Well. you’re wrong as to your guess. And I’ll ask you also why driving in the lane for oncoming traffic is a safety benefit, with a follow-up : If it’s so safe, why isn’t it the law?
It’s not the law because rural and flat is too loose a definition to enforce on every motorist. “Should I do a farmer’s turn here, honey? It’s definitely rural, but do those rolling hills make it not count as flat?” And it’s not like states are going to waste money and manpower painting a third color dividing line in state-deemed farmer’s turn areas.
In my mind, it’s about equal courtesy-wise as opening a business door for a female stranger. Hardly required these days, but a little nicety none-the-less.
What about passing? Is that ok?
One of my classmates got run over and killed by a trucker straightening an S-bend. The classmate’s sister (who’d been riding pillion and yes, the bike was big enough and both had helmets) spent many months in the hospital and hasn’t gotten out of her subsequent depression in 25 years.
The trucker had straightened that particular bend for years…
No point in answering that one. The law is hardly the authority on what is safest or the best practice. The distance driven on the wrong side of the road to turn is less than what is driven while passing someone, which is often quite legal.
I remember a couple of years back the police were citing pedestrians for crossing diagonally across a certain intersection instead of crossing one street, then the other. The “walk” sign pops up for all directions at once for nearly a minute, and never for just one street at a time. There were comments from the police about dangerous practices and how “we need to create a culture of compliance” and about how people need to follow the law. Then a sign was put up that said “diagonal crossing OK” and it was suddenly safe.
I’ve seen many people NOT doing what their blinker indicates they will do (they have it on too soon, they didn’t take it off when they changed lanes, they changed their minds, whatever) so I still drive cautiously when the binker is on. And I would wait until the guy made his left turn until I passed him.
Sorry to hear about your classmate. 
The particular curve I’m talking about is also relatively flat in the horizontal plane; when the leaves are off the trees, you can see all the way through it. It’s just like passing when you can see ahead for 1/4 mile.
Of course passing is OK. But no one is claiming that passing is somehow a “courtesy.” In fact, this “courtesy” move could easily be mistaken for an attempt to pass. And yes, when done incorrectly, passing can be dangerous too.
The OP did note that it isn’t legal everywhere, and can result in a ticket for performing an unsafe maneuver. Seems the risk outweighs any possible benefit (oh no, somebody had to slow down for a few seconds!).
If a left turn lane isn’t provided, what is so hard about just slowing in your own lane and turning properly? And why is it such a hardship for the guy behind to slow down for the turning car? There is a way to do it correctly; why make up maneuvers that are open to misinterpretation? (If you signal and start slowing far enough in advance, the guy behind should have plenty of warning.)
Look, I know I’m not going to convert anyone here who thinks this is such a great idea. I think it’s a bad idea, I feel that it’s dangerous, I won’t ever do it myself, and yes, when I see someone else doing it, I will think to myself that they are careless and unsafe rather than “courteous.” This is IMHO and I gave my O. Sorry it doesn’t match yours.
First off, by your logic, your detractors are also just giving their opinion, their opinion that yours is crap.
Second, your statements were overly negative, and could easily be (mis)read as “Not only do I dislike it, but you guys who actually do this are horrible drivers.” Feeling insulted, those who disagreed felt justified in doing the same, creating statements that can be (mis)read as, “No, YOU’RE the bad driver because you aren’t aware enough of the road to pull this off.”
I’m not trying to (junior) moderate, just explain why people respond the way they do, since at least one person in this thread didn’t get it.
As for the OP: Never really saw it, although I live in the most backwoods state in the union. And I understand why something that no one sees a lot of would make people nervous. I also understand why some people would find it unsafe, and not like it.
I don’t think I could ever do it, as I am a very cautious driver who hates even passing. But thanks for bringing it to my attention so I won’t be alarmed if I see someone do it.
When you notice someone following you closely enough to have to slow down for your turn, begin to slow down a quarter mile earlier. S/he will then pass you legally (if they mind slowing down) and then you can make your turn legally.
Even if it benefits me, I don’t give friendly waves to people who do weird and illegal things in their cars – it makes me think them unpredictible and unsafe to be around.
On a two lane highway, it’s illegal to pass through an intersection – which would be the likely result unless you can anticipate your turn before it’s in view. Plus it’s a dick move to (apparently) randomly slow down enough that the other guy has to pass you.
Okay, I give up. The OP can’t anticipate the turn he makes every workday as part of his commute? Even though visibility is fabulous in any direction he cares to look? And even though he can’t do this, he still shouldn’t slow down ((apparently)) at random? Even if by doing so the car following him can easily pass him without slowing before they reach the intersection? Which is the only place the law about crossing the line into oncoming traffic matters? Postulating all this, there’s only one solution: the OP must pull out of his driveway into the oncoming traffic lane and simply stay there until he reaches his destination. Only in that way can the integrity of the speed of the other driver going in the same direction, sometimes two of them, be protected.
