Everyone Else is Stopped for a Reason

[Mr. Anubite]

So true, so true. I hate people like that. Have had it happen lots of times. I brake for a couple of deer bounding in front of me, horn. I brake for the kids in the road, horn. I stop because of the traffic backed-up from the car accident in front of me, horn and cue people trying to cut-in to get that extra 3-feet further; I refuse to move because they're just being rude.

I get that a lot when I drive to school. Like every other school ever, the speed limit on the road in front of the school is lowered during the morning and afternoon, when children are walking to and from the campus. In this case, the limit goes from 45 to 25. I get honked at on a weekly basis for going 25 when we are supposed to. I guess the fact that you could kill teenagers on their way to school is unimportant when you could get to your destination a whole 15 seconds earlier.

[EricKei]

I've been honked at and flipped off for stopping at a red light.

Same here. So very, very sad.

Zipper formation should be part of driver's ed. Seriously.

Seconded.

Motion Carries. It was always my Dad's theory that merges would be infinitely smoother if everybody allowed one, and only one, car in at every merge.

[csquared]

Actually, from a traffic flow standpoint (my uncle actually designs roads and highways for a living, and he swears to this), everybody would get by the lane closure a heck of a lot faster if everyone already in the closed lane stayed in the closed lane until the last minute, and the people in the open lane allowed them to merge.

As stated, if it works right, everybody slows down and you come together like a zipper. Instead you have:

1. I'm not letting you in.
2. I'm too important. I have to get ahead of you.
3. I'm going play traffic cop and let the other traffic in
4. I'm going play traffic cop and keep you from using the lane that is closing.

And my favorite:
5. OMG! The lane is going to close in three miles. I must get out of it NOW! LET ME CHANGE LANES!!!!! Stops in the roadway waiting for a gap.

[Geek King]

1. I'm not letting you in.
2. I'm too important. I have to get ahead of you.
3. I'm going play traffic cop and let the other traffic in
4. I'm going play traffic cop and keep you from using the lane that is closing.

And my favorite:
5. OMG! The lane is going to close in three miles. I must get out of it NOW! LET ME CHANGE LANES!!!!! Stops in the roadway waiting for a gap.

This. The zipper thing is a wonderful idea, but I've only seen it work ONCE in almost twenty years of driving. Oddly enough, at an amusement park parking lot at park closing. I've learned now that, in practice, its a whole lot less stress to merge early as I can safely and at speed and enforce the one-in-one-goes rule on a personal vehicle level.

Oh, and if Im nice and let you in when everyone else is being an asshole, WAVE DAGNABIT!

[Dips]

Saw another instance of this "I'm cleverer than everyone else" this morning.

On Rte. 93 you can drive in the breakdown lane at certain times on weekdays. A few hours in the morning southbound (towards Boston) and a few hours in the evening northbound (away from Boston).

This morning I saw another person driving in the breakdown lane going northbound. Normally when I see that it's becuase traffice is heavy and a crowd is trying to get to the next exit or it's an asshole who is weaving around and using the lane to pass people illegally.

This guy was none of those. He wasn't passing anyone, just driving normally and carefully looking out for people merging. I figured he forgot what time it was or what direction he was going and thought he was driving there legally.

Just a brain fart, right? We all have those.

But wouldn't the fact that nobody else was driving there register? Did he really think that everyone else on the road forgot that it was legal to drive there and he was the only one, out of hundreds of drivers, smart enough to figure it out?

[Magpie]

But wouldn't the fact that nobody else was driving there register? Did he really think that everyone else on the road forgot that it was legal to drive there and he was the only one, out of hundreds of drivers, smart enough to figure it out?

I don't think he thought it was legal. I think he just didn't give a damn. Just like I'm fairly sure that drivers don't actually think that doing 150-200 is legal, they just don't let that stop them.

[wheeitsme]

Stories like this always remind me of a police memorial I know of. One of the plaques is for this guy: http://www.odmp.org/officer/11105-re...ndrew-r.-reese

He died because somebody was impatient.

[Dips]

I don't think he thought it was legal. I think he just didn't give a damn. Just like I'm fairly sure that drivers don't actually think that doing 150-200 is legal, they just don't let that stop them.

Normally I'd agree but this guy wasn't even trying to get ahead of everyone. The ones who don't care that it's illegal use the breakdown lane as extra space to weave in and out of traffic.

This was not like that at all. He was just driving along a little below the speed limit as if it was normal. He wasn't pulling into traffic from stopping in the breakdown lane either. After I caught up with him and passed him I'd glance in my mirrors every few seconds (to take inventory like I do) and saw he was still driving there even though there was plenty of room to pull into traffic.

He either persistently believed he was going southbound (where it IS legal at that time of day) or he honestly thought he was the only one who knew it was a lane. It was far more funny than infuriating. When he came to a ramp, he'd slow waaaay down to make sure traffic could merge safely. Nobody was really in danger of anything worse than getting a ticket.

[Chromatix]

People do occasionally use the "hard shoulder" (what us Brits call the breakdown lane) to try to get ahead of a traffic jam over here. The police frown very heavily on this, because if the cause of the jam is an accident, they need to use the hard shoulder themselves to reach the scene quickly.

[protege]

People do occasionally use the "hard shoulder" (what us Brits call the breakdown lane) to try to get ahead of a traffic jam over here.

People sometimes do that here too. Not often, but it does happen. Occasionally though, you'll see someone zipping by on the shoulder...only to have someone else get the same idea, and pull right out in front of them Try explaining *that* one to the cops and insurance company!