Something Stupid During Class Today

I was fortunate today to have the opportunity to hit the roads with the Instructor by myself for an hour today. We did the normal nonsense, couple of turns here and there and then down a main road with several different speed limits on it.

I handled this all correctly.

Then we went down another street. This street is two lanes and it has two factors that you must determine how to handle. First is that there is a long row of parked cars that narrow the right lane. So I moved over. Once I cleared the row of cars I went back to the right lane.

Second, there is a section of the road where trees hang low in the right lane. So, before I got to the trees, I again moved to the left and continued. Further up I moved over, slowed for the RR crossing and then slowed again for the School Zone.

All of this went fine.

Then it's onto the Freeway we go. I get on the Freeway, in the #3 lane doing 55 like no one else but it's the law and that's good wiff me. There is some breaklight trouble ahead and I am trying to get a better view when the Instrutor says to get off at the next exit.

By the time he finishes that statement I have passed several cars on the shoulder of the freeway. The offramp is already backed up and it's way passed where I am at. I say that I missed the chance to get off on that exit. He says "NO, they are wrong, get off like you normally would".

I say, "That rock hauler is blocking the exit I cannot get over if I wanted to" (Mr. Rock Hauler is a set of doubles and he was blocking any cars from exiting in front of him).

He says, "too bad, they are all wrong. Follow the law".

I yell, "IT'S UNSAFE !!! I have two rigs up my ### now and stopping is not on the agenda".

We roll passed the exit and he says, "OK you could not have gotten off there if you had a running start, what a mess that is".

Now I have lived in this area for 6 years and I know what people up here do as a habit. That offramp backs up real hard sometimes and people just take to the shoulder and wait it out. That's cool. It keeps cars off the freeway and keeps trucks for hitting things.

But pushing the issue of "law" and safety and a new driver into one situation I thought was a little too weird. We were driving, not saving lives or delivering goods or anything that had a determination to exit.

Our exiting was optional. I took the High Road and overruled his direction.

I was right too. It's good to win sometimes.