A question about driving

[Racket_Man]

I thought this might be the best place to pose this inquiry.

When I had driving lessons (Yes I got professional lessons 33 years ago) I was taught to NOT hug the curb on residential streets (street parking allowed or not). the instructor said to stay near the center of the street with no center marker or near the center of a marked lane or center divider.

in my wandering as a delivery driver over the years, I have noticed enough people who hug the curb on residential streets. this causes them to weave from side to side driving down a street esp when moving over to to the left to "avoid" a parked car. sometimes I can not asscertain if they are looking for an address or a driveway and it can go on for blocks at a time. Yes I have been behind someone who has driven like this for 5 or 6 blocks hugging the curb even at stop signs.

I can not pass them for fear they may suddenly weave out to the left and hit me.

Is there something I have missed over the years since having lessons????

[Aethian]

People are just idiots. Like I was told to not pass someone if a car was coming from the opposite way, yet I had someone take off my mirrors cause he passed me and then had to swerve in to not get hit.

[Magpie]

I know that I was never told to stay in the middle of the road, just that I should be driving far enough away from the curb that I can drive in a straight line and not have to swerve because of parked cars etc. I also know that I tend to only obey this when I'm in a car. When I'm on my bike I drive about one parked-car's width from the curb normally, and then pull out so that I'm a door's width from the cars only as I'm passing them. (There are a lot of people who don't really know the HTA here, so I like to make sure that there's room to pass me easily, without me having to have heard the car).

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

I was taught to stay by the center line if there are no lane lines, or if there are no lines at all, as close to the center of the road as possible.

[Javarod]

I was taught to stay by the center line if there are no lane lines, or if there are no lines at all, as close to the center of the road as possible.

Ditto.

I'm amazed at what passes for driving these days

[Chrismor]

I know under Irish law you are required to keep reasonably close to the left hand side on a 2 way street, or centre of the lane on a dual carriageway/motorway. Moving out to pass parked cars you should leave a door width between you and the parked car, and that if you have to cross the centre line, you do not have right of way over cars going the other way.

C.

[the lawsmeister]

and that if you have to cross the centre line, you do not have right of way over cars going the other way.
C.

ooh that's one of my pet hates. I've lost count of the number of dickheads that have almost run into me because their side of the road is temporarily blocked by something and they're obviously too important to have to wait until they can safely pass it

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Oh no, I do not hug the curb. I drive so that I don't have to swerve around parked cars. On most streets, that keeps me squarely in my lane.

A notable exception is one of the streets I drive on on my way home, which is narrow to begin with and there are cars parked on both sides. In this case you pretty much have to be half in your lane and half in the other lane. If there's oncoming traffic I can always find a spot to pull over to let the oncoming vehicle pass.

[Andara Bledin]

Oh no, I do not hug the curb. I drive so that I don't have to swerve around parked cars. On most streets, that keeps me squarely in my lane.

Ditto.

On smaller streets, I drive at such a distance from the line of parked cars that I can pass all of them without having to weave at all, which usually leaves me using only about half of the available roadway.

With how often I have had people whip their cars out of driveways and blind alleys across my lane to go past in the other direction, I can see no advantage at all of ever using the middle of what would otherwise be a 2-lane (1 in each direction) road.

^-.-^

[Magpie]

A notable exception is one of the streets I drive on on my way home, which is narrow to begin with and there are cars parked on both sides. In this case you pretty much have to be half in your lane and half in the other lane. If there's oncoming traffic I can always find a spot to pull over to let the oncoming vehicle pass.

That's about par for the course around here. Driving residential streets is like driving the backroads. Except that you don't have to honk your horn/flash your brights as you approach the crest of a hill.