pic: Extreme Harry Potter Reading
 

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Realizing that this photo is relavent to the various Harry Potter posts - the behavior is in no way condoned. Please, don't be this dumb.

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Agreed, this is just plain stupid. Wait for the audio book.

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Since I travel the roads often, I can't tell you how many times I have seen people do things like this and lose control of their car. Unfortunately for them, they end up in a tree before they can even realize the car is not on the road. The main reason people have accidents, even minor ones is because they are not giving their full attention to the road.

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Let someone else drive while you read.

On the other hand, what a wimp! The book's been out what, almost 68 hours now? And he didn't finish it yet? (I read it extra slow, and it didn't last 24 hours.)

Don

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- rant -
At the beginning of 2nd semester this spring, my daughter's best friend totaled her car because she was using her cell phone. She was not hurt nor were the people in the collision hurt. Remarkably.

When spring break came, the friend wanted to come for a visit with me and I told her that if she wanted to visit with me, she was going to have to hear what I thought about her carelessness, recklessness, and disregard for others. She listened.
- end of rant or don't get me started -

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On my road trip to Charleston, IL a few weeks ago, I couldn't tell you how many people I saw not focusing their full attention on driving - whether it be reading, writing, talking on a cell phone, or doing some other activity while trying to drive.

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LA is beginning to crack down on this finally after major accidents caused by cellphone use while driving.
Besides that, for drivers in the city of LA, carpool fines are now $1 for the first offense, then each one after that increases 1k. You can't cross over solid dividers, and now the speed tolerence, instead of being +-5 mph, is just +-3 mph, so there is a smaller window.

Some of you guys probably already knew this, or don't need to hear, but for others and the guy driving, wherever he may be.:p

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short answer: yes

harry potter is THAT important.






the above only works if said car isn't moving.

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I wonder if that man would of crash, could he sue j.k rowling. That would be a fight to see in court.

HARRY POTTER FANS ARE CRAZY!!

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[RANT]Several years ago we had the Wing Ding (Goldwing rally) in Fort Wayne, IN. One night, several riders went out for dinner. The traffic light turned red and all but the last rider made it through. The last one did not want to run a red light (he should have). A 16 year old girl hit him at 45 mph. She was adjusting the volume on her cell phone. He was killed instantly. Students don't take this personnally but I think that if you are that young you should not have ANY distactions in the car. Be it a cell phone or friends. You have just learned to drive and are still nervous driving.[RANT]
When I'm on my motorcycle I get very nervous when I see someone on the phone and is behind me. I now have to divide my attention between the drivers ahead of me and the one on the cell phone behind me.

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In Virginia we just got a whole set of new laws on July 1st that affect people under 18. The laws include punishment for talking on your cell phone and increased fines for DUI and reckless driving.

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My brother got hit on his bike by a lady on a cell phone who was distracted... I've learned that when a biker keeps looking at you, it's not because he is trying to scare you, it's because you're scaring him....

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...Which is why states like Connecticut have banned using cell phones while driving. Now, one must either use a hands-free headset or pull over to the side of the road to talk on their cell phone here. Lately, the police have really started to crack down on enforcement of this law.

Since the Mythbusters have shown that talking on one's cell phone is just as bad as being legally drunk when it comes to controlling a car, I'd expect that more states around the country would continue to enact similar laws.

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Surely you can't get a ticket for going -5 MPH relative to the limit?

I do like the carpool lane fines: $1 for the first, $1000 for the second, $2k 3rd - you think you'd learn the first time...

Don

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$1 for the first? Here in CA my dad just got a $280ish fine for his first one.

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My dad almost got a ticket for going 56 mph in a 55 mph zone. This was in Ohio. Thats ridiculous. He talked his way out of it.
I think they give you 3-5 mph over to allow for tolerance. The tolerance for your speedometer is 2-3%. The radar gun also has a tolerance but I don't know what it is.
I like the quote from Cannonball Run. "No state has the death penalty for speeding. However we are not to sure about Ohio."

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Heh. I got bawled out by a traffic cop taking Libby, Julia, Morgan and Joey to the airport on Sunday. Man. that guy was really in a foul mood! He said I ran a red light but none of us saw it. I wasn't given a ticket and I got them to the airport on time so it's not so bad leaving with my tail between my legs.

