How to Drive

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by sauerkraut

Blinkers are not always wise to use. Drivers will offten try and cut you off, or turn in front of you, or speed up so as you can't change lanes if you signal- sometimes it's best to just change lanes without using the blinkers, and make your move before they can block you in. Thus, Sometimes it's best not to use blinkers. The key word here is "Sometimes". It depends on the driving conditions. or so it seems to me.

If you are that close to the proximity of another vehicle in the lane you desire to move to in that you could be cut off using your blinker, you are obviously too close.  If you need to change lanes and the only way to do it is cut someone else off or force your way in, that situation can be alleviated by knowing your route and being in the right lane to begin with.
I can't stand people who don't signal their intentions-its nothing but rude.

[Radar]

If someone has already posted this, please forgive me....(I did not write this, I am just passing it on.)

DRIVING IN TULSA

If your Tulsa map is more than a few weeks old, throw it out and buy a new one.  If you're in Broken Arrow and your map is one day old, then it is already obsolete.

Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere.  Tulsa has its own version of traffic rules.

All directions start with "Get on Memorial" which has no beginning and no end.  Everything in Tulsa is "just off Memorial".

The morning rush hour is from 6 to 10.  The evening rush hour is from 3 to 7.  Friday's rush hour starts Thursday morning.

If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out and possibly shot.  When you are the first one on the starting line, count to five when the light turns green before going to avoid crashing with all the drivers running the red light in cross-traffic.

Construction in I-44 is a way of life and a permanent form of entertainment.

All unexpected or strange sights are explained by the phrase, "Oh, we're in Jenks."

If someone actually has a turn signal on, it is probably a factory defect.

All old ladies with blue har in Mercedes have the right of way. PERIOD.

I-44 is called the Skelly Bypass.  No one has ever figured out what it bypasses.  State Highway 51 is either the Broken Arrow Expressway or the Keystone Expressway, depending on which way you're headed.  US64 comes up Memorial from Bixby, joins 169 for a few miles, and then heads west with SH 51 towards Sand Springs.

Maps of Tulsa show an Interstate 444 in downtown Tulsa.  If you find it let us know.  The alleged I-444 is half of the inner-dispersal loop, wich is not for the faint of heart.

Highway 169 in rush hour is the Tulsa equivalent of NASCAR.  Just shut up and draft like the rest of us.

If asking directions along North Utica or in west Tulsa, you must have knowledge of Spanish.  If you're on 21st Street, Mandarin Chinese or Vietnamese will be your best bet.  If you stop to ask directions on Pine or Peoria, you better be armed.

The minimum acceptable speed on the Broken Arrow Expressway is 85.  Anything less is considered downright sissy.

If it's 100 degrees, Thanksgiving must be next weekend.  If it's 10 degrees and snowing, it's homecoming at TU.  If it's rained 6 inches in the last hour, and it is Spring, it's opening day for the Drillers.  If it is Fall, the Tulsa State Fair is going on.

All amusement parks, stadiums, arenas, race tracks, airports, etc., are conveniently located as far away from EVERTYHING as possible so as to allow for ample parking on grassy areas.

With these simple rules in mind, you are now ready to drive in Tulsa.

Please try to keep up.

[bacjz00]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by grahambino

someone that stops to merge onto a freeway...ive been behind a couple of these knuckledraggers a few times now.  it would be funny if it werent so dangerous.    

The entrance ramp just before Lewis onto eastbound BA.  I count on it at least twice a week.  They speed up to get to the top of the ramp, I slow to allow them in, then they slow to a freaking crawl.

I feel like taking cast-off boiler tubes and welding them to the front and right side of my truck in a fashion like a cattle catcher on a steam locomotive to deal with these idiots.

Of course Conan, the real question is why are you even the right lane at all when approaching an on-ramp?? It's always better to never wander into that lane unless you're planning to exit at the very next exit, in which case it's still better to stay one lane over until it's clear of merging traffic from the onramp.

My BIGGEST pet peeve is folks who "cruise" in the right lane around the city's highway system leaving folks in the merge lane to either SLAM on their brakes to avoid an accident or throttle it mercilessly to get ahead of them.  While I can usually throttle it without any problem, most older drivers when faced with a decision to hit a concrete wall or some idiot who is blocking the right lane will STOP before killing them and their passengers lol.

