# A few assorted driving mini-rants **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 23, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105 "2005-09-23T19:16:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/41 "2005-09-25T01:11:58Z")
When you are going straight ahead, in rush hour traffic, please don’t go through the orange light. You end up blocking the lane for all of us turning. It is incredibly annoying to sit through 3 changes of lights without being able to fucking move! I am sick to death of watching selfish wankers going through the orange light. Get the fuck out of the way you wanker! ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/42 "2005-09-25T01:25:47Z")
> [@AHarris](#): > > **Don’t honk at me if I don’t turn right while at a red light.** Despite the fact that it is legal, there is no law (to the best of my knowledge) saying that I am required to do so. There are lots of reasons not to make the turn at this time, and if you honk at me, you are adding another one to the list. Conversely. right on red does not mean “if I think I can beat the car coming from the left by a few feet, then do so”. You do not have the fucking right-of-way in this situation; ever! ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/43 "2005-09-25T01:30:02Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > When you are going straight ahead, in rush hour traffic, please don’t go through the orange light. You end up blocking the lane for all of us turning. It is incredibly annoying to sit through 3 changes of lights without being able to fucking move! > > I am sick to death of watching selfish wankers going through the orange light. Get the fuck out of the way you wanker! Is the orange light the same as the yellow light in the US? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/44 "2005-09-25T01:34:51Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > Is the orange light the same as the yellow light in the US? Probably. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/45 "2005-09-25T01:53:04Z")
> [@calm kiwi](#): > > Probably. In New Zealand, it’s yellow too, but orange, when somebody plugs an electric razor into the grid somewhere. 😃 (sorry **CK** , I couldn’t resist) Anyway, it’s “amber”, as any fule kno. ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/46 "2005-09-25T01:57:15Z")
> [@TheLoadedDog](#): > > In New Zealand, it’s yellow too, but orange, when somebody plugs an electric razor into the grid somewhere. 😃 > > (sorry **CK** , I couldn’t resist) > Anyway, it’s “amber”, as any fule kno. Oh bugger off 😃 It’s frigging orange! Ask any kid. (The grid is all ok for now…summer is a different question 🙂 ) ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/47 "2005-09-25T03:59:16Z")
> [@trublmakr](#): > > Your SUV is not made of glass. There is no need to come to a complete stop when you get to that speed bump and then sloooooowly inch over it. If I can go over the speed bump while just slowing down in my bucket of bolts sedan, surely you can do it in your SUV! Fucking GO! Well… I used to have this very opinion. I go over each of the six speedbumps on my way to work each day to 60k/h unless some slowpoke is in front of me. That’s in a Mondeo (compact Ford larger than a Focus). Or unless an SUV is in front of me. It’s a company car, but aside from that, it’s a lot more comfortable just to race over the things. _However_, that only applies in the car. In my Expedition, if I try to do that, I bounce all over the fscking place. It’s a truck and it drives like a truck and there’s no way to take those so dang fast. Uh, granted, stopping completely to roll over them slowly isn’t necessarily required, either – just pointing out that as much as the driver may _want_ to not slow down at all, it _is_ necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Roland\_Orzabal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c2a13f/32.png) [@Roland\_Orzabal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roland_Orzabal)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/48 "2005-09-25T08:12:47Z")
> [@Grelby](#): > > I find it just as annoying as anyone else to be stuck behind someone going 10-15 mph under the speed limit on the rare occasions when I do drive, but I’m getting sick of this all-but-universally-accepted falsehood. With the exception of limited-access, high-speed roads with minimum speed limits, going slower than traffic, even by a fairly significant margin, is _not unsafe_. If that were the case, there would be a lot more dead bicyclists and construction vehicle drivers and a lot less dead highway motorists. > > That said, I agree with you. If you or your car hit the limit at 25, driving on public roads is ill-advised, but for different reasons. Point taken; I think you may have misunderstood me, though. I don’t mean that you’re a danger because you’re driving slowly, I mean that you’re a danger because anybody who’s scared to drive 25 is going to have a nervous breakdown if they get in any kind of unusual situation, and any car that can’t go over 25 probably shouldn’t be going anywhere at all. Driving slowly is unsafe only to the extent that you piss off other drivers enough to actually try to harm you. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/49 "2005-09-25T11:01:35Z")
Regarding turning right on red: please consider that the driver who is at the intersection and not turning right may be courteously yielding the crosswalk to pedestrians approaching from either side, which the impatient jackass behind him may not be in a position to see. Please don’t run over pedestrians in crosswalks, it isn’t sporting. ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/50 "2005-09-25T12:43:05Z")
> [@bluethree](#): > > Please don’t run over pedestrians in crosswalks, it isn’t sporting. But they’re worth 100 points! (150 if they have a baby carriage.) The below speed limit thing was what to do in Denver last night. On my way downtown, I spent two-thirds of the trip behind someone going 10-15 below, no matter what the limit was. Then the last third, on a one-way with parking on both sides, a narrow thru lane, densely populated, pedestrians, bicycles, and lunatics everywhere, the jerk-off behind me wanted to go 60! I swear, when I win the lottery, I’m hiring a chauffeur. (I won’t get a new car, though. It’d be kind of cool to tool around town in my chauffeured Saturn.) ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/51 "2005-09-25T12:45:51Z")
