Thursday, May 18, 2006

Seattle Drivers (Not Really) Courteous

It's almost as if there's some kind of unwritten rule that at least once a year someone has to write a story about how "polite" Seattle drivers are on the road.

In a survey by AutoVantage released this week, Seattle drivers were rated as among the most courteous — less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at fellow motorists. But many in this region say it's a reputation that's dead-on, but not always welcomed.

"There are many drivers who think that yielding right of way is always a courtesy, when in actuality it can be frustrating or even dangerous," said Dan Manville, 27, a library technician from Tacoma.

Stopping to let pedestrians cross when there is no marked crosswalk is one example, he said. Another is the "famous reluctance" to go first at a four-way stop.
Those things aren't polite or courteous... they're just stupid. Traffic laws are designed to make traffic flow smoothly. When someone stops unnecessarily to let a pedestrian jaywalk or breaks the pattern at a four-way stop, that screws up traffic. Speaking of traffic laws, there's one part of the article that I have to take exception to:
"Yes, they're polite, but they're also very passive-aggressive," said Robert Heath, 40, an e-commerce consultant who moved here from Los Angeles six years ago. Seattleites, he said, don't have a clue how to drive in an urban area.

Nothing makes him crazier than this classic move: Drivers in the freeway fast lane who refuse to go fast, letting traffic pile up behind them.

"The culture is kind of this childish, 'I'm going to stick by the book,'" he said.

That's the worst form of passive-aggressive motoring, said Leon James, a psychology professor at the University of Hawaii who studies driving.

"The person is breaking all the rules and creating a traffic danger point, forcing others to go into the right lane to pass them," James said. "That one driver will upset hundreds of drivers in one minute. That's dangerous and selfish."
So, according to Robert, following the law is "childish," and according to Prof. James, following the law is equivalent to "breaking all the rules." Hmm. How exactly does traveling at the posted speed limit "force" anyone to go around on the right, pray tell? Could someone explain the "logic" behind that?

Consider this scenario: Driver A is driving down I-5 south of Olympia (where it's just two lanes in each direction). The right lane has a steady flow of semi trucks, RVs, and other slow-moving (as in, below the 70mph speed limit) vehicles. So Driver A sets his cruise control to 70 and keeps left as he glides past the slower traffic. Driver B is flying down the road at 85mph, and soon finds himself behind Driver A. Angrily reducing his speed to the unbearable crawl of 70mph, he waits for his opportunity, and when a slight gap appears between semis, he zips into the right lane (without signaling), speeds past Driver A, then cuts back into the left lane (again, no signal) and speeds back up to 85mph.

Can you sit there with a straight face and tell me that Driver A was the one that was creating a dangerous situation here? Don't even bother trying the old "the law requires you to keep right except to pass" argument. Is the driver traveling at 85mph keeping right? Furthermore, why is it okay for Driver B to exceed the speed limit by 15mph (breaking the law), but it is not okay for Driver A to stay in the left lane?

If the speed limits are set too low, we should petition the government to raise them. It doesn't make any sense to rage against people that choose to follow the law. And that's my rant for the day.

(Phuong Cat Le, Seattle P-I , 05.18.2006)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

So, biliruben, your basic argument is that the speed limit is only for other people and if they do the speed limit they should get out of the way of the people speeding?

Anonymous said...

I remember reading an article a long time ago about a guy who'd drive around the Washington, D.C., beltway. He was retired, and his fun was getting in the left lane and putting it in cruise control going 55. He figured (in my words) that he was God's righteous enforcer of the law.

Anonymous said...

It is not up to you, biliruben, or any other driver, to decide that you can "safely drive faster" than the rest of us that drive at or just above the speed limit. (Btw, look up the physics on how much distance it takes your heavy SUV or truck to stop.) My car was hit twice (totalled the second time) by rear-end collisions with people behind me that were driving too fast for the conditions. When it is possible to safely get out of the way for drivers that are driving at least 10mph more than the speed limit, I do. However, I find that they usually tailgate me for about 10 seconds (hence the accidents), and then pass me on the right just as I am trying to move over. Not a very safe situation. How about if drivers like you be content with the posted speed limit (until it changes) and arrive at your destination 15 seconds later than you would have if you drove 70+ mph the entire way?

Anonymous said...

Drive fast, stay focused, and save lives? Are you kidding me? Actually, the stats biliruben quotes support my argument, not his/hers. I don't see a statistical difference between 1.2 (WA fatalities) and all of the east coast "fast but alert" states, which also hover around 1.0 deaths per 100 million miles. However, in the one state where extremely fast driving is typical (since there used to be no daylight speed limit), MT, the death rate is more than twice as high, at 2.6. (ID is high for probably much the same reason.) Thanks for proving my point! I don't "agree" with you that you should drive your truck/SUV faster because stopping is difficult. (What kind of logic is that?) My point is that you should drive it slower for that reason. "Road conditions" include how many cars are out on the road. If you are zipping around in heavy traffic, you are ignoring a critical part of the "road conditions". I simply don't believe you when you say you don't tailgate people. If you are driving very fast in slow conditions, you have to be tailgating people from time to time. I am reluctant to buy a new car to replace the one I lost (I have another older one I currently drive) because I am concerned it will get clobbered by someone like you (in the fast lane or elsewhere), even thought I am the one that is following the rules and driving safely.

