Bad Drivers?

Hey guys i have a problem. I have never done it but a few times i have seen a sleepy trucker who was all over the road and i had to use *OPP i dont wish to do that to anyone but i think he was endangering his life and others.

Although i see bad drivers everywhere there is one thing that really bothers me.

What do you when its the Provinces own OPP with the poor driving, speeding and aggressive driving? I don't know why everytime though i see an OPP offficer around the GTA he always seems to be speeding unless he is at the side of the road with a customer or checking for speeders with the few exceptions at on ramps for seat belt checks?

Last week i encountered a problem. There was 2 officers that driving was completely unacceptable.

I was going up erin mills pkwy right off the QEW to go north. Although i stopped at the light and to my joy i saw one of those sexy Highway safey division cars. Oh boy!!! not only 1 but 2 of them (best looking police cars in ontario)

I am always thrilled every time i see a HSD officer. After all these guys enforce the rules on our 400 series highways. They must be the authority on proper driving and know the OHTA off by heart.

Anyways i was so joyed to see 2 OPP HSD cars both marked vics going up erin mills pkwy. I wanted to drive beside them and check out their cars and all the cool devices the officers had on the inside. Hell maybee if they were going for a tim horton's break i would have bought a coffee to.

But my joy soon started to piss me off. It was dark outside and raining. People go alot faster then 70 on erin mills but today everyone went the speed limit.

Anyways as the light turned green one of the officers slammed on the gas. He spun his wheels!!!! Stunt driving i thought okay this must just be a mistake. But maybee he forgets that others have been charged for accidently doing this and having their cars towed so no big deal.

I tried to drive behind them but i couldnt. My 4 cylinder could not keep up with their acceleration. They were flooring it. The light turned yellow and they stepped on it and i was so disappointed. I really wanted to check their cars out.

But at the next light i managed to catch up they were there. I was right behind them finally. But again he spun his tires. I tried to keep up but when i was already 20 over the speed limit he was 25-30 over the limit.

I wanted to follow him and just remind him that road has a 70 km/hr speed limit. but as he got up to about 95 i figured he didnt care. I was following them when both these officers cut off everyone and tailgated eachother onto the 403.

Mind you no lights the whole time on and not even on a 400 series highway!!!!!

1. Stunt driving (spinning wheels)

2. Following to close

3. Accelerating at a yellow

4. Exceeding the speed limit about 20-30 over the whole time on a city road with a posted limit of 70 km/hr!!!! In the rain at night in traffic.

Now bear and the rest of you will all tell me what else is new. People drive like this all the time.

I don't know if i said it but these are Police Officers that work for the Highway safety division who were driving marked car's not on an emergency breaking the very laws that they charge us with!.

I mean the HTA can be perceived as many ways. We don't all agree. But OPP officers should be the ones who set the example. Especially the HSD officers they're job is basically enforcing the OHTA.

This sets a terrible example for the public and ruins the image of the OPP in many of us.

I guess OPP many OPP officers seem to know about speeding. I find it funny that every time i see them on a 400 series they are always exceeding the maximum limit. There is officers that follow the rules but many times i see them driving to close sometimes even tailgating their own team mates in the left lane exceeding the limit!

So i guess in Ontario having a smokey the bear hat and driving a crown vic with the letters OPP marked on it is a license to do anything on the roads.

I guess Heidi Fischer and Robert Tapp know all about this.

I have no problem when i see an officer's going 20-30 over the speed limit, just i would hope they have enough ethic's to not charge other's for doing the same thing that they do.

I thought the job of the OPP was to enforce the OHTA. Shouldn't that be the ones setting the example for us and following the rules.???

Anyways i think OPP license plates are as follows.

"OPP 123"

If its 3 digits i have one of the officers license plates i wrote down. Maybee next time i am in the area i should visit his detachment for a friendly visit and just ask him if he knew what the speed limit was.? I also would love to ask him if he has ever charged anyone else for spinning their tires, going 20-30 over the limit, following to close, and making unsafe lane changes.

I remember a guy who got charged in this forum last week he was passing and temporarily exceeded the speed limit. Usually when i see officers driving on our highways they are in the left lane passing everyone.

