To the dude in the old truck: TURN SIGNALS ARE NOT DECORATIONS!

The BBQ Pit
1

Gah. breathe

I was returning from getting lunch from a local Asian bakery, see. So I was stopped at the exit from the strip mall parking lot. Across from me is the exit from another strip mall. Perpendicular is a split arterial (the kind with bumpers to stop people from drifting into the oncoming traffic).

Got all that?

I wanted to turn left. That’s great, so I’m stopped with my left blinker on and waiting for the light to change. The opposite car has its left blinker on, and there’s people fixing to be crossin’ the road.

When the light changes, I ease into the intersection and wait for the people to finish crossin’ and for the car to make its left, staying a safe distance out of the oncoming lane.

Next car up was a dude in an older truck, who had his right blinker on. Sweet, I can turn left now and get back to work.

However – the dude IGNORED THE FACT HIS BLINKER WAS ON and zoomed straight through, swearing at me out his window. :mad:

A) I don’t want to pay again for rebuilding my bumper, thanks a bunch. The first time ye many years ago was quite enough.

B) There was a motorcycle cop RIGHT BEHIND YOU, dude. GAAAH! :mad:

C) No need to curse at me, dude. You’re the one who left his fucking blinker on, giving totally mixed messages. Playing demolition derby is NOT ON. Maybe you want to replace your truck, but fuck that noise. I ain’t gonna play.

So, accident-free no thanks to that dude, I just shake my head and finally take my left turn. Motorcycle cop turns right, going my direction, and I cringe instinctively, but the cop doesn’t hit his lights and just passes me on his way to whereever he’s going.

muttermutter At least I still have my delicious Asian pastries.

2

Would you just happen to be this paricular cat?

3

Ha! Not bad. But can you dance to it? :smiley:

I missed the edit window or I would’ve added that it wasn’t really a huge deal, but the fact we had that confrontation with a cop right behind him annoyed me.

4

In general I agree with you: I stiffed a cabbie on his tip the other day because he turned on his left turn signal AFTER he began his turn. But just being argumentative here, have you *really *never driven a little way without realizing your signal was on? Like this guy obviously did?

5

You truly are a fucking prick.

6

Did you tell him that’s why you stiffed him?

There was some CD I was listening to where the guy made a crack about practicing for getting older, things he was changing about his lifestyle. His example was that he drove to the venue that evening with his right blinker on the whole way.

7

When a car gets old (or logs a lot of miles), components inevitably begin to fail: things like brakes, engine, and transmission.

When a person gets old (or logs a lot of miles), components inevitably begin to fail: things like turn signals (which become mysteriously stuck in the “on” position), brake pedals (which mysteriously “fail” when stomped, causing the car to instead accelerate into crowds of pedestrians), and steering wheels (which mysteriously turn the car onto exit ramps, leading to the expressway in the wrong direction).

8

Why can you make a left turn now? The guy making the right turn from the green light has the right of way, you don’t. You are also only to make a left turn, crossing in front of oncoming traffic, when it is safe to do so. That means actually watching how fast the cars are moving, whether they’re slowing for a turn, and whether or not they’re turning.

9

I’ve accidentally left my blinker on for a while when I have the radio up loud(er than it should be)…

You really should never turn in front of someone with their blinker on until you actually SEE them start their turn; you never know!

10

Exactly what I was going to say. I don’t know what you were thinking. You don’t just ASSUME when and where people are going to turn by the blinker. You Wait until the position of the car makes it clear.

This is like lesson 1 in high school driving class man.

11

The OP ought not to move to the Middle East.

12

Or Boston. Or Montreal. I was behind a cabbie in Mtl who signaled once. I almost drove off the road I was so surprised.

13

Perhaps he was thinking that the other driver understood how to operate a motor vehicle.

14

Ooh, that reminds me of my favorite Montreal cabbie story. My ex and I were taking a taxi up I believe St. Urbain on a freezing winter night, when a car in front of us cut off our cab. I can’t remember if it pulled out of a space or changed lanes or what, but cut us off pretty hard. The car pulled over a bit ahead to try to park, the cabbie pulled along side and rolled down his window. The driver of the other car did the same, and knowing that he had been in the wrong, shrugged an apology. Just before speeding off, the cabbie said in a Quebecois accent, “Honestly my friend, I thought you were a woman!”

15

That kind of thinking will get you killed here in New Jersey :slight_smile:

Defensive driving people, it will save your life.

16

Unfortunately the OP didn’t understand how to SAFELY operate a motor vehicle. You don’t proceed until it is safe, period. You don’t proceed when you do not have the right of way, unless you are going to complete your turn BEFORE the other guy gets into the intersection. You also don’t assume other drivers are slowing or turning unless you can see them slow and turn.

17

There was a car waiting to make a left turn in front of the idiot; the idiot was already stopped, with his right turn indicator on.

Obviously, driving like everyone else is an idiot is generally a good idea. It’s hardly your fault when someone else turns out to be an idiot.

18

There is nothing in the OP to indicate the other party was stopped. It is the OP that was stopped and then pulled out to turn left in front of the other party. The liability is quite clear here.

19

Wow. I didn’t expect this thread to stay alive this long – I thought that with the lolcat it’d sink like a rock like all my other threads. Oh well, live and learn – post about rules of the road, get more responses, post about cat pictures, sink like a rock.

That said, I should have noted what lights exist at the intersection. :smack: I had a green arrow, ergo I was safe to go. And I WAS watching the traffic – that’s why I’m not currently talking to my insurance company about a new bumper.

Both of us were stopped. Truck dude was second back on his side of the intersection, and then when it was his turn, he pulled up to the intersection and paused with the wheels angled to the side rather than straight, so I thought he was waiting for me to go once the pedestrians were safely across, but he zoomed out instead.

**Really Not All That Bright ** has the visualization right.

Mixed messages instead.

20

What’s “A line you’ll never hear in a James Cagney movie” for $200, Alex?