Virginia Frustrations

[WV Flopper]

 Not with feathered turkeys, absolutely one of my favorite places to hunt!

Travel through!!! As we make our pilgrimages this winter and spring be aware.

Expect slow travel on I81! Multitudes of 18 wheelers "We need them moving our products", vacationers, workers, campers and people that have just forgotten how to drive.

It seems VA has allowed for so long slow drivers in the fast lane that it is now the norm. They get to the speed limit and just set there, forcing you to pass in the slow lane. Then the trucks that are running 69 MPH and 70MPH. It takes forever for a truck to gain 100' to make a pass at 1 MPH. My favorite....the guys pulling the 24'+ campers with their half ton pickups. They decide they are going to pass a 18wheeler, surely another 10 extra minutes of misery added to your life.

I remember as a kid, a passenger, that the hammer lane, WAS the hammer lane! When my mom got in it she was moving, hammer down!

Sure do miss those days as I spend time daily on I81. Traffic has gotten out of control for sure. So, if you plan to go through VA this season be patient. Give yourself plenty of time because I81 ain't for making time anymore.

Be careful on the roads and enjoy your time.

[Badger]

WV,  I agree with you as I travel I-81 and I-70 all the time. 

[CALLM2U]

As someone who travels the country, I will say that it's not a problem exclusive to I81. Although the area around Salem has been under construction and a nightmare for decades it seems like... 

I hate to sound like an old man, but the amount of people driving while on the phone is absurd.  Make sure you all are practicing defensive driving.

[turkey stew]

What is worse is the 85 to 90mph driver that is on their phone talking and texting. Going to slow and fast make for dangerous driving!

[WV Flopper]

 LOL, I have seen lots of cases of driving Distracted for sure. In many different forms too.

[bbcoach]

This is my BIGGEST PET PEEVE on ANY 4 lane divided highway.  If you come up behind them and flip your lights they slow down even further or get PO'ed and brake check you like you are the BAD GUY.  I81 in VA is a nightmare with the rolling hills.  Trucks can't pass as you stated and Left Lane Hogs are idiots.  I grew up in SW VA and my Dad taught me 50 years ago, when I was learning to drive, you move over from the right lane to pass and after you clear the vehicle you get back in the right lane.  On some of these rolling hills, if you see an 18 wheelers grill in your rearview mirror, you better get out of his way because he is carrying 80000 and he isn't stopping anytime soon.  It's the ENTITLED GENERATION with NO consideration for anyone causing most of this!

[WV Flopper]

 Surprising to me, I happen to look at half the people when I finally get by. A lot of them are older, not necessarily Silver Foxes but 50 and above. Age group that should have been taught better, like you and I.

[turkey stew]

Do'nt forget the cruise control driving. When I go around someone I will speed up, get around them, get into right lane and resume cruise.

[GobbleNut]

Driving back east on a trip a couple of years ago gave me newfound appreciation for the traffic (or relative lack thereof) in this part of the country.  Quite honestly, I don't know how you guys that live back there can put up with it.  The one trip we took back there was waayyy plenty for this boy! You guys can have it!   

[Happy]

What are these roads y'all keep talking about? In all seriousness, try 270 and 695 on the inner loop around DC around 7am if you really want to see human intelligence at its peak. That or downtown Chicago at the same time.

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[RiverBuck]

I-81 is known for being a mess. The best way I've learned to deal with it is to travel on it from 8pm-5am. On the other hand, it becomes another animal when you get tp PA and the north-east makes VA seem like a fresh breath of air.

[Dougas]

Here in Oregon, it seems as though the 'passing lane has become the second slow lane and it is easy to get boxed in so that one is going 45 to 50 in a 55 zone. I have an exit I have to take every day to get home. They start pulling over into the passing lane to make their exit about 5iles before the exit and slow down in preparation for exiting. It might 10 to 20 miles an hour in a line a mile long. The exit is suc that you don't have to slow down to exit. I can do the entire exit at 70 safely.

[Kylongspur88]

All the interstates are a mess. I see multiple people on my morning commute in their teslas reading papers and putting on makeup. It's only a matter of time before I see one of them in a ditch or under an 18 wheeler

[WV Flopper]

 The point is, I81 through VA doesn't go through a City. Winchester, Harrisonburg are not city's.

DC, Atlanta, Northern VA is rolled into one, all these places you expect heavy congested roads full of idiots. The shipping corridor makes I81 what it is. Then you add in the idiots and you have what it is.

[Will]

Out of curiosity, do you see many police or troopers working the roads like you have in the past? The reason I ask is I'm in law enforcement and staffing is down, at least in my state. Combine that with the "defund the police" movement, post COVID and new generation of work force you aren't seeing much enforcement to have an impact in behavior. What occurs in court is a different story.