Since we're on a rant recently I'm going to get this off my chest.
Every day leaving the office I'm at an intersection that has two lanes in each direction of travel. Both of those lanes are left turn only lanes. About 500 feet after the turn there's a right turn into the residential areas and is an effective shortcut for getting places off the frontage road where exists are scarce.
Every damn day I line up in the right most left turn lane because I need to take that right turn 500 feet after the intersection. Every single day there's 4:1 ratio of people in left turn lane to people in right turning lane and every. single. day. there's at least one or two idiots that make the left from the leftmost lane and immediately try to cut into the right lane to make the upcoming right into the residential area. Every. Single. Time.
Do people not know how to freaking use the correct turning lane based on your intended movements after the intersection? I mean, the right most turning lane even has fewer cars in line, so line up there! The intersection is designed very well in the sense that you're not getting bottlenecked or blocked into the incorrect lane - no - you have a clear choice and good signage well ahead.
It's come to the point that I accelerate through the damn intersection and mat it just to prevent people from cutting me off every single time.
I've gotten to the point where I try to turn into the correct lane whenever possible. I always love the people in the dual turn lanes who just wander over, oblivious to the others around them. It's not exactly as if I'm hard to see since I'm in a very loud red car (loud as in very bright). I do the same thing that you do and try to maintain my position whenever possible.
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InlinePaul wrote:The driving force of new fangled features to sell more cars [is to] cater to the masses' abject laziness!
I'm always very cautious when I'm on the outer turn lane cus you never know when an idiot on the inside lane will turn in the outer lane while turning. People are stupid, what are you going to do?
daleadbull wrote:I'm always very cautious when I'm on the outer turn lane cus you never know when an idiot on the inside lane will turn in the outer lane while turning. People are stupid, what are you going to do?
I completely agree. For that very reason, I never do a synchronized turn with the person in the inner turning lane. I'm either a bit in front or a bit behind them. This way they won't hit me if they decide to blindly wander into my lane. This happened in the past - I laid on the horn as I avoided them and STILL they were absolutely oblivious to me being there.
One time I was in the second turn lane from the inside of the corner. When the light changed I started my turn and was too far into it when I realized the F150 in the first turn lane was not turning, but going straight through, so all i could do was mat the pedal and I barely cleared him as he passed through, probably he missed me by about 1-2 feet! What is wrong with people?
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
I get a charge out of the people who have to swing wide just to duck back in their own lane. I'm sorry, if you're driving an Escort, or a Metro, there is no need to swing almost completely into the second lane and then continue in the correct lane. The same thing applies to turning right.
There are very few reasons where I consider this acceptable. Semis and buses are about the only exceptions I can think of.
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18 Mazda3 iSport
InlinePaul wrote:The driving force of new fangled features to sell more cars [is to] cater to the masses' abject laziness!
tankinbeans wrote:I get a charge out of the people who have to swing wide just to duck back in their own lane. I'm sorry, if you're driving an Escort, or a Metro, there is no need to swing almost completely into the second lane and then continue in the correct lane. The same thing applies to turning right.
There are very few reasons where I consider this acceptable. Semis and buses are about the only exceptions I can think of.
Agreed. I have complained about this numerous times. The worst was a Civic that swung right and made a wide left turn into a road entry so wide and gentle that a tractor trailer could take it without swinging wide. I was like
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tankinbeans wrote:I get a charge out of the people who have to swing wide just to duck back in their own lane. I'm sorry, if you're driving an Escort, or a Metro, there is no need to swing almost completely into the second lane and then continue in the correct lane. The same thing applies to turning right.
There are very few reasons where I consider this acceptable. Semis and buses are about the only exceptions I can think of.
Agreed. I have complained about this numerous times. The worst was a Civic that swung right and made a wide left turn into a road entry so wide and gentle that a tractor trailer could take it without swinging wide. I was like
Saw the same shit as I was walking today. A lady swung halfway into the lane to her left to complete a regular right turn. She was driving a new Civic.
Oh and guess what? Same intersection with the same two left turning lanes when I was leaving work. Guess what? A douchecanoe turned left from inside lane only to try to go into the right lane of travel immediately after the turn. Get me really mad. Every time. It's illogical for me to be this peeved but it gets me going.
People really are morons. This goes along with my whole "lane discipline" rant where people don't understand the concept of pass on the left. I can't even tell you how many times I see people who fail to stay in their lane when turning left. Where I live, there are lots of two-lane left turns that turn onto a 3-lane road. So if you're in the far left lane, you're supposed to turn into the far left lane. If you're in the other left turn lane, you should turn into the middle lane. How many times have I tried to turn into the middle lane, only to be forced out by some jackhole who decided that he wanted the middle lane. It happens more often than not. I don't understand why people fail to maintain their lane when turning left.
Another little side rant....here in NY, it is illegal to turn right on a red arrow. I'm not sure if that's the law in every state, but I'd be surprised if it was legal to turn right on a red arrow in any state. Regardless, there's always someone in the crowd honking because they think it's okay to turn right on red. And the really ironic thing about that is the fact that turning right on red is optional in the first place. So if I'm behind someone who can safely & legally turn right on red, but chooses not to, I'm not going to blow my horn. There's no law that says someone has to turn right on red.
We can, and are encouraged to, turn on a red circle once we've stopped and established that the coast is clear. However, if it's a red arrow we cannot go until green. These ate almost always accompanied by a sign "no turn on red." We get the same morons though who honk when they don't get their way.
Lately we've been experimenting with flashing yellow arrows in some left turn lanes. These function as yields if the main light is red.
17 Mazda6 Touring
18 Mazda3 iSport
InlinePaul wrote:The driving force of new fangled features to sell more cars [is to] cater to the masses' abject laziness!
Another thing I see a lot is people won't stop for a flashing red....but will instead stop for a flashing yellow! I came close to rear ending a guy once because all of a sudden he just slammed on his brakes for a flashing yellow. Even after laying on the horn he continued to slow down and come to a complete stop...
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ClutchDisc wrote:Another thing I see a lot is people won't stop for a flashing red....but will instead stop for a flashing yellow! I came close to rear ending a guy once because all of a sudden he just slammed on his brakes for a flashing yellow. Even after laying on the horn he continued to slow down and come to a complete stop...
There is a flashing yellow I go by every day and people constantly are stopping at it. They need to review their driver training manual.
Stick shiftin since '77
theholycow wrote:Why in the world would you even want to be as smooth as an automatic? Might as well just drive an automatic...
Shadow wrote:So if you're in the far left lane, you're supposed to turn into the far left lane. If you're in the other left turn lane, you should turn into the middle lane.
There are plenty of exceptions to that rule here. I can think of one off the bat, where the outer left turn lane goes into the right most lane on a 3 lane road and the inner goes into the middle lane. Still, it doesn't excuse people. The 'guide' lines are clearly painted through the intersection to show people exactly where they need to go.
theholycow wrote:Agreed. I have complained about this numerous times. The worst was a Civic that swung right and made a wide left turn into a road entry so wide and gentle that a tractor trailer could take it without swinging wide. I was like
Off Topic but is that a cow facepalm? haha
I just assume that every driver is an idiot even then some still surprise me.
I came close to rear ending a guy once because all of a sudden he just slammed on his brakes for a flashing yellow. Even after laying on the horn he continued to slow down and come to a complete stop... 
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