But even after studying probability and risk assessment?! How could that happen?
Yes, dstarfire, shit like this happens, and probably more often than you think. Better safe, than roll the dice and get nailed by that one in a thousand driver. It doesn’t help when you’re lying in the hospital with a body cast mumbling “but, but…I ran the numbers.” This is not to say don’t take risks in life (I’m not particularly risk-averse as an individual), but this is such an unnecessary one and acting unpredictably by waving cars on just confuses things for everyone on the road.
In my area, it’s stupid and dangerous and against the rules of the road to yield to a left turner. Rights-of-way are controlled by traffic signals. The people turning left will get a green arrow to go, while through traffic has a red light and must stop. At many intersections, left turns are prohibited until the green arrow lights. So, someone yielding the right of way doesn’t do anybody any favors, and is breaking the law in addition, by disregarding a traffic control device.
There are also stupid drivers. At least once a week or so, I see someone come to a stop at a greenlight. Why they do this, I don’t know, maybe the saw it was red further back down the road, and hadn’t noticed it changed while they were looking at their phone, or they are just used to that light being red when they get to it, so stop out of habit.
When they realize that they are stopped at a greenlight, (oft times because the car behind them has tapped their horn), they take off, without bothering to look ahead of them.
If you are stopped at the greenlight opposite me, and I want to turn left, how do I know that you are letting me go, rather than just forgetting to proceed. How do I know that you will not realize that the light is green when you look up from your text, and start out across the road that I am now in, under the mistaken belief that you were giving up your right of way.
No. Unless there are exceptional circumstances, follow the rules of the road.
That said, I do “give up” the right of way quite often. In my neighborhood, we have cars parked along the streets in such a way that you really can’t get 2 cars past. The cars park all the way up to the stop sign, so it is actually frequent that it makes more sense to let the car approaching the stop sign to go before I do, as until they have cleared the intersection, there really isn’t anywhere for my car to go.
Because, by studying probability you’d learn that one-in-a-million chances DO happen, and that a single event isn’t enough to gauge the likelihood of a repeat
Risk assessment would teach you to separate the severity of an event from the likelihood (think about how much people fear plane crashes vs. car crashes). Either of these would teach you that anecdotes are more misleading than helpful.
And by being ‘safe’ you’ve virtually guaranteed that the other driver won’t be courteous to anybody again that trip (thinking “They’ll just waste my time like that other idiot did”).
I think you’re misunderstanding right-of-way. Check out definition 3 on this page. Also, think about all the drivers that let somebody on a side street, in parking lot driveway, or freeway access ramp pull out in front of them.
That was explicitly stated in the original question “someone stops and waves you to make a left-hand turn.” (bolding mine). If somebody just stops without waving or otherwise indicating they’re waiting for you, then yes, absolutely wait. If, on the other hand, somebody clearly offers you a courtesy, accept it graciously or politely decline.
The only time that I do this- and when most should do this- is when the arrival at a four way stop is more or less simultaneous. Yes, there are rules to who goes first, but few remember those. So if I think there may be doubt as to who has right of way, I yield it, and wave them thru.
That’s why you should be safe and predictable in a car. The single anecdote that that one time when we violated right of way, nothing bad happened is the anecdote that you are relying upon, while the rest of us are looking at the data of actual driving, and saying that maintaining predictability by following the established rules of right of way decreases the chances of an accident, unpredictability increases the chances.
If by being safe, I prevent the driver from putting someone else into a dangerous position later in the day, then I will be doubly happy for being safe.
I don’t think that dictionary definitions trump law, and even if they did, I don’t think that definition says qute what you want it to.
And in that situation, I would wave back that they should proceed, as they have the right of way. But, that’s not always the situation. Take a look at other people’s cars sometime, especially when you are facing their windshield. How often can you actually see well into the passenger compartment? Sometimes you can, often times, there is glare or reflection that prevents you from seeing clearly. He could be in there waving furiously away, and if I can’t see it, then that does me no good. If I do see it, but it took me a second to recognize that was what he was doing, rather than cooling his coffee or shoeing away a fly, he may have decided that he is going to go, since I didn’t immediately respond to his request. So I hesitate, then go at the same time that he decides to go, what happens then?
If I get used to people waving me across their right of way, then when I see a car stopped at an intersection, and not be able to see the driver clearly, I may make the assumption that he is giving me the right of way, and get hit when he realizes that the light is green, and he should proceed.
I will never yield when someone does this. I will sit there until I run out of gas before going through “on the wave.” They have the right-of-way, and if I yield to their wave, i just know they will decide to go, and hit me, and it will be my fault.
Here’s one that actually came up for me today, perfect for this thread: I’m going northbound on a one-way street. The next intersection is a two-way east-west street that has no stop signs. My street does have a stop sign. I approach the intersection and stop. The person coming from the east apparently thinks this is a four-way stop and stops at the intersection and waves me on. I’m looking at this car, and grumbling to myself because there’s no fucking reason for them to stop there. But in a residential street situation, I sometimes just say fuck it and go anyway. Luckily, I look to the left and see that there is actually another car who does realize he has the right of way and is not going to stop at the intersection. If I had just taken that wave for granted, I would most likely have been hit or at least caused a screeching tire situation. What I ended up doing was just letting the oncoming car with right of way pass and then I crossed the intersection, because I think the other car had no fricking idea what was going on.
I live on a residential side street that T-intersects a through street. I was waiting to turn left onto my street when a car coming towards me stopped and motioned me to turn left in front of them! I have no idea what they were thinking. They stopped in the middle of the street. I of course did not accept their “courtesy”.
It’s neither smart nor legal, nor polite the the rest of the drivers on the road, especially those behind and around you. Those drivers need to wait until it is their turn or they gain right-of-way.
What most drivers don’t understand is that you CAN’T cede the Right-of-Way. Traffic laws dictate who has it and you can’t ignore it or waive it to other drivers.
I’m don’t know if there is a specific charge but depending on the circumstances you could be found guilty of negligence and/or legally liable in civil court.
There is absolutely nothing like the rage instilled within when somebody honks at you at a "No Turn On Red’ (at any time) to get you to turn. Never had someone wave me on for a left hand turn if the lights are green on both ends. That’s idiotic. On that note, damn the last minute right turners when I am turning left.
If my window in not open I blink my brights. or if I do not think they can see my arm out the window.
I don’t wave many through but there are several badly designed places where in rush hour seriously dangerous back ups occur and many people in the ‘has the right away’ lane lets 1-3 cars cross in front especially if I am not hold up my lane. ‘Manny manny peoples’* do this at these few intersections during rush hour.
If you do not recognize those words written that way, you have not been here long enough IMHO. Bawahahaha