Alt text:
This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.
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When driving: Don’t be nice, be predictable.
You can be nice, just make sure you think about what you’re actually doing before doing it.
Letting a car go in front in the situation above: you’re probably causing an accident.
Letting a car go in heavy traffic when there’s one lane each way and everyone’s stopped already anyway: won’t cost you much time and you’ve allowed that person to move on with their life instead of being permanently stuck at an intersection he’s never going to be able to get out of unless someone yields.
I live close to a few intersections where if no one is nice and yields, it’s impossible to join unless you barge your way in and hope people stop. But to be fair, these aren’t designed like death traps like the one above.
think about what you’re actually doing before doing it.
That’s too much thinking for most people.
I was gonna lose my mind reading some of these comments. Thank you for being sensible.
The majority of cases where one could politely let someone through are not going to be on highways like this.
It’s also ridiculous to assume that the driver that you’re letting through would just stop checking for oncoming traffic because you waved them through.
you dont have two lane roads in your town? i sure do and this is a real issue. the driver pulling into traffic cannot see the car coming along at higher speed.
Driving is one of those things where we’re supposed to be human - make choices, act sensibly, think about what we’re doing and adapt to others around us. But often people assume it’s something entirely deterministic - “if the light is green I’m going to launch forward even if there’s still traffic moving past me and I’m going to get hit or hit someone, because green means I HAVE to go”.
Being polite to others, asides from the nicety of it, is often more positive to everyone on the road than going “I have the right of way so I won’t let anyone in” and allows traffic as a whole to move with less issues. But some people go way too hard on the mentality that every road user other than them is stupid and stop acting like humans because they assume others won’t be able to cope. Which usually complicates traffic for everyone.
There’s a roundabout in my daily commute in which at the end of the afternoon 80% of drivers are coming from and going to the same direction and there’s usually heavy traffic in that specific direction that blocks the roundabout. Often, drivers who are approaching the roundabout to go to a different direction will signal their intention, and users already inside the roundabout will give way - even if they technically have the right of way and don’t have to - because those users aren’t going their direction and will only increase the number of cars stuck if they’re not allowed through. Roundabout users being polite effectively makes traffic as a whole go more smoothly and everyone benefits. Sometimes someone inside the roundabout will be an ass and not let people through - and the result is always that everyone is stuck for more time because there are now cars inside the roundabout which could’ve already vacated it which are stuck behind someone who could easily let them through.
you dont have two lane roads in your town? i sure do and this is a real issue. the driver pulling into traffic cannot see the car coming along at higher speed.
Letting a car go in front in the situation above: you’re probably causing an accident.
I disagree. In this situation, you are letting the left turning car move to the middle lane of this five lane road. From there, they can make a better decision of when to go. You aren’t causing an accident by letting them go TO THE MIDDLE LANE. From that point on, it is their ability to merge that may cause an accident. But they are supposed to stop in the middle lane and check that they can merge BEFORE they merge.
There is no middle lane here wtf are you talking about
Edit: Woof, sorry my phone mangled my comment into a hot mess. Fixed it and re-commented here.
You are supposed to be in the middle near that rounded portion just above the time-traveling assassin.
These…
Turning Left on a Straightaway: Most main roads have median lanes into which you can move your vehicle if you need to turn left off of a straightaway. Move into the median, and yield the right of way to the oncoming traffic. Once there is an opening, you can complete your turn.
Turning Left onto a Straightaway with a vehicle in the median: Every once in a while, you’ll be trying to turn onto a straight away, and you’ll find someone already in the median—right where you need to be! The rule is that the vehicle in the media has the right of way. The idea is that they are in the most vulnerable position because they are literally stopped in the middle of the road. Let them complete their turn before you move to the median.
… from this.
That is not what that excerpt is talking about, that is talking about a road with a middle turn lane.
The road pictured here has a median which cannot be driven over, generally there’s a kerb and it’s usually just grass on top. The center part is not for stopping in, it is only for driving through. You should not proceed unless you have a clear view of traffic from where that car is sitting on the left. In some cases there will be a white line to stop there, and in that case that is okay, but that is not what is pictured here.
What are YOU talking about? The median can 100% be driven over (circled in red below), and the center part (again, circled in red) is entirely intended to stop in prior to merging.
The entire middle area is the median, which also contains protected left hand turns, a raised section, and what I assume is a painted median (maybe, maybe not, but again the circled portion). I am talking about stopping here, in the circled portion, prior to merging. You are supposed to stop there, assuming you aren’t towing or driving a longer-than-average vehicle, if you do not have visibility into the lane you are merging into.
