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Jerk of The Day

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/593/JOTD_03-29-08.jpg
...because every jerk thinks they are....Special!


Sighted by: lamebums
Date: March 27, 5:30 PM
Where: Northbound on Dixie Highway (US 25) near I-275
Vehicle: Late 90's Silver Toyota Land Cruiser

Was sitting in the left lane of Dixie Highway coming from Erlanger towards 275 when a 40's something lady yakking away on the phone starts riding my butt. She swerves back and forth in the lane, clearly more focused on her conversation. A bimmer pulls even on the right and she jerks over to the right... but because of traffic I parallel the bimmer for the next half mile. She swerves back in my lane as I pull ahead a bit.

I run a yellow and I'm a second late. She continues the bumper humping and as a result was more than a second late. Bimmer stopped at the light, so she immediately swerves back to the right and puts the pedal somewhere in the carburetor... all while still on the phone. In the five seconds it took me to pull out my phone, she was way ahead (I had the camera zoomed all the way in to get this picture) and as you can tell she was clearly tailgating the white pickup.

People these days... :(

that looks absolutely ridiculous!! especially with all the space around them!

Hi JusBringIt:

___I am with you! Looking at the right lane being unused for maybe 1/2 mile (I know the gal shouldn't be passing on the right) depicting how little traffic there was? What was in her head :angry:

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Gee, I thought all Volvo drivers were a courteous lot. Just kidding...

I'd have to reiterate what I'd said before. I just don't get people...:confused:

We should mandate all new passenger vehicles be sold in manual only. It'd save gas and keep people like that from talking on the phone... Between that and mandating iFCD 's in every new vehicle (a $20 proposition per vehicle...) you could cut fuel consumption by 25%, I think.

But of course nobody listens to me... :(

Maybe, but my guess is that a lot of people would just get "downshift happy" and the gain would be negligable. Of course, as a hypermiler (just four months) I haven't a lot of faith left in my fellow driver.:(

i think since all cars are coming with the gps nav, i think all new vehicles should be made with a governor that kicks in at the speed limit...of course this may take away their(gov't) revenue so it wont fly...that would save a lot tho...

Maybe, but my guess is that a lot of people would just get "downshift happy" and the gain would be negligable. Of course, as a hypermiler (just four months) I haven't a lot of faith left in my fellow driver.:(

Three months here - I've lost my faith just as quickly. :(

I'm not so sure about getting "downshift happy". I've seen people gripe about having to walk the 200 yards to a nearby building or mailbox or fast food--I don't see those same people downshifting so eagerly.

People will be too lazy to downshift. They'll just leave a wide-open throttle and accelerate halfassedly. Or they'll lug the engine. Eventually they'll give up trying to gun it past us hypermilers, V8 engines roaring, because it won't work anymore. :D

I do believe CVT is actually more efficient than manual....your always in the perfect gear. If you'r going to legislate something, go with that. I really don't want stupid people talking, on the phone, drinking a beverage, smoking a cig, AND having to shift.

My two cents on standard transmissions

I have never owned an automatic since 1983
My 74' Civic CVCC had better acceleration than a 74' Opel Manta that was 50% heavier with over 50% larger ICE - 4-speed beat the automatic.
Can't ban automatic completely because all hybrids are automatics now.
Think most non-hybrid vehicles should have them, but people are spoiled
My pet theory is people the past couple of decades act as though they should be able to drive in a trance safely...the proliferation of automatics is part of this mentality
CVT transmissions are an improvement over fluid transmissions, but not convinced they beat 5-speeds yet.