Please,Just this one time; break the law

If it's safe go for it, but take every precaution.

I pass on double yellow all the time on my motorcycle. With the power to weight ration of most motorcycles, you can easily pass safely on nearly any double yellow line.

One thing to consider is that the slow moving vehicle (buggy, tractor, etc...) may suddenly decide to hang a loui and pull directly in front of you. Additionally, it's not always a marked a marked road or driveway.

Recently I was on my motorcycle and came up on a tractor, I could have blasted past him so quick he would have barely even noticed me, but I decided to just creep past him. Good thing I did! Once I was right up to his driver side rear wheel, he turned sharp left into an open field at (his) full speed. If I was even going 15mph faster than Him I would have taken a Camache Crunch!

So, like with anything, just use your best judgement and think of worst case scenario before you take action.

2oldman wrote:
Or why people pull over for an ambulance going fast the other way on a two-lane road.

Because they may need the lane going the other direction. I've seen it happen. Scared the******out of the young lady driving the vehicle that did not pull over. I had a great view since I was stopped. ;)

mdamerell wrote:
We pass buggies daily with our semi's. We have to drive through Shipshewana or Middlebury daily. Some routes have buggy lanes which are wide enough for the buggy to fit in and you can see the damage the horse hooves do to the road. It's the horse that concerns me as some are either too high strung or not fully trained. Seen one horse about pull a young woman through the open windshield of her buggy. Now days there seem to be more homemade buggies or open carts (car seats mounted on a wooden frame and car tires, redneck Amish?) Many young boys are given miniature horses and a cart to train and learn their horseman skills. Some will race these along the state roads. No age restriction.

By law the buggy (classified as a slow-moving vehicle) is required to move over and let faster traffic pass, some refuse to move over.

No requirement on seating or number of passengers. Some remind of clown cars with all the people inside. Seen buggies pulling boats and even the occasional popup camper. Wonder what his axle ratings are ;)

In our part of Indiana we see a lot of buggies as well. Everything stated above is spot on. Everyone including law enforcement at some time has to pass a buggy on double yellow. That doesn't mean cresting a hill or on a blind curve. Common sense means there are many double yellows where you can pass a buggy safely and no one will ticket you for it. Put a buggy full of kids in harms way when you pass and you will get busted, plain and simple.

Both sides pull over for emergency vehicles because you don't know where that vehicle needs to go. If there are dividers in the roadway, etc., and the ambulance has to get to a spot on the opposite side, then that means they have to move over to the wrong side of the street at an intersection and then go down the wrong way to the location. If the vehicles on that side of the street just keep going, it wouldn't be safe for the ambulance to switch sides.

My pet peeves with passing (2) are:
The person who rides my bumper for a good long stretch, then when I pull over and let him pass, he continues at the SAME EXACT SPEED as I was going. If you don't want to go faster than me, then GET OFF MY BUTT!
The person who rides so close to my butt that I can't see him out of my side mirrors (I've had this happen while driving a car not just the RV). If you want me to pull over so you can pass, then GET OFF MY BUTT so I can see you.

I'll take the buggy and the bicyclists any day over this.

et2 wrote:
Around our area it's the bicyclists on the weekends in the summer. We live out of the city and all roads are two lane. I don't mind sharing the road with them, but many of them take their privilege of sharing the road with modern automobiles to the limit.

Usually their in groups sometimes 10 or more. Instead of riding single file and close to the edge they take up the whole lane riding side by side, dodging back and forth amongst each other.

They know your back there as they have those little mirrors attached to their glasses, yet they make zero attempt to give you some room to get around them, even if you get the broken yellow line to pass ( and sometimes can't due to traffic). So I don't understand there complaints as I pass and blow the horn to keep them aware of my presence.

A lot of bicyclists do that as a power trip. Here in Texas, they actually expand their peloton to both sides of the road to prevent passing, zipping in when an oncoming car is coming, as a way to keep people from passing. Only real thing one can do is pull over for a few, count to ten (or 100) and not let road rage cause one to do something extremely stupid.

The key is situational awareness. I might be going the speed limit on a two lane road, but there are times when for safety reasons, I'll doublecheck (worst thing is pulling over as the road ends, or if it is too dangerous to move right), move over to the breakdown lane and let people pass. This is a common courtesy that I was taught as a native Texan to do on roads, so I will continue to do so.

Around our area it's the bicyclists on the weekends in the summer. We live out of the city and all roads are two lane. I don't mind sharing the road with them, but many of them take their privilege of sharing the road with modern automobiles to the limit.

Usually their in groups sometimes 10 or more. Instead of riding single file and close to the edge they take up the whole lane riding side by side, dodging back and forth amongst each other.

They know your back there as they have those little mirrors attached to their glasses, yet they make zero attempt to give you some room to get around them, even if you get the broken yellow line to pass ( and sometimes can't due to traffic). So I don't understand there complaints as I pass and blow the horn to keep them aware of my presence.

All buses (not just school buses) and all trucks carrying hazardous material must stop at railroad crossings.

2oldman wrote:

Vulcaneer wrote:
And vehicles must stop for pedestrians in cross walks... Maybe someone can explain that logic?

I'd sure like to see pedestrians use a little more judgment in allowing cars to pass before crossing, but many just walk no matter what. I can't explain why every single school bus in America has to come to a complete stop at every RR Xing. Or why freight trains have to blow horns loud enough to wake the dead at 3am. Or why people pull over for an ambulance going fast the other way on a two-lane road.

It's all complete overkill, to me. Perhaps technology can play a part, someday, in alleviating some of these perceived "safe" activities.

I agree that more pedestrians and bikers need to look around a bit more, even though they have the right of way.

School buses....have you ever rode or driven a school bus. There is no way a drivers would hear the horns with 50+ kids on a bus. Some crossings have no flashing lights or arms.

Ambulances and police.... I have no objection in pulling over. The thing is these vehicles are often going fast and need to be somewhere. If nobody pulled over there could be lengthy delays. Also, someone always thinks they can go a bit faster and get out of the way, only to cause an accident. Even coming on the opposite side of the road, they need the space and assurance of getting through. For the few seconds you are pulled over is it not better? Possibly if an emergency vehicle was a bit too late getting to your house because they were stuck in traffic you would understand.

Vulcaneer wrote:
And vehicles must stop for pedestrians in cross walks... Maybe someone can explain that logic?

I'd sure like to see pedestrians use a little more judgment in allowing cars to pass before crossing, but many just walk no matter what. I can't explain why every single school bus in America has to come to a complete stop at every RR Xing. Or why freight trains have to blow horns loud enough to wake the dead at 3am. Or why people pull over for an ambulance going fast the other way on a two-lane road.

It's all complete overkill, to me. Perhaps technology can play a part, someday, in alleviating some of these perceived "safe" activities.

Vermont has a law made for slow moving tractors and traffic. It is OK to pass slow moving traffic on double yellow providing you don't exceed the speed limit.
Good law.

JimJ