[Rowdy]

Speaking of which, why is it dumptrucks move all the way over to the passing lane and crawl at 55-60 on 169? It doesn't matter if it makes it easier for them to allow traffic to merge, at least stay no farther than the middle lane.  Leave the passing lanes to the cars.

[tim huntzinger]

Here are some driving tips from AOL on 'How to Drive Like a Cop.'

[Rowdy]

quote:Originally posted by tim huntzinger

Here are some driving tips from AOL on 'How to Drive Like a Cop.'

Where's the one on 'How to Lie Like a Cop'?

[rwarn17588]

Radar wrote:

I-44 is called the Skelly Bypass. No one has ever figured out what it bypasses.

<end clip>

Not to act like a smart*ss, but I do know why it's called that.

I-44 once was called Skelly Drive. It bypassed City Route 66, which was 11th Street and Southwest Boulevard for many years. Skelly was simply a faster way for cross-country travelers to go through town.

Thus ends your local history lesson for the day. []

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by bacjz00

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by grahambino

someone that stops to merge onto a freeway...ive been behind a couple of these knuckledraggers a few times now.  it would be funny if it werent so dangerous.    

The entrance ramp just before Lewis onto eastbound BA.  I count on it at least twice a week.  They speed up to get to the top of the ramp, I slow to allow them in, then they slow to a freaking crawl.

I feel like taking cast-off boiler tubes and welding them to the front and right side of my truck in a fashion like a cattle catcher on a steam locomotive to deal with these idiots.

Of course Conan, the real question is why are you even the right lane at all when approaching an on-ramp?? It's always better to never wander into that lane unless you're planning to exit at the very next exit, in which case it's still better to stay one lane over until it's clear of merging traffic from the onramp.

My BIGGEST pet peeve is folks who "cruise" in the right lane around the city's highway system leaving folks in the merge lane to either SLAM on their brakes to avoid an accident or throttle it mercilessly to get ahead of them.  While I can usually throttle it without any problem, most older drivers when faced with a decision to hit a concrete wall or some idiot who is blocking the right lane will STOP before killing them and their passengers lol.

The real answer is that I exit off on 15th- that nice little sweeping 90 degree exit where drunks frequently wind up in the back yard of the house off the point of the exit.  If you aren't in the right lane by the Lewis entrance, chances are, you won't get off for 15th, especially at rush hour.

Then, you've got that freaky merge on/off lane over the 15th St. bridge.

You brought to mind another driving peeve is people in the right lane who won't slow a little or get over a lane when there is room to do so as a courtesy to people coming up the ramp to merge on the highway.  I understand if there is someone in the next lane over- either speed up or slow down to let the merging traffic in.

[cannon_fodder]

I'm kind of sad Paul missed out on the part of my post where I said he amused me.  Then he called me ignorant.  I feel the need to point out that I have seen him debate in public before and the label of ignorant from someone who opens with a "biking while Asian" joke just isnt that threatening.

For that matter, the minimum speed limit on the BA is  45mph.  You aren't that fast... so don't start preaching about ordinances.

[daddys little squirt]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by bacjz00

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by grahambino

someone that stops to merge onto a freeway...ive been behind a couple of these knuckledraggers a few times now.  it would be funny if it werent so dangerous.    

The entrance ramp just before Lewis onto eastbound BA.  I count on it at least twice a week.  They speed up to get to the top of the ramp, I slow to allow them in, then they slow to a freaking crawl.

I feel like taking cast-off boiler tubes and welding them to the front and right side of my truck in a fashion like a cattle catcher on a steam locomotive to deal with these idiots.

Of course Conan, the real question is why are you even the right lane at all when approaching an on-ramp?? It's always better to never wander into that lane unless you're planning to exit at the very next exit, in which case it's still better to stay one lane over until it's clear of merging traffic from the onramp.

My BIGGEST pet peeve is folks who "cruise" in the right lane around the city's highway system leaving folks in the merge lane to either SLAM on their brakes to avoid an accident or throttle it mercilessly to get ahead of them.  While I can usually throttle it without any problem, most older drivers when faced with a decision to hit a concrete wall or some idiot who is blocking the right lane will STOP before killing them and their passengers lol.

