You can't rely on "what someone said," even if it's "what someone said" in some driver's ed class. Were they a lawyer? Did they even cite to authority? No.

One quick google and 20 seconds later, Tennessee Code section 55-8-154(a):

"(a) No person shall drive a motor vehicle at such a slow speed as to impede the normal and reasonable movement of traffic, except when reduced speed is necessary for safe operation or in compliance with law."

So, not only is there not any flat 15 mph standard (it's just impeding normal and reasonable movement of traffic, whatever that happens to be), but it doesn't apply if you would be going over the posted limit, because that would not be complying with section 55-8-152 on speed limits.

Actually, I didn't get the 15 mph part from hearsay, but from the Tennessee driver's handbook they gave us in driver's ed... in 1984. It would appear someone changed the law, since googling reveals that "there is no basic speed law in Tennessee," and I know for a fact that the basic speed law was one of the things on the official exam when I took it. I can even tell you the exact wording of the question, since several people missed it because it was poorly worded: "Q: The basic speed law is: A: driving too fast for conditions."

Which just goes to show that the legislature wants to make very sure that NO ONE knows what the law is.

[Tom Vanderbilt thought]... Should he tuck into the crowd as soon as the road sign says "Merge Right" and practice a "random act of kindness," or stay in his lane and dart onto the skyway at the last minute with the bold attitude, "Live free or die"?

How is following the directive to merge right safely considered a random act of kindness? That's not kindness, it's common courtesy. Big part of the problem is this attitude that following the golden rule is something extraordinary.

It's like having an option of kicking a puppy, or not kicking a puppy.

Kicking the puppy is what an asshole chooses,

Not kicking the puppy is what any decent person chooses,

Going and getting the puppy a yummy treat is an act of kindness.

Just because you don't kick the puppy doesn't mean you're special, it just means you're not an asshole. Special is the person who brings the treat...

A huge part of the problem is lack of enforcement, especially on highways. Disregard of the speed limit is virtually universal. The chances of getting caught speeding are virtually zero. There are just not enough traffic police. The ranks of the traffic police should be increased by at least 200%.

Mark Marshall

Toronto

"It's New York drivers. It's one thing I've observed from living here: They will not slow down. It's almost like you're taunting them. I was told in Boston that signaling is revealing your intentions to the enemy. It's the same here. You're better off not signaling."

That's just stupid. (And as a former courier in Boston I know of what I write.) They might not slow down if you put your signal on, but at least they're going to be aware that you are moving, so if you miscalculate they'll possibly have at least a quicker reaction time.

You folks are writing as if these guys got off easy.

They are facing FEDERAL gun and drug charges! In case you don't know, federal sentencing guidelines are about the toughest in the nation. Moreover, all the circumstances of the crime, including the assassination plot, will be taken into account by the judge in sentencing. In other words, these guys are not going to be paroled in a couple of years. The judges will sentence them at the top of the range, or even adjust above it. They are not going to see the light of day anytime soon.

As for you conspiracy theorists, when Obama is president, he will OWN the Secret Service; they report to the president. If he couldn't even manage his own agencies then he would hardly deserve to be president. Let's be serious here.

Again, I'm not writing off the fact that given this is now BUSH'S DoJ there could be political and racial considerations at work (even though the career prosecutors at work are ethically bound to be neutral), but the idea that this is a setup for future assassinations is asinine, ignorant drivel.

Whoops, wrong window. That post was supposed to go to the obama-meth head-assassin article.

Ruins Brooklyn.

I have to agree with Greg from a few pages back. California drivers know how to drive. Traffic gets congested, sure, but people generally know how to deal with it. Traffic moves bumper to bumper at 70mph+, people make space for merges and lane changes, most people use turn signals most of the time, and you almost never hear a horn.

Street driving in Northern California presents a constant set of challenges as people slow down to look for parking, make poorly planned U-turns to get to parking, and stop randomly in the street becuase there is no parking. However, other drivers generally know how to handle the situation. Rather than honking and/or stopping behind the (temporarily) parked cars, drivers keep traffic flowing by moving around the blockage, using whatever lanes are necessary. No harm, no foul. And definitely no need to use the horn- after all, we've all been there.

There is is the occassional asshole who tailgates when the fast lane is already full, or who stops behind a randomly stopped car on the street, or who weaves in and out of stop-and-go traffic. But generally, people seem to be polite and professional. I guess if you spend 1+ hours a day commuting, you have to be.

I purchased this book about three weeks ago, started reading it, misplaced it a few days ago, found it late yesterday, put it in my employer-owned car for a 70 mile commute and about 45 minutes later crashed said car into a guardrail on a remote rural two-lane highway, my first real accident in 27 years of driving, shattering a nearly perfect driving record. I pilot airplanes for a living, and indeed, I was enroute to start a 12 hour shift as an air-ambulance pilot. Several hours later, I find this review.

You know what they say about flying vs. driving? It's true. Driving is dangerous. Piloting an airplane requires one's total attention really only during the departure and arrival phases. Cruise flight allows for a modicum of relaxation. Full attention to the road, however, all the time one is in motion is an absolute (I wasn't talking on my cell or even listening to a podcast on my iPod, as I am wont; though John Kerry was sonorously intoning live through the sound-system from the Democratic Convention). This is not only true of motorcycle operations; and yes, as a younger person I logged about 100,000 injury-free miles riding in traffic and on long-distance rides, hewing to an accurate line while studying the pavement, drivers' faces, activity along the road and how it might affect the situation, etc. I should have been in my old motorcycle mindset. It always comes in handy.

Ironically, had there been oncoming traffic, I likely would have been watching the road and approaching vehicle rather than remarking to myself about the geologic formation to my left a half second too long as the car drifted right and off the edge of the pavement at highway speed, which I responded to by braking and attempting to steer back onto the road-- and which I managed to do, but once back on the pavement, somehow couldn't get the car to stop continuing left into the opposite guardrail where it impacted at about a 45 degree angle, coming to a rest pointed about 90 degrees counter-clockwise. A few minutes later a driver came by and reported the accident for me down the road where there was cell phone reception. A subsequent driver stopped to ask if I was alright. I really wanted to ask her to do something for me, but even with the busted car and bent guardrail backdrop, I didn't have the audacity to ask that she put a seatbelt around her 4 or 5 year old daughter whose pretty face was on display through the windshield as they approached.

All I have is a little soreness from the shoulder harness, never touched the airbag with my face. I was lucky, as usual. Maybe this reminder will save me or someone riding with me or nearby on the road from something worse in the future. I'll never know, of course.