"450X_FTW" (mistermic)
07/20/2015 at 08:59 • Filed to: None
3
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"450X_FTW" (mistermic)
07/20/2015 at 08:59 • Filed to: None | 3
| 24 |
Anyone that drives in the US knows we have some of the worst drivers around.
Phone use
Eating
Drinking
10 under in the left lane
Swerving inbetween cars to get to the destination 30 seconds faster
Stopping in the lane with your turn signal on until someone lets you merge, meanwhile traffic gets backed up behind you because you’re too damn lazy to just go to the next exit
Ok that’s enough examples. But how do we change these horrible behaviors?
My vote is every 5 years when you renew your license you have to retake the written test and driving test. New part of the driving test will require you to put your phone in the cupholder with the volume as loud as it will go. Throughout the test the instructor will call/text your phone randomly and if you so much as touch your phone, you fail the test.
The US idea is that you can’t fix the driver so you have to “fix” the car. Which is why we have so many damn safety requirements for cars. Not just crash test, but ABS, Stability Control, Backup Cameras, and probably not far away, automatic braking.
One thing I loved learning about Germany driving when I was over there is at 16 you can only get a moped license, 50cc bike, that’s it. You can’t get a more powerful motorcycle or even a car until 18 years of age. Then if you want to tow a trailer you need to take an additional drivers test for that, depending on the size/weight of the trailer determines which license level you need.
Nibby
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:03 |
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Make sure the drivers don’t crash. No one likes it when drivers crash.
No one likes having to restart their computer due to a driver issue.
cazzyodo
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:03 |
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Not sure how the driving portion would be implemented because in Ma the tests are administered by state troopers and new drivers may have waits to schedule them. I DO, however, thoroughly endorse a written retake because people will have to study or become marginally aware of the rules again. Hell, I’d probably do poorly.
OPPOsaurus WRX
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:05 |
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unfortunately dumb people gunna be dumb.
TractorPillow
> Nibby
07/20/2015 at 09:07 |
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Nerd!
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450X_FTW
> cazzyodo
07/20/2015 at 09:08 |
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Interesting, here in Michigan it’s just a driving instructor that does the test, unless rules have changed, but as far as I know it’s still done that way.
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cazzyodo
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:10 |
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You need a car with either a teacher brake or a hand brake. I had to use my driver’s education vehicle because all my family cars were trucks with the foot hand brake. Instructor came with me to the barracks, sat in the back seat, trooper inspects the car, had me go over all the lights and signals then do the driving portion.
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TractorPillow
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:11 |
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First you have to make it illegal in all states to use a phone in the first place. Where I live it’s not only legal, but I swear it has to be encouraged since so many people do it. Don’t know how our huge country can make it much better, but as individuals we can recognize the distracted drivers and try to anticipate the stupid behavior - much like motorcyclists have to learn. Always drive as if you are invisible to other drivers, because most likely you are in their mind.
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450X_FTW
> TractorPillow
07/20/2015 at 09:13 |
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Strongly support hands free or no phone, but- NO BUT, that’s it.
Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:15 |
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I have one beef with repeating road tests, and that is as you gain experience you pick up certain habits. Many of these are bad, and the test would sort those out. Others, particularly in Canada and especially in Ontario, would be marked down as bad by the government but are actually good habits if you don’t want to be a burden to other road users.
EG, our speed limits are, 90% of the time:
- Not based on the road design
- Inconsistent (an optimistic 50kph in a built up old-town area with many lights and hardly a chance of reaching that speed safely, a 40kph limit on a four-lane main road due to there being a school, never mind that the school in question is a college, which in any case is well away from the road.)
- Downright f*cking delusional.
You know something is off when, on a highway with a 100kph limit, the majority of speed-enforcement vehicles set their radar to go off at 130kph. So: to pass the driving test, you must demonstrate that you can drive in an unsafe manner.
Don’t get the idea I’m just a reckless speed-head, though, it just happens to be the most visual issue. Give me an example of something else and I’ll give you a rant on that too.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> OPPOsaurus WRX
07/20/2015 at 09:18 |
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Text:
Agree.
Pic:
Fuck that noise.
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450X_FTW
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
07/20/2015 at 09:20 |
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100% agree. I’m an 80mph driver in 70mph zones because everyone can safely travel at those speeds when proper lane use is shown.
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cazzyodo
> Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
07/20/2015 at 09:26 |
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You just described Massachusetts.