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Generally accepted is 2% maximum, but most are kept within the display tolerance (+/- 1 MPH)
I was just commenting on the post by Jeff K; I live in NJ and haven't been to CA since 2001.
It's well worth a few minutes of humble pie and groveling to avoid a ticket. Officers have bad days, too, just let them vent, look very remorseful, and maybe they'll feel remorse (and eschew the ticket!)

Don

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ya i got hit by a van when i was on my skateboard in a cross walk when i had the right of way, but the driver was on his cell phone.... and reading would be even WORSE.... You might think Harry Potter is worth your life, but most people care a little more about their lives.... :D :D :D

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EDIT: TYPO!!
IT'S NOT $1, BUT $1K. Somehow the k slipped..

Also, the $1,000 fine was put into action on July 1, 2007, and what is your dad doing in the carpool lane minus a passenger?!
haha

You never know. Cop might have a bad day and feels like being a hard @#$ and can pull you over for obstructing the flow of traffic if you're going 60 on a 65 mph highway and everyone is changing lanes around you. Sometimes a simple wave tends to distract them from their radar gun. :p Edit: It is probably safer just to go with the flow of traffic around you.

Oh great...not another "McDonald's fat lawsuit". haha "Man those Big Macs have heart attack written alll over 'em but they're soo darn tempting."

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Actually most people will disagree with that. If the speed limit is 65 and everyone is running 70. It is much better to go the same speed as everyone else and avoid all of the havoc and lane changing you are causing. My friends, parents, and even my driver ed guy agrees. Plus, I know this isnt the attitude you should have, but if everyone is doing it, a cop cant pull you all over.

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Possibly true in your state, but I've been in cars multiple times that have been pulled over going SLOWER than the average person, yet still over the speed limit. Never gotten a ticket, though. :rolleyes:


BTW - The person in this photo must have something seriously wrong with his/her head. Harry Potter is not worth your life or anyone elses, and reading the book behind the wheel of a deadly machine maximizes the danger. I thought it was bad when Lacey ditched me on Sunday to finish that stupid book... this is exponentially worse.

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The only time it is definitely illegal for going too slow on a limited highway is going under 40mph. (Unless it is a work zone with a restricted speed limit.) Cops can pull you over for 'needlessly delaying other traffic', but most of the time going 60mph in a 65 zone shouldn't get you pulled over - unless you're acting like an idiot going that speed in the left lane. :rolleyes:

Also, statistically, it is safer to go the exact same speed as the average traffic flow. Going +-10mph from the average speed drastically increases your chances of an accident. Since cops are there to keep the roadway safe for everyone, most of the time they won't pull you over if you are going the same speed as everyone else, unless you have a car that draws attention to itself, like a convertible or a red car.

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Wow... 1 MPH tolerance?

People frequently go 15 over the speed limit in NH (Merrimack at least) and nobody flinches when a cop drives by.

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It really just depends on the cop. Today I was going down this street downhill. Cops sometimes hide behind the bushes or in the shade. I thought the speed limit was 45, but it was only 35, and so when I saw the cop, it was a bit late, and I just waved at them. He had his radar gun pointed at me, but as I waved he waved back and smiled. He didn't pull me over, so I guess it worked. Either that or he probably thought I was going at a relatively safe speed. I do not recommend or endorse speeding and waving. The wave is subject to use as only a nice courtesy as you pass cops.:D

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Not true, I got pulled over and a ticket last year in a line of vehicles, 6 in fact and I was #4. Here's what happened,

I was on a 4 lane road I sometimes travel to get to work and just staying in the right lane going with the flow. Up ahead I saw a guy run out into the road and stop the 1st vehicle up front. After stopping, that vehicle made a sharp turn into a parking lot and each vehicle afterwards did as he approached them. I could see he was a cop as he got to the 2nd vehicle. He ordered me to turn into the parking lot also and park behind the vehicle that was just in front of me and shut the motor off. I will admit it, I got scared as I pulled into that lot and parked as I had no idea what was going on with me and all these vehicles, why we were getting ordered off the road and killing our motors. There was an unoccupied marked cruiser hidden behind some shrubs near the entrance, I guess it was his, and another cruiser with two officers parked futher back in the lot. 2 of the officers started going to our vehicles, they started in front, and they carried all the paperwork from each driver back to the one sitting in the cruiser, appearently he was running everything through the system.

