Drives me crazy 4058On Wed, 06 Apr 2005 07:14:02 -0700, Scott en Aztl‡n I was thinking about this today as I aproached a red light. I had 3 choices. 2 lanes had SUVs in them...
Most of the people who stop short of the car in front-marked stop line don't stay in the place they initially stopped; they creep forward in short bursts of a foot or two at a time until the light changes.
Naw, it's not a continuous motion, but rather a stop-and-go motion.
If you immediately return to the speed limit (or faster) after the light changes, then you're not. A true Sloth Coaster will average about 15 - 20 MPH below the posted limit (on a 55 MPH street) because they are either anticipating that the green light ahead of them is about to turn red (a self-fulfilling prophecy, as I outlined in my last post) or they are slothfully accelerating away from a light that just turned green.
Yep, that's me too.
I find it a tremendous boon to my personal safety. Unlike the sheeple who accelerate like snails, I quickly establish a large space cushion around my car and maintain it as long as possible. It's also a hell of a rush. :)
Most people don't even try. The exception was this Ferrari I saw last Friday evening on the way home from work... ;)
There's a whole art and science to choosing a lane, too. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the subject.
Here in SoCal, many intersections have mid-block sensors, which can detect cross traffic that is not visible to drivers on the through street. Many times I'll see a light ahead of me turn red even though there is no cross traffic waiting, only to see a previously hidden car come out of the side street several seconds later.
Replace "Sloth Coasting" with "Coasting" and I'll agree with you. Not all Coasting is bad.
Yeah, yeah, I know all about it. But gas is so cheap I don't care. ;)
From your description, it doesn't sound like you are a Sloth Coaster. It sounds to me like you're going about your driving pretty intelligently.
-- Sloth Kills!
