https://xkcd.com/2932

Alt text:

This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.

    • tables@kbin.social
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      7 months ago

      You can be nice, just make sure you think about what you’re actually doing before doing it.

      Letting a car go in front in the situation above: you’re probably causing an accident.

      Letting a car go in heavy traffic when there’s one lane each way and everyone’s stopped already anyway: won’t cost you much time and you’ve allowed that person to move on with their life instead of being permanently stuck at an intersection he’s never going to be able to get out of unless someone yields.

      I live close to a few intersections where if no one is nice and yields, it’s impossible to join unless you barge your way in and hope people stop. But to be fair, these aren’t designed like death traps like the one above.

      • llii@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        think about what you’re actually doing before doing it.

        That’s too much thinking for most people.

      • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I was gonna lose my mind reading some of these comments. Thank you for being sensible.

        The majority of cases where one could politely let someone through are not going to be on highways like this.

        It’s also ridiculous to assume that the driver that you’re letting through would just stop checking for oncoming traffic because you waved them through.

        • Mac@mander.xyz
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          6 months ago

          you dont have two lane roads in your town? i sure do and this is a real issue. the driver pulling into traffic cannot see the car coming along at higher speed.

        • tables@kbin.social
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          7 months ago

          Driving is one of those things where we’re supposed to be human - make choices, act sensibly, think about what we’re doing and adapt to others around us. But often people assume it’s something entirely deterministic - “if the light is green I’m going to launch forward even if there’s still traffic moving past me and I’m going to get hit or hit someone, because green means I HAVE to go”.

          Being polite to others, asides from the nicety of it, is often more positive to everyone on the road than going “I have the right of way so I won’t let anyone in” and allows traffic as a whole to move with less issues. But some people go way too hard on the mentality that every road user other than them is stupid and stop acting like humans because they assume others won’t be able to cope. Which usually complicates traffic for everyone.

          There’s a roundabout in my daily commute in which at the end of the afternoon 80% of drivers are coming from and going to the same direction and there’s usually heavy traffic in that specific direction that blocks the roundabout. Often, drivers who are approaching the roundabout to go to a different direction will signal their intention, and users already inside the roundabout will give way - even if they technically have the right of way and don’t have to - because those users aren’t going their direction and will only increase the number of cars stuck if they’re not allowed through. Roundabout users being polite effectively makes traffic as a whole go more smoothly and everyone benefits. Sometimes someone inside the roundabout will be an ass and not let people through - and the result is always that everyone is stuck for more time because there are now cars inside the roundabout which could’ve already vacated it which are stuck behind someone who could easily let them through.

        • Mac@mander.xyz
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          6 months ago

          you dont have two lane roads in your town? i sure do and this is a real issue. the driver pulling into traffic cannot see the car coming along at higher speed.

      • roude@lemmynsfw.com
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        7 months ago

        Letting a car go in front in the situation above: you’re probably causing an accident.

        I disagree. In this situation, you are letting the left turning car move to the middle lane of this five lane road. From there, they can make a better decision of when to go. You aren’t causing an accident by letting them go TO THE MIDDLE LANE. From that point on, it is their ability to merge that may cause an accident. But they are supposed to stop in the middle lane and check that they can merge BEFORE they merge.

          • roude@lemmynsfw.com
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            7 months ago

            Edit: Woof, sorry my phone mangled my comment into a hot mess. Fixed it and re-commented here.

            You are supposed to be in the middle near that rounded portion just above the time-traveling assassin.

            These…

            Turning Left on a Straightaway: Most main roads have median lanes into which you can move your vehicle if you need to turn left off of a straightaway. Move into the median, and yield the right of way to the oncoming traffic. Once there is an opening, you can complete your turn.

            Turning Left onto a Straightaway with a vehicle in the median: Every once in a while, you’ll be trying to turn onto a straight away, and you’ll find someone already in the median—right where you need to be! The rule is that the vehicle in the media has the right of way. The idea is that they are in the most vulnerable position because they are literally stopped in the middle of the road. Let them complete their turn before you move to the median.

            … from this.

            • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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              7 months ago

              That is not what that excerpt is talking about, that is talking about a road with a middle turn lane.

              The road pictured here has a median which cannot be driven over, generally there’s a kerb and it’s usually just grass on top. The center part is not for stopping in, it is only for driving through. You should not proceed unless you have a clear view of traffic from where that car is sitting on the left. In some cases there will be a white line to stop there, and in that case that is okay, but that is not what is pictured here.