A few months ago near Mavis rd & 401 i saw 2 officers returning from the scene of an accident going over 130 tailgating eachother along the way. (not even 1 care length between them).

I care. In fact every time i see an OPP officer they are on the side of the road or if i am lucky enough i might be able to see him for a few seconds before he passes me over the speed limit.

They enforce the OHTA so why every time i see an officer moving most of the time they are breaking the laws of it?

Maybee i am wrong but i though that police officers were exempt from the speed limit and ohta when on lawfully on an emergency and need to do so i had no idea being a OPP officer at a HSD division was some sort of license to drive however you want.

Don't paint all HSD officers with that same brush. Just b/c you see a cruiser on/near GTR does not mean it is a local car either.

OPP should be demonstrating and being ambassadors on the highways and that is the message our office goes by and I believe in.

I would suggest you go to the closet OPP office and provide the information with date, time to the "Admin Sgt". He/she can then investigate/talk to the officer(s). You can ask for a follow up phone call if you want.

Police are exempt from the speed limit in their lawful execution of their duties. There is no definition for "lawful execution of duties". Nor does not have to be an emergency, as police would never be able to exceed the speed limit to catch a speeder

Now my turn people complain when police are above the speed limit, when we drive the speed limit and someone passes the marked cruiser and they get stopped people complain.....almost darned if you do, darned if you don't?

I don't complain when an officer is speeding... right on the limit though that's just wrong.....however I did see one of the "ambassadors" reverse on the shoulder of the 407 a few weeks ago.....no lights..... that's not good....had he had lights on to reverse to the turn around I wouldn't have given it a second thought.... and no I didn't call it in. What we see everyday is not recorded though when a civilian is fighting a ticket it seems like it should be. I'll give any officer the benefit of the doubt, seeing as for the most of them traffic enforcement is a time filler. I would sooner have an officer blow by me and think that he is going to break up a domestic, bust a dealer etc. However, at the same point in time I would appriciate not being given "the speech" when I am pulled over. Also, I would like to hear the end of the speed kills Bull$#!t and see S.172 ripped from the pages of the OHTA.

End rant and Happy Easter.

Correct......

it is the change in velocity from a movement to a very abrupt STOP/change in direction that KILLS

Reflections wrote:

and see S.172 ripped from the pages of the OHTA.

Had one of those in court this week....went to trial, challenged by a paralegal and I was successful.

hwybear wrote:

Now my turn people complain when police are above the speed limit, when we drive the speed limit and someone passes the marked cruiser and they get stopped people complain.....almost darned if you do, darned if you don't?

Ya, there's been a few discussions lately about how police should set an example and all that. But as bear points out, cops are damned either way - I get really ticked off when a LEO is driving down a 400 series HWY at the exact speed limit. Everyone is afraid to pass and it causes all the lanes to get clogged. Far behind the cruiser, the ego-cases driving their mid life crisis cars can't see that there is a cop ahead that is causing people to drive slow. They get all impatient and start tailgating and making aggressive lane changes, so as to teach us how you're supposed to drive.

When I come across an officer driving down the 404 at 100/kph, I pull off the highway and take another road.

Reflections wrote:

However, at the same point in time I would appriciate not being given "the speech" when I am pulled over.

I've been lucky enough to not get "the speech" most of the time when I get stopped, but the two occasions where I did, I just smiled, nodded and bit my tongue, like I'm sure you have.

pinch wrote:

Everyone is afraid to pass and it causes all the lanes to get clogged. Far behind the cruiser, the ego-cases driving their mid life crisis cars can't see that there is a cop ahead that is causing people to drive slow.

Shows just how our speed limits really are too low. Police car going the speed limit is causing a traffic jam. Although... I will say that I've seen quite a few cases where people will just pass the cop car. Once someone does it and there is no traffic stop that immediately ensues, everyone else follows suit, usually keeping it within 15 km/h of the limit.

Radar Identified wrote:

Shows just how our speed limits really are too low. Police car going the speed limit is causing a traffic jam. Although... I will say that I've seen quite a few cases where people will just pass the cop car. Once someone does it and there is no traffic stop that immediately ensues, everyone else follows suit, usually keeping it within 15 km/h of the limit.

I don't think that has much to do with the speed itself and more to do with tailgating.

