Dear Norcal FR-S Hoon

[Georgewilliamherbert]

Dear Norcal FR-S Hoon -

Yes, you, the obviously brand new (no plates yet) black FR-S, driving southbound on 280 passing Alpine Road on Wednesday at 12:20pm.

I am sure we all appreciate that the car can do 80 miles per hour. I'm sure we all appreciate that you learned to drive on Pole Position (or possibly GTA).

However, we must speak briefly of lane usage.

There are four lanes at that point. Lane 1, the fast lane, is intended for passing. Lane 2, if clear, is optimal for high speed cruising. If Lane 2 is full of cars, and you are significantly faster than them, then hanging out in Lane 1 for a while is not unreasonable.

You were driving faster than all the other cars on the road (Let us say, X+25 miles per hour). Your optimal lane choice would have been Lane 2, which was clear for a couple of miles in either direction (unusually, but true). Lane 1 would have been fine as well.

Your actual choice, a violent combination of Lanes 3 and 4, weaving through the traffic which was there, left something to be desired.

I appreciate driving fast. I really do. I drive the silver RX-8 that you passed unsafely, on the right, in Lane 4 just before Alpine. I was driving slow because there had been 4 police on the road in the last 10 miles (one of which tailed me all the way up 92 from the bridge rather interestedly, but decided that my slowing down when he showed up was sufficient). I could have predicted the fifth officer, the one about 2 miles south of Alpine, sitting off on the side along that long straight stretch. He must not have had a radar gun out, because if he had you would be in jail right now and not proceeding further along the road.

Your passing behavior - and apparent lack of skill, as your lane changes look like you were upsetting the car quite a bit - need work. I mean work and training, not just shifting to a racetrack. I suspect most actual racetracks would have black-flagged you for aggressive driving. Anything that could conceivably be that bad should never ever ever be done on roads around normal cars, drivers, trucks, and CHP officers. I know this may be a new concept to you, but discretion matters. Discretion keeps you alive. Discretion keeps you out of accidents. Discretion keeps you out of jail, and away from tickets.

I don't know if you're reading this forum, but I hope so. I would rather you enjoy that FR-S for another couple of hundred thousand miles. If the semi that wasn't paying attention had shifted lanes a minute earlier, you would have been quite literally dead as a doornail (and I would have been scraping yet another body off the pavement, which is not an experience I would recommend, especially to the body donors). If you had blown another lane change on top of one of the post-Loma Prieta 280 pavement bumps you'd have rolled the car at that speed. And you came very close to a speeding / reckless driving arrest as it was.

Don't be the first FT-86 Darwin Award winner.

[sdlynx]

Guys, this is exactly what we DON'T need. We already had our first known 86 accident from a guy who decided to try drifting without VSC and TC. He at least admitted it was a mistake and asked forgiveness - a sign of learning from mistakes and an example of "manning" up to a mistake.

Let's, please, keep our beautiful 86 platform from becoming a dreaded thing on the roads. Whoever was in the Raven FR-S, it doesn't matter who you are, but please be careful out there in traffic.

[denkigrve]

Originally Posted by Georgewilliamherbert

Dear Norcal FR-S Hoon -

Yes, you, the obviously brand new (no plates yet) black FR-S, driving southbound on 280 passing Alpine Road on Wednesday at 12:20pm.

I am sure we all appreciate that the car can do 80 miles per hour. I'm sure we all appreciate that you learned to drive on Pole Position (or possibly GTA).

However, we must speak briefly of lane usage.

There are four lanes at that point. Lane 1, the fast lane, is intended for passing. Lane 2, if clear, is optimal for high speed cruising. If Lane 2 is full of cars, and you are significantly faster than them, then hanging out in Lane 1 for a while is not unreasonable.

You were driving faster than all the other cars on the road (Let us say, X+25 miles per hour). Your optimal lane choice would have been Lane 2, which was clear for a couple of miles in either direction (unusually, but true). Lane 1 would have been fine as well.

Your actual choice, a violent combination of Lanes 3 and 4, weaving through the traffic which was there, left something to be desired.

I appreciate driving fast. I really do. I drive the silver RX-8 that you passed unsafely, on the right, in Lane 4 just before Alpine. I was driving slow because there had been 4 police on the road in the last 10 miles (one of which tailed me all the way up 92 from the bridge rather interestedly, but decided that my slowing down when he showed up was sufficient). I could have predicted the fifth officer, the one about 2 miles south of Alpine, sitting off on the side along that long straight stretch. He must not have had a radar gun out, because if he had you would be in jail right now and not proceeding further along the road.

Your passing behavior - and apparent lack of skill, as your lane changes look like you were upsetting the car quite a bit - need work. I mean work and training, not just shifting to a racetrack. I suspect most actual racetracks would have black-flagged you for aggressive driving. Anything that could conceivably be that bad should never ever ever be done on roads around normal cars, drivers, trucks, and CHP officers. I know this may be a new concept to you, but discretion matters. Discretion keeps you alive. Discretion keeps you out of accidents. Discretion keeps you out of jail, and away from tickets.

I don't know if you're reading this forum, but I hope so. I would rather you enjoy that FR-S for another couple of hundred thousand miles. If the semi that wasn't paying attention had shifted lanes a minute earlier, you would have been quite literally dead as a doornail (and I would have been scraping yet another body off the pavement, which is not an experience I would recommend, especially to the body donors). If you had blown another lane change on top of one of the post-Loma Prieta 280 pavement bumps you'd have rolled the car at that speed. And you came very close to a speeding / reckless driving arrest as it was.

Don't be the first FT-86 Darwin Award winner.

I JUST missed you guys then. I was going N Bound on 280, but got off at Page Mill at around 12:10/15ish. What a clown.

I keep the car around 65-70 at ALL TIMES on the highway. It's not worth the ticket, nor the safety of yourself and others. Sure the car is fun to drive, but just go sign up for an auto-x or a track event. There are PLENTY of them to choose from in this area. Just go look at the Bay Area SCCA page on events, and pick your poison. From the sound of your driving, I'd suggest driving school as a start. I don't drive like you, and it's where I'm starting. I want to be able to drive this car properly on the track. I want to be able to eke out every ounce of performance as I drive around the corners of the track.

Streets and highways, unless closed for a driving event, are not tracks.

[dnL]

Some people be cray.

[denkigrve]

I think this guy just got pulled over on De Anza in front of Apple. Too much of a coincidence to have another black one that would have been on 280 driving the same way pulled over shortly after an exit. :P

[PMok]

Originally Posted by denkigrve

I think this guy just got pulled over on De Anza in front of Apple. Too much of a coincidence to have another black one that would have been on 280 driving the same way pulled over shortly after an exit. :P

[SemperFi]

Makes me ashamed to drive a Raven one in around the same area. I keep it down below 70 though. Too old to drive like a hooligan.