Drivers are going crazy//When someone signals, you let them change lanes!!

The BBQ Pit
1

Jesus Fucking Christ, what is wrong with drivers around here? I live in a large, congested metropolitan area where people have to get places by car in stressful and dangerous traffic conditions. We need to turn left, turn right, move here to take a right exist, move there to enter a left exit. And still there are so many drivers here who act like this is Monaco and the freaking public roadway during rush hour is the Grand Fucking Prix. There are flyovers, flyunders, bridges over the river and constant curves – no straight shots for more than a few car lengths.

Just an hour ago I was on my way home on a seven-lane metropolitan freeway that joins and splits constantly, so cars have to get from one side to another. At this time of the evening, the traffic was relatively light, so I was moving along at 50 m.p.h. as I merged from the on-ramp and signaled to begin the first of several necessary lane changes leftward.

There were veritable acres of space between me and the next car back in the lane to my left – at least 20 car lengths’ worth. So I signaled, and immediately, the guy begins flashing his high beams at me – “Don’t you dare even try changing lanes – I’m fucking coming through!” I knew this guy was trouble, so I stayed put, and just to make sure, this guy kicked it up to 80 m.p.h. and flew past me, only to have to shove on his brakes just after passing me.

What the fucking fuck?

A couple of weeks ago, I was in morning rush hour, on a road that switches back and forth from a controlled-access highway to a surface street with intersections and red lights. I make a left turn onto the road in the left lane and signal to get into the right. Again, a car wayyyy back, 15-20 car lengths. Fucking joker HONKS when he sees me signal.

This time, there’s too much room and traffic is way too slow for there to be any danger. The guy can’t be going more than 25 m.p.h. from a dead stop at a traffic light anyway. After sussing out the situation I say fuck it and signal my lane change again and start moving. Guy lets out a looooong BLOW as he kicks it up. He has to fucking break the speed limit to get to where I am, make an-ill tempered slam into the left lane just as he reaches me. AND THEN HE HAS TO STOP AT THE RED LIGHT AHEAD OF US.

What the fuck is wrong with people?

These are notable events in an area where every fucking day I see people move to block people from changing lanes when they signal. What the hell is going on? Every morning there’s a freaking collision somewhere on the commute because people are driving like animals.

What is going on here? Why don’t people understand a simple rule that will save everyone endless headaches? WHEN YOU SEE SOMEONE SIGNAL A LANE CHANGE IN FRONT OF YOU, YOU FUCKING LET THEM IN!! Learn it, live it, love it.

2

But if you let them in, they’ll be ahead of you. That’s the point of the whole game, isn’t it, to be ahead of the other guy?

3

Going?

:smiley:

4

I’m pretty sure putting on the high beams means you have enough room to move over. Truckers do it all the time to let you know you have enough space.

5

  1. It would have been weird and pointless to signal that in our circumstances. He was way back. There was enough room for an airliner or two to land between us.

  2. His subsequent behavior wasn’t compatible with someone who was signaling for me to go in. If he was behaving normally, I would have had several more chances to change lanes in front of him. Instead, he gunned it and flew by like Racer X.

6

I agree with ladyfoxfyre. I think the first situation you describe was the driver behind you signalling that you had enough room and could move, waiting for you to move, and then getting irritated when you didn’t.

7

As a veteran of congested roads, I will say that often I will allow lane changers in, but not always.

For example, here in NYC, getting onto the George Washington Bridge (GWB) from the Major Deegan Expressway often involves a long, two-lane queue, and the third lane moves somewhat more freely. There is always a few ‘privileged’ individuals who feel that they shouldn’t have to wait on the queue, and will ride the third lane and line jump. I will not let them in, no matter how much they try to nose in front of me.

In the other direction, getting off the GWB onto the Major Deegan, especially if using the upper level, requires moving quickly from the far left to the right lanes. I’ll always allow people across at this junction. I’ll also allow people who have made right turns and want to cross lanes into mine across (as long as it is safe to do so), because for all I know they’ll be making a left shortly.

I guess all I am saying is that I agree 95% of the time, and try to accomodate.

8

If he was so far back, then signal and move over. He was probably pissed off that you signaled and he gave you the okay, and then you didn’t move over.

9

That’s what it looks like to me. Put on your signal and go.

10

Exactly. Signaling is a warning, not a request.

11

I let people in when they signal except when I am passing someone on the left hand lane, but am behind a slower car who is also trying to pass, and a car sidles up in the right hand lane and wants to scoot in between me and the car in front of me. My stopping space is not meant for another car, it’s meant as a safety measure.

12

Oi, nice, this reminds me of something I wanted to ask: the “other” beams you’re supposed to change to when crossing someone are the “low beams”? (I learned to drive in Spanish, only had 2h driver’s ed in English and it was centered on “how to pass a Florida test”)

I have no idea why, but sometimes I’ll be doing some absolutely mundane task (such as curse the arsehole tailgater whose high beams are blinding me) and then realize I don’t know how to describe it in English - and it bugs me no end (:stuck_out_tongue: me)

13

That happens a lot where I live too (Boston) and I agree with you. I’ll be damned if I’m going to let those people in. (OK, sometimes I do, in fact, end up choosing to let them in rather than cause a collision, but I always call them fuckers under my breath).

14

If someone puts on a turn signal, I try to let that person in. That said, there are many people out there who use a turn signal not as a signal of intention or as a request but rather a signal that they’re coming on over so you’d better move the fuck out of the way. The fact of the matter is I have the right to the lane I’m currently in, not you. So when you move over when I’m not letting you, I’m in the right and you’re in the wrong.

15

There’s a problem if nobody does this, though. You end up with the same congestion, just further in advance of the lane closure. Then the traffic is slow for the stretch where there are two lanes instead of three, meaning there’s more total congestion. We had this problem at a construction site near Pittsburgh. PennDOT ended up putting up signs saying “use all lanes to merge point” to try to get people to stop merging early.

16

I don’t block people who signal to merge, therefore I would let you in.

(…I block people who don’t signal.)

17

The problem is that many drivers think the turn signal means “ready or not, here I come.” I drive in LA a lot, and anything more than one space between you and the car in front of you is rare indeed.

18

Then he was still being an idiot. There was no reason for him to offer me such a signal from that far back. My resulting confusion and his irritation were both unnecessary.

19

I’m in DFW, and around here, I sometimes see people turn on their signal after they’ve already started turning or changing lanes. WTF, man? I got it already - next time, lemme know ahead of time, kthxbye.

20

The way to fight congestion is to use all available lanes until the actual point at which one lane disappears. Merging ahead of time and leaving one lane largely unused actually worsens traffic jams.