Don't Hold Hands!

[blas]

*WARNING: Thread title very deceiving*

Ah, so today's rants. What is it about the big highway that makes people's IQ drop 10 or more points per mile?

Holding hands, yes, that. No, it's not the kind of holding hands that you do on a nice first date. I regret to inform you that "Holding Hands" is a very ignorant, stupid thing that large vehicles do at times that causes traffic backups, jams, and even accidents if people aren't paying attention or panic.

Classic example: Two semi trucks, one in each lane, both going the exact same speed. Doesn't even need to be a semi truck, could be any kind of large slower moving vehicle (or vehicle that can't accelerate quickly), one in each lane, both going the exact same speed.

I declare, there should be a law that makes it illegal for two large slower moving/accellerating vehicles to do this, except if one is passing the other and can do so in a timely manner.

This morning, I was tootling along, and ahead of me was a very large tanker truck, and a semi truck was behind it, but then got into the left lane. I assumed the semi was going to pass the tanker truck, but it didn't. It matched the tanker truck's speed to the exact mph and completely clogged up the freeway (neither vehicle was even going 65 mph).

Now, I'm not one of those loons who goes 80+ on the freeway. I'm happy to buzz along at 70 in the right lane. But when people go under 65 in perfect driving conditions, I lose my patience. Double, no...triple....no....quadruple losing it in this instance.

It didn't take long for the epic clog. Pretty soon everyone had to hit their brakes and slow down to the 50-55 that both trucks were doing......traffic that had been a mile or two behind were all of a sudden on our asses and hitting their brakes in a panic and everyone was just looking for a way out that did not exist.

For another few miserable miles, traffic went like that....crawling at 50-55 mph, neither lane going any faster than the other, no gaps, no wiggle room.

Finally, the tanker truck took the next exit, and then virtually everyone in the right lane rammed the gas and rocketed past the semi truck (who was still going under 65 in the LEFT lane! He was still going that slow in the LEFT lane a few miles later when I took my exit!!) and then everyone stuck behind the semi waited their turn and whizzed over into the right lane and sped up to pass the semi truck from the RIGHT lane.

Now, onto my next rant. Four way stops. It's really not rocket science. Whoever got there first, goes first. If unsure, always assume the other person is a moron and just wave them along and let them go. Yes, you were right. They are a moron. They see you waving them along....they are looking right at you as you wave them along and mouth the words "Go ahead"....and they sit. And sit. After you decide "Fuck it, that's what I get for being nice!" and you let off the brake and decide to go, THEY decide they want to go.......an accident nearly ensues....and they have the audacity to honk their horn at you.

[artifical sweetner]

i have serious road rage and i like to speed...not a good combo when some ding bat (truck or otherwise) decides to putz in the left lane...trucks make it worse though because they fling rocks and sand at your windshield.

[Dips]

I used to have a commute that went through one of the worst 4-ways I've ever seen, in the center of town, and really high traffic during rush hour. Using a 4-way stop was the worst thing to do there. Why they didn't put in a light I'll never know (I think they did put in a light later).

Ugh. I just try to avoid them whenever I can.

Sounds like Chelmsford. They used to have a 5 or 6 way stop sign. Thank goodness they have a light now. It's slightly better.

[KiaKat]

Ugh, I hate four-way stops. I never know who is supposed to go first, and what if you are turning? does the person going straight still have the right of way over the turner, even if the turner was there first? and what if two cars get to the 4-way at the same time? which one goes first again? right or left? I'm always getting into the situation you describe where you wait for a moment to see if the other person is going to go, and when they don't you go ahead, and of course it turns out the other person went at the same time too and you almost collide.

Here's how it works:

Whoever arrives at the stop first has right of way. No exception. If you both arrive at the same time, the person on the right goes first. If it's a two-way street, both cars arrive at the intersection at the same time, and one is turning left, the one who is going straight has the right of way, then the person who is turning goes.

If four people come to an intersection at the same time, the universe is going to end, and we should all run around in circles flailing our arms.

Sorry. Um...seriously though, it's almost never the case that four cars come to an intersection at the same time. There's always one car that arrives first.

[joe hx]

Whoever arrives at the stop first has right of way. No exception. If you both arrive at the same time, the person on the right goes first. If it's a two-way street, both cars arrive at the intersection at the same time, and one is turning left, the one who is going straight has the right of way, then the person who is turning goes.

In Ohio, the person on the left yields the right-of-way to the person on the right, regardless of who got there first. The reasoning is that both drivers might think that they both arrived first. Also it is stated that the person on the left "yields" because you can't assume you have the right-of-way - the reasoning being "you can have the right-of-way and be awfully dead."

