph over on the highway, while a Wyoming cop just told me to slow down going 20 over, and even pointed out an upcoming speed trap near the CO border.

The latter situation was part of a multi day run of good luck though. Was on a road trip with some friends, but I drove ~90% of the time. The day before one guy left, he offered to drive through some small CO towns. Less than half an hour after he took the wheel, a cop ticketed him for speeding in a school zone, though none of us saw speed limit signs or the school. A couple days later, I got a warning for ~15 mph in WY, on the way to climb Devil’s Tower. That night I got pulled over returning to CO. I’m sure the guy would’ve ticketed me if he knew I’d received a warning several hours earlier on the same highway, but he was more interested in my HI driver’s license and the details of our climb.

I returned home the next day, and climbed on the N Shore, on the opposite side of the island from my home. Realizing I was late for a dinner reservation with my wife, I sped home. I was pulled over doing at least 20 mph over the limit. Fumbling for my paperwork, I saw my insurance was expired. And I couldn’t find my license, as I’d left it in the climbing pack in my trunk. 

The cop approached my car, and asked the standard “do you know how fast you were going?” I apologizing for speeding, and prepared for the sh!tstorm of trouble I was about find myself in for driving without insurance or license. Just then, his radio went off. He went back to his car, surely to return with multiple tickets, I assumed. Instead he came to my window and said “This is your lucky day, I’ve got to respond to that call. Slow down.”

So in less than a week, I avoided 4 speeding tickets, and two more for driving without a license or insurance. I did get in trouble for being late to dinner though 

[Harris 693]

We are currently a car free family but whenever we get one next I'll be investing in a small dash cam. People out there can be psychos and you never know when footage of some crazy guy brake checking you or cutting you off from out of ####### nowhere will come in handy.

[-OZ- 8,319]

11 hours ago, Otis said:

I generally drive 10-15mph over the speed limit. Don’t think I’ve ever been pulled over in that range. Feels safe.

Pretty much, usually. 

On the highway I want to not be the fastest driver on the road. If I am, I make sure to drop it to maybe 5 over. So on a trip when I see a couple vehicles, even better if they're sports cars, going 20 over, I smile and pick it up a bit.

It might help that most of my long trips are in a mini van. Cops tend to not pull over mini vans unless they're going entirely too fast for the road conditions. 

Edited February 14 by -OZ-

[parasaurolophus 7,534]

7 hours ago, EYLive said:

Always use your blinkers. Don't be that selfish jerk that think everyone else needs to avoid your unpredictable lane changes.

There is a t intersection near me that i have to turn left at. The cross traffic from the left has two lanes. One is right turn only. It is not uncommon for idiots to be in that lane and then still go straight, but i have never seen somebody in that lane with their blinker on not turn. So when somebody is in that lane without a blinker i have to wait before I can turn left. It is a long wait sometimes so it is super frustrating when you miss a window because somebody couldnt be bothered to turn on their blinker when turning.

[-OZ- 8,319]

7 hours ago, Dezbelief said:

If you're traveling with kids do it early in the morning or late at night so they fall asleep.

I'm mostly on board here, but the wife has never liked that idea. Of course if I did drive late at night, I'd be ruined the next day. So it depends how long you're driving and how well you function the next day. 

I have been able to convince her to leave at around 6 for our annual beach trip. That gets us there around 3pm (we lose an hour going east) and usually gets me a few hours of them taking naps. I'm up by 5 most days anyway. 

[Da Guru 6,557]

12 hours ago, Otis said:

On a long drive today I was thinking probably lots of wisdom here on this topic. What driving tips ya got?  Like, how to avoid speeding tickets, shortcuts, drive behind the ambulance, etc. 

 

Thought this was about golf.   

[IvanKaramazov 22,547]

12 hours ago, Otis said:

I generally drive 10-15mph over the speed limit. Don’t think I’ve ever been pulled over in that range. Feels safe.

This is definitely one of those things that varies depending on where you are.  10 mph over the limit in rural Minnesota is an instant ticket -- the good citizens of Granite Falls need government services, after all.  10 over on 494 in Minneapolis (if traffic is moving, which it probably isn't, making this whole exercise totally academic) is fine.  

