On my way to the office this morning a driver pulled out of a parking lot directly into the path of a speeding ambulance with its lights and siren running. It was a jaw-dropping lack of awareness. It’s crazy that people like this hurtle towards us with nothing but a painted line to keep them from taking someone out.
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When I taught my kids to drive, I had a simple rule for when to pull out into traffic that I also apply myself. You have to judge that you can accelerate your car to at least the lesser of the speed limit or the speed of the next car down the road. If the car behind you has to break at all, you were in the wrong to pull out. (Similar premise for moving in front of someone on a multi-lane highway – if you would be uncomfortable with the person behind you maintaining the same distance between cars as you created when you moved over, you shouldn’t have moved over.)
When we lived in California (no idea if this is still true), people too pulling over for ambulances seriously. When we moved to NJ and also started commuting to NYC, people often ignore ambulances or pull over only so they can then closely tail behind them, using them as a wedge in traffic.
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I drove around Boston all day, every day, for 15 years. Similar to your rule, but from the perspective of the person being pulled out in front of, I don’t care how close you cut your move as long as I don’t need to hit the brakes.
I routinely have people pull out in front of me in the morning, at virtually the last second, with absolutely no one behind me for 100+ yards. Then they proceed to drive slowly.
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I agree that it’s crazy out on the roads. It can be hard not to react to some perceived wrong by another driver especially when it affects me. But in today’s world I have to keep in mind that my reacting could end with the other driver pulling out a gun. Be safe out there.
I was just saying this to ds2 the other day. I spend a lot of time on I-35 going to see my mom, generally 3-4 hours each way. I told him that each trip is like living on the edge, man. I can only control myself, and lots of knuckleheads are on the road.
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In our state, dangerous driving got to the point the government is considering automatic speed cameras for the freeways, initially in construction zones. Not a fan of this idea…
Apparently, traffic lights turning red are now considered a mere suggestion around here.
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Being cut off is never pleasant, but when the offender doesn’t make me slam on the brakes and makes an effort to come up to speed quickly, I am generally forgiving.
Those who cut you off and then take their own sweet time on the throttle really get my goat. I almost never honk my horn, but when I do, it is deserved. More likely, though, I just scream at my windshield until I can pass the slow poke. lol
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In all my years of being a driver or passenger I saw what I think was the most dangerous move ever a few weeks ago. This was at a red light on a divided two way street, where there is a left turning lane (with its own signal) and 2 driving lanes, intersecting with another 2 way street of two lanes each direction A driver in the farthest right lane crossed over two lanes of traffic on a red light to make a left turn into the oncoming traffic at over 30 mph. I honestly don’t know how the oncoming traffic missed him.
I don’t know about the current law, but in the past, if a person in Massachusetts received a citation in the mail it would automatically be dismissed on appeal.
Washington state, so it can be different. Not sure how this would play out here.
I have a slightly different perspective on the acceleration etiquette: the guy who tailgates you for 20 miles in the slow lane, then won’t slow down even after you’ve signaled you’ve got a right turn coming up .
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OMG. This morning in Savannah, not during rush hour, I got on an entrance ramp to a highway. I realized that a car had STOPPED even before the merging area. I slammed on the brakes harder than I ever have and the ABS activated. Thank God I was able to stop in time. I honked at the driver. I’m still shaking.
Ugh. They were probably visiting from my city. Drivers here do that ALL THE TIME!!! and then there are those who STOP COMPLETELY in the travel lane to let you merge. They smile and wave like they are being nice, but it’s just dangerous!
BINGO—the ones that make me crazy are those who decide that they will capriciously give up their right of way to cars entering the road from side streets—if we arbitrarily follow the right-of-way rules accidents happen. When I get to the end of a side street I expect that I will have to wait my turn—waving me on just confuses the drivers behind you and may cause you to get rear-ended.
I once spoke to an acquaintance who owns a driving school about this. Our state requires a parent meeting as part of the driver’s ed classroom sessions. He tells the parents NOT to teach their kids to do this—someone taking a left from a side street do NOT have the right of way and if you give it to them, they come to expect it from everybody and, again, accidents happen.
I have had it happen where I do NOT give up my right of way and the other driver beeps the horn, flips me off, etc., OR, I have to slam on my brakes to avoid someone who doesn’t have the right of way.
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Pennsylvania plates? I saw this about three times on a short trip to Pennsylvania, but never elsewhere.
But it is common elsewhere for drivers to merge slowly, causing traffic jams at on ramps. Tailgating on the on ramp and in the right lane makes it worse.
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No, Georgia plates. I can understand the slow merging but the complete stop when not even on the highway yet blew me away.
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It takes coordination and bravery, sometimes, to merge properly/expeditiously onto a highway. Some drivers I think just get scared and don’t think they can time it right. Stopping on the on ramp, or soon after/while merging, is really dangerous. I watch merge lanes/on ramps like a hawk when I come upon them, watching for this exact scenario – someone just sitting there waiting to get hit, cause a wreck.
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There is a small city near us that has quite a large elderly population. They replaced a set of lights with a small simple roundabout maybe 2 years ago. STILL, you can be behind people whose heads explode when they realize what is before them. Please there is no need to STOP if there is nobody already in the roundabout!
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Or the opposite is true–many just fly up the on-ramp like a kamikaze, oblivious to the highway traffic they are merging into. Rather than they adjusting to what’s on the road, those already on the highway have to adjust to the on-ramp cars.
While I’m on my cranky old man soapbox, how about the drivers who see a sign that says “XXX lane closed one mile” and make no move at all to merge in until there is about 10 feet left to the lane–the result is everyone else is slowed down by this. Dude, move over early!!!
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