Radar Identified wrote:

Although... I will say that I've seen quite a few cases where people will just pass the cop car. Once someone does it and there is no traffic stop that immediately ensues, everyone else follows suit, usually keeping it within 15 km/h of the limit.

I used to be the one that would pass.. never thinking a LEO would actually stop me for going 10 over on a 400 series. I now know better and just pull off the road rather than cross a police vehicle. I drive by the book now. Well, at least until I beat my latest ticket. If I beat that, then I'm going back to driving 10 over. Yeah, ten over - I like to live dangerously.

hwybear wrote:

Reflections wrote:

and see S.172 ripped from the pages of the OHTA.

Had one of those in court this week....went to trial, challenged by a paralegal and I was successful.

'Bear, with the data you supply us here I wouldn't challenge you. Just pay and go. I might steal your mocha when you weren't watching though....

There is no doubt in my mind that the most dangerous scenarios I face on the 400 series highways is that sudden wall of brake lights ahead that seam to appear for no reason... that is until you get a little further along and see the cruisers running a blitz. The gentle flow of traffic (irregardless of speed) gets thrown completely out of whack and drivers suddenly find that smooth rhythm they've been comfortable with for hours is gone in a chaotic display of "every man for himself".

"Gentle flow of traffic"??!?? In the GTA it starts out with "every man for himself" until they see the cruiser, then it's "Oh please let it be the other guy!"

But I do like your imagery. Next time I go to my "happy place" I'll picture the gentle flow of traffic, like a babbling brook in a pristine amazon forest. The sound of blue and orange macaws feeding in the forest canopy. Pink river dolphins gliding over wading ocelots. Hey, why does that puma have a light deck? DOH!

ticketcombat wrote:

"Gentle flow of traffic"??!?? In the GTA it starts out with "every man for himself" until they see the cruiser, then it's "Oh please let it be the other guy!"

But I do like your imagery. Next time I go to my "happy place" I'll picture the gentle flow of traffic, like a babbling brook in a pristine amazon forest. The sound of blue and orange macaws feeding in the forest canopy. Pink river dolphins gliding over wading ocelots. Hey, why does that puma have a light deck? DOH!

Puma.....light deck.......Now there's bar-b-q'ed chicken all over my screen

Reflections wrote:

Puma.....light deck.......

Getting stopped by a puma with a light deck...

Officer: "Sir do you know how fast you were going?"

Driver: "Meow?"

Radar Identified wrote:

Reflections wrote:

Puma.....light deck.......

Getting stopped by a puma with a light deck...

Officer: "Sir do you know how fast you were going?"

Driver: "Meow?"

Now listen here

Guys i couldn't agree more.

Infact ill admit it. I love those dam OPP cruisers. When i see one i am such a bad driver. They are so distracting. Last time i saw one i went buy him at like 80 with my window down trying to see what device he was using and check out his spectre.

Mind you those cars look really good with the light bars.

There is a famous one in Kitchener. As soon as you come down the hill there is often cruisers. Right around exit 282. Everyone is going 125-140 then they see a cruiser and it turns to chaos.

Infact in the GTA traffic is nuts.

This 100 km/hr limit is a big joke.

I was on the 401 on sunday in the left lane. I was going about 129. I had so many cars riding my ass and everyone in front was doing the same thing.

It was like a massive "tailgating" party. Except there was no hot dogs and beer just a bunch of angry drivers trying to pass those pesky slow trucks in the middle lane.

Ihad never seen anything like it. And like always on our 400 series no one drives in the right lane so i had to as always pass in the right lane. I co uldnt beleive it.

For about 20-30 Km/hr the whole left lane was going 125 + and everyone, i mean most o fthe cars were about 1 car length or less. There was a time around mavis i would say most cars were all going 129-131 ansd there was 2 meters between.

Maybee our limits our to low. No one follows them. The rest of the world drives faster. even our own police don't drive the limit.

Actually if any of you are curious. I tried driving the speed limit last week, i kid you not i stayed there. The silly little guy in the left lane. I was going 99-101 km/hr.

I got passed by everything on more than 4 wheels. I even had a rig with his 4 ways on honking at me.

I felt so silly, like some sort of jackass. Here i was in the right lane, and i mean everything was flying past me.

