Wait BEHIND the stop sign!

[Sedorna]

Ok, I was driving along the road when all of a sudden I came upon this other driver who wanted to turn left onto the road that I was driving on. Perfectly natural, right? Happens all the time. Only the traffic in that direction was stopped at the light, and there was a lot of it (since it led to the beltway) so she was unable to turn left. So, this driver decided to wait IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD! Yes, the selfsame road that I was driving on was blocked by her car.

I honked at her but she would not back up even though she had plenty of room. Yes, the car behind her was far enough back so that, had she chosen to back up, she could have easily done so.

Perhaps my light honk wasn't enough. Perhaps I should have laid on it and yelled at her, but I didn't want to cause a scene. But, really, who does that sort of thing?

Oh, and I did NOT have stop sign.

[blas]

Around here, the little white lines by stop signs and stop lights are totally optional.

You get the people who stop 15 feet behind the white line and therefore won't trip the sensor for the light (the lights that are run on sensors, anyway) and then you get the people who are halfway out in the intersection.

What makes me giggle is the people who don't understand that not every light is run on sensors, in fact, most are run on timers, and you'll usually see some dumbass inching farther and farther past the white line, inching inching inching, trying to trip the sensor.

[HYHYBT]

I'd pay a lot more attention to those bleeping lines if they'd paint them close enough to the intersection that I could actually *see* whether there's traffic coming or not. Instead, they first curve the sidewalk away from the street by two or three yards at intersections, which I suppose *is* safer for the pedestrians, though only slightly and there hardly ever are any anyway; then second, they make the crosswalk much wider than there is any good reason for, then put the stop line several feet behind *that*. (Naturally not all of these occur at every intersection, but it's not that rare either.) Even with straight, right-angled streets on flat ground that leaves enough space that there's almost always an obstacle blocking vision; throw in a hill, curve, or angle and it's all but hopeless. I don't pull out so far as to block traffic, but if there are no pedestrians (or after they've passed) I will pull up *to* the street because it's simply not possible to drive safely otherwise.

Lights with sensors: the nearest traffic light to my house has a ~110 degree turn less than two car lengths before the stop line (which is placed where it ought to be, which is aggravating since you only get to the light if you're turning left or going straight and therefore don't need to see whether anyone's coming or not.) Anyway, some of the area inside the curve is paved as well, and some is dirt because so many cut it too tight. The sensor is where it ought to be, not in this extra space, and occasionally someone will be far enough off to the side that they don't set it off. Since you can't move a car sideways, once this happens the light will *never* turn green until either that driver gives up and runs the red or the one behind him realizes what the problem is and pulls up beside him, setting off the sensor but usually hanging off into the oncoming traffic's lane to do so.

[LillFilly]

I hate that, especially when they force you to go into the opposing lane of traffic because they're so far out into the road.

[Andara Bledin]

Totally ticketable here, and probably there, too.

If you can't get your ass out of the intersection because there's nowhere to go, you're not supposed to enter it.

If you're only waiting until cross traffic clears, however, then it's cool.

^-.-^

[mattm04]

Around here, the little white lines by stop signs and stop lights are totally optional.

You get the people who stop 15 feet behind the white line and therefore won't trip the sensor for the light (the lights that are run on sensors, anyway) and then you get the people who are halfway out in the intersection.

What makes me giggle is the people who don't understand that not every light is run on sensors, in fact, most are run on timers, and you'll usually see some dumbass inching farther and farther past the white line, inching inching inching, trying to trip the sensor.

I saw someone do the inch forward a car length or more when they stopped at the yellow. Never noticed the cop behind them. Due to the moron the driver of a semi ened up having to jump the curb to make his turn. Cop was all to happy to stop him.

[PepperElf]

when i was in virginia beach there were a couple of intersections with giant Xs on them, and signs posting that it was a $200 fine to idle there.

so even if you have a green light, if the traffic ahead of you is stuck, you have to wait, and blocking the intersection will get you in trouble

[evilhomer]

This is something I can't stand around my neibourhood. I'm amazed that more pedestrians aren't killed. We've got the standard white line, then perpendicular lines to indicate the pedestrian zone. The law is stop at the white line. If you're turning right, check for pedestrians, then proceed forward to check for traffic. People turning right blow past the line, looking in the opposite direction towards oncoming traffic, completely oblivious of any pedestrians. People turning left or going through pull right up to the edge of the road, blocking the pedestrian zone. There are sensors, but they run a good 6-8 feet behind the line, so they will definately be tripped.

On my own it doesn't bother me much. It's when I'm out with kids that it infuriates me. I got into a fight over it earlier in the summer. I'm out with my nephews and neice and this assclown is totally blocking the zone. I'm not about to allow two strollers and a toddler to get that close to traffic so I stand in front of him and politely wave at him to move back, he ignores me. I yell and ask him to move back, he gives me a goofy "what" look. This carries on long enough for the light to change. He honks his horn at me, I return his goofy "what" look and ask "what? you don't seem to think it's a problem to be blocking someone's path". He revs his engine threatening to run me over, I say "go ahead, I need the money". This carries on long enough for the light to change again, I ask him "you gonna back up now or do you wanna try another round?" With this he backs up. I give him a thumbs up and tell him "Good call!" As we're walking away he lets me know that I'm an asshole. I tell him "Thanks! I work really hard at it, it's nice to know my work is appreciated."

[Kogarashi]

when i was in virginia beach there were a couple of intersections with giant Xs on them, and signs posting that it was a $200 fine to idle there.

so even if you have a green light, if the traffic ahead of you is stuck, you have to wait, and blocking the intersection will get you in trouble

We need something like that here. I don't go to Walmart between 5 and 7 pm on weekdays. The road right there is a 5-lane major thoroughfare right off the highway, and a large majority of drivers here like to block intersections. Gridlock is a common occurrence at Walmart's entrance. It takes something like three cycles of the traffic light for me to be able to actually make my left turn out thanks to the blocking traffic. I even saw a schoolbus do it once. And have gotten the "Whut?" looks from drivers I've honked at before, as well as honked at when I refused to block the intersection myself.

[HYHYBT]

The rule against stopping in the intersection exists whether they've painted X's across them or not; why it's not regularly enforced I don't know.