> [@This Year's Model](#): > > But they’re worth 100 points! (150 if they have a baby carriage.) You want the nun in the neck brace. 1500 points, instant win. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/52 "2005-09-25T12:59:57Z")
I see I’m not the only fan of Lieber’s _X Marks the Pedwalk_. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/53 "2005-09-25T19:36:51Z")
> [@kanicbird](#): > > Yea yea yea. Did you ever think that that speed limit was set with the assumption that people will excede it by x mph? Did you ever hear of enforcement tollerences? This makes that limit immoral, and your driving habits worthy of a place near, but not in, the hottest part of hell. > > Save your soul and pull over and allow the pass. \ A speed limit is set by law. A cop does NOT have to let you exceed it by 2 or 3 MPH. He/she/it can issue a ticket at .1 mph over speed limit. \ I follow the driving laws. I am a safe driver. I use turn signals, brake lights, and follow speed limits. I do not tailgate. I pull over to dial my cell phone or answer it, and have a headset and mic if i need to be on the phone while driving. I don’t eat while driving though I do have a nice in door cup holder and will drink while driving. I do not read, put on makeup or zone out at traffic lights. What is so immoral about following the law? If more people followed traffic laws you wouldnt have so much trouble. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2005, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/54 "2005-09-25T19:58:48Z")
> [@RSSchen](#): > > Yes, absolutely. Our lanes here are quite wide enough to accomodate two full-sized vehicles intentionally. It’s quite common practice to sidle up next to a car and turn right. Nope, that’s illegal. Someone did that to me down in Los Angeles, then slammed into the side of my car. They tried to say it was my fault because passing on the right (in a single lane) is ok, so long as there is room. He tried to argue that _I_ should have been paying more attention. The judge said he was an idiot (well, in nicer terms), quoted a few lines of the law (saying when it is legal to pass on the right) that proved that this type of passing is in fact illegal, and awarded me all the damages. So lots of people do it, but it isn’t legal. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/55 "2005-09-26T00:11:32Z")
Can we put parking lot crap in here too? I think people aren’t even trying to follow anything resembling rules in parking lots any more. I was picking up my new car at the dealership yesterday (HUGE smiley!), and was nearly run over in the parking lot crossing from my parked car. When I say nearly run over, I mean this guy came into the parking lot at road speed and I jumped back. I think he would have missed me anyway, but when someone gets that close going that fast, you jump back. Let’s list the reasons to drive slowly and with extra care in parking lots: - kids running from their parents just because they’re kids - people walking - car doors opening suddenly - people backing up - people backing up blindly because they can’t see around the large vehicles - shopping carts, with or without people pushing them - potholes - old people - people parked in unexpected places - other vehicles ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 12:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/56 "2005-09-26T00:14:04Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > Can we put parking lot crap in here too? How about people who drive the wrong direction down a row and get pissed when you won’t get out of THEIR way? ---
**Author:** ![Avarie537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/48db29/32.png) [@Avarie537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Avarie537)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/57 "2005-09-26T02:16:03Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#): > > How about people who drive the wrong direction down a row and get pissed when you won’t get out of THEIR way? I prefer to curse at the ones who don’t bother with the rows and just drive straight through the lot like there’s no lines! Coming home from shopping today, I noticed that about 1/3 of the people on the interstate didn’t have their headlights on even though it was raining and had been raining all morning (it wasn’t a surprise shower). WTF?? Turn your lights on, you freak, and stop tailgaiting me. I don’t really want to drive 75 when I can barely see 1/4 mile down the road, and I’m already in the right lane!! ---
**Author:** ![Large\_Marge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/50afbb/32.png) [@Large\_Marge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Large_Marge)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 9:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/58 "2005-09-26T09:01:28Z")
> [@DiosaBellissima](#): > > Nope, that’s illegal. Someone did that to me down in Los Angeles, then slammed into the side of my car. They tried to say it was my fault because passing on the right (in a single lane) is ok, so long as there is room. He tried to argue that _I_ should have been paying more attention. > > The judge said he was an idiot (well, in nicer terms), quoted a few lines of the law (saying when it is legal to pass on the right) that proved that this type of passing is in fact illegal, and awarded me all the damages. > > So lots of people do it, but it isn’t legal. What?! I’ve been doing that my whole life, and I grew up in Orange County! I get totally annoyed when people in the right lane don’t pull to the left side of it at a light so that others can turn right. People have sidled up to me a thousand times to make a right-hand turn! ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/59 "2005-09-26T10:22:55Z")
