Miscellaneous Stuff that doesn't Belong Anywhere Else.

[1960Pats]

My son's first accident was at the parking garage at his college. He had someone behind him who was riding up on him, and while trying to hurry and get out of their way, he cut the turn into the parking space too close and didn't have the angle, and the front bumper scraped along the car that was parked in the spot next to where he was trying to get into.

Meanwhile, the other car went on its merry way, while he ended up calling me and I had him call campus police to report it, and then we obviously had to file an insurance report for both his car and the one he hit (he left a note).

My advice to him was from now on, ignore the people behind you and do what you need to regardless of them riding up, honking, flashing, etc. Because they don't care. You'll end up in an accident trying to get out of their way and they'll just continue their day and get wherever they're going 5 seconds faster.

Your son went much further than our oldest. Our youngest, otoh, had no interest in driving until he was 22. The T got him where he was going most of the time.

I have a friend who gets all bent out of shape when he turns onto a street and sees the car behind is too close for his comfort. He then spends too much time looking in his rear view and yelling as he makes the turn.

 

[1960Pats]

Reminds me of being a new driver and visiting a friend in northeast NJ, leaving during the morning rush. I ended up in a long line at a traffic circle. When I got to the head of the line the problem became obvious. People entering the traffic circle had to yield to those in the circle, and those people were steadily screaming past at a high rate of speed so there was no chance to enter. Even worse than being a new driver, I was driving a car with no balls and I knew it. People behind me were honking, probably just because they were assholes. They had to be locals familiar with the problem, but they had no sympathy. So, as above, eventually I just had to take my chances and floor it and hope for the best. Thankfully it worked out, but man, it was a real butt clincher.

Yup, that's what I used to do too. I remember those days on numerous traffic circles in the old days. Luckily, I worked 20 years out of the city bordering us on the south and the next 20 at the town bordering on our north. The only time I ran into traffic was when I went to Boston or to a golf course at the wrong time.

 

[Ian]

Your son went much further than our oldest. Our youngest, otoh, had no interest in driving until he was 22. The T got him where he was going most of the time.

I have a friend who gets all bent out of shape when he turns onto a street and sees the car behind is too close for his comfort. He then spends too much time looking in his rear view and yelling as he makes the turn.

I spent a lot of time telling him to focus on what's going on in front of him and to only use the rearview to keep an eye on what's going on behind him, just as an awareness so he has a sense of where the other cars are if he needs to move over (although I told him he absolutely needs to turn his head and double-check he's clear in his blind spots before moving over).

He was initially like your friend, where he would start watching the rearview and wasn't as focused on what was going on in front of him. That saw him have to slam on the brakes a few times. I told him, "You can't control what's going on behind you, but you absolutely have to be aware of what's happening in front of you." He actually got better about it, and he's now really good from that standpoint, so I'm definitely happy about that.

 

[1960Pats]

I spent a lot of time telling him to focus on what's going on in front of him and to only use the rearview to keep an eye on what's going on behind him, just as an awareness so he has a sense of where the other cars are if he needs to move over (although I told him he absolutely needs to turn his head and double-check he's clear in his blind spots before moving over).

He was initially like your friend, where he would start watching the rearview and wasn't as focused on what was going on in front of him. That saw him have to slam on the brakes a few times. I told him, "You can't control what's going on behind you, but you absolutely have to be aware of what's happening in front of you." He actually got better about it, and he's now really good from that standpoint, so I'm definitely happy about that.

This is so very important to me. I lost my best and another friend in separate car accidents when we were young. It was more than a half century ago and I still think of them.

I remember the day my son was going for his license and I got home to see my wife crying. I asked her what was wrong and she sniveled out something about him going for his license and he can't drive. I told her not to worry because he couldn't even keep the car on the roads where we practiced. An hour later he came in the door waving his new license around, yelling I GOT IT. As we later learned he had been practicing a lot with a friend.

Nowadays we could buy cars that do everything. My how times have changed.

 

[Ian]

This is so very important to me. I lost my best and another friend in separate car accidents when we were young. It was more than a half century ago and I still think of them.

I remember the day my son was going for his license and I got home to see my wife crying. I asked her what was wrong and she sniveled out something about him going for his license and he can't drive. I told her not to worry because he couldn't even keep the car on the roads where we practiced. An hour later he came in the door waving his new license around, yelling I GOT IT. As we later learned he had been practicing a lot with a friend.

Nowadays we could buy cars that do everything. My how times have changed.

He's had his license since he was 17, I think it was. He drove for a while back and forth to a Community college after he graduated from high school, which is maybe 5 miles from where I live. But then during the pandemic, everything went remote, and he stopped driving (the classes were on Zoom), and his car sat in the driveway for over a year while he finished that round of school.

Unfortunately, the tires rotted, the battery died, and the seals failed. So it got to a point where it was just going to be too expensive to get running again.

He didn't drive for probably 2-ish years. After he finally transferred to a state school, we ended up giving him my wife's old car, and I spent that entire summer before he was set to leave, taking him out every day and going over every scenario - to the point where I was a little annoying - which he, at times, got frustrated with. But I took him on the highway, busy (and sometimes strangely designed) intersections, areas with a lot of pedestrians, etc., we did night driving, driving in the rain. I was trying to give him every scenario because his school is 90 minutes away, and you sort of can't help being worried about how prepared they are.