[[icon] 10,049]

On road trips I fly low, road conditions permitting. Assuming 2+ lanes With smooth open flow in one, I usually will hold 100-110mph. My car (older LS460) handles remarkably well at that speed.
 

Frankly it's very comfortable handling at 120-125 and I've had it over 150 on wide open two lane straight stretch.  However, it started to get a little spooky at that speed given I didn't know the road surface (which was very good) well, so I Pulled back. I did pass one car and I'll admit it's a little surreal passing someone who is going 70 at that speed... relative speed is akin to passing a parked car at 80. You just whip past. 

I realize that's quick, but conversely I'm never that guy whipping in and out of lanes between cars. If there's traffic I slow down and go with the flow more or less. I'm also fairly religious about cruising in the right lane / passing in the left lane, using signals for lane changes and all the other courtesies of good freeway travel. 
 

 

 

Edited February 14 by [icon]

[Navin Johnson 519]

Stay right if you're not actively passing 

[fred_1_15301 5,659]

1 minute ago, [icon] said:

On road trips I fly low, road conditions permitting. Assuming 2+ lanes With smooth open flow in one, I usually will hold 100-110mph. My car (older LS460) handles remarkably well at that speed.
 

Frankly it's very comfortable handling at 120-125 and I've had it over 140 on wide open two lane straight stretch, but it started to get a little spooky at that speed given I didn't know the road surface well so I Pulled back. I did pass one car and I'll admit it's a little surreal passing someone who is going 70 at that speed... relative speed is akin to passing a parked car at 70. You just whip past. 

I realize that's quick, but conversely I'm never that guy whipping in and out of lanes between cars. If there's traffic I slow down and go with the flow more or less. I'm also fairly religious about cruising in the right lane / passing in the left lane, using signals for lane changes and all the other courtesies of good freeway travel. 
 

 

 

How many speeding tickets have you gotten? If not many, how do you avoid them going at that speed?

[[icon] 10,049]

2 minutes ago, fred_1_15301 said:

How many speeding tickets have you gotten? If not many, how do you avoid them going at that speed?

Haven't had a ticket in years. Maybe 1 in the last decade? I've got a local lawyer who will "fix" any reasonable city ticket for $50. Dismissed, off record.  Haven't had to use him in a long time but buddies have and he's good. 

Got pulled over once a year ago (was only 15 over or so) and he let me go with a warning. 

Escort Passport Max
Waze
Eyeballs 

As others have said, watch ahead.... watch for brake lights from folks who see cops before you can.... anticipate hiding spots, etc. 

 

 

Edited February 14 by [icon]

[Da Guru 6,557]

Dont know what has happened but around Metro-Detroit heading to the north and west suburbs it is like NASCAR now.  I set my cruise at 80 and there are vehicles blowing by me at 90-100 and this is not rural way outside the city.  I am talking 4 lanes in each direction on 696.

I never see anyone pulled over anymore.  

[simsarge 605]

9 hours ago, Ron Popeil said:

Also this.  

👍 not as cool with no C3PO anymore. Boyband sounds like a stoned grandmother

[Leroy Hoard 14,018]

13 hours ago, The General said:

Anyone that drives faster than me is a lunatic

Anyone that drives slower is a moron

The first type is always on my bumper. The second type is always in front of me.

[FBG26 754]

1 hour ago, IvanKaramazov said:

This is definitely one of those things that varies depending on where you are.  10 mph over the limit in rural Minnesota is an instant ticket -- the good citizens of Granite Falls need government services, after all.  10 over on 494 in Minneapolis (if traffic is moving, which it probably isn't, making this whole exercise totally academic) is fine.  

20 over on 94 going between Minneapolis and St Cloud is totally fine. I'm usually the slowest car on the road even though I'm doing 85. 

Someone else mentioned it already but my motto is just don't be the fastest one in the road. 

[gianmarco 28,987]

As far as trying to look for potential cops, I typically will accelerate when going uphill (you can see them so they aren't usually there), but then slow down as I get to the top.  Cops will often be on the other side of a hill where you can't see them until it's too late.  Wash, rinse, repeat if not driving on flat land.