**Don’t signal left and turn right.** I swear, I saw this twice in one week, once on a day when I was already slightly irritable. No, I don’t understand it, either. **When you’re the only car on a stretch of three-lane highway near an on-ramp, don’t stay in the right lane, slow down to a near stop to let the car merging on in ahead of you.** There’s an on-ramp near me which I use fairly regularly. Last Monday evening when I was getting on at it, there was only one car in sight, and it was in the far right lane. This is unusual, because the right lane ends within a couple of miles after an exit off of that lane, so there’s usually no one in it. That night there was. I cut my speed to let him go in front and merge in behind him. Unfortunately, as I went slower and slower, I realized he was slowing down, to, until finally, as I got down below 30 miles an hour, I realized he intended for me to go ahead of him. I did so, and got my speed back up to highway speed (the posted limit is 55 mph, minimum 45). I could see why he was in the right lane – he was getting off at the next exit – but why did he insist on slowing down to let me in? Especially since there was no one behind him. **That gap ahead of me is for my safety, not your vehicle** and **If you’re going to nose your way into that gap, remember I can’t see your turn signals if you’re next to me.** I have a rush hour commute through a couple of miles of stop-and-go traffic. Even at the 5 or 10 mph, I like to have a little space between me and the vehicle ahead of me. If someone’s signalling, that they want to move over, I’ll let them. If, however, I suddenly find the nose of a vehicle occupying the space in front of me, while I will let them in (what choice do I have?), I won’t be happy about it. I don’t leave that big a gap; the only time it’s more than a car length is when traffic suddenly moves forward and my little car doesn’t always accelerate as quickly as the car ahead of it. I do, however, like a little room. As for you, **aruqvan** , let me tell you about a situation I found myself in last week. I nearly started a Pit thread about it. Part of my commute takes me along a road on which people routinely drive about 20 mph above the speed limit. As I was coming home one evening last week, I found myself two cars behind someone in a little white pick up truck who was going the speed limit or a little faster in the left lane. I tried to pass him on the right, but came around a curve and found myself confronted by a construction truck bearing a left arrow while the construction truck ahead of it did something minor. This wasn’t a construction zone and there was no advance warning. I cut my speed, got back in the left lane, and tried to think soothing thoughts and get into a Zen-like calm since I wanted to be in that lane to merge onto a different highway in a few miles anyway. I was succeeding quite nicely when a big white pick up truck came roaring up behind me. The right lane was empty, but nevertheless, he came roaring up closer than I’d like. I tapped my brake pedal, in part to give me a bit more room, and pointed out the window to indicate that his beef wasn’t with me, but with the little white pick up truck two vehicles ahead. We were on a curve at this point, so he should have had a clear view. The big, white pick up truck continued to tailgate for a few seconds, then he roared around me and gave _me_ the finger! My Zen-like calm evaporated. If I had Pitted him, I would have made some comment about how if he’d had more brains than testosterone, he would have been able to see that _I_ wasn’t the one slowing him down, and it might even have occurred to him that I’d like to go a bit faster, too. This brings me to my final point. **If you must give the finger to someone, make sure you get the right person!** By the way, back when I drove a Geo Metro, I got honked at twice for not making a right turn on red because I couldn’t accelerate fast enough to avoid slowing down the next car coming down the road. Both times I waited until the light turned green before moving, even though I might have been able to go sooner. A Geo does not accelerate like a Porsche. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2005, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105/60 "2005-09-26T13:14:48Z")
Let me make it clear that I will not be mad if you are going the speed limit! I may grumble a bit, but I’ll keep a good following distance and send my mind elsewhere. But the latest incident I had of this was on I-787, which is a 3-lane mph highway, and the dude is driving up the middle lane doing 40. No blinkers to show his car was damaged, no getting over, nothing. That is rude. \*\* Stop being so fucking oblivious. \*\* Seriously, I can manage to drive down the road and 80 % of the time not be surprised by what people do. I was driving in Flushing, NY this weekend and I could even anticipate them! It seems like it shocks people every time when people switch lanes, or whatever - but you can see them getting ready to do it. **Be considerate. \*\* 1) If the lane to get through the light is only a 100 yards, don’t leave a following space of 2 car lengths! What I mean by this is if there are two lights close together, and you pull past the first light to the second, why wouldn’t you pull up close to the next car? If you leave so much space, that’s that many less cars that can get through. 2) If you see someone make a tight turn into the lane behind you, and for whatever reason they can’t get their car straight, and you have room between you and the car in front of you, move the fuck up! Merging: This is a huge argument on the Dope, but the only right way to do this is like this. When you are merging, after you have obeyed all traffic laws in the area, you must match your speed to the cars on the highway! This means, don’t slow down to fucking 45 because you’re nervous, but they’re going 60! This means you will never get in. Also don’t accelerate to 90 and try to get past all of them. Sheesh. And lastly:** Stop rubbernecking.\*\* Just fucking stop it. It’s one car, pulled over, it isn’t going to affect you. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-few-assorted-driving-mini-rants/323105.md?page=4)