Actually bear i had another trip on the 400 its a true story. As usual on the 400 everyone was speeding, ya its the 400. But i saw him in a usual place and i couldn't help but notice those bright ass LED's from about far away.

Every time i pass an officer on a 400 series i always pull into the right lane and drive exactly 100 km/hr.

Except he didnt like it. So he followed me and he though i had a radar detector . He kept followin me and passed and looked on my wind shield and then proceeded to take off in HSD fashion.

So guys is it me or i am the only one in this forum that seems to think our limits our way to low.

I mean i cant drive the limit. Even in the right lane at 100 i get honked at by trucks.

I mean the Police, transports, old people, 4 cylinders, SUV's, Vans, Ice cream trucks and everything on 4 wheels or more seems to drive more than 100 on our 400 series highways when they're is not a major traffic jam.

I cant even drive 115-120. I mean if i drive 115 in the middle lane i start becoming an obstruction to the other traffic.

If i drive in the left lane and even try to stay at 120 i will have people racing around me, honking at me, passing on the shoulder, high beaming me, and doing anything to get around me.

What gives.

I have been on many highways in the GTA with the flow of traffic going at 130 and this still happens.

Ive seen many officer also drive 20-30 over on our highways.

So is it just me or am i the only one that does this in this province? It seems to me every time i take a 400 series that the flow of traffic is driving these speeds.

I remember when i first started driving on our 400's and i was on the 400 S going about 120 and i was just getting my door's blown off.

Its not just the 400. Even on the 401 or the QEW people are still trying to pass at 130.

The Cops know it to. They aren't blind i am sure. I dont think everyone is this blind.

I am not blind i am driving on these things alot and tons of people everyday are all going 120-130 and there is still enough people trying to pass.

The OPP can't get them all.

The limit really bugs me. Then you pass some trucks in the left lane going 115 and you get dinged a few hundred and insurance for passing them and reaching 140 while trying to move out of the way of those guys on your ass cause your still going to slow.

So what speed are we supposed to go?

If you go with the flow of traffic you can get screwed out of hundreds of dollars and face massive insurance increases.

But one time i tried to slow down. There was a female in the car. She freaked out cause i was going 125. SO i told her i would slow down for her safety. So i tried to go 110 in the middle lane of the 400.

Within seconds we had people passing on the right, left, swerving around us, high beams, the usual etc.

100 km/hr? The whole rest of the world goes faster then this. Most of Europe goes 120-130 and they have crappy roads compared to the quality of some of our roads they also do it with old junky unsafe cars.

I mean our own police won't even go 100 so why is the limit set at that. Maybee its one thing to set the limit at 100 in the GTA but outside the GTA with 3 lanes and a concrete median with 6 + feet of shoulder. Let's get real.

Maybee also a higher limit or more realistic one would allow the OPP to focus on other issues.

Lane discipline, real aggressive drivers, aggressive trucks, unsafe loads, careless driving.

This low limit is causing problems and its wreaking havoc with our lane discipline. Ontarian's treat lane discipline like a joke and to me i think its perhaps the most dangerous thing on the road.

I see it everyday, people refuse to move so they race around the traffic and almost crash into each other and the trucks. And slowing trucks to 105 is supposed to make things better, ya right maybe if they are forced to drive in the right lane.

Some day ill hope they will raise the limits, put up some big signs "Move right except to pass," fix the paint and those annoying right lanes that end out of no where, and maybee the OPP can focus on the really fast, slow, and dangerous drivers and truckers.

Maybee a higher limit would allow the OPP to go for those real stunt drivers.

Not the ones going 50 over the 100 limit but the ones that are going 50 over the actual flow of traffic or the speed people actually drive.

tdrive2 wrote:

Maybee our limits our to low. No one follows them.

I beg to differ.

tdrive2 wrote:

Actually if any of you are curious. I tried driving the speed limit last week, i kid you not i stayed there. The silly little guy in the left lane. I was going 99-101 km/hr.

I got passed by everything on more than 4 wheels. I even had a rig with his 4 ways on honking at me.

Do you have a car that everyone hates, or that seems to attract jackasses? Acura Vigor? BMW 5-series?

