This is the camera I plan to get in the near future for use in the Truck.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00N8BM0BU...=I1FGSHSFQ4LF2

 

Is that a dash cam? It looks like a regular camera.

 

On original sticks most of my moments come at the freeway on-ramp. I'll be in the front of the lane by myself and then 4-5 cars stack up in the lane next to me until someone can't justify sitting 5 cars back instead of being second in line and does the “drive of shame” to line up behind me. The light turns green and I'm gone, leaving half a dozen people with a "I did NOT see that coming" look on their face...and 4 of them cursing themselves for not lining up behind me.

Conversely, the other day I was getting on the freeway and was next to a Fiat 500 Abarth. It was Friday and I was feeling frisky even though it was 5am (besides it was a shoebox with wheels). I did a moderate start (to prevent wheelspin since my bed was empty) then laid into it heading up the on-ramp. I was about 1/2 truck length up and saw the merge coming...and apparently the Fiat did to. He took off and all I saw were his taillights. I felt like I was standing still or somehow shifted into reverse. To prevent complete embarrassment I said, "but I can do that hauling 4 bails of hay. Can you?" I don't think he heard me though...

 

I always shake my head in disbelief when the far right lane merges into the center lane and practically everyone in that lane thinks they have to speed up while they're running out of road to pass me.
Had a gal on my right running out of road on the hwy bypass. Plain to see up about 1/4 as it crested is a statey. He's on a double lane shoulder now because that right lane ends and merges to me and he's outside standing and watching cars .
Here comes my bimbo who I can see at my rear quarter panel and with less than a 100 yards to run out of road and flatten the statey,,,,she does the unthinkable and slams the gas peddle.
The statey is waving his arms in the air as if he's bringing in an f-14 and I slam the brakes so she can just barely squeeze in front of me. She was so close to my front bumper as she swung in front of me I could barely see the trunk of her car.
Stately went nuts now waiving her to the shoulder and she's was already past him. In the rear view I can see him making a b-line to his cruiser and she slows down to get over to the shoulder. Had it on all on the dash cam and I can bet she got one heck of a ticket.

 

Unfortunately instant justice like that doesn't happen enough. I leave a good distance (20-30 feet) in front of me so I can react and brake if need be. Unfortunately others don't see it that way. I could have nobody behind me for 100s of feet and Beemer Bobby (or Mary Mercedes or 1992 Sammy Celica) will race up, slam on his brakes, and slow down as he moves into the space in front of me. My favorite part is when the come out of nowhere, get in front of me, slow down, then flip me off. Gotta love SoCal!

 

It is a dashcam. I did quite a bit of research and for my use and intentions it was the best bang for the buck. Clearly there may be better options for you. I just know how people drive when I am towing a trailer, so if I run over them I want to have proof that they either cut me off or had a bad day and decided to brake check the wrong guy.

Also, need to get a Ranch Hand bumper...

 

I feel the same way and have been thinking of getting one for reasons like this...



I love the way you think! I am hoping to get one some day...

 

Speaking of merging lanes, I approach those from an opposite point of view at construction sites - I slow down. It's pretty basic math to know xyz cars will fit through a single lane per minute at a construction site, and it sets my jaw on edge when I see people race up to the cones to "cut in line". The way I see it... everybody is in the mess together, and there's no need for drivers to start back-biting those who merge over sooner. It's like you get punished for doing the right thing.

I have one example where all the construction warning signs were placed well in advance of the actual jam, and I just "marked" a vehicle that I wouldn't pass while I was in the left lane. When the jam hit, I didn't pass that vehicle, and allowed the backup of cars in front of me to clear. This is where the social narrative comes in:

The vehicles a few cars ahead of and behind me to the right were giving me a big thumbs up, and the vehicle behind the car I wouldn't pass backed off a bit to give me a strong sign he has my back - I will have a place to merge when it comes time. I looked in the rearview and there must have been about 30 car lengths of other vehicles that "got" what I was doing, and they merged to the right as well - with a semi doing exactly what I was doing in the left lane behind that gap... as if to broadcast "There will be no line-cutting with this group."

My wife and I were feeling pretty warm and fuzzy that all it took was for one driver to rebel against that "me first" mentality, and everybody within sight of that act was on board. Well... except one guy in a fart-tube mobile. There was this one guy that tried to unravel the whole "wait your turn" scheme I had going on - and I can only guess he got past the semi by riding the shoulder. Well... I had guardrail to my left, and my wingman and I weren't about to let some punk with a fart tube thumb his nose at driver decency - so we both positioned to form an effective blockade. I'm not stupid, but I know how stupid people can get - so my wife and I made sure the gun was within easy reach (40 cal). Luckily, nothing advanced past a few jerky movements by fart tube man and a whiny "meep" here and there.