Thank you for your posts. You can drive me anywhere. I am a bad passenger who likes to be at the controls. And I am an absolute nut about my car.
But you, I would let drive.
Yes. I’m a better driver than everybody else. That’s exactly what I said. I am a good enough driver though that I can look forward and see if there are other cars on the road. It’s a gift, I suppose, the ability to see cars that are in front of me within a visual arc of maybe 15 degrees. Yeah, I’m pretty much Al Unser Jr. now that I think about it.
Awwww, you’re no fun. 
I can appreciate, particularly in this day and age, some folks actually going out of their way to be nice. Thanks for the thought !
But, as others have said, its dangerous, probably often illegal, and if nothing else often scares or freaks out the person you are trying to nice to. IMO the dangers and downside to trying to be nice arent worth the amount of nice you are getting.
If you wanna be nice, use your turn signal a GOOD distance before you get there. Apply your brakes just enough to light them up at first, again a good distance before you actually need to brake. That gives them plenty of warning to back off a bit. Then, when you actually MAKE the turn be quick and efficient about it, dont slowly slow down to a crawl, then creep off the road as you are turning.
If you do all that, they really dont have to slow down much at all.
I’ve seen it done and have done it only a few times. There’s nothing more dangerous to the maneuver than overtaking on the same road. In many respects, it’s a reverse passing maneuver.
Lots of people worry too much, or they live in areas where this wouldn’t work well. I’ve only ever done it (and seen it done) where it does work well.
I suspect that in the areas where the practice is commonplace, folks are used to it and it gives them no qualms - they do expect other people to do it 'cause they do it too. You might also see farm tractors or other equipment using the roads, as well as the occasional escaped horse or cow in the road (not to mention the wildlife).
Don’t you just love courteous drivers?
My personal favorites are the courteous drivers (whom I will call CD’s) who haunt the slow lane of the highways. When CD sees someone coming down the on-ramp, does he allow the newbie to simply merge by yielding to oncoming traffic, as is proper, not to mention the law? NO! C.D. has to buck the system because… wait for it!.. he’s COURTEOUS. Instead of maintaining his current speed in order to give the newbie some idea how much he has to de/accelerate in order to safely merge, CD courteously slows down for him. Thus begins the comedic routine of “Who’s going to yield to whom?”, with the C.D. sometimes coming almost to a complete stop in order to let the newbie in. Too bad the exasperated newbie, who has no way of reading CD’s frail little mind, has no idea what to do! He stops, CD stops, He speeds up, CD speeds up. What fun! And what is more entertaining is the look of shock and dismay on the CD’s face when the newbie flips him the bird.
And then we have the CDs who let people out of side streets, etc., without notice. Our subdivision exits out onto a State Route and the chain of traffic coming down the 2 lane road can be daunting. At times it takes five minutes to be able to safely exit. No big deal; we all know to add extra minutes to our commute during certain times of the day. But invariably we’ll all encounter a CD. He’s driving merrily along in the stream of traffic on the state route and instead of continuing on, as is proper not to mention the law, he sees the line of traffic waiting to exit our subdivision and decides that he must come to our aid! Yes, folks, for no reason other than his own misguided courtesy, he comes to a complete stop in order to wave people out. Sometimes he’ll let out the entire chain of us out, completely oblivious to the fact that the dude behind him came within inches of smushing him like a wine grape.
The OP’s example is just as ridiculous. You justify your own bad, unsafe, illegal choice on the notion that you wanted to spare the dude behind you the inconvenience of raising his foot off the acceleration pedal a few inches? That’s rich.
On behalf of all the discourteous drivers of the world, we’d appreciate if everyone would just stick to the rules. That way we don’t have to be mind readers. And we won’t have to introduce ourselves to each other over the crumpled mess of steel that used to be our cars.
I do it all the time Qadgop - tho in one specific situation, when heading to a golf course I play early in the morning 1 or 2 times a weekend. The N/S road I take to the course is a 2-lane highway in the western Chicago burbs. Approximately 1/4 mile before a major light-controlled intersection, I turn left onto a gravel road to go in to the course via the back way. Heading down the road at 40-50, around 7 a.m. on a weekend morning, I am very able to see if there is anyone coming towards me all the way to the traffic light. I need to slow down considerably to turn into a gravel lane. It never entered my mind that anyone behind me would be anything other than pleased at my maneuver.
And unlike the CDs mentioned above, this maneuver does not inconvenience anyone. To the contrary, it improves traffic flow. If the person in the second car is a spaz, they are free to slow down or stop as they would need to do if I were not being courteous.