              • roude@lemmynsfw.com
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                7 months ago

                What are YOU talking about? The median can 100% be driven over (circled in red below), and the center part (again, circled in red) is entirely intended to stop in prior to merging.

                The entire middle area is the median, which also contains protected left hand turns, a raised section, and what I assume is a painted median (maybe, maybe not, but again the circled portion). I am talking about stopping here, in the circled portion, prior to merging. You are supposed to stop there, assuming you aren’t towing or driving a longer-than-average vehicle, if you do not have visibility into the lane you are merging into.

                The quoted text I have above specifically mentions a left hand turn onto a straightway WITH ANOTHER VEHICLE IN THE MEDIAN, so clearly they mean a median that allows driving through.

                Picture.

                Edit: The predictable thing to do here, turning left with low visibility into the lane you are merging into due to obscuring traffic, is to yield to traffic coming from your left until you have: no traffic coming from the right, or someone from the right waves you through. You then stop in the middle, circled red portion until it is safe to complete your turn. You don’t just Hail Mary blindly drive from where you were initially stopped into the desired lane. That is how you cause an accident.

                • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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                  7 months ago

                  I think you are entirely missing the point of this comic and misunderstanding the rules of the pictured intersection. There’s a reason these were outlawed in my state (michigan). They are a dumb way to direct traffic, the “stopping room” you’ve circled is not meant for stopping in, or else there would be far more space there, likely an entire lane of room. I’m not suggesting making blind turns. You are not supposed to proceed without visibility or merging room, hence why the stopped line of cars in the middle lane have the right-of-way as they are blocking your view of that and possibly the traffic behind them, which the person at the front of the line has almost no way of knowing. You stop in the middle then you are still blocking them for as long as it takes to merge into traffic now that you’ve got yourself in this situation.

                  It just does not make sense to do it that way. If you can’t make the turn left then you turn right and find somewhere to turn around, which is how our roads are designed from the jump here in michigan.

                  Anyways, this is a really stupid argument and I’m really not interested in continuing it.

  • JeffreyOrange@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    This happens to me every other day. Ffs please don’t be polite, just drive by the rules. I hate it when cars stop in the middle of the road and you have to wait for them to start driving again because you often can’t know i f they are being polite of if they are just adjusting google maps and continue to drive.

    • ADTJ@feddit.uk
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      7 months ago

      I especially hate when you’re waiting to cross and people slow down to a stop and then wave you across, but there was no-one behind them.

      You could have just carried on at the same speed and we’d both have got on with our day sooner.

      • brbposting@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        I face away or even walk away from crosswalks as needed. Entirely abates intentions to give pedestrians the right of way when there’s apparently no intention to cross in the first place.

        Go so far as to time my approaches to intersections accordingly. Can’t say the strategy has ever failed - even the Mother Teresa of driving isn’t going to wave somebody who pretty much isn’t there. (YMMV, somewhat density & volume dependent.)

        • ADTJ@feddit.uk
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          7 months ago

          Sometimes though I am waiting to cross and then the last car in the train slows down, like noooo

      • 4am@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        This is every day of my life and I’m like “no, fucker, there’s a space behind you just GO”

  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Another thing that enrages me is people who think driving slowly is safer for whatever reason.

    Getting on the highway? Let’s SLOWLY merge at 60% the speed of oncoming traffic.

    Changing lanes from stationary traffic into a full speed lane? I won’t wait for the lane to clear, I’ll just turn signal and move into the lane REAL SLOW because that’s safe.

    Turning right? Let’s slow down to a complete stop and force traffic to a halt so I can turn right.

    As a delivery truck driver I can’t tell you how many people think that everyone else can just stop on a dime for them and they’re being safe because they move over at a snail’s Pace.

    • BigBananaDealer@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      fucking hate getting stuck behind some slow driver when trying to get on a highway. like fucker we are supposed to be reaching highway speed on this ramp not when we reach the highway🤬

      • JonEFive@midwest.social
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        7 months ago

        There is an on-ramp for the highway near me that’s pretty long. It’s long because it’s a very straight fast-moving section of highway. In other words, the on-ramp is designed to give you adequate space to get up to highway speed. The number of people who immediately merge into the first lane without getting up to speed is too damn high.

