Driving/Parking Dos and Don'ts

[DizBelle]

Use the highway on ramp to get up to highway speed. If people that are already on the highway have to slam on their brakes because of you, you didn't do it right.

When parking, pull ALL THE WAY into the spot so your rear end isn't hanging 4 feet into the aisle.

If you have an extra long vehicle and even if you pull all the way into spot and your rear is STILL sticking 4 feet out into the aisle, you might want to consider parking somewhere else where you will not cause a hazard.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

When parking, pull ALL THE WAY into the spot so your rear end isn't hanging 4 feet into the aisle.

If you have an extra long vehicle and even if you pull all the way into spot and your rear is STILL sticking 4 feet out into the aisle, you might want to consider parking somewhere else where you will not cause a hazard.

And if you don't, don't complain when someone clips the end of your vehicle where it is sticking out!

 

[DLgal]

Don't wait until the last minute to merge when you KNOW the lane you are in will be ending soon.

 

[Hoodie]

Look to your right. Are you passing cars? Are they passing you? If the answer to the first questions is "no" or the second question is "yes" THEN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Use the highway on ramp to get up to highway speed. If people that are already on the highway have to slam on their brakes because of you, you didn't do it right.

Except when you live somewhere that the highway on ramp isn't long enough and/or HAS A STOP SIGN!

 

[wiigirl]

Don't wait until the last minute to merge when you KNOW the lane you are in will be ending soon.

That drives me crazy when people do that.

 

[Kogo Shuko]

If I'm passing you because you're going too slow, don't take that as a message that you need to speed up while I'm still passing you.

Likewise, don't yoyo your speed, going too fast, then too slow, then too fast.

 

[Neesy228]

Look to your right. Are you passing cars? Are they passing you? If the answer to the first questions is "no" or the second question is "yes" THEN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE!

YES! This is my biggest pet peeve on the road! Makes me nuts when people drive in the passing lane. I especially love it when they pull in front of me in the passing lane, then proceed to drive 5 mph under the posted speed limit, and then I can't move around them because everyone is passing on the right now!

ETA: The other thing that really annoys me is when people in huge trucks or fancy cars take up 1.5 parking spaces. If you're that worried about your freakin' car, park far away and walk.

 

[mjkacmom]

If you are in the left hand lane, on a 4 lane road (2 each way), at a light, and you are planning on making a left hand turn, please put on your blinker. There is one road in town where 99% of folks wanting to make that left do not put a blinker on. I'm usually going straight, and don't like to go in the right hand lane, preventing those who want to turn right from turning right on red. However, I don't want to get stuck behind someone making a left either.

 

[ckay87]

Parking lots.... if you see the reverse lights lit on my car (those are the white ones), assume that my intention is to back out of my spot. Since my car is teeny and most vehicles parked around me are not, there's usually no way for me to see you cruising down the aisle. Best I can do is creep out slowly until I can see for sure whether I can safely back up all the way. THEREFORE, blaring your horn, when you KNOW I'm actively backing out of a spot just makes you look like a blind idiot. Learn where your brake pedal is, sometimes you might just have to use it.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Look to your right. Are you passing cars? Are they passing you? If the answer to the first questions is "no" or the second question is "yes" THEN YOU ARE IN THE WRONG LANE!

So many times I see people doing this because they're engrossed in their cell-phone conversation and oblivious to what's going on around them. If you can't focus on the driving task at hand and talk on the cell phone at the same time, guess which one you should stop doing?

 

[rgf207]

4 Way Stops - Learn how they operate
Yield Signs != Stop Signs.
You drive a Toyota Camry, you don't need to swing wide to make a turn

 

[Shyvioletisme]

4 Way Stops - Learn how they operate
Yield Signs != Stop Signs.
You drive a Toyota Camry, you don't need to swing wide to make a turn

I swear no one here understands 4 way stops. Either people keep sitting there waiting for someone else to go when it is their turn or people will use it like a traffic light and think because the person in front of them stopped that they don't have to and just keep going.

 

[MichelleVW]

Yield Signs != Stop Signs.

Does that mean Yield signs are NOT stop signs....because I freaking hate when people stop at yield signs.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Does that mean Yield signs are NOT stop signs

Yes, although in JavaScript it would be better if you used !==.
In VB.NET or SQL, it would be <>.

 

[katrina1122]

Use your blinker FIRST, then slow down (if you must) and pull into the off ramp.

Don't slam on your breaks and then turn on your blinker.

Your blinker let's me know to slow down.

If you have room on the off ramp to slow down fully, DON'T break on the highway.

 

[DizBelle]

Don't wait until the last minute to merge when you KNOW the lane you are in will be ending soon.

Actually, the way you're supposed to do it - especially if the lane markings separating the terminating lane with the main lane are SOLID - is you wait until the line is no longer solid (usually at the point where the terminating lane actually terminates) and then merge into the main lane each car taking a turn like a zipper. Take a gap, give a gap.

Things will flow much more smoothly if everyone did this.

It is actually illegal and you can get ticketed for crossing a solid line - "Improper lane change".

ETA: This may vary by state but it still good practice across the board.

 

[BellePrincessBelle]

Except when you live somewhere that the highway on ramp isn't long enough and/or HAS A STOP SIGN!

or a stop light! Metered on ramps are crazy.

 

[Bren's Mom]

And Fire Lanes are for EMERGENCY VEHICLES. No, the fact that your child needs an antibiotic and your wife told you to hurry does not mean your BMW is an emergency vehicle.

And Handicap spaces are for those people with handicaps! Which means if you are driving granny and you drop her at the mall and YOU park the car and then YOU get the car and go back to get her...it is not legal to park with her handicap permit in the handicap spot! In order to do that, she needs to be in the car when you park or when you return.

 

[jetskigrl]

4 Way Stops - Learn how they operate

This one!!!!!!!

People here have no clue what to do at a 4-way stop. There is zero regard for who got there first (no one ever uses the furthest right rule).

If I come across someone on the opposite side (at the same time), it never fails that this person is turning left and insists on doing it in front of me rather than waiting until I cross the intersection and then turn behind me And if I follow the rule (when I am turning left) and wait for them to go straight, it never fails that 1) they will sit there staring at me and trying to figure out what I am waiting for or 2) they will cross the intersection but then someone to my right or left will try and cross the street before I can make my left...UGH...