We finally get past the jam and traffic zoomed ahead - and I let the re-designated "meep" man take the lead he was itching for. As I reached an old '70s motorhome than couldn't do the speed limit and needed passing, meep man synchronized his speed to the left of the motorhome - blocking my pass. "So that's your thinking" fell out of my mouth and both my wife and I started chuckling. Meep man never got how this works - he probably never passed math class nor got any training in manners. I think he saw us laughing at him, what with that highly-placed picture window and all - because the rolling blockade ended shortly after that.

 

Have gotten mixed results out of setting up a merge situation like that.

Sometimes it works exactly like it should where others 'get-the-clue' and start behaving. Once a bunch of us 'pinned' a fool on the right shoulder and neither let him pass nor fall back until we got to a bridge with no shoulder. And Yes, it truly is a great feeling when a bunch of strangers come together to reject an idiot.

Had one time where it did not go so well as the person in back of me went off the deep end to the point of trying to push my vehicle (yes, outright push my car with his) out of the way. Did not really work so well as my car was heavier and had better brakes. Not sure what he expected by trying to push my steel bumper with his plastic bumper . . . After the 'merge' it was all 1 lane roads and this idiot would not leave my rear (he even punched a red-light to stick with me) so I re-routed toward the local police HQ. In the end I had to take advantage of my car's sports-car features / his rice-eco-box features by making a left turn and waiting to jump in front of a string of oncoming traffic so that this fool could not follow without getting T-boned.

And had some like 'meep-man' where they feel bold once they finally get past and try to return the favor.


Now I just go for an early merge, act like I an an oblivious driver, and try to make it difficult for the person who wants to rush to the cones. Have found the 'acting oblivious' part is key as if the other driver thinks it is intentional, they get more aggressive. If they 'think' I am not paying attention, they are more likely to steer clear as clearly I am the 'unpredictable' one to avoid


Really do not get why people feel the need to rush up to the cones like that as they *ARE* the reason for the lenghty backup. If everybody simply merges like sane individuals, the backups are *much* less and are more like rolling slow-downs.

 

Unfortunately, you can't fix stupid people sometimes. The Bay Area has some real idiots that just don't get it either. I had one this morning directly behind me. We were both merging to the right turn lane, and he decides to blow past me as we were getting into the right lane. Then he decides to go slow. Really!!

 

It's because, more and more, people feel like THEY are the important one, and everyone else can wait. It's funny, I actually got an "attaboy" Saturday at Home depot helping a guy in a Superduty crew cab long bed get out of his spot. He pulled in to where his truck was hanging into the spot in front of him a little bit, thinking no one would park in front of him, and he said when he parked, no one was in the parking spot across the isle directly behind him, because of the same parking situation there, a 4 Runner had pulled in to where he too was in the spot in front of his vehicle a little bit.

Well when I came out, he was trying to back out with a car parked in the short space in front of him, one on each side, and and Ford Fiesta in the short spot in front of the 4 Runner directly behind him. He had a big pintle hitch on the back and was not able to maneuver enough to get out. I walked up and guided him at the back, while his passenger got out and watched the front. It took several attempts, like a 14 point turn, but we eventually got him out with only a few times where he actually touched the bumper on the Fiesta.

So a guy who had been watching walks up after the Superduty driver thanked me and shook my hand, and said "Man, that was nice of you. People really should do stuff like that more often" . I said "I ALWAYS try to help people in need, no matter how trivial it seems." It's just the way people should be to each other. things would be way better if more people did." The guy agreed.

Then my girlfriend and I had a long conversation about how often something like that would occur here in the DC, Philly, New York City corridor, versus other places in the country. It's sad to me that people won't just be nicer to each other....it goes a long way.

 

I was at AutoZone about 3 months ago, walked outa the store and there is some punk revving his Subaru, I just kinda looked at him and got in my truck, got to the the exit of the parking lot (a very small parking lot maybe 25 yards away from him), and just laid on it he yelled something at me which I didnt hear over the roar of my engine. . . that was satisfying, drove home with a big smile on my face.

There is also a bunch of kids that "run the town" in there little cars with tin cans for exhaust, I like to mess with em every once in a while. . . Id just like to see if I could take em on a drag strip sometime, I gotta get some new CAC boots/clamps first though noticed a small tear in one.

 

I get the frustration. I do the passes often, mostly Stevens, where there are long stretches of no-pass with a few really short opportunities to jam past inattentive jerks. They lollygag when nobody can pass, speed up on cue on a passing lane (cuz they're cooler than the ten folks they held up), then slow down again when nobody can pass. It's a jackass move, all day long. It gets old. It's a major reason for repower it from the 390 I have, which does fine, to a 460. Smoke em, I say. Good story.

 

Yeah... there are two particular pieces of road where they seem to like to hang out:

• Westbound, just before Gold Bar - where the road widens to two lanes.
• Either direction, parallel to a long stretch of straight railroad tracks. Google Earth has the name "Baring" pinned there.

 

This is such "Rich" prose. Literally. Like poetry.