I’m hesitant to start this thread because I’m worried that no one will actually cop to being “that guy.” However, the traffic threads I have read around here lately have been interesting enough that I think it’s worth the chance.
Tonight, as I was driving home, I ended up being next to a guy at every signal for several miles. At each light, the driver would occasionally take his foot a bit off the brake and roll forward. Bear in mind that he would stop right at the crosswalk initially, and then creep forward into the crosswalk every few seconds.
I won’t hesitate to admit that this is a huge pet peeve of mine, but perhaps that’s simply because I don’t understand it. My irritated interpretation has always been that the driver is in such a hurry that they want every inch of advantage. But half of the people I see do this are slow off the line once the light actually changes. So maybe the driver is just not paying attention? I don’t know. I don’t get it.
So please, tell me what the rationale is behind this behavior. And if you don’t know personally, please feel free to offer your own opinion!
My husband pointed out (I think he’s right - if not, please correct me) that if you roll over the crosswalk, you have legally run the red light now. Just sayin’.
I don’t understand it either - I think it’s simple impatience. They want to get going, and they can’t, so they feel any motion is better than just sitting still. I roll a little at stop lights, because I drive a manual transmission, and rock a little some times. I do know better, and I am trying to curb (ha! I make choke!) that habit.
Hmmm…I seem to remember leaning in driver’s ed that, as long as you make a full and complete stop before the crosswalk or stop line (if there is one,) then any movement made afterwards is legal, as long as you don’t cross the plane of the intersection while the light is still red. IE, as long as the front of your car stays behind the plane made by the cross-street, you haven’t run the red light.
I’m so with you on this, I’ve often thought (mostly while sitting at stop lights) about starting a thread. It’s not just the people in front who do it either. I’ve seen people further back in line stop 10 or 20 feet from the car in front of them. Then they’ll inch up until they’ve closed the gap or the light turns green.
I guess they figure that as long as they’re still moving forward, then they’re making progress. shrug Amazingly enough, none of us can go until the light turns green anyway. I drive a manual, so I’d rather just sit still until it’s time to move again.
I don’t want to hijack, (of course, here it comes) but what about a street that narrows down a lane either due to the road or to construction? What about people that drive in the lane that’s going to end all the way to the bitter end, and then squeeze in? There’s something fun to read into. Did they mean to do it? Did they not see the signs? Is this their first time on the road? Do they not care?
Overanalyzers, I suspect, have fun with these cases. I’m curious to see if it produces any vitriol.
This does annoy me as well. Especially when the effect travels back through the line of cars. The first car will inch, the car behind will close the gap, the next car follows… and so on. Easy to do if you’re in an automatic. A PITA if you drive a manual.
One time I was about six cars back, stopped on a pretty good uphill grade at a stoplight. The inching commenced. By the time it got back to me, there was a little over a car length between me and the next guy up. There’s no way I’m wasting my clutch, so I sit there. This chick behind my taps her horn. I look in my rearview and she looks sincerely agitated that I’m not moving. I ignore her and she taps the horn again, and again.
That’s when I turned around in my seat (she was right on my bumper), gave her an evil stare and just laid on my horn. I gave her the evil stare/horn combo for about 20 secs (which is a really long time to be that obnoxious), when I noticed the cars in the next lane moving. My light had turned green, so I proceeded. But, I hope she reconsiders being an ass next time.
I don’t know if I do it or not, but I can definitely state that it doesn’t bother me in the slightest.
Maybe some people like to be rolling when it changes. Maybe they’re changing the radio, and their foot gets light on the brake. Maybe it’s just fidgety-ness expressed through the car.
I do a lot of driving, and I will forgive EVERYTHING that doesn’t actually impact my safety.
I’ll worry about rolling at red lights when people get off their phones, use their signals, follow at a safe distance, maintain flow of traffic, don’t actually RUN red lights, replace spare tires, clean snow off their car, and don’t cut people off.
I’d cop to it if I thought I did it. A guy who does this doesn’t even make my top 100 “that guy” list.