In the past three years or so, I have only been honked at once by a truck on HWY 11. I was going at the limit of 90 km/h, and he felt it necessary to blast his horn as he passed me. I chewed him out on my CB; I didn't know I could be so mean to Quebeckers.

tdrive2 wrote:

Ontarian's treat lane discipline like a joke and to me i think its perhaps the most dangerous thing on the road.

Case in point:

tdrive2 wrote:

But one time i tried to slow down. There was a female in the car. She freaked out cause i was going 125. SO i told her i would slow down for her safety. So i tried to go 110 in the middle lane of the 400.

Within seconds we had people passing on the right, left, swerving around us, high beams, the usual etc.

tdrive2 wrote:

I cant even drive 115-120. I mean if i drive 115 in the middle lane i start becoming an obstruction to the other traffic.

If i drive in the left lane and even try to stay at 120 i will have people racing around me, honking at me, passing on the shoulder, high beaming me, and doing anything to get around me.

What gives.

A few times honking thats a bit much.

Although usually if i am on the highway people will just race around me.

But i am the last guy on earth to park in the left lane.

This always happens when some A hole up the road has a mile of cars behind him.

As i said most times along the 401 at off peak times when the flow of traffic is anything less than 125 i always have some guy on my ass riding my grill or wanting to pass.

Sometimes its hard cause i want to pass to and so do about another 10 people all being held up.

Highbeams is very common.

But i never need to do this.

In ontario all drivers only drive in the 2 left lanes.

So i just go in the right lane to pass everyone and watch the angry mob of 15 tailgaters behind some wise guy in a Toyota Prius going 110 (the same speed as the truck beside him) clogging the whole road for everyone.

COme on 100 km/hr.

Have you ever taken a drive down the 400,407 QEW some places.

This is nuts. Anyways i know the limit is a joke when the officers don't drive it either.

Its a joke until they scalp you for a few hundred dollars for going the flow of traffic.

IMO the highway is the safest when people execute proper lane discipline.

Speed doesn't really change anything. Usually its slow trucks in the middle lanes that cause problems and force everyone into the left most lane which then the slower drivers anger the faster ones.

There has been so many times where i have seen traffic going at 120-140 just perfectly fine. People move to the right, travel at a safe distance, pass on the left, etc.

It always turns into a mess when they encounter some slow trucks or someone who parks in the left lanes.

Either that or everyone sees an officer and passes.

Whoever the guy was who talked about passing an officer. I never do it.

Actually when i know an officer is present i drive in the right lane at 100 km/hr. I always get a bunch of weird looks like i am retarded. It always catches the officers attention. I mean EVERYONE goes 100 i am sure as they rocket by me.

Some day i would love to see officers devoting more time to other things like aggressive and careless drivers, enforcing lane discipline, inspecting unsafe trucks and loads, and some of those aggressive truck drivers.

Sorry squishy i would never go 100 in the left lane my apologies.

Know sometimes if i know the overpass or see the lights, etc i always pull into the right most lane and drive the limit.

Sometimes i have a good laugh being the slowest vehicle on the road as everything riding on wheels passes me.

it has happened before where i was the only one driving the limit on the right side and the officer gave me a weird eye, he pulls up behind me tries to follow me. Then he speeds up and tried to look on my window for a RD.

tdrive2 wrote:

Some day i would love to see officers devoting more time to other things like aggressive and careless drivers, enforcing lane discipline, inspecting unsafe trucks and loads, and some of those aggressive truck drivers.

Then give us proper traffic enforcement vehicles......I see loads of stuff in my own car, all of what you mention, get into my billboard and angels drivers everywhere.

Lane discipline isn't just about the left lane. The simplest way I can put it is, "Faster than the lane to your right, slower than the lane to your left." If you can get passed by a vehicle on your right, then you are in the wrong lane. It's too bad that this is not part of the HTA. I'd like to have a chat with the guy who felt it necessary to specifically state that passing on the right is legal.

As for trucks parked in the centre lane holding up traffic, I completely agree. I'm surprised that I have never heard any truckers communicate to one of those centre-lane bandits to move his buttocks over. Lots of racial slurs get thrown around about certain truckers who hang frilly decorations in the cab, but the ones in the centre lane seem to be off-limits.

