Stop Honking at Me! and other Driving Woes

[PollyannaMom]

There used to be a fitness center in a mall here. It was entertaining to watch drivers go up and down the aisles, looking for the closest space, then head in to the gym.

 

[Hikergirl]

Dh just called for his nightly call and I asked him why do they not think the zipper merge works. (Please remember I live in an area without a huge amount of traffic. We have areas of traffic but nothing really bumper to bumper on an interstate so I don’t experience this normally).

He said, it would work. If every person on the interstate drove the same. If they left enough room ahead of them so another car can merge in and maintained speed and if all of those merging would maintain speed and move in. The problem is you have tailgaters that won’t leave space and you have nervous nellies trying to get in and then you have the real lovelies that try to get ahead of everybody and will pass several instead of merging. And when it’s trucks, they have to have a lot more space to merge in. Plus when a truck merges they not only need the length of the truck and trailer but cushion room to keep from hitting someone that hits their brakes.

It’s not the theory. It’s human nature.

I was actually amazed how smoothly the zipper merge was happening when I was in traffic the other day. It was like I was in the Twilight Zone. I live in a densely populated area filled with big city commuters so it is a rare thing when everyone on the road is following the rules.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Im a pedestrian and use public transport. My pet peeves are

1. Motorists who drive in bus lanes when they are not supposed to
2. Motorists who dont stop at pedestrian crossings when they have a red light.
3. There is an intersection near my local mall. Only buses, police and emergency vehicles are supposed to go straight, all other traffic is supposed to go left, BUT on a regular basis, cars go straight, in BOTH directions.
4. Cyclists who dont stop when the traffic lights are red and cycle through pedestrian crossings. There is an intersection I cross to go to work and I have lost count of the cyclists who make eye contact with me as I am about to cross the road when I have a green light but continue to cycle and almost run me over.

 

[kaytieeldr]

The open lane doesn't leave enough space.

Did you mean the drivers in the open/through lane don't leave enough space? Because the lane itself can't control how fast or close people drive.

Those at the end of the closed lane don't "zipper" in one at a time but instead several try to jump in front of someone and THAT will cause a back up

itself
I believe when this happens, it happens because multiple consecutive drivers in the open/through lane refused to zip with them.

And what of the big trucks in the closed lane? They try to get in and it too causes a back up. Don't let them in and it causes a back up.

I personally would expect that professional truck drivers would be aware of lane closures well in advance. I would think that, unless the closed lane requires sipping into the passing lane, that truck drivers would already be traveling in the through lane.

 

[Mousemom234]

This is how it is for my commute!

Driving in Boston​

Submitted by Mahk​

Sounds about right to me. Especially #s 12, 21 and 27

 

[Turn the Page]

I have three major driving pet peeves.

1. When people pass on the right by pulling off onto the shoulder or even completely off the road to get around you. I have had people inch around me to avoid hitting me. If you have to creep around me while stretching your neck out the window to see where my fender is then there isn't enough room. This was really bad at our old house. DH almost got creamed by a logging truck that decided to pass him on the right.

2. Directly after a busy intersection in town two lanes merge. It drives me completely bonkers when people will mash on the gas from WAY behind in order to get ahead of me.....when there is absolutely no one behind me. Now I get it if there is heavy traffic and there is nowhere else to tuck in but really, there is no need to come up from a quarter mile behind in order to get in front of me when there is no one behind me.

3. The craziness in the school pick up lane. People whip through there at 25 to 30 mph. Don't look for kids crossing the road, don't pay attention to other drivers. It's nuts.

 

[DietCoke18]

I have three major driving pet peeves.

1. When people pass on the right by pulling off onto the shoulder or even completely off the road to get around you. I have had people inch around me to avoid hitting me. If you have to creep around me while stretching your neck out the window to see where my fender is then there isn't enough room. This was really bad at our old house. DH almost got creamed by a logging truck that decided to pass him on the right.

2. Directly after a busy intersection in town two lanes merge. It drives me completely bonkers when people will mash on the gas from WAY behind in order to get ahead of me.....when there is absolutely no one behind me. Now I get it if there is heavy traffic and there is nowhere else to tuck in but really, there is no need to come up from a quarter mile behind in order to get in front of me when there is no one behind me.

3. The craziness in the school pick up lane. People whip through there at 25 to 30 mph. Don't look for kids crossing the road, don't pay attention to other drivers. It's nuts.

School pick up and drop off are the woooorst!! It’s amazing how people drive in the circle. No regard for anyone.

 

[Hikergirl]

2. Directly after a busy intersection in town two lanes merge. It drives me completely bonkers when people will mash on the gas from WAY behind in order to get ahead of me.....when there is absolutely no one behind me. Now I get it if there is heavy traffic and there is nowhere else to tuck in but really, there is no need to come up from a quarter mile behind in order to get in front of me when there is no one behind me.