Speed limit: 55mph
Driving speed: 75mph
Passing speed: 85mph
Off-ramp: apparently anywhere from 10-55mph because fuck you person behind me, I do what I want!
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Nibby
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:29 |
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DIE!
Bluecold
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 09:29 |
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In the US, the distances involved are usually so vast it’s not an option for rural kids to spend hours on a moped. A moped goes 50kph or thereabouts and is more dangerous than a car for the driver.
I’m Dutch and to me, everything less than 20km away is a bike ride. I have most things within a 20km radius of me. Now to me, a bike is freedom. Within reason*, I can do everything I want on my bike. I can text, call, be drunk, eat, completely ignore traffic ‘suggestions’, never ever signal for directions.... basically everything I would not ever do while driving a car. This is basically the social norm on a bicycle in the inner city. The distinction between the freedom and carelessness on a bike and responsibility in a car I think make me a better car driver as compared to the situation when I only would have a car to get me around.
*being defined as ‘not close to fast moving cars (50kph+) or things that can seriously fuck me up. Crashing into a wall will bend my bike and give me a headache. Crashing into a moving car will get me to a morgue.
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450X_FTW
> Bluecold
07/20/2015 at 09:33 |
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Unfortanetly we have very fat kids here in the US, hence why we need huge SUVs.
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Smallbear wants a modern Syclone, local Maple Leafs spammer
> cazzyodo
07/20/2015 at 09:34 |
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Off-ramps in Ontario are rediculous. The recommended speed (Read: not speed limit) is generally about half what the ramp is capable of, and the ramp is often capable of about half what it should. I don’t think the MTO has ever heard of banking. This does 2 things, it makes certain incompetent people do the recommended max and hold everyone up because they refuse to accelerate until the merge, and it throws people off when they encounter a properly marked ramp instead of the Ontario standard of err-on-the-side-far-too-much-and-actually-dangerous-caution.
Racescort666
> TractorPillow
07/20/2015 at 09:45 |
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Driver’s ed and licensing are at a state level anyway. The tests and phone use practices would have to be dictated at the state level too.
BigBlock440
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 10:23 |
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I disagree, hands-free is no less distracting than holding the phone. It’s not the act of holding an object to your ear that takes your concentration from the road, it’s paying attention to the conversation that does it. So if hands-free is ok, so should holding the phone. If holding the phone is not, neither should hands free be ok.
Porsche924GTR
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 10:27 |
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Make cars harder to drive. All manuals with bad alignment and shitty steering. Make it too hard to pick up your phone, coffee, makeup, etc. Cars have so many nanny features that why even bother actually driving?
Also - make everyone ride a motorcycle for a year...then they’ll realize how poorly people drive and learn to keep their head on a swivel.
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450X_FTW
> BigBlock440
07/20/2015 at 10:31 |
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yes/no. Both hands can still be kept on the wheel, not trying to balance a phone wedged between your head and your shoulder makes it a lot easier, most systems you don’t even need to look at the phone to see who’s calling, at least I know mine will announce it through the stereo, and I can accept/decline it from my steering wheel. It’s not 100% safe, but it’s several times safer than holding a phone in your hand.
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450X_FTW
> Porsche924GTR
07/20/2015 at 10:31 |
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Manual is the easiest way to keep the cell phone out of a persons hand.
Nonster
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 10:33 |
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the driving test seems to vary from state to state, but I think its pretty clear that it is way to easy to get a license. When I took the test....shit that was 9 years ago... it consisted of driving my jeep down a residential street with 25 mph speed limit, doing a 3 point turn and then returning and parking. It was a joke.
It probably has to be done gradually, but first they should start making the driving exam much more comprehensive. I think it’s laughably easy to get a motorcycle license, and that was a several hour long classroom session and two 6 hour riding sessions. Granted, you don’t have to do the class if you can pass the skills test, but I’ve been told that the class is the easiest way to go about it. That should be used as the bare minimum for people to get a license to drive a car.
boxrocket
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 11:43 |
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I’m mostly OK with hands-free. It still uses some concentration, but I would guess it’s an equivalent amount to having a conversation with someone in the back seat that you can't hear perfectly well.
Manwich - now Keto-Friendly
> 450X_FTW
07/20/2015 at 13:07 |
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How about instead of having airbags that save lives, have airbags that shoot out shrapnel and will kill you if you crash?
That should give people an incentive to be safer drivers!
Oh wait...