When he got to me he first asked for my license, registration and insurance card. I asked what was up and he just said to stay put and walked my stuff over to the guy in the patrol car and then came back to me. At that point he then asked if I knew why I was stopped here. I said no and then he said he was hiding on the side of the road running radar and caught the first vehicle going 52 mph, the problem was the speed on the stretch of road we were on dropped to 35 mph in the spot where we were. He told me to wait as they checked my background and wrote out the ticket, then he went to one of the vehicles behind me.

(He had to come back to me between this time and when I got the ticket, but since it has nothing to do with the ticket I'll post it at the end to simplify this.)

When he handed me all my stuff back he explained the ticket he was giving me. It was a $142 fine but the speed wasn't on there since he said he didn't clock me, just the first vehicle, so he didn't know my true speed. Instead my ticket said "traveling fast". By this time he had softened some, I had just got done minutes before speaking to him for some time (see above paragraph) and he explained all my options with the ticket. He realized this was the first ticket I have ever recieved since getting my license in 1992 and he wanted me to fully understand the ticket and my options with it without even asking him to go over it! He told me to keep a watch out for the changing speed limits on this road and that I could leave now.


(He had to come back to me after the officer in the car called him over and showed him something with my paperwork. When this happened I knew exactly what it was as he walked back over! The CT DMV either has some code on my registration for the model or they just outright have got it wrong and they refuse to fix it (I suspect the latter, as my other 2 vehicle say exactly what model they are) and I have tried several times to get it fixed but they insist on keeping what it says. My car is a 1997 Toyota Camry LE, but the registration insists I drive a 1997 Toyota UEX. The problem is what is a "UEX"?!?! The officer came back to check my VIN out, I've already been there and it matches. The insurance card is correct with "Camry" but the DMV insists the car is a "UEX" no matter what I've said or presented to them in paperwork, including a Carfax with the VIN. I gave up and just left it wrong on the registration and it's staying that way. I had to explain the whole thing to the officer as he checked the VINs out.)

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Brings "speed reading" to a new level, doesn't it?

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ya well that all is true but Ct doesn't have a law that says no reading while driving so i think governor rell should put one in hahaha just for that picture :ahh: :ahh:

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I hate being on the road, it is far worse today than ever (or maybe because I am getting old). I rarely have a day's commute to work when I don't pass an accident. After going over 20 years without being in one, I was in two within 7 months. One was within sight of my house when an elderly woman tarveling in the opposite direction turned onto a side street right in front of me. I was doing the speed limit but could not stop in time. No injuries thankfully, but my car was totaled. I was rear-ended in Hartford back in May. Minor damage to my car but it took two months to settle the claim (and TWO HOURS and FOUR 911 calls for the police to arrive). I now commute each day looking ahead, to each side and in my rearview mirror constantly.

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While we were traveling to Atlanta (by bus) we had to slow down for traffic. I look over and see a blue VW beetle. The back window had a sticker that said 'Hang up and Drive'. The driver was on a cell phone. I tried to get a picture but we were never close enough :(

My Mother-in-Law got a ticket for going the spped limit in the left lane of a six lane interstate. She was slowing down traffic.

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I just wanted to share an event that I witnessed during this morning's commute. I am one of the BILLIONS (not really - but feels that way) of people that take the Mass Pike (I-90) East towards Boston in the mornings. This morning is was raining, heavy at times. I came upon a little blue car with a woman operator. I purposely replaced 'driver' with 'operator' because it was clearly only Sir Isaac Newton 'driving' the car as she was too occupied doing other things. She had a news paper fastened to the steering wheel with what looked like rubber bands, a GIANT Dunkin' Donuts coffee in her right hand, a cigarette AND lip stick (or something like it) in her left hand, AND a cell phone cradled between her ear and shoulder.

Crazy.

I don't have a fancy camera phone or whatnot - but I wish there were some process by which I could convey this image to some authoritative body and have her license revoked FOREVER.

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An a additional note:

Text Messaging on any device is considered illegal and will now suffer the penalties of recieving tickets and license revocation if caught.

I've seen many people use the phone / eat drink / sleep / read / text / fiddling around in the car with something while driving and sadly I myself try not to but maybe once a week (if that) you'll see me on the phone while driving. (Yeah Once is more then enough - I know) but I don't stay on it for long (maybe 10 sec to tell the person I'll call back later) but a good majority of the time I use my Hand-Free (or Bluetooth device). The whole problem is you need Law Enforcement to catch offenders and penalize them and that something we don't have enough of (Cops that care). Cops are too lazy and they rather pull someone over for following the law instead of setting up surprise checkpoints to check if the person is driving safely. (Hell I've even seen Cops driving while on the phone and was pulled over by one as well.)

