Misdirections

[bhskittykatt]

I've (thankfully not literally) ran into a few people lately that just make you wonder...

Please don't turn there

I was on a major road, three lanes going each way. The far right lane was a turn-only for the northbound on-ramp and had this car in it. I was in the middle lane.

As the car realized his lane became turn-only, he suddenly swerved all the way over to the other side and signaled as if he was turning. I wasn't even mad that he cut me off because I was waiting to see if he was actually going to turn, as he was attempting to turn onto an off-ramp. He started to turn, but at the last second sharply swerved away once he realized that no, that was not a good idea to turn there.

I actually slowed down thinking he was wanting back into my lane, since the southbound on-ramp was also off the to the right on the other side of the bridge (it clover-leafed around to face south), but instead he took the next left into the neighborhood, which was to the south but not to the interstate. So hopefully he figured it out.

That's not a driving lane.

I see this one a lot, actually. For one of the on-ramps, you have to turn from a turn-only lane. Some people don't realize it's a turn-only lane. I don't know how. But they end up driving down the median and eventually into oncoming traffic.

It looks like this:



The highlighted car is the genius who didn't turn and kept driving. They eventually run out of median and then sit at the end confused while they try to merge back into traffic. I witness this almost monthly.

Why are you blocking?

(Driving on the right-hand side; if you're from a place that drives on the left then just swap all the rights/lefts)

We've all encountered the brilliant jack-hole making a left-hand turn who creeps out while waiting for traffic in the far lane to clear while blocking the close lane.

This was sort of like that, except the guy was making a right-hand turn.

No really, I was going down the road (35MPH) when I see this guy start to pull out, and then he just...stopped about 75% of the way into the lane. I slowed down my approach, thinking maybe he changed his mind and was going to turn left, but no dice. It wasn't even a stall, either, as he kept his hands at 10 and 2 and was just looking at me like he was waiting for me to pass, even though he was exactly in my way. This guy was way ahead of me when he started his turn...way ahead. If he had finished the turn, he wouldn't have been cutting me off or anything. He just stopped for no discernible reason.

I slowed all the way down and had to swerve into the turn lane to get around him, because he was entirely blocking my lane of travel and making no moves to move out of it. He watched me vacantly as I navigated around him, then finished the turn and pulled in behind me and went along on his merry way.

Just what...the....hell

[Aragarthiel]

as he was attempting to turn onto an off-ramp.

My grandpa has worked for various police departments and highway patrols his whole life and apparently, this is not an uncommon thing.

We encountered a left-turn idiot earlier, though we were behind him and he was trying to make a left turn from the middle lane, which goes straight. There was a long line of cars in the left turn lane and he had to wait for them to clear to make his turn, but if he had just gone straight through a GREEN light he could have driven through the parking lot ahead and actually gotten where he was going faster due to less traffic. Instead, Hubs honked at him to get him to move his ass, the light turned red so we weren't going anywhere anyway, THEN when it turned green again he decided to go straight, blowing through a stop sign in the parking lot in the process and nearly getting t-boned (and earning another honk from another driver). Ugh.

[Kogarashi]

And half the time you just know people making stupid moves like turns from a straight-only lane are probably doing it because they missed their turn normally and are trying to make up for it. Which is a really dumb thing to do when you can just drive a little further and turn around without inconveniencing anyone or risking accidents.

[notalwaysright]

I can't even begin to understand why people can't use turn lanes. Here's what I saw in just one short drive.

-Person is stopped half in / half out of a turn lane, blocking the traffic going straight. Saw multiple times.
-Person is in a turn only lane, and when the turn lane ends, just drifts into the lane going straight.
-There is a turn lane, however the person ignores that lane and comes to a stop in the lane going straight with their blinker on.
-Coming up to a light with three lanes, one left turn, one straight, one right. Person is apparently so confused that even though it was ALL GREENS (green arrow and solid green) they drive very slowly and manage to block traffic turning right and going straight. They then decide to go straight and wander into that lane. The light is now red.