No Really, I was there First

[otter]

So I'm on the drive back from Norfolk (Live north of DC, so a decent drive) and I'm driving along happily in my own lane. Now the left lane is ending soon, so I can only assume this is why the van thought they needed to MOVE OVAR NAO. Even though the lane isn't ending for several thousand feet and there's plenty of room to merge. Its a rainy day, and I'm going about 70~, much like everyone else, and is the speed limit.

Anyway, I'm not paying too much attention to what's behind me, so imagine my surprise to see this gray minivan about two inches from my driver's door and moving forward! So I lay on my horn and he backs off, then honks excessively at me as I drive away. Because honking at you to avoid your ass completely wrecking my car and also crushing me, means I was being mean and you need to honk to compensate.

I.. just, wtf? Who teaches these drivers?

[Bandit]

I.. just, wtf? Who teaches these drivers?

Based on what I see every day, it's probably Ray Charles......

And I think the Driver's Licences are being given away in boxes of Cheesy Poofs this month.

B

[otter]

That explains a lot, actually :/

[bainsidhe]

Ugh merging. Aren't folks adorable? I recall when I first moved up here and was exposed to merging in NY state. I was in the left lane, and the right lane was ending. The car to my right suddenly veered left, and I managed to avoid an accident by slamming on my brakes. No turn signal either, of course. My roommate, who had lived here a while, yelled out that the other guy had right of way.

Uh no, no he didn't. I am now watchful of merging areas. Cars around here just move over and expect you to get out of the way.

[Kogarashi]

Ugh merging. Aren't folks adorable? I recall when I first moved up here and was exposed to merging in NY state. I was in the left lane, and the right lane was ending. The car to my right suddenly veered left, and I managed to avoid an accident by slamming on my brakes. No turn signal either, of course. My roommate, who had lived here a while, yelled out that the other guy had right of way.

Uh no, no he didn't. I am now watchful of merging areas. Cars around here just move over and expect you to get out of the way.

I'm amused, because you basically just described merging in CT for me (while I never once encountered that in NY and I grew up there). I think crap mergers just lurk everywhere.

[notalwaysright]

I think crap mergers just lurk everywhere.

So true. I once was trying to get on the highway and was following another car around the on-ramp, the kind which is basically a complete circle. The person gets around the curve and stops dead! This is where you need to punch the gas to get up to speed, it was a short on-ramp. I didn't even think to honk, I was actually concerned that maybe the car was stalled or something. But I could see the person looking over their shoulder, as if they were waiting for a clear spot. Thankfully it was not heavy traffic, but serious wth?

[Kogarashi]

I hate it when people do that.

Though, I'll confess I did it once...in Driver's Ed, sixteen years ago. Learned my lesson right quick when the instructor gave us all a lecture about how on-ramps are supposed to work.

[Cia]

When you have two left turn lanes why does the person in the inside turn lane always think they can move over to the outside lane w/o looking?

Sometimes the two turn lanes turn onto a three lane street so in this scenario the inside turn lane can only go into the far left lane while the outside turn lane can choose between the middle lane or the far right lane. I have almost been hit multiple times by the idiot in the inside turn lane thinking he/she can immediately go into the middle or far right lane. I've even had the inside turn person turn right in front of me so they could turn into the parking lot on the right hand side of the road.

Now I've heard that down in Arizona the inside turn lane CAN choose between the far left lane and the middle lane. I assume there are dashed lines on the road so one can see that they can do this but up in South Dakota the dashed lines clearly point out that this is a no go here.

[Kaylyn]

I hate it when people think you honking at them to alert them to a mistake they're about to make get upset with you for stopping them. A lady in front of me in the right lane a couple of years ago was BACKING UP on the road because, I guess, someone in the left lane was trying to turn into a lot on the right and she was...being polite, I guess? At the expense of, you know, the rules of the road and other people's expectations of what was supposed to happen on the road. Only I was behind her and she was inches from hitting me. I honked at her to let her know something was about to happen and she got OUT of her car and came over to me and yelled at me. So sorry, madame, next time I will pull forward so you can hit me sooner if that is your wish.

[otter]

I hate it when people think you honking at them to alert them to a mistake they're about to make get upset with you for stopping them.

Exactly! I feel no remorse at all for avoiding being crushed by a giant metal death machine at the expense of this driver's feelings. Doubly so because it would have almost certainly caused a bigger pile-up among the other cars as mine veered around aimlessly... If they wanna get their panties in a twist, let them.

[icmedia]

I just had this exact situation occur yesterday...except with a semi truck. For illustrative purposes, here's where we were

B

I

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me

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If I hadn't laid on the horn, I would have gone straight under his trailer as he pulled over to the left...nonetheless, he kept coming (albeit slower) and I had to slam on my brakes to avoid certain death.

[RootedPhoenix]

Good grief! Glad you are still alive to talk about it! Sounds awful.

[raudf]

Yeah, this is why I will gladly break the speed limit if I'm stuck in the blind spot of a semi.

I would love to go back in time and have a chat with the idiot that designed the rest area on I-30 around the 93 mile marker. Putting it in the median was just asking for more accidents and near misses, by people who don't read the damn signs that say, "Rest Area Left Lane One Mile," "Rest Area Exit On Left," "Rest Area on Left" (this sign is on the left hand side) and decide to slam on their brakes and SWERVE into the left lane and whatever vehicle is in it just to race onto the rest area exit.

Or worse, they're leaving the rest area and entering the freeway. HAMMER LANE. Exit is not long enough for the big rigs to get the speed up. It's 50/50 on whether the rig will stay in the hammer lane (sane thing to do, honestly) or try cutting across two lanes of traffic, causing both lanes to slam on the brakes. With regular vehicles, it's a no brainer.. they always go across the two lanes, causing the slamming of brakes and much cursing.

Doesn't help that the rest area sandwiched by small median forests, so you can't actually see the buildings until it's too damn late. But that's why they have roughly three signs letting you know the stupid thing is ON THE LEFT!!!!

So, when I come up on the rest area, I move into the travel lane. It's the only lane with any chance of not getting hit by a idiot not paying attention.

[wolfie]

I would love to go back in time and have a chat with the idiot that designed the rest area on I-30 around the 93 mile marker. Putting it in the median was just asking for more accidents and near misses, by people who don't read the damn signs that say, "Rest Area Left Lane One Mile," "Rest Area Exit On Left," "Rest Area on Left" (this sign is on the left hand side) and decide to slam on their brakes and SWERVE into the left lane and whatever vehicle is in it just to race onto the rest area exit.

I've seen a fair number of rest areas in the median. There's one good reason to do it - one rest area can serve both directions, so it's cheaper to build. Still, they need to have a LONG acceleration lane coming out.

[Kogarashi]

I've seen a fair number of rest areas in the median. There's one good reason to do it - one rest area can serve both directions, so it's cheaper to build. Still, they need to have a LONG acceleration lane coming out.

I've seen a rest area designed to serve both directions that still avoided this problem. The Angola Travel Plaza on the NY Thruway is built in the median, but its parking lots are still in the normal positions (so exit is on the right-hand side of whichever direction you're traveling). Instead, there are enclosed bridges built over the highway itself to get to the travel plaza in the center.