    • Everythingispenguins@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I used to have a job where I drove a box truck. It was slow empty and painfully slow full. It was also speed limited to 75mph. So I would tend to hang out with the semis on the hwy. One time I was driving down the hwy and this guy in a pretty new Volvo( so the fast ones) was coming down the on ramp. I could see he was going to merge right in front of me so I slowed down to give him some space. I figured he would want to be in front of the slow box truck. As he got close to the merge he slowed down so he was even with me. I gave him a little more space to merge in front of me and slowed down again. He had plenty of room left in the on merge lane if just used the skinny pedal. Instead he waited until was almost out of room then started honking at me. I did my best to speed up my painfully slow box truck but I am sure he has to slow down to the point he was merging at 45mph as everyone was doing 75-80mph. I am sure he was cursing me too because he wasn’t willing to get up to hwy speed before merging.

      • stalfoss@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        I was taught it was the responsibility of the car getting on the highway to match the speed of the cars on the highway. If you’re already on the highway, keep a constant speed so the people getting on can match you. So he kept having to slow down because you were also slowing down. Just like the assassin pretending to be nice in the diagram, I think you were technically in the wrong here.

          • AngryMob@lemmy.one
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            7 months ago

            Right, but its not your responsibility to slow down at all. Its kind of you to do so when the merging vehicle picks up on your intention, but when they don’t, it makes a miscommunication like you describe.

            Basically, i’d just describe it as being predictable. And bending the rules (even to be kind) is not predictable, usually.

        • biddy@feddit.nl
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          7 months ago

          I have a question on this. Let’s assume everyone is a perfect driver and must have at least a 2 second following distance at all times. If there’s a free flowing queue of traffic on the highway with 2-4 second gaps between, merging in is impossible without someone slowing down and letting you in. Every time I merge this situation stresses me out.

          • stalfoss@lemm.ee
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            7 months ago

            Merge into the gap, then slow down slightly to extend the space in front of you, and let the guy behind you slow down to extend the space in front of him. It’s not complicated

          • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            At 100 km/h (low-end highway spreed), or 1,666 m/minute, or 27.7 m per second, a 2 second gap leaves approximately 56.6 m (185.6 feet) between cars. With the average car length being ~4.9 m (~16 feet), even the absolute worst driver can merge in a space ten times the size of the average car, assuming they’re matching highway speed.

            Most people have no actual concept of how long 2 seconds actually is or how much space it would leave in reality.

            • biddy@feddit.nl
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              7 months ago

              Yeah, obviously you “can” merge, but in doing so you insert yourself into the middle of a 2 second gap creating 2 × less than 1 second gaps. Like I said, in this hypothetical everyone is a perfect driver that always follows the rules, so that’s not an option.

              For that matter, the driver behind should see that you are about to merge into a gap that’s too small and slow down to leave a space that’s at least 4 seconds big.

              I’d also like to point out that your attitude to driving is terrible, the size in meters of anything on a highway is irrelevant, 2 seconds is not a lot of time to react and slow down a car at 100, and that just because you “can” do something doesn’t mean you should.

      • MajorHavoc@programming.dev
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        7 months ago

        Instead he waited until was almost out of room then started honking at me.

        People who haven’t learned the physics of large trucks spend a surprising portion of their driving time competing for Darwin awards.

        I want to will this not to be a problem anymore, but still see it all the time. I’m thankful that I’ve seen a lot of truckers react in surprisingly aware ways that save lives.

        But every time I see it, I can’t help but think that driver’s luck isn’t too likely to hold through too many more times making that move.

    • Jolteon@lemmy.zip
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      7 months ago

      Getting into the fast moving lane from slow traffic is difficult no matter how you do it. The best way I found is to actually go slightly slower than the person in front of you to get a gap, then use that gap to accelerate.

      • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Yeah, that’s because you know how to drive. I can’t tell you how many people just turn in front of a truck and expect it to slow down for them. Playing with their lives.

    • Gestrid@lemmy.ca
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      7 months ago

      When driving, being predictable is being nice. Being nice is an accident waiting to happen.

      … That sounded better in my head.

    • AwkwardLookMonkeyPuppet@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Half the people who wave you through have weird little control fetishes. They’re not being polite, they’re pursuing feelings of power. They’re the same people driving 5 mph under the speed limit in the passing lane to “keep other people from speeding”.

