Hurricanes Lounge XXXIV: I've had it with these mother f***ing snakes...

[Nikishin Go Boom]

Has anybody actually lived in Atlanta? My best guess is that they treat driving like they treat summer lawn watering in the Triangle--MTW, those who live in odd numbered houses have to go 20 miles over the speed limit and those who live in even numbered houses have to go 10 miles under the speed limit. And on Tuesdays and Thursdays, they can go any speed but the evens have to brake randomly and the odds must swerve or ride the passing lane. Prove me wrong....

Most people don’t live in Atlanta. It is a commuter city like Raleigh. The only difference is 3 major highways dissect Atlanta and 285 is a lot busier than the belt line.

I live in the vicinity of Atlanta.
People drive crazy. Some days everyone goes near the speed limit, other days 15 over is the slowest. There are always those that seem to go 90+. People do similar stuff, cut 3 lanes to make an exit / sometimes slow down in the fast lane until they can get over which causes a ton of issues, red lights are suggestions, people assume that you will let them in even though they waited until the last second to get over on purpose, lots of tractor trailers with little respect from regular drivers, and people will try to squeeze in any sized spot to change lanes to save a minute.

 

[MinJaBen]

Imagine being a traffic cop in Atlanta lol

 

[Bub]

I’ve given some actual thought to this.

They’re not giving valuable property away for no reason. Generally these places are the Italian equivalent to living in the downtown of a Laurinberg or Lumberton type of place

If you’re truly down with living in a town of 5000 surly rural Italians, sharing a crumbling 19th Century duplex which you are legally obligated to restore, being only a brief walk from precisely one local restaurant, driving 45 minutes for healthcare, never meeting anyone who doesn’t regard you as a suspicious foreigner, getting your internet through a cafe, getting your cable through a cafe, getting your mail through a cafe,
being only 14 local train stops from a connection to a different train which will eventually take you to a center of culture, making sure you have a steady American income stream because you sure as hell aren’t finding local work, etc then it is a dream come true.

So, how long have you lived in Maine?

 

[tarheelhockey]

lots of tractor trailers with little respect from regular drivers

This is a huge factor in a lot of the places we're talking about. Atlanta is a major logistics hub, so the commuters are mixed in with heavy commercial truck traffic. In theory the commuters shouldn't need to use interstates just to get around town, but the city has grown along those corridors in a way that forces everyone into the same artery. Thousands of people who ought to be doing 45 on a local four-lane street are instead doing 85 in between two tractor trailers.

Charlotte has similar issues on a smaller scale. Raleigh has mostly avoided it because 85 and 95 both lie at a distance from the city, and truck traffic on 40 is relatively light with Raleigh being so close to the end of the line.

 

[Socks]

Oh--and part of the survey includes past traffic citations--which explains why Atl and Houston don't show up--they don't actually give out traffic tickets where Ohio is nothing but a large speed trap where traffic tickets are life for small towns.

Oh my god so many little cities/towns I know of in Ohio where they have nothing better to do than sit and wait on speeders. One mile over and BOOM you’ve got a ticket. Actually I know one town that also enforces a noise ordinance. My friend got ticketed for having his music too loud and I’ve been in the car with him many times, I can assure you he doesn’t listen to it THAT loud. It’s why I don’t f*** around where I know there are speed traps. Keep it 10 over everywhere else but don’t let the needle move even a little bit when I’m driving through a trap.

 

[Tryamw]

Oh my god so many little cities/towns I know of in Ohio where they have nothing better to do than sit and wait on speeders. One mile over and BOOM you’ve got a ticket. Actually I know one town that also enforces a noise ordinance. My friend got ticketed for having his music too loud and I’ve been in the car with him many times, I can assure you he doesn’t listen to it THAT loud. It’s why I don’t f*** around where I know there are speed traps. Keep it 10 over everywhere else but don’t let the needle move even a little bit when I’m driving through a trap.

NC had 2 big speed traps I know of.. Old Fort (Base of Black Mountain) in addition the main drag had 2 separate speed limits depending on direction of travel. Used to be 30 and 20 IIRC.
Also Rolesville NE of Raleigh They loved parking where 55 dropped to 35. (They now have a bypass and it drops to 45 first..)

 

[MinJaBen]

So, how long have you lived in Maine?

I thought the same thing. Sounded like he was describing Aroostook County. But without the lovely Maine weather.

 

[Socks]

NC had 2 big speed traps I know of.. Old Fort (Base of Black Mountain) in addition the main drag had 2 separate speed limits depending on direction of travel. Used to be 30 and 20 IIRC.
Also Rolesville NE of Raleigh They loved parking where 55 dropped to 35. (They now have a bypass and it drops to 45 first..)

When I was in high school cops would sit on the road right outside the school and nab students as they sped by. You’ve got kids, excited to get out of school and not thinking straight and then they’ve got a ticket. On the other hand you’ve got kids, excited to get out of school and not thinking straight. Not the safest road scenario by any stretch of the imagination. Unfortunately the cops weren’t attempting to provide any measure of security. This was strictly a money grab (we knew this, they told us this) so it was a total asshole move. I’d like to think that at least one kid who got ticketed curbed their unsafe driving habits, make it worth something, but I doubt it.

This was also 20 years ago. Things may have changed.