I don’t do it in exactly the way the OP describes. I find myself doing it when someone else ahead of me is doing it. If I catch myself, I scold myself and stop it, because it is annoying, but driving is my Zen and sometimes I’ll just be off in my own world.
I do this occasionally, but it’s usually in the form of “rocking” as I have a manual transmission and when I’m on a slight uphill grade i’ll sometimes just give it enough gas to move forward, roll back, move forward again, etc. Don’t know why I do it, maybe just to pass the time?
I have a trick ankle. So sometimes I take the opportunity, at a red light, to release the gas pedal for an instant and reposition my foot. When doing this, my truck will creep forward slightly.
I do it, particuarly at some stubborn lights that take forever. Rolling forward slightly seems to make the light change faster. Not totally sure if it’s because I’m occupying my time with something so time passes more quickly or if the cameras at the controlled intersections are positioned poorly and the triggers are not actuated until my car is slightly farther up.
OK, I’ll cop. I don’t do it all the time, but sometimes I’m more impatient or fidgety than others, and featherlou nailed it. I want to be moving, even if it is useless movement. It’s not a 100% thing - maybe more like a 15% thing.
LOUNE, the fastest way to handle a merge is for everyone to remain in their lane and honour the ‘zipper’, which occurs at the point of merge. Moving over early would not do anything except back traffic up at an earlier point, and encourage other drivers to jockey for position.
Even if I wasn’t already a huge admirer of your posts, I would forgive you for this.
In all seriousness, though, I’m not really talking about people who are trying to close the gap between cars in front of them, or those who rock back and forth when they’re driving a stick (heck, even I do that occasionally). I’m just focused on those people at the front of the line who start creeping into the intersection by letting off the brake every few seconds when they’re waiting at the light.
Interesting. That makes sense to me. I’m not really sure you’d register with me because it sounds like something you might do once while you’re at a stop light. I tend to notice more those who do it repeatedly during one sequence.
I’m not saying it’s the biggest annoyance in the world, and I’ve never seen anyone hurt by it. Most of my driving pet peeves have been covered on the Dope already, though!
Or else, what’s going through the driver’s mind is something like this:
Car: I wanna go I wanna go I wanna go.
Driver: But we can’t go now. We have to wait for the light to change.
Car: But I wanna go now! Cars are supposed to go! I wanna go I wanna go I wanna go.
Driver: Well, okay, you can go just a little.
Also, a small percentage of “rolling at stop lights” cases can be explained by a driver who wants to make a right turn on red, inching forward so he can see past the cars to his left to see if it’s safe to do so.
I don’t mind creepers with one exception. When I am at the curb lane and trying to turn right.
I pull into the curb lane in my normal sized car. To my left is a large SUV /Pickup. It is legal for me to turn right against the red, as long as it is clear. I come to a complete stop, and then edge forward so I can see around the SUV. I need to do this as his hood is higher than my sight line. He see me moving and he creeps forward, preventing me from making a legal turn. Lather rinse repeat.
WTF? Over. Just because you see some one creeping forward on your right side, it does not mean that I am trying to race you across the intersection. I am trying to make a legal right turn asshole.
No, he’s not trying to stop you turning right. From his position 2 metres above traffic, he doesn’t realise that others can’t see over his vehicle. He just sees you moving and wants to do the same: perhaps because your creeping foward mean the lights are about to change, or perhaps just to be sociable. Or perhaps just, Monkey see, monkey do.,
I agree with Trunk. This type of behavior is more on the level of a bewildering oddity to me. I will watch these people with my head cocked to the side. It’s amusing to me, at least, and seems to keep them busy.
It gets even weirder, though, when you get those people who do that, but obviously aren’t paying attention. They’ll stop. Creep. Stop. Creep. The light will change. They won’t move until a few seconds later. You were all impatient before, but now you can’t be bothered? Truly mystifying.
Then I do it. And roll my eyes at myself and my own impatience. Sometimes, I just need to move, to feel like my life isn’t just poking along at one light after another.
I’ll try harder to quit it.