I notice that only about 1 out of 15 times on So.Cal roads that when one is courteous and lets someone enter from a gas station or allows cars behind him to pass, does the other party wave Thank you or express it in any other way. I believe that rude behavior and ill manners is increasing everywhere far greater than the increase in population in general.
Doesn’t mom or dad teach their children manners anymore or is this approaching extinction?
Oh don’t even get me started on the morning commute. I drive TWENTY minutes. That’s it. You’d think it would be a piece of cake. I have my learner’s right now, my own car, I’m in Driver’s Ed (I’m 19…the oldest person there, haha). My brother or stepdad drive with me and then they take my car home.
EVERY morning I pull up to this one intersection. “LEFT TURN YIELD TO ONCOMING TRAFFIC.” Each side of the road has two lanes, one for right turns and going straight. The other for LEFT TURNS ONLY! So I am in the appropriate lane, sitting in the middle of the intersection. If I don’t get a chance to make my turn, I wait until the light is yellow and turn then. Well, the other day some fuckwad is in the left turn only lane behind a very large garbage truck. Those two cars are the only ones in the intersection besides me. I let the garbage truck turn because I don’t want it to sideswipe me, huge as it is, and then the car behind it in the LEFT TURN ONLY LANE goes straight. STRAIGHT INTO THE SIDE OF MY CAR! Well, not actually, but had I not slammed on my brakes, they would have.
HEY! Here’s a novel idea! If the sign says “LEFT TURN ONLY LANE” maybe you should make a fucking left turn! OR…get into the oooooother lane and just go instead of waiting behind a huge truck yielding to oncoming traffic when there is absolutely no traffic preventing you from switching lanes.
Spooje,
Concerning the crucial 101 to 134 merger section:
I usually get on the 134 at Laurel Canyon, which is very crowded. From there, you have less than a mile to change three lanes, often in huge traffic, to get to the 134 onramp. Even from Coldwater, the other major city-to-valley artery, it is not a good amount of time to change that many lanes. Often, rush hour traffic makes the situation close to impossible, even if I try to start lane changing immediately. I think that interchange is just a shitty situation, for even the best intentioned drivers. That said, however, I will state that I always wave profusely to the kind drivers who let me in.
My two cents.