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Driving in the south
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Jul 24, 2006
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I drove to and from Virginia this weekend, which means I covered quite a bit of ground in "the south" (really anything south of New Jersey is "the south" in my opinion). I have a few suggestions for southern drivers: 1. Discover and utilize cruise control. (This isn't just a southern issue; I've seen it all over.) Cruise control is a fancy little "car hack" that lets you maintain constant speed at all times so you don't have to keep your foot on your gas pedal. It's great for traveling 400 miles on relatively open 3-lane highways. Try it out some time.
2. Pick a speed and stick with it. Why do people go 60 mph for 200 miles and then suddenly accelerate to 75 mph and ride my butt? Also, why do I pass people and then get passed by the same people, over and over again, ad nauseam? If I'm using cruise control, the problem is you, stupid southerner.
3. Get out of the left lane. For some stupid reason, many of the major interstates in the south have 2 lanes instead of 3 (or 4 or 5 like NJ). Some people don't quite understand the concept. The left lane is for passing, unless there's no one behind you. So even though you think "63 is fast enough", you're wrong. Get out of the left lane. It doesn't matter what speed you think is unacceptable. It's not your call. If people want to go 65, let them go 65. If people want to go 95, let them go 95. I also realized a few things about driving in NJ: Everybody says that NJ drivers are the worst. Actually, I think they're quite good. They've developed an amazing system of communication. If somebody rides your butt, that means "get out of my way" or "get out of this lane". If somebody cuts you off, it sometimes means "get out of my way" or "get out of this lane". If somebody beeps at you or flashes their lights in your rear view, it usually means "get out of my way" or "get out of this lane". What else could people possibly need to say?
Also, I would hypothesize that if every car in NJ was on the road at the same time, the roads would be completely packed and no one would move. That's because there's like 3 billion people in NJ and they all have 2 cars. But the south has remarkably clear roads and little to no traffic. Even when there's traffic, the alternate routes and side roads are completely clear. What an amazing concept. #travel
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