He's since told me that as annoyed as he was, it's been extremely helpful. As a parent, as you know, that's all you can hope for. But I get your wife's trepidation...we certainly felt - and still feel at times - the same way. And he's 27. I feel like no matter how old he or my daughter gets, we're always going to look at them like they're 16/17 (or 6/7).

 

[SlowGettingUp]

When my sons moved to San Francisco, they took with them their jaywalking skills. So you start walking at exactly the right time so that you can slot in just behind the oncoming car. Only problem in SF is that the cars slam on their brakes if they see a pedestrian even thinking about crossing. Different world.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

List invalid. Nearly all potatoes are S tier or A tier. You really have to screw up for them to be below B tier.

 

[DaBruinz]

Another interesting practice is the people who drive with their high beams on during the day on the highway to try and force everyone out of their way (and I don’t drive in the left lane unless I’m passing someone). That’s surprisingly a big thing, and another one of my pet peeves.

That must be a Florida thing.. I don't see that when I'm driving to places like New Orleans (8+hour drive), KC (6.5+hour), Houston (3.5),.

I'm like you in that sense. I'm not in the left-most lane except to pass. But TX, OK, and LA are states that have it as a law because of the large amounts of truckers.

 

[DaBruinz]

****. Really wish the celtics had traded jaylen. Giving him$70 million on a supermax is a bad idea

You got your wish.. Though the return was lacking.

 

[DaBruinz]

Agreed. This has been a weird offseason...don't really remember one like it. Looking forward to when camp finally gets going in a few weeks.

I do. 2007.. The draft was underwhelming. The 53-man roster was basically set before TC started because of the vets the team had brought in. Fans were excited because of Welker and Moss.


2008 wasn't much better.

 

[DaBruinz]

From that article:

“Providence, Rhode Island, also landed among the nation’s 10 riskiest cities for drivers, ranking 194th overall with an average of 5.87 years between collisions.”

WTF?

Ranking 194th puts them in the top 10?

Clearly someone fubared things.. LOL

 

[DaBruinz]

From that article:

“Providence, Rhode Island, also landed among the nation’s 10 riskiest cities for drivers, ranking 194th overall with an average of 5.87 years between collisions.”

WTF?

Ranking 194th puts them in the top 10?

When you're 194th out of 200, that makes you the 6th WORST. So, yes, it puts you in the top 10 WORST Cities..

 

[Triumph]

When my sons moved to San Francisco, they took with them their jaywalking skills. So you start walking at exactly the right time so that you can slot in just behind the oncoming car. Only problem in SF is that the cars slam on their brakes if they see a pedestrian even thinking about crossing. Different world.

Its that way all over.

People just walk out in traffic without warning and expect everyone to stop. Ive never been hit by a car because I dont believe I own the road.

 

[Triumph]

Red Sox just keep winning.

12 straight and Tampa is no joke.

 

[Triumph]

Another interesting practice is the people who drive with their high beams on during the day on the highway to try and force everyone out of their way (and I don’t drive in the left lane unless I’m passing someone). That’s surprisingly a big thing, and another one of my pet peeves.

I had not noticed that headlight thing.

I drive a pickup truck so I am up higher than a car though. In Texas, its customary to drive in the passing lane for miles at least 5 mph lower than the speed limit. Ahead of the lead car is nothing but blue sky and highway and behind a line of 40 vehicles stuck.

 

[n1997y]

When you're 194th out of 200, that makes you the 6th WORST. So, yes, it puts you in the top 10 WORST Cities..

I think you’ve explained it, by being confused in the same way the author of that article got confused.

It was a list of RISKIEST cities, so top of the list was worst.

But conventionally we usually think being higher on a list is better. Except in this case because it’s a list of the worst driving cities lower on the list is better.

You can see that by looking closely at the details in these quotes, specifically the interval between crashes, that it is getting less risky lower in the list. I think that when discussing the bottom of the list the author simply forgot what criteria had been used to order the list.

For the second year in a row, Boston has been named the most collision-prone city in the United States, according to a new report from Allstate.

…Boston drivers go an average of just 3.7 years between collisions, which is the shortest span in the nation. The report estimates Boston drivers are nearly 189% more likely to be involved in a crash than the national average.

Two other Massachusetts cities dominated the low end of the rankings. Worcester placed fourth from the bottom, or 197th overall, with drivers averaging about 5.14 years between collisions, while Springfield ranked fifth from the bottom, or 196th, at 5.18 years between crashes.

Providence, Rhode Island, also landed among the nation’s 10 riskiest cities for drivers, ranking 194th overall with an average of 5.87 years between collisions.

Maybe the author meant to say “top 200 riskiest cities” and then changed it because “top 200” sounds pretty lame. No matter, they clearly screwed it up.

 

[Real fan 02]

Another interesting practice is the people who drive with their high beams on during the day on the highway to try and force everyone out of their way (and I don’t drive in the left lane unless I’m passing someone). That’s surprisingly a big thing, and another one of my pet peeves.

Ian your exactly correct! Especially where we are IN MASSACHUSETTS wrong way drivers, drunks, speeders, I'm surprised some actually drive with the headlights actually on!

 

[ctpatsfan77]

From the 2013 media guide PDF. RIP, Mr. Mallett.

 

[Tunescribe]

 

[patriotsdynasty12189]

I woke up at 4:30 this morning. Its 49 degrees out, almost started a chili. Is it October yet?