When I drive I pay attention to everyone on the road not just the person in front of me.
If I see a driver up ahead that is driving slower than I want to drive I will speed up to pass them before I miss the opportunity to do it again.
I also don't like being behind bigger vehicles that I can't see around so I will speed up to pass one so I'm not stuck behind it.
So for some there are reasons to pass.

 

[wvjules]

I have a new one: Motorcyclists weaving in out of traffic and driving on the lane lines.

 

[DVC-Don]

1. Bicyclists who blow through stop signs & red lights without stopping and going the . wrong way on one way streets.
2. Drivers behind me freaking out when I am at a red light that is posted No Turn on Red.

 

[luvsJack]

Did you mean the drivers in the open/through lane don't leave enough space? Because the lane itself can't control how fast or close people drive.
itself
I believe when this happens, it happens because multiple consecutive drivers in the open/through lane refused to zip with them.

I personally would expect that professional truck drivers would be aware of lane closures well in advance. I would think that, unless the closed lane requires sipping into the passing lane, that truck drivers would already be traveling in the through lane.

You know what I mean.

Yeah, because that makes it work, right? Whatever stops the CARS in the moving lane, causes a back up. And that isn’t why they all do it. If you don’t think you have plenty of drivers that just do it because they want to, they want to get ahead of the truck coming up, they want to be “first” or whatever reason they decide that they should be able to do this, you are kidding yourself. It’s not like all the ones in one lane are nice polite drivers just trying to do what’s right.

Truckers have the same amount of information as you do. They don’t have a magic ball in the truck with them telling them where the construction sites are. They have a CB and GPS. If no other driver mentions the construction on the CB (and unless there is a back up, they don’t because they figure everybody else saw the same signs they saw), they know the same time as everyone else on the road.

 

[Eeyore daily]

I have a new one: Motorcyclists weaving in out of traffic and driving on the lane lines.

Ugh yes! That's a big problem here and scares me every time they do that. They come out of nowhere!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

When the green arrow lights up, GO! There's only so much time for us to turn, and you are wasting it looking at your phone or something!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

How is it unsafe to drive in the left lane? I can only imagine the traffic if we could only use ONE lane of the highway.

The left lane is for passing. If you are in the left lane, going the same speed as the person in the right lane, and there are cars behind you, and space you front of you, then you are making traffic worse. Move over.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Truckers have the same amount of information as you do.

But that means they can see a hill coming.

There's a highway I drive on a lot. The speed limit is 65. It has a lot of trucks. Often times I see trucks in the right lane get over to pass another truck, and they do it right at the bottom of a hill. The "slower" truck in the right lane might be going 60, or 55, or whatever. The truck that moves over to the left lane tries to pass, but the hill is getting steeper, and their acceleration is decreasing. Now there are two trucks, one in the right lane going 50, and one in the left lane going 53. The speed limit is 65.

This hill is plainly visible. But the truck in the left lane doesn't care. It will back up passenger vehicles in the left lane all the way down the hill, because it just HAS to try to pass that other truck in the right lane.

This happens EVERY DAY.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I am so with all of you on the traffic circle issues. They just put three of them on what used to be a very rural road. Most of the time, they work fine. But then you have a day like today, where the driver in front of me would enter the circle, and then slam on their brakes because someone was approaching the next point to enter the circle.

This isn't a problem with the circle, it's a problem with the drivers

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Yup. Cars in the circle have to yield to the ones coming in.

That is 100% wrong. I'm not saying you are wrong. I'm saying whoever set that up is wrong.

 

[mrodgers]

But that means they can see a hill coming.

There's a highway I drive on a lot. The speed limit is 65. It has a lot of trucks. Often times I see trucks in the right lane get over to pass another truck, and they do it right at the bottom of a hill. The "slower" truck in the right lane might be going 60, or 55, or whatever. The truck that moves over to the left lane tries to pass, but the hill is getting steeper, and their acceleration is decreasing. Now there are two trucks, one in the right lane going 50, and one in the left lane going 53. The speed limit is 65.

This hill is plainly visible. But the truck in the left lane doesn't care. It will back up passenger vehicles in the left lane all the way down the hill, because it just HAS to try to pass that other truck in the right lane.

This happens EVERY DAY.

This issue is the nature of the vehicle. Truck drivers have a need to use momentum out on the roads. Have respect for them out there.

The reason the 2nd truck will pull over and pass when there is a hill is because if he slows his momentum, he will lose all of his speed. Now he's climbing the hill at 25 mph. I give the trucks the space they need because of their size whether it is room in front of them when I'm pulling back over or give them the leeway on the hills so they aren't downshifting 13 out of their 18 gears as they slow to a crawl.

Some insight to how and why truckers need to drive like they do...

https://www.truckingtruth.com/trucking_blogs/Article-1597/why-do-truck-drivers-do-that

 

[jrmasm]

When the green arrow lights up, GO! There's only so much time for us to turn, and you are wasting it looking at your phone or something!

Sorry, I'll fight you on this one. I will always wait a beat when the light changes. This allows for potential red light runners to clear the intersection without t boning me.