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*forgot to add that when I started going straight at the light and not going on the highway, of course I'd be in the left lane which would flow fine. Well these people that were trying to cut would block the left lane (for 5 to 10 minutes at times) with their vehicles while trying to get in the right lane. It really makes you want to get out and punch somebody for being such a selfish jerk.
i have to wonder what was she thinking, is going thirty feet more instead of stop at the light means that much?
Couple days ago I'm sitting in the left, watching the jackasses go blithely on past in the right lane. The guy in front of me apparently got similarly fed up. He begins to pull over into the right lane, but traveling at the same speed and doesn't pass the guy in front of him. Eventually he's blocking the right lane and there's no room for people to go around him. Seeing where he was going with this, I left his space open in front of me in the left lane. People coming up in the right lane had to stop and pull into the left lane behind us someplace,where they had to wait in line like all the rest of us "normal people".
When the lanes finally narrowed to one, the guy pulled back into his vacated space on the left, where I'd been keeping it open for him. He smiled and waved at me, and we shared a silent "ha ha ha" moment.
I don't condone stuff like this all the time, but damn was it fun that time.
cheers,
Phil
I am surprised that more people do not occupy both lanes, considering that so many get irritated by the drivers speeding to the end.
A couple of irritating things, though:
1. People who go half-way over, taking up two lanes. They have no right to keep people from being in a valid traffic lane.
2. Merging in general. People have a real hard time with it. In Minnesota we actually have areas of the highway where traffic comes to a standstill (without reduction in lanes), and I think it is totally because of people merging on/off the highway. Kind of similar to the ending lane thing, where before the white lines come together, where you are supposed to merge, but instead people turn 75 degrees to cut over quickly (or go on the shoulder, grass, hill, etc).
If traffic's moving along, the merge should take place well before this point with drivers in BOTH lanes positioning their cars so that all goes smoothly when the lans actually ends. I have seen far too many people think that since they are in the lane that continues on that they need not do anything to assist cars in the other lane merge in front of them; indeed, these morons often go out of their way to block them.
And if you're stuck in the stopped lane that continues and people are passing you in the lane that ends up ahead, don't cry and get all pissy about it -- it's simple jealousy, or embarassment that you've made the wrong decision. Grow up and deal with it.
All that matters is the efficient flow of traffic.
Like my grandfather taught me: You're not just driving your own car, you're driving every other car that's anywhere near you. Think about it.
As it is, those in the lane which continues figure that they "own" a piece of the continuous roadway, and don't have to let anyone in. The people in the lane that ends become orphans who have no status on the continuous roadway, and have to fit in wherever they can, without disrupting the others. Actually, it's all about traffic flow - n number of vehicles scatterred randomly over two lanes need to be put all into one lane. Neither lane should have priority over the other.
Excellent suggestion. In fact they may already have similar ideas as I recall having seen signs in PA like this:
"Right lane ends 1 mile
Use all lanes till merge point"
aka THDOT
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If you do not like waiting in the slow line, you should move up in the other lane. I know that the thru lane is going to be slow - so why would I get in it?
You say, "Perhaps they'll learn to read and heed the traffic signs next time." This is just ridiculous. Does the traffic sign say to merge immediately? Does the traffic sign say that this lane is ending, therefore drivers are not entitled to drive in it.
Maybe the signs should say "Either merge or go the same speed as those in the through lane, so as not to offend anyone."
People trying to block others on purpose for stupid reasons does nothing other than escalate the situation. I see people who will move half-way over to try to block people. I just drive past them as close as I can (I haven't clipped any mirrors or fenders yet - darn), flip 'em off, and honk the horn.
It's a shame that driving tests can't measure "common sense".
Like I said, if you're in the slow lane in this situation, grow up and deal with it.
Pat dons flame proof asbestos suit.