The quoted text I have above specifically mentions a left hand turn onto a straightway WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE IN THE MEDIAN, so clearly they mean a median that allows driving through.
Edit: The predictable thing to do here, turning left with low visibility into the lane you are merging into due to obscuring traffic, is to yield to traffic coming from your left until you have: no traffic coming from the right, or someone from the right waves you through. You then stop in the middle, circled red portion until it is safe to complete your turn. You don’t just Hail Mary blindly drive from where you were initially stopped into the desired lane. That is how you cause an accident.
I think you are entirely missing the point of this comic and misunderstanding the rules of the pictured intersection. There’s a reason these were outlawed in my state (michigan). They are a dumb way to direct traffic, the “stopping room” you’ve circled is not meant for stopping in, or else there would be far more space there, likely an entire lane of room. I’m not suggesting making blind turns. You are not supposed to proceed without visibility or merging room, hence why the stopped line of cars in the middle lane have the right-of-way as they are blocking your view of that and possibly the traffic behind them, which the person at the front of the line has almost no way of knowing. You stop in the middle then you are still blocking them for as long as it takes to merge into traffic now that you’ve got yourself in this situation.
It just does not make sense to do it that way. If you can’t make the turn left then you turn right and find somewhere to turn around, which is how our roads are designed from the jump here in michigan.
Anyways, this is a really stupid argument and I’m really not interested in continuing it.
When driving don’t be nice. Be predictable.
Another thing that enrages me is people who think driving slowly is safer for whatever reason.
Getting on the highway? Let’s SLOWLY merge at 60% the speed of oncoming traffic.
Changing lanes from stationary traffic into a full speed lane? I won’t wait for the lane to clear, I’ll just turn signal and move into the lane REAL SLOW because that’s safe.
Turning right? Let’s slow down to a complete stop and force traffic to a halt so I can turn right.
As a delivery truck driver I can’t tell you how many people think that everyone else can just stop on a dime for them and they’re being safe because they move over at a snail’s Pace.
That, to me, looks like an intersection I would never want to turn left on in the first place in anything but the most deserted area.
This happens to me every other day. Ffs please don’t be polite, just drive by the rules. I hate it when cars stop in the middle of the road and you have to wait for them to start driving again because you often can’t know i f they are being polite of if they are just adjusting google maps and continue to drive.
Nothing gets me closer to road rage than people waving me on when they have the right of way at a four way stop. Like yes thank you that’s very polite, but we both could’ve been through this intersection if you’d gone when you were supposed to.
The only two actual rules that apply to four way stops is everyone stops and the first person to start moving gets the right of way. All that crap about the first arrival or person to the right doesn’t get applied in real life. They’re noble ideas, but just fucking go if no one else is.
Found the Cali driver
Also worst design for crossroad EVER.
Yes. The future serial killer is clearly the person that designed this shit. The one waving is just a useful idiot.
Indeed.
it sucks that is a common revision in most cities I’ve been in. Let’s just have a highway with 8 lanes and have a tiny turn lane in the middle into a major road without lights at the turn it’ll be great. Not to mention it splitting the city in half and pedestrians who don’t want to walk a mile to the next crossing cross this 8 lane highway splitting the city in half.
When I saw this sketch I immediately recollected all those traffic accident compilations from YouTube. Who in the right mind designs a road such that is cuts 8 lanes and thinks it’s safe enough.
I grew up in Michigan and this traffic pattern is insane to me. In intersections like that in Michigan, there is no left turn. You drive past the intersection, after which there will be an immediate turnaround. You get into the turnaround lane, go back towards the intersection, then approach the intersection from the opposite side so that you can turn right.
It’s so common that it blows my mind how it isn’t more normal nationwide. Michigan left
Even this intersection is not a good design if you ask me as it still forces you to cut who knows how many lanes, but at least it’s a bit safer. Best would be overpass, but that’s more expensive.
This applies when you’re a pedestrian waiting to cross too. There are always those drivers who think they’re doing you a favor by stopping one of the lanes of traffic so you can walk out into the other. They smile and wave and look baffled when you don’t take the bait.
In an uncontrolled crossing the pedestrian always has the right of way (North America and Europe at least). They should almost never ‘wait’ to cross
Feels like at least part of the issue is multi-lane pedestrian crossings. Most of the time that should either be single-lane, a traffic light or a tunnel/bridge.