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...how do you sleep while driving...?

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Simple you fall asleep and your all over the road.

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All of these are dangerous.
One that really makes me scratch my head is applying mascara while driving. That one is just nuts.

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I once saw a lady who had one hand out the window holding a cigarette and one hand holding a cell phone. Maybe she was a mutant who had a third hand :ahh:
Another time I saw a boy, on a bicycle, talking on a cell phone while riding.
Not cell phone related. There was a lady in front of me, at a stop light. She was fixing her hair. She was in a convertible :)

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Yesterday in my journey between jobs I saw a guy in a humongous truck with his dog on his lap, hanging out the window. I just thought that was absurd and immediately thought about this thread.

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What are these people thinking when they have their pet in their laps? What happens if they have an accident and the airbag goes of? Answer, their pet becomes imbedded in their chest.
Add pet plus cell phone :ahh: :ahh: :ahh: Seen it.
Also, if their pet is roaming around the car. Where is their attention? Answer, not fully on the road ahead.

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While driving around the city in the ambulance I see more stupid driving then you can ever dream of. I see people doing everything that is mentioned here, eating, talking on phone, reading etc...
Some of my favorites so far have been people switching driver and passenger while driving, I have seen this a few times and can only chock it up to the people in that vehicle think that we are the cops in the ambulance and have some reason not to be cought driving. We had a lady jump out of her car at a green light run over to a news paper machine and buy a paper while she just left her car running in the middle of the road at a green light, in the city at night it is very common for people to be driving down a street see someone they know and want to talk to, so they just stop and park blocking a lane with no notice to the drivers behind them.

Now when we are driving to a 911 call with our lights and sirens blaring people drive more dangerously then if they were eating, drinking, reading and sleeping at the same time. People never remember to just pull to the right, we get people who just stop in the middle of the lane and force me to swerve quickly to miss the 2 ton new road block, people try to out drive us so we wont pass them and possible delay them from what ever place is sooo important they have to get to. Some people just don't pay any attention at all and go about their business like it dose not matter that someone could be dying somewhere.
Here is a great cartoon that one of my co-workers sent me

http://photobucket.com/mediadetail/?...&pageOffset=17


Also to touch on the subject of animals in vehicles, think about the fact that you are wearing a seat belt and that your pet isn't, unless you are an awesome and loving owner who puts the animal in some kind of veichle restraint, and that pets can and will be hurt in an accident just like an unrestrained person. Also that when an animal is hurt and still able to get up they will most likely run away if they can so you might also lose a pet that way.

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It is getting worst and worst, but that may be because I'm from Houston (not the nicest drivers in America). I have almost been hit by idiots who insist to take turns without looking left and right or even stopping.Thank god for the METRO and the HOV lanes, because getting to work and home passing all of the accidents from above is very relaxing and I get some sleep to and from work too!

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Sounds like a speed trap to me. Tickets en masse, too. Let's ticket 6 cars at a time. What a racket.

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My wife knows a police officer and he told her a funny story.
In Fort Wayne, IN they will set up near the mall and get people who run the red light. This is a very big problem at this light.
The LEO (law enforcement officer) pulled over the last car in the line. The driver asked the LEO why he didn't stop the guy in front of him. He said "If you would have stopped, at the light, I would have".
I heard they are very sneeky in Michigan. They will sit on the side of the interstate with their lights on. The other drivers think they have someone pulled over and speed by only to find out the the LEO has no one in front of him and races after the speeder. True?

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I can't say that I have ever seen what you said about Michigan happen. Maybe it's a certain part? But around US-23/I-75 in the Southeast part, I've never seen it, nor have I seen it on my trips to northern MI.

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Yeah the times I have been up in Michigan, we'd drive like 90mph the entire way and I swear this year, we didn't see one cop on I-75.... it was interesting lol.


Side note: I have a bad driver story... for those from Jersey, yall know how bad rush hour is (more like rush 5 hours) but i was driving with my cousin going to his house... on a Friday night, abour 5:30, the height of rush hour, he's merging onto Route 22, while talking on the cell phone, and the car is manual... so you can imagine... and he had the phone in his right hand and was shifting with him left. So yes, he was driving with his knee. Needless to say, we survived haha. He acted like he does it all the time.
But he's not the worst driver... just one of the worst times being in a car haha.