4 ms·

Maybe it's just my experience, but near every time I see someone pull a boneheaded move, it's a Kia, or a Nissan, or a Hyundai. I'm not saying buying an expensi

Maybe it's just my experience, but near every time I see someone pull a boneheaded move, it's a Kia, or a Nissan, or a Hyundai. I'm not saying buying an expensive car means you drive better, there's no link there, but what I will say there is drivers of expensive cars are often more aggressive, occasionally to a dangerous degree, but honestly? I'm relatively okay with that, because they'll cut you off in traffic but then they race off and that's that. Meanwhile somebody in a shitty Kia SUV is doing the speed limit in the left lane and holding up 4 miles of traffic. shrug Maybe it's a socio-economic thing. Maybe they're stressed out from working low-paying jobs. I dunno. This is my experience and I know it isn't scientific data. And to be clear, when I say I'm a car guy, what I mean is I enjoy both cars and the act of driving. Not to toot my own horn here but I'm going on 12 years of driving with nothing beyond a speeding ticket. Edit: As an aside, I don't drive a particularly expensive car either so I'm not snobbing here. Most of the time I'm in my F-150 which is a little posh I suppose but hardly the most expensive thing on the road most of the time.

ebg13 7y ago
> I'm not saying buying an expensive car means you drive better, there's no link there, but what I will say there is drivers of expensive cars are often more aggressive, occasionally to a dangerous degree, but honestly? I'm relatively okay with that, because they'll cut you off in traffic but then they race off and that's that. Meanwhile somebody in a shitty Kia SUV is doing the speed limit in the left lane and holding up 4 miles of traffic. What you just said is that you're OK with reckless endangerment and not OK with inconvenience. I would ask you to please reconsider your feelings here.
- FussyZeus 7y ago
  Slow people cause traffic jams, which in turn cause accidents. I've read multiple papers and articles about how slow left-lane travel causes safety hazards for everyone involved due to passing on the right, which is objectively less safe, causing more lane changes than is otherwise necessary for those trying to get around them, and the big one, causing deviations in the "norm" speed in a flow of traffic, which is the single best indicator for where accidents will occur. I'd be happier still if we could not have people who go too slow or too fast, but failing that and given the choice between, if fast people are left to their business to cruise at whatever speed in the left lane, unobstructed by slow drivers, everyone is demonstrably safer. But because people conflate moving slowly with moving safely, it's considered taboo to say that out loud.
  - ebg13 7y ago
    > I've read multiple papers and articles about how slow left-lane travel causes safety hazards for everyone involved due to passing on the right This is a false dichotomy. There is in fact a third, safer alternative when driving already at the speed limit, which is not passing at all. Again you've chosen to prioritize convenience (speeding) over safety.
    - FussyZeus 7y ago
      Speeding is not inherently unsafe. There are numerous places all over the world and even a few in the US where there are no enforced speed limits. When there isn't one, people tend to drive at a speed they're comfortable driving at. Your judgement on the safety of that speed is irrelevant to knowing how safe it is.
      - bryanlarsen 7y ago
        > Speeding is not inherently unsafe. It very much is unsafe. In some studies they find that speeding does not cause more accidents. But speeding is still unsafe because speeding makes the accidents that do happen much more likely to be fatal.
        FussyZeus 7y ago
        Source?
        philwelch 7y ago
        The laws of physics??
        bryanlarsen 7y ago
        Here's one: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/highway-417-speed-increase-could-mean-more-dangerous-crashes-1.5302491 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/highway-417-speed-incr...
porknubbins 7y ago
I observed this as a cyclist as well and I don't know why. I'm a fan of Japanese cars, but 90% of the cars that endanger and almost sideswipe you are Japanese or Korean subcompacts. The other dangerous ones are entitled German luxury car drivers or the occasional pickup redneck but those are much rarer.

ebg13 7y ago

> I'm not saying buying an expensive car means you drive better, there's no link there, but what I will say there is drivers of expensive cars are often more aggressive, occasionally to a dangerous degree, but honestly? I'm relatively okay with that, because they'll cut you off in traffic but then they race off and that's that. Meanwhile somebody in a shitty Kia SUV is doing the speed limit in the left lane and holding up 4 miles of traffic. What you just said is that you're OK with reckless endangerment and not OK with inconvenience. I would ask you to please reconsider your feelings here.

FussyZeus 7y ago
Slow people cause traffic jams, which in turn cause accidents. I've read multiple papers and articles about how slow left-lane travel causes safety hazards for everyone involved due to passing on the right, which is objectively less safe, causing more lane changes than is otherwise necessary for those trying to get around them, and the big one, causing deviations in the "norm" speed in a flow of traffic, which is the single best indicator for where accidents will occur. I'd be happier still if we could not have people who go too slow or too fast, but failing that and given the choice between, if fast people are left to their business to cruise at whatever speed in the left lane, unobstructed by slow drivers, everyone is demonstrably safer. But because people conflate moving slowly with moving safely, it's considered taboo to say that out loud.
- ebg13 7y ago
  > I've read multiple papers and articles about how slow left-lane travel causes safety hazards for everyone involved due to passing on the right This is a false dichotomy. There is in fact a third, safer alternative when driving already at the speed limit, which is not passing at all. Again you've chosen to prioritize convenience (speeding) over safety.
  - FussyZeus 7y ago
    Speeding is not inherently unsafe. There are numerous places all over the world and even a few in the US where there are no enforced speed limits. When there isn't one, people tend to drive at a speed they're comfortable driving at. Your judgement on the safety of that speed is irrelevant to knowing how safe it is.
    - bryanlarsen 7y ago
      > Speeding is not inherently unsafe. It very much is unsafe. In some studies they find that speeding does not cause more accidents. But speeding is still unsafe because speeding makes the accidents that do happen much more likely to be fatal.
      - FussyZeus 7y ago
        Source?
        philwelch 7y ago
        The laws of physics??
        bryanlarsen 7y ago
        Here's one: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/highway-417-speed-increase-could-mean-more-dangerous-crashes-1.5302491 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/highway-417-speed-incr...

porknubbins 7y ago

I observed this as a cyclist as well and I don't know why. I'm a fan of Japanese cars, but 90% of the cars that endanger and almost sideswipe you are Japanese or Korean subcompacts. The other dangerous ones are entitled German luxury car drivers or the occasional pickup redneck but those are much rarer.