The Positive Side of Sloth

I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.

I was exiting a freeway at a notoriously crowded off-ramp. The ramp
has two dedicated left turn lanes, one through traffic lane, and a
dedicated right turn lane. I wanted to turn left, but the left turn
lanes were significantly backed up - I would have had to sit through
at least one extra light cycle before I made it through the
intersection. So instead I pulled into the (nearly empty) through
traffic lane, intending to proceed one more block and make a left at
the next intersection.

When the light turned green (both the green arrow and the green ball
came on simultaneously), the first few cars in the left turn lane next
to me proceeded swiftly through the intersection. However, this one
Sloth was a little slow on the uptake (aren't they all?) and gave me a
perfect opportunity. I turned on my left turn signal, changed lanes in
front of the still-stagnant Sloth, and proceeded to make the left turn
I had wanted to make originally. Just to be clear, I didn' have to
force my way in or make anybody slam on their brakes; the Sloth I
puilled in front of had barely started moving when I changed lanes
about two car-lengths ahead of her.

Clearly Sloth does have its occasional benefits.

In article >, Scott en Aztlán wrote:

> Clearly Sloth does have its occasional benefits.

But had there been no sloth, the back up in those left turn lanes
wouldn't have been there in the first place!

I've done similiar, decided to go straight and turn at the next light
when there was a long queue only to find some sloth holding up the queue
so I could change lanes and make my turn before the sloth even realized
the light was green and everyone in front of it had gone through.

legality 100%, effect on other drivers 0. perfectly reasonable move.

On Thu, 15 Dec 2005 00:14:44 -0600,
(Brent P) wrote:

>> Clearly Sloth does have its occasional benefits.
>
>But had there been no sloth, the back up in those left turn lanes
>wouldn't have been there in the first place!

A keen observation! Probably 1/3 to 1/2 of the cars sitting in those
lanes had missed the LAST cycle due to Sloth drivers ahead of them.
Ironically, this number probably includes the Sloth who so kindly "let
me in" in front of her.

>I've done similiar, decided to go straight and turn at the next light
>when there was a long queue only to find some sloth holding up the queue
>so I could change lanes and make my turn before the sloth even realized
>the light was green and everyone in front of it had gone through.
>
>legality 100%, effect on other drivers 0. perfectly reasonable move.

And damn satisfying, I might add.

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
>

If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
month.

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> > I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
> >
>
> If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
> overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
> month.

And if we all sped through school zones at 41 mph we could kill a lot
more people! Hopefully one of them would be you!

Dave

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> > I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
> >
>
> If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
> overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
> month.

If you weren't such a hypocrite, Mr. 41-in-a-25mph school zone, your
post might be credible.

Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:

> Scott en Aztlán wrote:
>> I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
>>
>
> If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
> overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
> month.

How would it save billions of dollars? Roadkill doesn't cost
the government anything. The families of the bad driver
and their insurance companies end up footing the bill.

wrote:
> Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> > Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> > > I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
> > >
> >
> > If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
> > overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
> > month.
>
> If you weren't such a hypocrite, Mr. 41-in-a-25mph school zone, your
> post might be credible.

And then again, maybe not. Repeated studies have shown that the "go
with the flow" theory is correct - actually slightly faster than the
median speed, or at or near the 85th percentile is statistically the
safest speed at which to travel. But most of us already knew that (but
not Judy, obviously)

nate

Please refence these studies.

Ed

N8N wrote:
> wrote:
> > Laura Bush murdered her boy friend wrote:
> > > Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> > > > I have to admit, Sloths aren't ALL bad.
> > > >
> > >
> > > If we all drove the SL or less highway deaths would be cut in half
> > > overnight and at no cost. In fact it would save billions of $ every
> > > month.
> >
> > If you weren't such a hypocrite, Mr. 41-in-a-25mph school zone, your
> > post might be credible.
>
> And then again, maybe not. Repeated studies have shown that the "go
> with the flow" theory is correct - actually slightly faster than the
> median speed, or at or near the 85th percentile is statistically the
> safest speed at which to travel. But most of us already knew that (but
> not Judy, obviously)

100% agreement with you; just wanted to point out that Judy's beliefs
and credibility are undermined by it's own hypocricy.