Driving pop quiz!

[Geek King]

Question: You are preparing to merge onto the highway when a long, black car with a yellow flashing light on it passes you in the highway lane, followed by a string of cars flying small black flags. Do you...

A) Recognize it as a funeral procession and respectfully (and legally!) wait for them to pass before attempting to get on the highway?

or

B) Insert yourself into the line of mourner's cars and continue on like that for a half mile?


The woman I saw pull this opted for B, of course. Fortunately, the motorcycle escort saw her merge in, pulled up alongside her, and rapped on her driver's window with his baton. One angry looking glare (that made me quiver) later, she stopped in the breakdown lane.

[BookstoreEscapee]

For people who don't go when the light turns green:

Are you waiting for a particular shade of green?

or

It doesn't get any greener!

I hope you both enjoyed your complementary horn blasts and obscene gestures.

It's so nice that you give those out free. I swear they charge for everything these days...

You are in your full-size pickup truck in the right lane of the jughandle leading into the mall (it's New Jersey, everything's a jughandle). The left lane can either go straight across or turn left. The right lane goes straight across only. There is a car in the left lane. You realize that you need to turn left. Do you:

A: Go straight across into the mall entrance, pull into one of the side parking lots and turn around safely even though it will take you an extra 42 seconds, or

B: Turn left anyway, cutting off the compact car that was going straight into the mall?

The correct answer, of course, is B, and yes, of course, the compact car was me.

[wolfie]

You are stopped at a stop sign, waiting to turn left onto a through road (they don't have a stop sign) Do you

A) Upon seeing oncoming traffic, wait until they pass and then when clear to do so, make your left turn.

B) Upon seeing oncoming traffic, wait at the stop sign until they are 20 feet in front of you then jam your foot on the gas and shoot out across the lane to make your turn, forcing the driver of the oncoming car to slam on their breaks and honk their horn at you?

The correct answer is "C" - like "B", except with the following addition:
Seriously underestimate the speed of, and stopping distance needed by, the oncoming 18 wheeler. Find out that the side impact beams in your doors are not enough to protect you against a 30 ton vehicle travelling 30 MPH. Saint Peter takes one look at you and tells you to go to Hell.

[Nashida]

Here's a tough one. I hope you've studied.

You are stopped behind me at a flashing red light. It's my turn to go through the intersection. Do you:

A: Let me move, then let the person to your left move as well as they were stopped before you.
B: Tailgate me as I take my turn, then get a car slammed into your left side because the person whose turn it was next didn't expect you there because they were already flying through at 35 mph, forcing me to pull over and provide eyewitness testimony for a t-boned car. Nevermind the fact you gave me a near heart attack because I thought I was going to get hit.

If you answered B, congratulations. Can't wait to see what happens to your insurance. And don't expect me to be in your favor either when the police report comes in.

[Salted Grump]

You're in the left lane of a multi-lane road with a turn lane going down the middle. Someone in the turn lane wants to turn across your lane of traffic. (Or, are in the right lane, and someone coming out of a driveway wants to go left) Whaddya do?

A. Laugh at the poor guy trying to get across the busiest street in town
B. Stop in the middle of the fucking road, trying to make a hole and be "nice" to the left-turner

If you answered B, please, hand in your license, and sell your car. Thank you. Someone will be by to deliver your sign shortly.

I ~have~ done B, actually, though in my case it was allowing an Ambulance to turn. And No, I will not Sell my 1970 Buick Skylark, Nor will I turn in my Driver's License.

Keep the Sign, too.

[Andrew B.]

I ~have~ done B, actually, though in my case it was allowing an Ambulance to turn. And No, I will not Sell my 1970 Buick Skylark, Nor will I turn in my Driver's License.

Keep the Sign, too.

I would think that your case is the exception, not the rule.

[BookstoreEscapee]

I would think that your case is the exception, not the rule.

Well, technically, in that case it was "the rule"

[PepperElf]

Dang. We all forgot choice E.

Run over the pedestrians and count the points.

