Would that not depend on how hard it is hit? If it’s hit from behind, why shouldn’t it go straight vs in the general direction the wheels are turned? The worry isn’t that somebody’s going to slam into you at 30 mph, but more like bump you at 5 mph because of inattention.
Just curious, because we, too, were taught during driver’s ed to always keep our cars wheels pointed ahead in a turn lane in the event somebody bumps you from behind. We were docked points if we didn’t during our exam. Not that I follow this rule consistently, but I can’t see how the thought is against the laws of physics, exactly. I mean, sure, if it’s slammed into it’ll just skid in the direction it gets slammed from, but in the more likely situation (at least in my opinion)–an accidental low-speed collision --I’d think the car would follow the path of the wheels, no?
Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time a government agency got an aspect of science incorrect, but if this is an example of the astonishing lack of physics knowledge displayed in this thread, it’s got a good source.
My general knowledge says that the car will follow the path of least resistance; if it can follow the turning wheels, it will. After that, it will go in the direction it is pushed in, regardless of the wheels.
This is exactly how I ended up getting rear-ended when traffic in front of me stopped suddenly and we all went from 45 mph to dead stop in heavy traffic. As soon as I hit my brakes, I suspected I was going to be hit, so I look in the rear-view mirror and what do I see? The lady behind me with her head turned completely right to look for an opening in the next lane. Then she slammed into me.
Lesson: Even if you are focusing on your mirrors, you are more likely to see a field of red brake lights with your peripheral vision than with your ear.
Better advice: Use your side mirrors to change lanes and always face the direction in which your vehicle is traveling. If you are going forward, face forward at all times. If you are in reverse, turn around and face the rear of your vehicle.
If your mirrors don’t give you a clear view around the back and sides of your vehicle, you have them positioned incorrectly. This was covered in a recent thread, but you should not see the side of your car in your side-view mirrors. If you do, you’ll need to crank your head around to see into your “blind spots.”
I would add to this, it’s sensible to adjust your speed beforehand, so unexpected braking is less severe and sudden. The lower your speed the less space it takes to stop.
Thanks for finding this in the NY rules. I guess my friend was on to something. His comments years ago changed my driving. When I get into the left lane, I try to get my wheels straight before the light. It doesn’t hurt anything and maybe it is a tad safer.
If your front wheels are turned, I don’t understand how being pushed from behind by another car would cause you to go straight ahead but being pushed forward by your own rear wheels causes you to turn.
As I said above, Illinois Drivers Ed test circa 1991, we were marked off our road test if we did not point our wheels straight while stopped in the left turn lane, waiting to turn.
you are welcome to the closing lane until it ends.
At that point you are also welcome to wait until you have a clear spot to accelerate back up to highway speeds and merge into traffic from 0 MPH. Since you did not pay attention that your lane was ending, and perhaps tried to play it so you could pass a car or two I have very little empethy for you. You can wait there all day as far as I am concerned.
ohhh. Dinner is here. No time to edit.
This is not the situation I’m describing. And I have no problems merging in this manner. And I, personally, would have no problem with you not letting me in if your lane was moving at highway speeds and I was stuck at a standstill. You are completely correct that in that situation, I should have merged earlier. And, you’ll note, I stated upthread that is exactly what I do.
Regarding the late versus early merging, I’m a recent convert to late merging after years of calling late mergers assholes and whatnot. Let’s be clear, the only time late versus early merging is really and issue is when the through-lane is already at a virtual standstill relative to the ending-lane. Also consider a very similar situation – freeway entrance ramps during periods of high traffic activity (i.e., almost-stopped situations): do you merge at the end of the merge lane (the lane designed for merging?) or as soon as you possibly can? (For the record, there’s not a whole lot I like about the Ontario government, but by God, their merge lanes are superior to anything we have in Michigan!)
So, the through-lane is at a virtual standstill. Then there are two types of “cheaters.” The “good” cheaters are the ones the early mergers like; they stay in the ending lane, and do more or less the average speed of the through-lane until the merge point. Of course, this pisses off the faster late mergers. I actually don’t get mad at this type of “cheater,” since at the very least, it’s equitable.
However, I’m a faster “cheater,” but not one that’ll get mad at the equitable guys. But assuming that there’s not an equitable guy, sure, I’ll pass everyone in the through lane, up until that last 100 yards or so. At that time, then yes, I’m doing the average speed as the through-lane. I expect to be able to merge, just as the law is demanding. If everyone did this instead of trying to be morality police, then the traffic backup would be much less. In fact some of my favorite merge lanes are where no one has the so-called right of way; the lanes are simply unmarked. Everyone is forced to cooperate. There’s no “this is my lane asshole” type of attitude, because there’s simply no lane. I see this often at bridges and toll booths. Makes everyone a lot less hostile, and really, enforces the logic that should always be there for any type of merge situation.
(I’m currently living in a foreign country with a highway system [locally, not universally] that doesn’t have merge lanes. What a desmadre [look it up]. No opportunity to match existing speeds to get onto the freeway. It’s frustrating, stressful, and I can’t wait to get back to Michigan roads.)