2001 Prelude Type SH, 2022 Highlander XLE AWD, 2025 Camry SE AWD
OK, my fault for not seeing him (on a pitch black street at 3 a.m.). I just think anyone riding a bike at 3 a.m. is pretty stupid to assume a driver is going to see them. I did have my headlights on, so he could easily see me. Plus, what if I were drunk or angry or something? A bicyclist yelling at a motorist is 'not a good idea'.
Most people in Detroit won't let me in front of them... Impala guys tend to be, you know, anti-Japanese car and especially anti-"tin can" Integra types. Thus, it's either butt in or hope the lady in the Saturn is nice. Being Detroit, it's just better to butt in and go.
Another favorite today was when the taxi driver pulls into the right (turning) lane to go around me (cut me off, we're on a two-lane street) at a light (he was going straight, as I was), then pulls over at the next intersection. Did he think I was going to steal his fare or something?
Once the traffic clears the side of the truck, he pulls out in the right lane and does it again, but this time in front of a white intrepid. The intrepid brakes and swerves to avoid the minivan barging into his lane. Guess what happens?
The guy in the intrepid pulls out a little dash light kit, and starts flashing those great little blue and red lights. Yep, he ran an undercover cop off the road!
To make it better, I stop right after they pull to the side of the road, and walk back to the cop. I let the cop know that he nearly ran me off the road as well. To make it even better, another car sees the cop to the side of the road and decides to stop off and let the cop know his experience as well. The bottom side of his car was scraped up horribly, and he came and told the cop that this guy ran him off the road into some bushes planted in the median.
The cop was writing a ticket when I pulled up, but thought it was interesting when I pulled up and told him the same thing happened to me. When the second car pulled up, he called the sheriffs department, and the sent a car out. I had to leave so he took my number down so I could make a statement, put the guy under arrest, and thats the last I see.
This is the first time I have ever been grateful for undercover cops.
Scenario 1: Merging onto the interstate at my normal high rate of acceleration. Nobody in front of me to hold me up and keep me from merging. I'm looking over my shoulder as I do so; nobody's in the far right lane. There are two cars coming up fast in the next lane over, but they won't interfere with my merging. I'm about to merge in, when all of a sudden there's a car in the far right lane. The trailing car in the next lane over has decided to PASS ON THE RIGHT, with me 90% on the highway at this point. I slam on the brakes and dive onto the shoulder to keep from being hit by Mr. Impatient (who, by the way, had THREE EMPTY LANES to his left that he could have used to pass). It was such a close call that I didn't even time to lay on the horn, so the guy probably doesn't even know he ran me off the road.
I pull myself together, and continue on. After a couple miles, I'm faced with a great deal of slow traffic in the right lanes. So I start moving to the left, lane by lane, passing when I need to. This brings us to:
Scenario 2: I'm cruising in the far left lane at about 80 in a 65. The lane's clear ahead of me for at least eight hundred yards. The next lane over is occupied about a hundred yards up, which is why I'm in the far left. As I get closer to the car ahead, I see another car moving into that lane from the next lane to the right, still a good fifty yards behind the car that's already there. As I come up on HIM (about one car length away), he moves over into my lane. No warning whatsoever, no reason for doing so (he was still fifty yards behind the car in front of him and moving slower than they). I stand on the brakes again and this time I DO lay on the horn. The guy stays where he is for about ten seconds, then moves back into the next lane over again. And stays there. I passed him and he was still in that lane when I lost sight of him five minutes later. What in !@#$!@# was his reasoning for moving over into the left lane and giving me a heart attack?
After two close calls in twenty minutes, I've decided my coworker can drive us to lunch instead of me driving today.
Sheesh....
Phil
Speed doesn't cause accidents, idiots cause accidents!
You are an idiot.
I think that in most places when a car is entering an empty lane on a divided highway, it is illegal to change into that lane and block him. It certainly is stupid to do so everywhere. Also, it's illegal to pass on the right in free moving traffic in most places. The driver moving into a lane where another car is merging in was driven by either a moron, or an incredibly inattentive person.