[Kusanagi]

Oooo! Me next!

You're driving on an uphill windy mountain road at 20mph under the speed limit, causing a string of a dozen cars behind you.

The turnout lane approaches on the right side.

Do you:

A) Use the turnout so others can get by you
B) Proceed on your merry way, ignoring the dozen horns and people flashing their brights
C) Edge over enough and STRADDLE the turnout lane white line, juuuuust short of providing room for other people to get around you without risking being nailed by oncoming traffic

Bonus points if you do all 3 in the 20 mile stretch of road, only achieving A on the last turnout half a mile before the road widens.

This is seriously making me consider getting a train horn installed in my car.

Oh, one more:

You are driving in the fast lane on a highway or road with two lanes going in your direction. You notice a car in the slow lane going slower than you and when you catch up, what do you do?

A) Continue going along
B) Get behind him because people faster than you are coming up behind you
C) For some completely unexplainable reason, you decide to match pace with them either right in front of them or right behind them, allowing no cars to pass either one of you?

I'll get hit by the first scenario and the second the road becomes two lanes, this one will happen.

[PepperElf]

i had that happen... i chose choice A-2... continue along without going more than 5mph over the speed limit (traffic wasn't *heavy*) until i could pass him and pull into that lane.

it wasn't fast enough for the jerk behind me who came up FAST flashing his highbeams like he was having a heart attack... sooo... i slowed down.. was still going faster than the slow car but the high-beams kept going insane... i pulled over when i was finally able to ... heh. he flipped me the bird after that... but i'm sure he'd be even more pissed off if he realized... to this day i still have *no* regrets about that. i don't respond to drivers who act like that.

[DeltaSierra]

The correct answer is "C" - like "B", except with the following addition:
Seriously underestimate the speed of, and stopping distance needed by, the oncoming 18 wheeler. Find out that the side impact beams in your doors are not enough to protect you against a 30 ton vehicle travelling 30 MPH. Saint Peter takes one look at you and tells you to go to Hell.

Good point! I've had my heart in my throat several times seeing people cut off semi's and logging trucks because they have NO CLUE that they can't stop on a dime!!!!

[Crow The Robot]

My turn.
You are behind a car that is stopped and has it's right turn signal on, do you:

A) Pass the car on it's left side allowing you to be on your merry way and not interfere with the turning car
or
B) pass the car on the right, into oncoming traffic thus traveling directly into the turning cars line of travel and nearly cause a crash.

A person behind me chose B.

[trunks2k]

You're behind one car at a stop sign on a street that only has parallel parking. You notice the car in front of you starting to back up into the open spot next to you. There's enough room between you and him so that he can park without hitting you, but it's a little close since you didn't notice his turn signal and backup lights were on when you came up behind him.

Do you:

A.) Back up a foot to give him a little extra room? After all, there's enough room between you and the car behind you to give some breathing space.
B.) Just let him finish parking? There's enough room for him to get by and backing up might be too dangerous.
C.) Proceed to roll down the window and scream at him asking him what he thinks he doing, scream that he's blocking traffic, beep the horn very loudly, inform of where he should remove his head from, compare him to both male genitalia and parts of the human posterior, and when he says something back at you forcefully enquirer as to why he is speaking and what type of sexual services his mother exchanges for money?

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

One from today!

You have the green light but want to make a left turn, and have to wait for oncoming traffic going straight. So you pull out into the intersection with your blinker on.

When the light changes, do you:

A. Make your turn when oncoming traffic has stopped, or

B. Linger in the intersection for over 5 seconds after the light has turned red, not moving until you are given several horn honks and obscene gestures from people waiting to get through the intersection because their light will change to red in a couple more seconds?

If you chose B, you're the stupid fuck in the Oldsmobile station wagon who held me up through a green light unnecessarily. Please see me for your complimentary swift kick in the head.

[Dips]

Around here our most common question and answers fall in a pretty basic category:

Question: You come upon a red octagonal sign with the word "STOP" on it. What do you do?

Answers:

A. Stop

B. Don't stop.