And now…
and
and (in reference to FredGarven)
Okay, Rumor_Watkins, I see that such stupid, dangerous behavior is allowed at the very least in the states that you cite. I’ll have to keep that in mind. Actually, I don’t have to keep that in mind, because all of the assholes in Michigan constantly use the lane in accordance with other states’ laws, but in violation of Michigan’s laws, so I’m prepared for such stupid, dangerous behavior anyway.
And dang, I can’t find the Michigan Compiled Laws cite (I’ve posted it here on at least a couple of occasions), but the SOS FAQ mentions this:
Bolding mine. I’m ashamed that my MCL search skills don’t allow me to provide the proper cite, though.
It doesn’t seem as clear-cut as your quote (which came from where?), but it does not permit driving in the center lane of a 3 lane bi-directional road except for passing and overtaking, preparing for left turn or otherwise permitted by signal.
IMHO, I think this is an oversight as Michigan sure has multi-lane roads in which left turns are permitted, but heavily traveled in both directions. The center lane should accommodate this situation and allow left turns onto the roadway to merge into traffic safely.
I’ll merge as soon as it is safe and legal to do so. I will not cross a solid line, but do not, and prefer not to wait to the very end of the merge lane. That only makes sense.
Why anyone would wait until the very end and run everyone out of options is a real mystery to me. It’s inconsiderate and darn right dangerous.
In light traffic when it’s flowing at high speeds, I’ll merge as soon as I safely can, but everything changes during rush hour when traffic is backed up. It makes more sense to use all the available resources available, which includes every part of the legal roadway. Everyone has to merge at some point, why not make the best use of the entire highway and shorten the bottleneck? Merging early in heavy traffic just lengthens the bottleneck and creates more chaos because people choose different merge points.
Not sure what’s inherently dangerous about merging at the chokepoint in bumper to bumper traffic (although, I can see the wisdom of not waiting til the last minute in traffic flowing at highway speeds). I can’t see how it’s inconsiderate either. Why do people feel so entitled when it comes to their place in traffic? There is no first or last in heavy traffic.
Is anyone in the late merge crowd talking about a situation like this? I sure wasn’t. I don’t see why this discussion is even worth having if any cars are going through the merge point anywhere near highway speed. Clearly, if this is the case, and some dude drives up to the merge point only to try to merge in from 0 mph while everyone else going 50 mph, then he is clearly an idiot. I don’t think anyone here would disagree with that.
I don’t understand what is supposed to be dangerous about this. In fact, I have always thought it to constitute a safety plus. It reduces the chance that people will block oncoming drivers when turning left.
What is it that you think is dangerous about turning left into the cross-street’s left turn lane?
Because they block people that are going to legitimately use the lane to execute a left turn. I suppose I’ll give an allowance (safety-wise, not legally) for people that get into it and stop, but the assholes in Michigan constantly use it as an acceleration lane. One has no idea when they’ll get into the bona traffic lane, and they interfere with people’s legal use of the lane. It’s quite dangerous, in fact, and it’s constantly causing me near-misses. If you can’t turn left from the shopping center (or whereever), then your options are either (a) don’t shop there, (b) go to the light-controlled exit, or (c) turn right and make a legal U-turn. Yeah, that’s right, a U-turn from the left turn lane is a left turn of sorts, and a heck of a lot more predictable than trying to use the lane as an acceleration lane.
Sorry, I’m not trying to be obtuse, I’m just trying to visualize the situation where they’d block you in a way that causes danger.
I guess what you’re talking about is a situation where you change into the left turn lane in order to execute a left turn, but someone (it turns out) was already in that lane, a little behind you where you didn’t see them, and so they almost rear-end you? Is that the kind of situation you’re talking about? (Any other situation I visualize, it would seem the offending car would be well within your visual field so I’m not sure how you would get involved in a near-miss except by your own negligence.)
But in this case I just described, shouldn’t you have been checking for the presence of a car before changing lanes? So even in that case, it would seem the near-miss would be your fault at least as much (if not even more than) theirs.
But I’m probably just misunderstanding the kind of situation you’re talking about.
I get what **Balthisar **is saying. The center lanes he’s talking about are meant to be used by both sides of traffic for turning left into businesses on the opposite side of the street, so that left turners don’t block through traffic in the lanes. Since they share the lane and there are businesses on both sides of the street, you want to spend as little time in the lane as possible so as not to interfere with left-turners going in the opposite direction. In some states (apparently not MI, though), that lane can also be used to turn left from businesses so that a vehicle entering the roadway does not have to wait for traffic to be clear in both directions at the same time. The idea, though, is that you stop once in the center lane and wait for traffic to clear in the closest through lane in order to merge. Nobody should be traveling in the center lane to get up to merge speed because it interferes with other center lane users.
I get it, and yeah, those jerks are doing it wrong, in any state.
ETA: Oh, and it helps to indicate that you intend to merge with traffic while in the center lane by using the right turn signal, so that people don’t think you’re going to make a left instead.