 

[Roboturner913]

Nah I'm being serious. I ask because Atlanta is the worst I've encountered. I've never been to Houston but surely they have a better infrastructure than Atlanta, right? Just shitty or shittier drivers.

That is probably accurate.

You also have a greater amount of douchebags vaping, rolling coal and generally being assholes in their totally unnecessary F-350s

 

[HisIceness]

Highway 74 east of Monroe is one long speed trap. Well, the bypass around Rockingham is fine. But Polkton, Wingate, Marshville etc yeah you best watch your speed.

As for Atlanta, whoever thought that merging two interstates into one through downtown was a good idea, yeah it wasn't.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Highway 74 east of Monroe is one long speed trap. Well, the bypass around Rockingham is fine. But Polkton, Wingate, Marshville etc yeah you best watch your speed.

Absolutely. It's the corridor for beach-bound vacation traffic and they base their whole budget on pulling over speeders in the summertime. That's a bunch of small towns where they don't give a **** if you swear never to come back.

Another big one in the area is I-85 south of Spartanburg. As you come into the Greenville area, the speed limit abruptly drops to 60 even though traffic is moving at an ordinary ~75mph (and for good reason, as this is straight open highway). The cops in that area just sit there and cherry-pick 15mph violations which means a serious fine and license points.

 

[Lempo]

My friend got ticketed for having his music too loud and I’ve been in the car with him many times, I can assure you he doesn’t listen to it THAT loud.

Yes but they was tryin' to catch him ridin' dirty.

 

[Socks]

Yes but they was tryin' to catch him ridin' dirty.

They just hatin’.

 

[Lempo]

They just hatin’.

Key and Peele are so hard locking the doors of their convertible on us right now.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

I rented a car once in Atlanta, and within an hour was driving that rental car back to the agency to get another one because I got caught in a multi-car accident on I-85.

Small sample size, but holy shit, f*** driving in Atlanta.

 

[Socks]

Key and Peele are so hard locking the doors of their convertible on us right now.

I really want to go bowl with the gangsters but I guess I’m just gonna have to go hang out with Donny Osmond instead.

 

[To Be Determined]

it has been over 20 years since i was last in atlanta. that remains the only place i have ever been legit frightened while driving. i was in a '95 neon that was about to shake apart while i was doing 85mph, getting passed left and right by people pissed off that that fine piece of detroit engineering slowed them down.

 

[ONO94]

Waverly, Ohio--I was telling my son about getting a ticket in Waverly over 20 years ago while driving the same stretch of road and how the cop was sitting behind a dumpster. Went past the same dumpster and a cop (I like to believe the same one) was camped out in the exact same spot--just me me doing a mile under the speed limit instead of 9 over.

 

[DaveG]

Waverly, Ohio--I was telling my son about getting a ticket in Waverly over 20 years ago while driving the same stretch of road and how the cop was sitting behind a dumpster. Went past the same dumpster and a cop (I like to believe the same one) was camped out in the exact same spot--just me me doing a mile under the speed limit instead of 9 over.

Same thing going through WV on the way to/from games and school for me. Fayetteville and Summersville they make no qualms about the fact that their entire budget is basically based around being a f***ing speed trap regardless of what the speed is elsewhere on 79 and 19. Be even a tenth of a second slow dropping from 70+ (likely 80+) to 55 and then 35 arbitrarily and you're looking at another $250 on your trip you had no intention of spending. So much as 1 mph over in either and you're f***ed.

 

[Unsustainable]

Same thing going through WV on the way to/from games and school for me. Fayetteville and Summersville they make no qualms about the fact that their entire budget is basically based around being a f***ing speed trap regardless of what the speed is elsewhere on 79 and 19. Be even a tenth of a second slow dropping from 70+ (likely 80+) to 55 and then 35 arbitrarily and you're looking at another $250 on your trip you had no intention of spending. So much as 1 mph over in either and you're f***ed.

as someone who goes through there around 3 times a year, it’s nuts

 

[Bub]

I thought the same thing. Sounded like he was describing Aroostook County. But without the lovely Maine weather.

Much of this summer has reminded me of VA and NC with some wicked (and persistent) humidity. Do not like.

 

[MinJaBen]

Much of this summer has reminded me of VA and NC with some wicked (and persistent) humidity. Do not like.

I actually think we may have had a cooler summer down here this year than you. It’s been weird.

 

[HisIceness]

I actually think we may have had a cooler summer down here this year than you. It’s been weird.

Agreed, last week had some fall-like coolness to it, very rare for early August. Overall this summer has been more or less average I think.

 

[Bub]

I actually think we may have had a cooler summer down here this year than you. It’s been weird.

June was terrible -- handful of days in the 90s, lots in the mid- to upper-80s (boo hoo, I hear you saying), and humid throughout. July was better, rainy and cool. August was great last week, but hot and humid again this week.

I know it's all relative, but here's my favorite comparison story. When I worked at NC State, just walking from the parking garage to DH Hill meant a change of shirt when I got to work. Maine in August? I could walk 1/2 mile home and back again at lunchtime and not break a drop of sweat. That's why I'll put up with the winters here.

 

[Negan4Coach]

I actually think we may have had a cooler summer down here this year than you. It’s been weird.

I mean, I don't think it got over 100 the whole time, did it? I'll take that over, say, 2015 when it was 100 or more for 2 straight weeks