So, how fast do you drive towing?

[Patandlinda]

You'd be nuts to use some pullouts. It would take an hour for traffic to ease enough to get back on the highway.

Cannot speak for Canada . When I use a pullout or a passing lane I make sure I can do it safely for myself as well . But I don't want to hold others up because I want to go slower . There are a lot of rude , dangerous people on the road especially not pulling trailers who just want you to get out of their way even if you are doing speed limits . Pretty scary Glen and you need enough room to merge back safely for yourself as well . Pat

 

[Iowa Dave]

I drove narrow mountain logging roads for two summers when I worked in Idaho. When we got to a pullout when going uphill on those narrow gravel roads we would pull off and stop. Then we would roll the windows down and listen for a log truck Jake brake coming down. Hearing none, we would drive like **** for the next pull off. Lather rinse and repeat for about twenty miles until we reached our destination. Drove into the short side ditch several times but never over the edge. Good times. Loggers appreciated your attentiveness and would set them up in the Selway bar in Kooskia on a Friday night.
Dave

 

[PGDriver]

The pull outs I'm use to are areas where you you can stop and they usually have a garbage can and some have washrooms.

Cheers
Doug

[emoji848] Oops must have been thinking about rest areas.

Cheers
Doug

 

[JohnB]

You'd be nuts to use some pullouts. It would take an hour for traffic to ease enough to get back on the highway.

A bit surprising that the gravel truck driver you encountered actually pulled out into the "Pullout" area but had no intention of stopping - why bother! Would have been safer for him to stay on the road and ignore the posted law. He was sort of obeying the law!

I bet the lawyers would have a real good time arguing in court had there been an accident?? Your estate would have appreciated the insurance payment Glen!!

 

[Iowa Dave]

He was right all right as he sped along but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong. Burma Shave
Never pass, on a slope, unless you have, a periscope Burma Shave
Dave

 

[Patandlinda]

Heading home through Idaho and Washington I found myself on a long, winding climb on a secondary highway, and found myself behind a tandem gravel truck.
He obeyed the signs to use the pullouts, but the pullouts were, at most, a couple hundred feet long. He didn't stop because he would be a traffic hazard trying to pull back into traffic.
I made two attempts to overtake him ( towing the trailer ). The second time I almost got alongside and he pulled into my lane. Don't blame him cause he really had nowhere else to go.
Some highway engineer may have thought these pullouts were a good idea, and so did the law makers, but, in practice they were a hazard.
So, I sat behind that gravel truck for a half hour or more, climbing the hills at 10 mph at times.

Just read you were in the United States not Canada . I would of just stayed behind too or maybe if I could of pulled off safely , pulled off , sit and let him get ahead . For me I don't care if they say to pull off and it isn't safe for me , I am not doing it . Pat

 

[blue_bullet]

He was right all right as he sped along but he's just as dead as if he'd been wrong. Burma Shave
Never pass, on a slope, unless you have, a periscope Burma Shave
Dave

Now, Dave you started something. I remember those signs as my parents moved us from Portsmouth, VA to Juneau in 1958 via auto as far as Seattle. B4 Eisenhower built the Interstate System. Very different times. 400 miles was a good day.

Don't lose
Your head
To gain a minute
You need your head
Your brains are in it
Burma-Shave

More> Burma-Shave Jingles

 

[vermilye]

At least a couple of western states have short pull outs & signs that state you are "required by law" to use them if there are more than 5 vehicles behind you, usually on windy 2 lane roads without passing lanes. I believe Washington is one of them. I tend to use them as necessary since my usual driving speed is 57 - 58MPH, secondary roads (or interstates).

As to why people speed up in the passing lanes - I think there are two reasons 1. they figure on the next hill you are going to slow them down, and 2. It is a wider section of road so you can go faster...

Then again, there is Texas, where they expect you to pull onto the shoulder to get out of the way even if you are doing the speed limit and are in a passing zone. I couldn't understand why I got the finger salute (in a passing zone) until a Texan explained the concept to me...

 

[Dave Walter]

On relaxed days I will stay at or slightly above the posted limit. On long drives or days when we need to pile up the kilometres, I will average 10-15 kph over the posted limit. I have no problems passing slower moving traffic when it is safe to do so.

 

[bdornbush]

In CA, it is required to use the pullouts if there are more than 3 vehicles behind you. The pullouts are marked as such and are paved so there is little risk using them. When I'm towing, I always pull out if I have a backup behind me.

To the main topic, I tow at around 60 MPH when towing. In CA, that is usually about how fast most trucks are also going. The 55 MPH when towing speed limit in CA applies to both trailer towing and trucks, and we all usually settle around 60 MPH. There are, of course, exceptions. In other states, I usually stick to around 60 MPH.

I had a trailer tire blowout when I traveled around 65 MPH in hot weather. It may not have been the cause, but I feel better not pushing it too hard.

 

[JohnB]

Then again, there is Texas, where they expect you to pull onto the shoulder to get out of the way even if you are doing the speed limit and are in a passing zone. I couldn't understand why I got the finger salute (in a passing zone) until a Texan explained the concept to me...

