# Does this everyday driving scenario bug you like it bugs me? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098 "2019-02-07T02:28:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/1 "2019-02-07T02:28:07Z")
This is nothing major, just an annoyance that I seem to encounter virtually every day. I am driving on a 4-lane road (2 lanes each direction). There is are two vehicles in the adjacent lane, I am alone in my lane. Both vehicles are ahead of me, all three of us traveling in the same direction. We are approaching a traffic light. The ‘lead’ vehicle stops at the red light. The second vehicle - who is positioned behind the first vehicle and in the same lane, but ahead of me, pulls into my lane ahead of me in order to be first in line at the red light. He, in effect, ‘cuts’ in front of me in line. This may be silly of me, but I consider this a breech of driving etiquette and a jerkish move. When I am the driver in that position, I always check to see if I am cutting in front of someone before switching lanes before the red light; if there is another vehicle, I stay in my lane. Whatta ya say? Does this get your goat too? Or do you not even give it a thought? mmm ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/2 "2019-02-07T02:48:13Z")
Nah. I have always looked at it as a fluid backing up at a shut valve. The cars will naturally find their level. Now I will be wondering how many people are grumbling at me when I do such an act. On the other hand, if the cars are in the right lane with intentions of going straight, and the left lane is open, it bothers me a bit if they stay in the right lane blocking any right-turn-on-red. I smile when I notice someone making an effort to move left as they approach a red light. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/3 "2019-02-07T03:00:35Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > He, in effect, ‘cuts’ in front of me in line. > > This may be silly of me, but I consider this a breech of driving etiquette and a jerkish move. Nope, it’s not your lane or your spot. I do it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/4 "2019-02-07T03:09:42Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > We are approaching a traffic light. The ‘lead’ vehicle stops at the red light. The second vehicle - who is positioned behind the first vehicle and in the same lane, but ahead of me, pulls into my lane ahead of me in order to be first in line at the red light. Does he signal his lane change (as far ahead of time as the law says he’s supposed to)? If yes, then he did nothing wrong. If no, you have a legitimate complaint. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/5 "2019-02-07T03:15:07Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Nope, it’s not your lane or your spot. I do it all the time. Well, I am not claiming any right to the lane, nor implying that I own the road. I am thinking more about the driver’s etiquette aspect of the situation. Imagine someone is holding a door open for an elderly man and someone younger and quicker darts in ahead of the old man through the open door. Is this something you “do all the time” too? mmm ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/6 "2019-02-07T03:17:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Does he signal his lane change (as far ahead of time as the law says he’s supposed to)? If yes, then he did nothing wrong. If no, you have a legitimate complaint. I am thinking more of the non-signaler. If someone signaled, that wouldn’t bother me at all. mmm ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/7 "2019-02-07T03:21:08Z")
As long as he does it with enough room left that I don’t have to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him, it doesn’t really bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/8 "2019-02-07T03:37:13Z")
> [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](#): > > Imagine someone is holding a door open for an elderly man and someone younger and quicker darts in ahead of the old man through the open door. > > Is this something you “do all the time” too? In that case, I have to ask myself a simple question. “To what degree has the younger, quicker person slowed or inconvenienced the old man?” If the old man did not have to change speed or stride due to the actions of the quicker person then no harm, no foul. C’est la vie. On the other hand, if the quicker person endangered, startled or caused the old man to stumble then the quicker person should be quickly corrected with a sharp rebuke. In your original post, to what degree is the lane changing driver endangering or inconveniencing you? Perhaps more to the point, _who is or should be holding the lane open for you?_ ---
**Author:** ![you\_with\_the\_face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecccb3/32.png) [@you\_with\_the\_face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/you_with_the_face)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/9 "2019-02-07T10:54:27Z")
Wouldn’t bother me at all. That said, I seem to be uniquely unperturbed by most driving faux pas. None of the things that set other people off rate as a thing to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/10 "2019-02-07T11:08:11Z")
