Aah! What I saw driving to work!

twokidstwodogs · Feb 5, 2007

So I'm on my way to work on a fairly twisty, high-speed two-lane road. You know, the highly dangerous kind. Oh, and it's icy out. I look in my rearview mirror to see that I am being tailgated by what I think is a Chevy Silverado. It is most definitely an extended cab, new enough to have front airbags. In the passenger seat is a small boy, probably no older than four. I can see only from his chin up, but I can tell that he is not only in the front seat, but that he is likely unrestrained by anything but the seatbelt. (The shoulder belt is up by his ear, so he's probably not even in a backless booster, and obviously there's no belt positioner being used.) Then as we're sitting at a red light, I see the boy squirming all over the place. He keeps disappearing from my view. This continues after the light turns green. Obviously a child who needs to be harnessed, whatever his age.

So we have a father whose idea of child passenger safety is to buckle his small child into the front seat of a truck and then feels free to *tailgate* people on icy roads. What is *with* people?!?!?!

Patriot201 · Feb 5, 2007

Ugh.

I hope that little one made it safely to whatever his destination was.

beebear23 · Feb 5, 2007

Ugh.. I hate stuff like that.. Y'day on the way home from the park I saw 2 women in a big SUV w/an infant seat RF in the middle between them in the front seat. I have no idea if anyone was in the backseats, but all I could think was how stupid it was... If they crashed, both airbags would have gotten the seat.. Or at least the driver side one would have..

chaoticoctopus · Feb 5, 2007

That is so frustrating! I had a similar thing happen the other night; I was going 5 mph under the limit at twilight with wet roads that might have iced over any time (they didnt, but the only way to find out would be to skid/crash, so better to be safe than sorry, right?), and some lady in a big Escalade passed me going about 10-15 *over* the limit. I looked over and saw a young child (guessing 6-8 y/o) in the front passenger seat. I gave her a look of shock and horror

but I wonder whether she would have understood the reason behind it.

She didn't pass me rudely or illegally, just way too fast for the weather conditions & time of day.

edited 'cuz I got the name of the SUV wrong...

southpawboston · Feb 6, 2007

beebear23 said:
Ugh.. I hate stuff like that.. Y'day on the way home from the park I saw 2 women in a big SUV w/an infant seat RF in the middle between them in the front seat. I have no idea if anyone was in the backseats, but all I could think was how stupid it was... If they crashed, both airbags would have gotten the seat.. Or at least the driver side one would have..

if it was in the front middle, it must not have even been belted in!!!

broken4u05 · Feb 6, 2007

Most of the time if someone if following me too closly than i hit my brakes and start driving really slow to piss them off till they move back but i wouldnt with the child in the frount. that is soo sad

southpawboston · Feb 6, 2007

broken4u05 said:
Most of the time if someone if following me too closly than i hit my brakes and start driving really slow to piss them off till they move back but i wouldnt with the child in the frount. that is soo sad

yeah, i totally used to do that, but no longer, at least with kids in the car. you never know what kind of aggression and/or violence that type of provocation may incite.

skaterbabs · Feb 6, 2007

broken4u05 said:
Most of the time if someone if following me too closly than i hit my brakes and start driving really slow to piss them off till they move back but i wouldnt with the child in the frount. that is soo sad

It's also illegal.

beebear23 · Feb 6, 2007

southpawboston said:
if it was in the front middle, it must not have even been belted in!!!

That's what I thought too.. i knew I should have wrote down the license plate number..

Dillipop · Feb 6, 2007

skaterbabscpst said:
It's also illegal.

Why would that be illegal? The speed limit is just that. A limit. The fastest you are legally allowed to go. Unless you are on a highway with a posted minimum, it is perfectly legal to go as slowly as you want to.

beebear23 · Feb 6, 2007

Dillipop said:
Why would that be illegal? The speed limit is just that. A limit. The fastest you are legally allowed to go. Unless you are on a highway with a posted minimum, it is perfectly legal to go as slowly as you want to.

I think she meant that following too close(tailgating) is illegal..

skaterbabs · Feb 6, 2007

Actually Virginia state law stipulates that slower traffic must yield to faster moving traffic - so if someone is coming up on you fast it's your job to get out of their way. Because doing otherwise causes crashes just as much as speeding does.

SusanMae · Feb 6, 2007

Front middles sometimes do have belts. I had a Buick Century that had a lap belt in the center. While not ideal---it was used at times.

Susan

Patriot201 · Feb 6, 2007

skaterbabscpst said:
Actually Virginia state law stipulates that slower traffic must yield to faster moving traffic - so if someone is coming up on you fast it's your job to get out of their way. Because doing otherwise causes crashes just as much as speeding does.

I actually had a cop tell me that I was the bad driver because I refused to speed up on a semi-residential road and I was, according to him, holding up traffic. He said I had a legal obligation to get off the road and let others pass. This was on a two lane road-one lane in each direction. The speed limit was 30 and I was doing 35. There were several cars behind me, all tailgating each other.

I think, in my above case, the cop was wrong. It is a semi-residential road. There are people walking across the street, cars coming in and out of streets and driveways, kids playing, etc.

I didn't realize that VA had that law...

shellebelle · Feb 6, 2007

CA has a law where if you're holding up at least five people you've gotta pull out of the way to let them pass-regardless of how far over the speed limit they are. I really wish they'd enforce it though, I'm tired of going 35 on our 50mph road because of all the people using it as a short cut are afraid of feeling some g-forces in the curves.

It'd be nice to have a "yield to faster traffic" law here on the freeway too. We've got too many clowns that hang out in the fast lane going 65 while all the people wanting to go with the flow of traffic have to weave.

Patriot201 · Feb 6, 2007

shellebelle said:
CA has a law where if you're holding up at least five people you've gotta pull out of the way to let them pass-regardless of how far over the speed limit they are. I really wish they'd enforce it though, I'm tired of going 35 on our 50mph road because of all the people using it as a short cut are afraid of feeling some g-forces in the curves.

I think that is fine WITHIN MODERATION. However, if the police enforced that law on the street I live off of, there would be serious problems. It is a residential road and thus has a speed limit of 25. A traffic study was done in which the AVERAGE speed was found to be 42 mph. Cars have been clocked doing 55. I have a neighbor who said that she routinely does 35 and will have a huge line of cars behind her. That is crazy. There is NO REASON to be speeding in a residential area unless you are an emergency vehicle.

skaterbabs · Feb 6, 2007

Patriot20171 said:
I actually had a cop tell me that I was the bad driver because I refused to speed up on a semi-residential road and I was, according to him, holding up traffic. He said I had a legal obligation to get off the road and let others pass. This was on a two lane road-one lane in each direction. The speed limit was 30 and I was doing 35. There were several cars behind me, all tailgating each other.

I think, in my above case, the cop was wrong. It is a semi-residential road. There are people walking across the street, cars coming in and out of streets and driveways, kids playing, etc.

I didn't realize that VA had that law...

Yep, I didn't realize it until recently either, but we do.

Aah! What I saw driving to work!

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