What do you have against people from Kent? (I'm not from there, by the way.)

Anonymous said...

The simple fact is that the self-rightous slow-movers are causing an uneccessary safety hazard. If they were in the right lanes there would be less problems.

These folks who refuse to move over remind me of small-minded gov't bureacrats gleefully exericising absolute power over their miniscule dominion.

Anonymous said...

It also gets on my nerves when there are 4 lanes of traffic on I-5 all going the same speed. As the original articile mentioned it is not safe and it in fact it is illegal:

Can I travel in the left lane of traffic all of the time?
No. The law reads "stay to the right except to pass." Signs are posted.
http://www.wa.gov/wsp/newsfaqs/faqs.htm

I ususally drive the speed limit +/- 5 mph (and usually stay in the right most or second lane) but it can be annoying when several lanes of traffic are going under the speed limit.

Anonymous said...

Okay, so perhaps I'm wrong about Idaho, Biliruben. (I'll have to assume you aren't lying about there being absolutely no speeders in the entire state.) You are dodging my point, however. What about MT and the statistical signifigance of the rest of the data you quoted? You said that you weave through traffic in your first post, so don't try to deny that in a later one. Granted, you claim to do it in your Prelude and not your SUV/truck, but you can cause an accident by weaving through heavy traffic in any car. Wow, you make a lot of assumptions about people. In addition to not being from Kent, I don't drink coffee and I don't talk on the phone while driving. And I'll have to inform Webster's that "puttering" is now defined as "driving at the speed limit anywhere in front of biliruben".

Anonymous said...

This is an interesting discussion about what's safe (going the speed limit, or allowing traffic to flow).

Let me just interject a couple of points here:

#1. Per mile traveled, its safer to be on the Autobahn than to be on US freeways.

#2. Following distance is more of a factor in collisions than is speed. If you're paying attention, and maintaining a 2 second gap between you and the car in front of you, you're helping to reduce congestion, and you're being safe - regardless of the speed you're traveling.

If on the other hand, you're driving in the left lane with a half-mile gap in front of you (or any gap larger than 2 seconds) - at *any* speed, you're being selfish and an ass if you don't move over for faster traffic. Washington State LAW requires that you do so. Why is that so hard for you to wrap your little mind around?

The Tim said...

Personally, what's hard for me to wrap my little mind around is why some people get so upset about someone else breaking Washington State LAW (keep right except to pass), when the reason the behavior angers them is that it prevents them from breaking Washington State LAW (speed limit) themselves.

You can make safety arguments until you're blue in the face, but it comes down to speeders breaking the law and blowing a fuse when someone else breaks a different law. If one law is safe and the other not, then petition the state lawmakers to change the law to better reflect safe driving habits. Otherwise just shut up.

Anonymous said...

Lets not make this a "if you're going to break law 'x', then I'm going to break law 'y' to stop you" argument, shall we?

We debating courtesy here. It is discourteous to drive in the left lane simply to impede other drivers from going faster. Its also discourteous to tailgate, or to pass on the right - but what choice are you giving other drivers? Common courtesy is thrown out the window when you babysit the fast lane. PERIOD.

thehim said...

Exactly, computerguy. Both are against the law, but speeding is not discourteous, which was the subject of this post.

Tim, you may not like drivers who are able to change lanes and utilize the passing lane correctly, but they do so because that's the best way to drive on the freeway without being in other people's way. And that's what courtesy is all about.

As for speeding in the passing lane, many cops won't even write a ticket for someone who is passing another vehicle, and if you happen to get pulled over while in the passing lane, that should be the first words out of your mouth when the cop approaches you.

Also, as for the accident statistics, there are a lot of factors there that have nothing to do with speed. One is that mountain states and states with a lot of snow have higher fatal accident rates. Another is that cities in the northeast tend to have more people who take public transportation (therefore less drunk-driving, a major cause of fatal wrecks).

My father actually is working on a project compiling accident data, and one thing that is very interesting about what he's found is that the average speed of cars that cause accidents is around 15-20 mph below the speed limit. There's only one hour of the day, 1am - 2am, where the average speed of the people who cause accidents is above the speed limit.

Anonymous said...

I shook my head in disbelief over the survey. I've travelled to lots of American cities and Seattle is the worst as far as drivers go.
My worst peave is that the do not respect pedistrians in the cross walk. They roll into the walk, are not paying attention, or loop around you while you are in the walk. This makes me so mad, I've started spitting, kicking at or throwing beverages at the car because they are that close.

Anonymous said...

To me, yes some people drive slow around here, but there is always something to complain about for some people. I say get over it, what is what is. Being rude to others is not the way to fix anything!

Anonymous said...

Speaking of seattle drivers taking courtesy to the extreme. Seattle Untimely,
had a pretty interesting take on it for last weeks episode http://www.twistedpine.org/seattleuntimely/index.php5?episodeNum=7
if you can handle the background jitter, its a pretty amusing view

Anonymous said...

Here is a poll anyone can vote on: Are Truck Drivers courteous to you?
http://www.apopularitycontest.com/display_poll.php?ID=43