The other situation was also the other driver's foolish fault, although the situation was made worse, in part, by too much speed. With traffic slowing ahead, even far ahead, traffic gets squirrely, and we all know it. That's time to back off, keep passing speeds minimized, and watch for morons to move around suddenly. You know they're there, right?
That's my view, which I assert doesn't coincide with Kinley's in any way. If it does, it was purely accidental, I assure you!
"MERGING LANES: This merge sign tells you that two
lanes of traffic going the same direction will soon
merge into one lane. Be ready to either change lanes
or allow other traffic to merge into your lane. You see
this merge sign on expressways just before expressway
ramps. The driver on the expressway slows down to let
the driver on the ramp merge."
Hmm - Sounds like there is an obligation on thru traffic for safe merging...
Second: You are obviously completely ignorant on the issue of traffic safety, and I picture you as one of those silver haired, Crown Vic drivin crime fighters, making the roads safe for conscientious drivers by trying to trap speeders behind the herd where they get impatient and start tail gating and weaving in and out rather than letting them by to meet their own fate, whatever that may be. You act like an expert on traffic safety because you've worked in insurance, but talk to any state trooper and they'll let you know how completely foolish they think it is to try to block faster drivers.
I hope one day you make a deliberate attempt to impede the forward progress of a derranged driver behind the wheel of an SUV with a nice, sturdy grill guard.
He's a Caddy pilot, and his GF has one of the best known Impala's on the planet. (Ask him what it's better than...)
Now, I was too busy trying to keep control of the car to get a plate number, so I couldn't call the sherrif's dept. (and have them do anything!). White Pontiac Sunfire. It was all I could do to keep from chasing him down & beating him within an inch of his life! Violent, yes! Would he have deserved it?
Absolutely! But my wife, who's about 8 months along with our first child, would've been right in the middle of it all. I just couldn't risk their lives for this idiot. We cheated it once Sunday. No need to go for twice. Now, if I happen to catch him out one day by myself.....................my truck's a little bigger than the wife's Accord. However, does this make me a bad person?
Keith
I do not drive a BMW and don't see what difference it makes if I was driving one. I'll have you know that in thirteen years of daily driving I have never ONCE been in an accident that was my fault. Not even a minor fender-bender. NOT ONCE. Think about that for a moment before deciding to paint me as an overly aggressive, unsafe driver.
Now. In the first incident, I fail to see how it was my fault that the driver of the car who almost hit me decided to change INTO the lane that I was already 90% in. Read the story again: I stated clearly that I was already 90% merged when he decided to change lanes. I also clearly stated that there were three empty lanes to his left that he could have used to pass if he desired to do so. I won't even address the idiotic argument that it is 100% the merging driver's responsibility to fit themselves into traffic. It is, as eharri3 said, a mutual thing between the traffic on the highway and the merging driver. Also, I did not "think" the two cars I mentioned were not in the outside lane. I checked multiple times and they clearly were not -- until I merged into it, as I said.
In the second situation, I don't care who you are or whether or not you think I'm driving safely. When I am coming up on you at 20 mph faster than you and you pull suddenly into my lane with less than a car length of space separating us, any accident that might result is YOUR fault. You do not have the right to create a dangerous situation because you don't like the fact that I am speeding. I was bothering no one, obstructing no one, and causing no problems. Read the story again: I clearly stated that the lane I was in was open for at least eight hundred yards in front of me.
Generally I ignore your troll bait when you post in these forums, but I refuse to sit still for direct personal attacks.
Phil
Just talk about his comb-over instead...
That's like me telling people how to live healthy lives while I sit here smoking.
I'm still glad that I don't have to share the road with you. We have enough dangerous drivers as it is in Florida.
Bill
Tell your insurance agent that you help inforce traffic laws to your satisfaction. See if there is a discount for that 8^)
TB