In practice, however, whoever got there first goes first.

[KiaKat]

*nods*

There are local variations on the basic law, but because in practice most people follow the basic rather than the variation, it was easiest to post.

In NY, it's weird...we don't have a lot of 4-way stops in the city, but we have a lot of 2- and 3-way stops, so I've become very, very good at them. Also helped that I had a couple major intersections near my home when I was first learning how to drive. Man, they were crazy intersections.

[Dips]

When you have two or more people waiting, think of it as a monopoly board. The person who is the first or rightmost goes first and turns are taken by everyone else clockwise one car at a time.

Of course, that only works if every driver waiting knows how turns are taken. Frankly it's safer to just go the long way around and avoid the issue altogether.

[finlayfox]

this is in regards to the whole 2 trucks side by side thing. Most times it is douchetastic at it's finest. but sometimes, it is because they know that there is a traffic jam up ahead a few miles, and what they are doing is relieving the pressure so that all traffic will be able to go at a better pace soon(you mainly see this in work zones where it goes down to one lane in a mile or so)

[tphillip]

Got one better

What's better than 2 18-wheelers blocking traffic? One NYS Trooper in the left lane of a 3-lane Interstate doing 5 miles under the speed limit and not one POS willing to go past him. The Troopers LOVE doing that on the I90 on the free section in Buffalo. Backs up traffic for miles. Great fun for the rest of us. And I've never gotten a ticket passing them on the right doing the limit. Damn cowards.

On the other note, like other states NY has their own rules. 4-way stops are first come, first served assuming there isn't a queue and then it's "round robin". If two or more cars arrive at the same time we have two rules:

• Right turn first, straight through second, left turn last
• If the above doesn't apply, it's the person to the far left/clockwise

As a motorcyclist, if there's any doubt I make sure I'm last.

[Kogarashi]

On the other note, like other states NY has their own rules. 4-way stops are first come, first served assuming there isn't a queue and then it's "round robin". If two or more cars arrive at the same time we have two rules:

• Right turn first, straight through second, left turn last
• If the above doesn't apply, it's the person to the far left/clockwise

Strange. When I was reading up on the NY State manual for taking my driving test, the rules were straight first, right turn second, and person to the furthest right goes first, not left.

[tphillip]

Strange. When I was reading up on the NY State manual for taking my driving test, the rules were straight first, right turn second, and person to the furthest right goes first, not left.

If the NYS Traffic Law wasn't such a mess I'd keep up with these changes.

Honestly though, it really is a mess. Where else can you find laws on how to turn at a four way stop, that hitting a dog (But not a cat) is considered misdemeanor "Hit and Run", and that all school buses must be painted "National School Bus Yellow"?

[BookstoreEscapee]

What's better than 2 18-wheelers blocking traffic? One NYS Trooper in the left lane of a 3-lane Interstate doing 5 miles under the speed limit and not one POS willing to go past him. The Troopers LOVE doing that on the I90 on the free section in Buffalo. Backs up traffic for miles. Great fun for the rest of us. And I've never gotten a ticket passing them on the right doing the limit. Damn cowards.

That reminds me of a story I read once upon a time: A state trooper was driving on the NJ Turnpike and everyone around him refused to pass him, everyone slowed down and traffic started backing up. So the trooper gets on his loudspeaker and tells everyone to drive like normal people cuz he's a Pennsylvania State Trooper.

That sucks, though, if the cops are holding up traffic on purpose just because they know people are paranoid and it amuses them (like NY doesn't have enough traffic as it is). If you are going the speed limit there is no reason not to pass a cop who's just driving along. If you're not doing anything illegal they're not going to stop you.

[Dips]

So the trooper gets on his loudspeaker and tells everyone to drive like normal people cuz he's a Pennsylvania State Trooper.

[OT] That reminds me of the funniest thing I ever heard a state trooper say over a loudspeaker:

"You in the Cadillac, please pull over [pause] To the right, please [pause] Into the breakdown lane. You know, the one you were just driving in?"

[/OT]

[Andara Bledin]

That sucks, though, if the cops are holding up traffic on purpose just because they know people are paranoid and it amuses them (like NY doesn't have enough traffic as it is). If you are going the speed limit there is no reason not to pass a cop who's just driving along. If you're not doing anything illegal they're not going to stop you.

Sometimes CHP and the local cops (mostly LA County) will pull that shit.

If they're going below the speed limit, I'm going to pass there asses, provided it's legal and safe. It amazes me how many people are too cowardly to go the speed limit around a cop.

^-.-^

[ArcticChicken]

They used to have a 5 or 6 way stop sign.

My home town had an eight way intersection. Half on a bridge. But they remodeled it, now there are two bridges.