Comment on Someone should really develop this idea

• raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world ⁨17⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

  The last part about governments not acting upon reckless driving, I think it depends on the country. In the Netherlands it is pretty well done.

  Absolutely not! My experience from a couple of years living and driving in NL: Speeding is expensive, but has no other consequences -> speed limits are effective for poor people only. No other controls are in effect. The average speed measurement over longer stretches of road is a nice touch, but again, no consequences but expensive tickets. Also, contrary to Switzerland, fines are NOT bound to your income / wealth.

  Most disciplined drivers you could find in the world.

  Also not. Things wrong with the average Dutch driver that come to mind immediatley: Due to the low speed limits, overtaking another vehicle is a long process - that’s not the fault of the drivers, but the system’s fault (although the average speed limit is designed to allow a quick burst in speed for this, it’s hard to know when you’ll pay an expensive fine and I wouldn’t rely on it either). What the average Dutch driver does with it however is a problem:

  1. the driver overtaking will creep up to the car to be overtaken’s rear bumper before changing to the left lane, and will typically go right back into the original lane after clearing the slower car by like 5 meters - due to the slow process of “catching up” this leads to minutes with a very dangerous distance to the car in front of them, and will occasionally cause accidents (thanks to the low speed those are not as fatal).
  2. the driver being overtaken basically never slows down to speed up the process and make it safer for all involved
  3. on the contrary, people will sometimes even drive at very irregular speeds and speed up a little just when someone attempts to overtake them

  and then 4) many Dutch drivers do not understand zip merging and hate people doing it correctly. If a lane is closed down, people will merge onto the other lane(s) kilometres before the road closure, and there will always be someone who behaves aggressively towards vehicles using the lane until the frontmost part where it is closed and the zip merger should be done. I’ve seen truckers(!) veer to the side to try and intimidate cars passing for a zip merger, because they perceive these people as “cutting the line”

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  • AliOski@feddit.nl ⁨12⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

    It is clear you have grown up in another country. You are just trying to drive how you are used to drive in another country. That doesn’t make how you are used to drive safer and the system any more unsafe.

    1. “Bumperkleven” is forbidden. Whoever is creeping up to you in a few meters is breaking the law. You are also not supposed to merge back to the lane right in front of the other driver. I barely even see this happening. Most people just stay in their lane after taking somebody over, unless someone else with a higher speed is getting closer from behind them.

    2. why the fuck should the person getting overtaken slow down? That adds unpredictability to the equation, for the person overtaking and the person behind you. That is super dangerous if you’ve been doing that. The slower the process, the better the situation is under control. You don’t want sudden changes in the situation on the road. Just keep driving with a constant speed, the people around you will be able to predict where you’ll be and the situation on the road becomes much simpler. You are the driver people are saying “wtf is he doing” if you’ve been slowing down while getting overtaken. Two cars driving next to each other is not a dangerous situation. Where did you get that from??? Our infrastructure allows for it because the lines on our roads are super clear. It is only dangerous if somebody didn’t notice the car besides them or forgets they are there. But that’s dangerous no matter the situation, not just because they are side-by-side.

    3. Never seen this happen. People being overtaken always keep driving at the speed they are driving at. You are the only person here suddenly slowing down while being overtaken. You are that person you are talking about.

    4. The idea behind it is that the flow of traffic should not be interrupted. The earlier you merge while everybody including yourself is driving at a steady pace, the better. The end of the lane forces the driver to get to a stop, and if you choose to only merge there, you don’t have any flexibility there. If you aren’t so lucky that you can merge instantaneously without slowing down, you would merge with a speed of zero. This forces the whole other lane to go on their brakes because you want to merge. It interrupts the flow of traffic. Yes, we treat people that try to get in front as people trying to get in front of the line because it fucks everybody else up, yes. I dont know where you go the idea from that your way of doing it is the proper way. It clearly isn’t. Merge as early as possible, it allows to keep the flow of traffic flowing.

    About speed tickets: if you only go slightly above the speed limit, you’ll get a slap on the wrist (an expensive ticket). However, if you drive at dangerous speeds, you just lose your license. So I don’t really understand what you are talking about.

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    • raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago

      You are just trying to drive how you are used to drive in another country.

      Yes, because the safety aspect of keeping your distance etc are a matter of speed and a simple formula - whether you can break in time if the person in front of you steps on the breaks depends on physics, not laws.

      “Bumperkleven” is forbidden. Whoever is creeping up to you in a few meters is breaking the law.

      Obviously forbidden - my point was that whatever the Netherlands doing is not “working” in terms of teaching drivers to drive more safely. I do appreciate the global speed limit though, it’s simply less dangerous.

      I barely even see this happening.

      You clearly haven’t tried the A2 between Utrecht & 's-Hertogenbosch then.

      why the fuck should the person getting overtaken slow down?

      Are you maybe one of the drivers who don’t get it? If the speed limit prevents the car overtaking from doing so speedily, then the car being overtaken slows down ever so slightly, the whole process is sped up immensely. You talking about “sudden changes” tells me you completely missed the point. We’re not talking about using the brakes, we’re talking about letting off the pedal for a bit to slow down 2-5 km/h. Difference between a car going 120 being overtaken at 121 vs. going 117 being overtaken at 121 is 1/4 of the total time needed to complete overtaking.

      I’m not even going to comment on 3, because you failed to understand the previous point.

      The idea behind it is that the flow of traffic should not be interrupted. The earlier you merge while everybody including yourself is driving at a steady pace, the better.

      See - you don’t understand how “ritsen” works, and even how the law is in the Netherlands regarding how to do “ritsen”. Please educate yourself, because your logic is wrong and slows down traffic / causes unnecessary traffic jams.

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