Pulling over onto the shoulder, at postsed highway speeds, to allow others to pass was something I first encountered in Alberta in the mid 70's driving from Calgary to Medicine Hat, the Trans Canada HIghway. This was well before my trailer pulling days. Back then, being in my mid 20's, I thought it was such a great idea.

In BC highway shoulders were generally quite narrow, certainly not the width of a vehicle. I never experienced the process in BC. In Alberta, shoulders were at least the width of a vehicle or more.

As I got older and realized that I was indeed not invincible, I began to wonder how I would explain to my insurance adjuster what I was doing driving on the shoulder, 3 or 4 abreast, on a two lane highway at highway speeds and got involved in an MVA?? I don't think I would be in a good legal position. S--t Happens!

From then on I ceased to pull over at highway speed onto the shoulder in Alberta to let the speeders pass. They could flash all the fingers they wanted at me, I was not going to compromise my safety for their need to speed. Granted I did not do a lot of driving in Alberta so I don't think I irked too many drivers!

Now most of the major highways in Alberta are four lane so they have a lane to pull into and make a safer pass. I am much safer and happier driving there now.

I don't profess to be a perfect driver, but I do continue to learn and improve. I have a number of future camping trips that I want to be there for.

 

[oldwave]

Driving in Mexico in 1972 from Mexico City to Acapulco thorough the mountains gave me an appreciation for insanity . There were no guard rails on the narrow road and thousands of feet drop offs. More than once on the 6 hour drive buses an overfilled and overweight bus passed us on blind curves (we were three friends in a VW). At the end of the trip we were talking to someone in a gas station about that experience and he told us that yes one or two buses a year would go over the edge! No too add to the drama on the last curve of the last hill coming down to the plains that went out to the sea and Acapulco Bay, the rear wheel falls off. My buddy forgot to tighten the lug nuts sufficiently after a flat tire in Mexico City. No I didn't make this up.

 

[HABBERDABBER]

Destination?

Eric,

Where are you headed to? I'm just curious.

Tom

 

[gbaglo]

This is from DriveSmartBC:

Our highways are not for the exclusive use of motor vehicles. Bicycles, pedestrians, equestrians and others may be expected to use their fair share of the highway as well. In fact, in some ways the shoulder of the road could be considered to be their domain and not always that of the driver. The shoulder of the highway is the area to the right of the solid white line at the right side of the roadway, or the part of the highway to the right of the pavement if that solid white line is not present. The roadway is between the center of the highway and the shoulder.
Drivers must drive on the roadway, not the shoulder. Passing on the right off of the roadway and driving on the shoulder to allow others to pass are common violations of this rule. Many drivers regularly fail to confine the path of their vehicle to the roadway, putting both themselves and those on the shoulder at risk.


I gather that this site is not an official site, just a hobby for some guy.

 

[Jim Bennett]

Pulling over onto the shoulder, at postsed highway speeds, to allow others to pass was something I first encountered in Alberta in the mid 70's driving from Calgary to Medicine Hat, the Trans Canada HIghway. This was well before my trailer pulling days. Back then, being in my mid 20's, I thought it was such a great idea.

Yes, this was something commonly done around here on roads with wide shoulders, and with a clear view for a long ways ahead, so mostly on the open prairie. It seems to be something that has slipped away in the last 20 years.

 

[gbaglo]

From BC Motor Vehicle Act.
Bet you didn't know this:

Travelling through canyons

196 When travelling through defiles or canyons or on mountain highways, the driver of a motor vehicle must hold the motor vehicle under control and as near the right hand edge of the highway as reasonably possible, and on approaching a curve where the view is obstructed within a distance of 60 m along the highway, must give audible warning with the horn of the motor vehicle.

;D

 

[thoer]

Eric,

Where are you headed to? I'm just curious.

Tom

Tom no where specific other than the Tucson area. We're just north of Tucumcari tonight. We'll probably head to Carlsbad Caverns tomorrow as Mary has never been there then on to White Sands

I'm glad to be hopefully out of the high winds I've been fighting the last two days

 

[rbryan4]

Then again, there is Texas, where they expect you to pull onto the shoulder to get out of the way even if you are doing the speed limit and are in a passing zone. I couldn't understand why I got the finger salute (in a passing zone) until a Texan explained the concept to me...

Ah yes, the 'Texas pass'. Just so you know Jon, the finger wave is not a part of that.

It's done commonly here because the shoulders are build wide enough to do it. The protocol is usually to move to the shoulder, but not reduce speed. As you're passed, you raise your hand slightly off the wheel to say howdy. If the other driver knows the code, they raise their hand too. Not too fast - nice and lazy...he he.

 

[gbaglo]

If the other driver knows the code, they raise their hand too. Not too fast - nice and lazy...he he.

And, I guess, they don't reach under the seat. ;D

 

[thoer]

Jim are Marathon's really rated at 75 mph? I thought all ST tires were 65 mph rated.