The real answer is that I exit off on 15th- that nice little sweeping 90 degree exit where drunks frequently wind up in the back yard of the house off the point of the exit.  If you aren't in the right lane by the Lewis entrance, chances are, you won't get off for 15th, especially at rush hour.

Then, you've got that freaky merge on/off lane over the 15th St. bridge.

You brought to mind another driving peeve is people in the right lane who won't slow a little or get over a lane when there is room to do so as a courtesy to people coming up the ramp to merge on the highway.  I understand if there is someone in the next lane over- either speed up or slow down to let the merging traffic in.

They used to teach in driving school that the traffic entering a freeway is supposed to merge by matching approach speed with freeway speed then moving into an available "slot". If the existing traffic slows down or speeds up to allow entrance, while the merging vehicle is also speeding up/slowing down you have a more difficult time succeeding as well as causing a ripple of brake lights on the freeway. Is that no longer the common thought?

Of course it doesn't work if a selfish driver in the slow lane doesn't move over when he can (considerate behavior is inversely proportionate to the size of the city. But even though the entrance ramp looks short on all these approaches, the shoulder is still available should you have difficulty finding your slot. Why should existing traffic at 65mph on the BA have to make room for some slow wit who thinks he can pull in at 40mph? Or worse yet just stop?

[Ed W]

quote:Originally posted by cannon_fodder



For that matter, the minimum speed limit on the BA is  45mph.  You aren't that fast... so don't start preaching about ordinances.

In all of Oklahoma, it's legal to ride a bicycle on the shoulder of a limited access road unless it's posted to exclude pedestrians, bicyclists, motor scooters, and horse-drawn vehicles.  The only roads that do this (that I'm aware of, anyway) are the turnpikes.  

That said, I've ridden along a few limited access roads.  It's unpleasantly noisy and the shoulder is sometimes covered with debris.  I generally avoid them.

Paul, though, despite his notoriety, generally rides legally.  He's deliberately trying to snarl traffic, and he does so within the law.  That's what drives the cops absolutely nuts.

[TheTed]

quote:Originally posted by daddys little squirt
They used to teach in driving school that the traffic entering a freeway is supposed to merge by matching approach speed with freeway speed then moving into an available "slot". If the existing traffic slows down or speeds up to allow entrance, while the merging vehicle is also speeding up/slowing down you have a more difficult time succeeding as well as causing a ripple of brake lights on the freeway. Is that no longer the common thought?

Of course it doesn't work if a selfish driver in the slow lane doesn't move over when he can (considerate behavior is inversely proportionate to the size of the city. But even though the entrance ramp looks short on all these approaches, the shoulder is still available should you have difficulty finding your slot. Why should existing traffic at 65mph on the BA have to make room for some slow wit who thinks he can pull in at 40mph? Or worse yet just stop?

The shoulder is no substitute for an actual entrance ramp. They're full of junk you don't want to be driving over at 50 mph.

There's a reason interstates are required to have entrance ramps of a certain length and room to merge. Merging on the BA will never be safe or easy unless it's upgraded to interstate standards.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by Ed W

Paul, though, despite his notoriety, generally rides legally.  He's deliberately trying to snarl traffic, and he does so within the law.  That's what drives the cops absolutely nuts.

What kind of ***-whacker does that?

[cannon_fodder]

I guess I did not realize it was legal to ride a bike on a freeway shoulder in Oklahoma.  I know you can not along an Interstate, but I guess the BA is not an Interstate.  Hmm, maybe it is common sense that dictates no bicycles within 3 feet of 70 mph traffic.

Where is Darwin when we need him?  []

[Ed W]

A year or two ago, a cyclist was hit along US169 as he rode south from Owasso.  It was after midnight (if I remember right) and he was riding without lights.  Dumb.  Very dumb.  

And years back, a competitor in the Race Across America was killed by a hit and run motorist along I-40.  His following vehicle had some sort of problem and he was alone.  They never found the person responsible.  RAAM changed the rules to require a following vehicle at all times.

But with that said, commuter cyclists have the lowest crash rates of all cyclists, possibly because they're accustomed to being in traffic regularly.  As I said before, I'd rather not ride along high-speed corridors because it's noisy and stressful.  I find daily bicycle commuting to be very relaxing.