breech=the back end of something **breach** =the breaking of social protocols. The guy was ahead of you, he stayed ahead of you. If he didn’t do it dangerously you have zero cause for upset. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 11:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/11 "2019-02-07T11:19:53Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > Wouldn’t bother me at all. > > That said, I seem to be uniquely unperturbed by most driving faux pas. None of the things that set other people off rate as a thing to me. This is admirable. I am going to consciously strive toward this mindset. Seriously. > [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > breech=the back end of something > **breach** =the breaking of social protocols… Good Lawd, I went back and forth on this before posting. Didn’t look it up because I convinced myself I was right. Thanks for the correction. mmm ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/12 "2019-02-07T11:35:34Z")
I can get overly worked up about things like that. I travel by scooter a lot and most riders will come to a stop in the order they arrive, but some will jump the queue. You just have to learn to let that go. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/13 "2019-02-07T13:02:47Z")
OP, if it bothers you enough, why, throw your empty beer can at him! ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/14 "2019-02-07T13:11:43Z")
Pah. Try using an intersection I use regularly, where there are two lanes to go straight ahead at the lights, but 100 yards beyond they merge back into one. Quite often there will be (say) 3 or 4 cars waiting patiently at the lights, then some jerkoff will overtake them all before cutting back in front when the lights change. Impatient, entitled bastards, I call them. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/15 "2019-02-07T13:13:15Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > As long as he does it with enough room left that I don’t have to slam on my brakes to avoid hitting him, it doesn’t really bother me. Pretty much this. I figure everyone approaches the red light with an eye to how they want to proceed on the green. If someone acts as the OP describes, I figure they want to pass the other guy and be “1st” in the L lane. As long a I’m not also desiring that position (which would be quite rare) and I don’t have to significantly change my rate of braking, I rarely give it a second thought. At most, I’ll think something like, “someone’s in a hurry”, and it is gone. Maybe if they change lanes/speeds abruptly, I might think to give them extra room. Quite low on the irritants of driving around Chicago. ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/16 "2019-02-07T13:15:44Z")
> [@you\_with\_the\_face](#): > > That said, I seem to be uniquely unperturbed by most driving faux pas. None of the things that set other people off rate as a thing to me. Ditto. My husband, on the other hand, can’t drive from point A to point B without getting pissed off. Sometimes I have to ask him what the other driver did “wrong” and it’ll be something non-obvious like this. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/17 "2019-02-07T13:16:40Z")
As long as we have enough room, _and_ we aren’t so far away from the light that they run up to the red light, and stop, and then I coast to the light, and it turns green and I have to brake because they thought they’d get a trophy for arriving at the light before me. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/18 "2019-02-07T13:17:42Z")
> [@Dead\_Cat](#): > > Pah. Try using an intersection I use regularly, where there are two lanes to go straight ahead at the lights, but 100 yards beyond they merge back into one. Now THIS is one I encounter daily on my way home from work. Sometimes I’ll be the guy moving to the right lane on the red, instead of being the 3d-4th car on the left. So long as cars pull away and merge reasonably, it is no issue. And if I want to goose it and be the front car, I can. What corks me is once the left lane has cleared the intersection and the merge is getting closer and closer, some idiot will remain in the right lane, just off your right rear. Despite having plenty of room to merge left, they will either stay next to you, or press to squeeze in ahead of you. NOTE: we’re talking about a sorta main suburban road, with another stoplight a couple of blocks up. No one is going to really make time, and my impression is that the vast majority of folk drive that route all the time. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/19 "2019-02-07T13:31:25Z")
As long as the guy who moved over positions himself in front of the guy he was behind originally, I’m OK with it. He changed lanes to pass, that’s cool. If he doesn’t, it would feel like he changed lanes to make sure I didn’t get in front of the two of them. He changed lanes to stop me from passing, that’s not cool. Since my drive home involves a 15min bumper to bumper slog with a million 18 wheelers, as we exit the tolls and merge onto the highway, I see my share of impatient entitled bastards every day. The only ones who really irritate me are the ones who don’t respect the zipper. There’s about 80 cars and trucks all trying to merge from 8 lanes to 2 lanes, we’re all going between 0 and 5 miles an hour, we’re all eventually going to get on the highway. Planting your bumper 6 inches off the guy in front of you, leaping forward every time anyone tries to join the merge, is really not helping the process. ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2019, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098/20 "2019-02-07T14:02:43Z")
Assuming they don’t cut me off, I’m cool with it (since I do it myself). However, if they take the #1 spot and then don’t move briskly when the light changes, I will retroactively consider them a jerk. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-this-everyday-driving-scenario-bug-you-like-it-bugs-me/829098.md?page=2)