The cross street very near my house is a wide 2 lane road. Across that street is a middle school. Near the school are poles with flashing yellow lights and a sign that says speed limit 20 when lights are flashing or when children are present. More than once I have seen people drive well over 50 through this zone when the lights are flashing. There are also crosswalks in front of this school with signs that say “please stop for pedestrians”. Last summer while walking my dog I was using one of these crosswalks. A car came racing right at me, swerved a bit to miss me, the driver flipped me off then he accelerated away. I could see his digital speedometer as he drove past, 87 MPH. The speed limit on this road is 25. People have been calling out the police department to patrol the area more, they say that road does not warrant a larger police presence.
Strong disagree. Around here (Corpus Christi, and South Texas in general) the drivers going straight tend to pull so far forward that it’s extremely difficult to look to one’s left to check for any oncoming traffic. Combine that with trees, other obstructions, and intersections that aren’t perfect right angles and would require x-ray vision to look around the corner, and it’s often not safe to turn right on red. The flip side is that some people will do it anyway even when there is oncoming traffic, forcing that traffic to slow down for them. I’ve gotten to where I can read the “body language” of the drivers that are going to be that asshole that forces oncoming traffic to slow down just so that they can turn right on red. Then there’s also the assholes waiting to turn right that start honking at the car in front of them who isn’t turning right on red, even in a situation where it’s not safe to do so. I’ve taken up the habit of not turning on my right turn blinker in a turn or go straight lane to discourage those assholes.
I experienced asshole driver behavior this morning TWICE in almost the same way in a 2 minute span. So fucking irritating.
My youngest daughter is in elementary school, she’s currently going to a small private school just a few minutes from our house. (They offer before and after school care, and both my wife and I work. and it’s cheaper to send her to a private school and have them look after her than to take her to a daycare or hire a babysitter.) On the way to her school I was stuck behind a garbage truck on a two lane road with a double yellow line. That sucked but whatever, I’m stuck, and I patiently waited for it to pick up all the garbage and move far enough that I could turn left into the parking lot for her school.
After dropping her off, I was heading back home, and I passed the same garbage truck but this time I was going in the other direction so it wasn’t blocking me. But you know who was? Some suicidal moron who decided to illegally pass the garbage truck in a way I was not stupid enough to do. And get this, she saw me coming at her head on, and just sat there. I stopped as well because a head-on collision is not how I usually want to start my day. AND THE ASSHOLE JUST SAT THERE IN THE WRONG LANE OF TRAFFIC. I motioned with my hand that she needs to move the fuck out of the way, this is the United States of America where we drive on the right side of the road, and she had illegally crossed a double line anyway. (And this was just a waving hand gesture, not a one finger gesture.) She continued to sit there like she was waiting for me to back up and let her pass or some shit. After about 20 seconds she continued to not go back to her lane, and instead continued over onto what was the left shoulder of the road so I could squeeze past (barely). So that she could continue driving down the wrong side of the road. Oh and by the way, it’s a pretty narrow road so there is no way to see around the truck, when she made the decision to go around the garbage truck she had no idea if I may have been speeding or not being attentive. Truly fucking suicidal.
So maybe a minute later I am back in my neighborhood and I’m pulling into the alley behind my house, which is the only way to get into my garage to park (it’s behind my house, not in front) and this guy is speeding through the alley coming out driving down the middle of it (it’s plenty wide enough for cars to pass each other) and nearly hits me head on. Fortunately after living here for more than a decade I’m familiar with idiots who act that way and I’m always very cautious going into the alley because of it, so he was able to swerve around me as he came out. But again, a potential head on collision yet again.
People are fucking stupid, to the point of being reckless and risking lives. And it’s constant. There is a reason why I have never enjoyed driving a car and it’s a necessary evil.
No arguments from me!
I was giving a one-line comment, but my frustration is really in cases where everything is lined up for a right turn on red: nobody else for a mile around, I’m behind the only other driver, they wait for the 2-minute light cycle, then with ten seconds before the light turns green they finally slowly ease around the corner at a snail’s pace. Clearly they were engaged in a text conversation and didn’t realize they could go.
No grumbles whatsoever if it’s a hairy intersection.
I have had people behind me honking at a particular annoying intersection and I had to point to the sign that said “No Turn On Red” that was right next to me.
I’m lucky that the local police actively patrol and ticket around schools during release times.
I have had that experience as well. 
Same. Also, “Speed Limit 25” signs with a bright yellow “School Zone” sign right beneath it. And yes, it’s on a road well known to have speed traps: where 1-2 times a year they pull over 5 cars at a time for a big ticket blitz. If they want me to be closer to the right so they can pass left, fine… but I’m not speeding up to get a ticket just because someone behind me likes to play a car horn staccato solo.