By the way, I have driven the 400, QEW, 404, 401, 409, etc., in urban, suburban, and rural settings. I have also driven two-lane highways in suburban and rural settings, as well as travelled the eastern half of the States as far as Florida and Texas. I wouldn't know how they drive in the BC mountains or out on the open prairies, but I'm familiar with the habits of most of central and southern Ontario.

Squishy wrote:

The simplest way I can put it is, "Faster than the lane to your right, slower than the lane to your left."

Makes the most sense to me, otherwise we're turning the highway into a Grand Slalom of sorts, with more lane changes/tailgating/etc. Although I will say that driving from Windsor back to Toronto last weekend, after clearing the construction area, I got into the right lane and stayed there for the next 15 or so kilometres until it got down to 2 lanes at Tilbury. Everyone else was mixing it up in the centre and left lane. I just kept going in the far right lane, didn't have to change lanes once, and I had unrestricted visibility because everyone else thought the right lane was some sort of sacred ground, never to be driven on.

Radar Identified wrote:

Squishy wrote:

The simplest way I can put it is, "Faster than the lane to your right, slower than the lane to your left."

Makes the most sense to me, otherwise we're turning the highway into a Grand Slalom of sorts, with more lane changes/tailgating/etc. Although I will say that driving from Windsor back to Toronto last weekend, after clearing the construction area, I got into the right lane and stayed there for the next 15 or so kilometres until it got down to 2 lanes at Tilbury. Everyone else was mixing it up in the centre and left lane. I just kept going in the far right lane, didn't have to change lanes once, and I had unrestricted visibility because everyone else thought the right lane was some sort of sacred ground, never to be driven on.

Hey, that is a fantastic driving tip! Whenever one is there, all they have to do is is go 105-110 in the right lane without being:

a: harrased by the HSD who have more pressing concerns on their minds

b: worry about rocketeers who occupy the ledft lane

Hey RadarIdentified was that along there on the 401 this sunday afternoon.

What a mess. It was a massive tailgating party, never seen anything like it.

Must have been km of traffic all going 129 riding 1 to 1/2 car lengths behind each other.

What do cops do in a situation like this.

The 401 is always like that they all occupy the 2 left most lanes.

No one uses the right lanes not even the trucks. I just go in there now and pass if i have to in the right lane. I have given up trying to pass on the left. Its to stressful and impossible.

I just kept going in the far right lane, didn't have to change lanes once, and I had unrestricted visibility because everyone else thought the right lane was some sort of sacred ground, never to be driven on. Shocked

That there lane is for big trucks, school buses and winobego's. All pray to the mighty gas gulping R/V's

I gotta get me one of them.....

Reflections wrote:

I gotta get me one of them.....

The RV, the Mercedes, or the little kid?

tdrive2 wrote:

Hey RadarIdentified was that along there on the 401 this sunday afternoon.

I was on the 401 Sunday afternoon, but the stretch where I was in the right lane while everyone else was duking it out in the middle and left lanes was in Essex County. From about Cambridge all the way to TO it was a goat rodeo.

racer wrote:

Whenever one is there, all they have to do is is go 105-110 in the right lane without being:

a: harrased by the HSD who have more pressing concerns on their minds

b: worry about rocketeers who occupy the ledft lane

Staying in the far right lane works well for me! Another thing to mention is that, although I was prepared to move left to allow merging traffic onto the highway, I didn't have to do it. People would get on the on-ramp, swerve across the right lane (which was emtpy) and immediately join the middle lane (which was stacked full of cars).

As for HSD, there were a few more than usual, being the long weekend. Even looked for Da Bear, but no bear sightings that weekend.

Squishy wrote:

The RV, the Mercedes, or the little kid?

I was wondering the same thing...

Squishy wrote:

Reflections wrote:

I gotta get me one of them.....

The RV, the Mercedes, or the little kid?

Already got 2 kids, that's lots.....

Don't like the merc's too heavy....

Besides, I could live in that thing cheaper than a house, as long as I don't move it.

Haha Radar Identified i laughed so hard.

Haha a goat rodeo what a way to explain it perfectly!!!!

I love the right lane.

Hey the right lane should be for those trucks but they love to go slow in the middle lane and mess up the flow of traffic.

I heard the right lane gives you cancer this must be why everyone is afraid of it.