There’s a lot of those around here, particularly on a stretch of US 90 that I’m too familiar with. What’s more, once you do get off after playing chicken with oncoming cars, when you get down to the access road you don’t have the right of way (you do in Texas, and it makes sense, really) and the exits are placed oddly close to the roads you are getting to. So if I am going up the Westbank Expressway to Manhattan (a major road) and will be turning right at Manhattan, I will actually get off an exit early just to give me time to move over so that I can turn right. Otherwise there’s only room to move over if there’s no traffic, and you can’t see if there’s no traffic down there until you’re on your way down. If you’re turning left, though, it’s easy.
This is a road which is perfectly safe at actual freeway speeds, but for some reason, people go slower on it. As in 45-50 slow, in a 60 zone. Morons.
I got in an accident on one of these merges. Getting on the Belt Pkwy in NYC (Short approach lanes, heavy traffic). People trying to get a little speed up, someone at head of column stops DEAD. Next car stops, then next, then me. Each car has to stop a little shorter (every driver has to add their reaction time), I look in my rearview to see if the guy behind me sees. He has his head turned over his left shoulder to check for a hole to merge to. Uh oh. He turns around, I see his eyes go wide, and say to myself “I hope he has good brakes.” Well, they weren’t good enough. Drives me into car in front. Ended up almost $2000 in damage to my car, decent chunk to car in front of me, back car was undriveable, he nosedived and took my bumper thru the grill. I had a stiff neck the next day (I have a huge melon), but AFAIK all were well, and my insurance didn’t even go up, guess they got it from him.
** Rick**, you need the downstate NY drivers. Usually more aggressive than the guys upstate there, though there are exceptions. I understand for NYC cabs, brakes are an option…
lurkernomore The Palisades Parkway runs roughly between the GW Bridge and the Tappan Zee bridge area, how much more downstate can I get? These are all people that are commuting to NYC.
I’m particularly pissed at the people who do the exact opposite - those who don’t yield to me when I’m travelling at highway speed. Instead, they come through the yield sign and try to get into my lane while I’m still occupying it.
My daughter, who is 17, was in a very similar accident, but she was in the equivalent of the car in front of you. She stopped on the exit ramp, the SUV behind her stopped, and the guy behind him hit the SUV (no damage there) which hit her. She didn’t even stop short. She said that she was relieved her first accident was one that was totally not her fault.
For insurance - my car, parked off the street, got hit once parked in Illinois when I was in New York. A drunk in a stolen car bounced off a street light and into mine. My insurance went down after this - I guess they figured my bad luck was used up for a while.
When I said people who look over their shoulders, I meant people who don’t look in their mirrors at all and who turn almost all the way around to look behind them. When I look in my blind spot, I look for just a second over my shoulder. I once had a girlfriend who would almost stand up and turn around to look and see if anyone was coming. That’s another reason I don’t like stopping on ramps. Most people seem to be looking behind themselves and not at the car in front of them. I don’t really want to get rear-ended.
Being a native Houstonian and the fact that I learned to drive here it scares me to death when folks stop on an entrance ramp because they are subject to getting the crap slammed out of them.
My method is as follows:
If there is really no room to merge I continue (at speed) on the shoulder and “bull” my way in, I am not prepared to die because you are too weak kneed to merge.
I will not even consider stopping on an entrance ramp under any circumstances! (unless it is a metered ramp).
When I go back to LA for a visit, I never stop for the meters and plan on using the “I’m not from around here, and have never seen or could possibly comprehend stopping on a merging lane” defense if ever stopped for it (yeah, like thats gonna happen!)!
Yeah, I’m an asshole! Don’t bother to rebutt.
Rick, bughunter: Done that! From Orange Grove to the 110 (in college) and from the 110 north to the terminus (was it Colorado?) last Jan for the Rose Bowl. It was “Deja Vu” and just as hair-raising as I remember. I don’t really recall the ride home. We got drunk at the Yardhouse and I turned the keys over to a more mature, responsibile buddy who chose not to drink. But I told him, “Nail this thing (he drives a mini-van, lots of kids), you’ll be able to merge!” He did, and we did. He smiled quietly at me and chuckled, as we got on the “highway” with no problem-o.
These are all people that are commuting to NYC.
Don’t bother to rebutt.