Here a school zone is 20 MPH.
And I see people speeding past my kid’s elementary school every day.
“This town doesn’t need more crossing guards; it needs more Phalanx guns.”
As we’re ranting…
I was travelling in the left lane on a two-lane road. The lane was ending, requiring merging, and there was a car next to me. I slowed down to get behind him, figuring I’d let him be ahead (since, as amply noted above, everyone wants to be in front these days). He slowed down to block me from doing so. So I sped up to get in front - so as to, you know, avoid a collision. He sped up to block me from doing that too. WTF did he think I was going to go??? I sped up more and got in front. He started going ballistic, flipping me off, and at the next light pulled out his phone to take a photo of my license plate. I was hoping the local PD would actually call, so I could explain to them exactly how reckless this fuckknuckle was behind the wheel.
I see cars flying by the sign at the elementary school that shows “Speed Limit 25, Your Speed 42, Slow Down” with the “42” and “Slow Down” in flashing red. Most of them do not slow down at all. Almost no one is going 25. Not even the cars going in and out of the school.
Our police have a policy of not ticketing taxpayers (except those who criticize the police), so no town residents are afraid of getting ticketed.
There’s a crosswalk right in front of the police station. You can stand there for several minutes before cars stop for you in both directions at once.
Nah. Even before the ubiquity of cell phones, there were always drivers who just didn’t turn right on red because … who knows? Reasons. There probably are more of them now due to the mobile phone distraction, but it’s not a given that it’s just because they were otherwise preoccupied.
Right turn in red used to be illegal in many states. I’m not sure if it is still, but anyone who learned to drive in one of those states at that time was taught not to.
Such as Oregon in the early 1990s. When I moved to California in 1994, I had to get used to right on red being legal and other drivers expecting it to happen.
One data point I have concerns an intersection near my house. I’ve used it regularly for 34 years. Both roads are four-lane divided highways, with speed limits of 45 MPH. The roads don’t cross at right angles, so when traveling north and making a right turn to the east, it’s really hard to see if there’s oncoming traffic from the left.
For this reason, I’ve almost never turned right on red there. And I never had anyone object. Until last year.
Since then, I’ve encountered al least 10 assholes who honked and yelled at me, apparently demanding that I make the turn before the light changed. One followed me after the turn, zoomed in front of me, and slowed to a crawl. I was able to lose him, but I had to take a turn that took me out of my way.
(Please understand: I frequently turn right on red, when conditions permit it.)
I think it’s a combination of reduced enforcement and loss of socialization since the lockdown.
This thread has me seriously considering carrying Spike Strips in my car.
Saw a video where a cop car flicked them out in front of a miscreant’s car, and they had a line attached to them that the cop used to reel the strip back into his car.
I really think it’s the second quote that summarizes the issue. IF there is a COVID correlation (and I’m not 100% positive on that) it’s that the Republicans popularized that putting yourself, your desires, and your needs before everyone else was righteous and patriotic. Whether or not you agreed with them, it became popular, and as that may have shifted over to driving, it could easily have become “screw everyone else before they screw you”.
Again, likely. But I’d want to see more cites and figures (YES, I KNOW IT’S THE PIT) for certainty, although the ones @pulykamell provided were fascinating.
Here in Colorado Springs, our worst driving sin is speeding. I don’t know WHY, but people treat the speed limit as a lower limit, not an upper on city streets (interstate is better if anything). Especially up by UCCS, Austin Bluffs, which has a huge uphill incline followed by a equally dramatic downhill on the opposite side of campus. The speed limit is 40. Because the lanes are pretty narrow, the road winds, and there are a ton of people crossing both at lights and not due to the campus. If you do 40, you will be tailgated out of existence or worse.
And it’s all of the city roads.
But @enipla is correct, it’s better than Denver.
56 posts and a search on “Orange County, CA” gets zero hits? You people don’t know the meaning of “assholic driver”.
I lived in the Boston area for years before moving to SoCal. SoCal drivers are nothing special compared to the assholes in Boston.
Unfortunately it is going to take a kid getting hit for the police to take any interest in the situation. They learned that lesson at the school across the street from my house. Fortunately no serious injuries, but that meant they had a cop for two days the next week.
My idea for my small suburb (so scale appropriately) is the police assign two officers to patrol school zones in the morning and afternoon. Randomly pick which zones get patrolled everyday so drivers can’t predict it.
In the long school zone I commute through it is parents who are the worst. They’ll speed, tailgate, and pass in the left turn lane, just to pull into the school.