  • TheHarpyEagle@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Nothing gets me closer to road rage than people waving me on when they have the right of way at a four way stop. Like yes thank you that’s very polite, but we both could’ve been through this intersection if you’d gone when you were supposed to.

    • waz@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I try to never use “the finger” when another driver is being an ass. In that case I always just give them a thumbs down and a sad face.

      I save the middle finger for people who are being “nice”, especially when it is making things dangerous. I find it is the quickest way get them to just go.

      I try to be coniderate while driving. Being predictable is safe. Deviating from the rules is dangerous. I think being safe more considerate than being “nice”.

      • IzzyScissor@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        I’ve never thought about giving drivers like this the finger, but I’m absolutely going to from now on.

        It’s not being ‘nice’. It’s dangerous. That’s deserving of a middle finger.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      The only two actual rules that apply to four way stops is everyone stops and the first person to start moving gets the right of way. All that crap about the first arrival or person to the right doesn’t get applied in real life. They’re noble ideas, but just fucking go if no one else is.

      • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        All that crap about the first arrival or person to the right doesn’t get applied in real life.

        What the hell are you talking about? People obey the first to stop first pull out rule all the damn time.

        • JonEFive@midwest.social
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          7 months ago

          Yes, but there are also a lot of times where they don’t in my personal experience. If there’s a question about who technically got there first - like two cars approach at roughly the same time - the rules aren’t always followed as written by other drivers.

        • KroninJ@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          First to stop is the safer option. I feel that most people around here follow that too.

          It also has a rare benefit of seeing the interaction between a majority first-to-goers at a 4 way.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Not in my experience. Of course, as long as people are actually stopping, someone already stopped has an advantage. But that’s a difference between East and West Coast US driving. In the East people come to a complete stop before moving again. In the West they’ll slow down a lot, nearly stop even. So there’s definitely regional characteristics. But the most common law is that of our childhood, possession is 9/10ths of the law.

      • JonEFive@midwest.social
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        7 months ago

        Growing up, there was a four-way stop near my house that one of my friends absolutely hated. It was a pretty busy intersection, and he hated that drivers didn’t seem to follow the rules that the person to the right goes first or whatever.

        One time when I was driving, he was shocked like “what are you doing!? Its not your turn, you’re gonna cause an accident!” when I went. I was like “what are you talking about?” I had driven through that intersection hundreds of times and never really thought about it. When I payed attention to the way the intersection flowed, I figured out the unwritten understanding that I and everyone else approached it with. It was basically just “stop and wait for a car or two to go before proceeding”. There was no guaranteed order that I could come up with, it was just that everyone in the area seemed to understand.

        Written rules are great if everyone is following the written rules. If you follow the written rules at that intersection you’ll be fine, but you’re likely to annoy someone for a moment. Nobody is going to be confused if you wait, just impatient.

        I agree with you. More important than following rules is to pay attention and adapt as appropriate. If you’re the only one following the written rules, there’s a chance that you’re the one acting unpredictably.

        • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Yeah the written rules seem logical. But they just don’t match with human behavior.

      • starman2112@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Yeah this comment should not be so far in the negatives. I much prefer calling someone a dickhead for going before their turn than screaming “YOU HAVE RIGHT OF WAY” at some dipshit who’s holding up traffic because they feel like being nice

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    7 months ago

    This applies when you’re a pedestrian waiting to cross too. There are always those drivers who think they’re doing you a favor by stopping one of the lanes of traffic so you can walk out into the other. They smile and wave and look baffled when you don’t take the bait.

    • ramirezmike@programming.dev
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      7 months ago

      yesterday a guy tried to wave me to cross then started angrily raising his hands like “FUCKING GO!” completely oblivious to the car that flew past his left side in the opposite direction

      • Fredselfish@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        Had guy asking me to turn like that and when I refused he gave me the finger as he finally drove on. How come they hold up traffic and then get mad at you for not driving into on coming traffic?

        • Bertuccio@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          It reveals how they weren’t actually being polite. They were doing it for themselves, not you, and you denied them their “good deed” dopamine.

          • Subverb@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            You’re right of course, but in a broader sense there is literally no action that anyone takes that is altruistic. We only do things that benefit us or, rarely, our group as a whole.

    • MBM@lemmings.world
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      7 months ago

      Feels like at least part of the issue is multi-lane pedestrian crossings. Most of the time that should either be single-lane, a traffic light or a tunnel/bridge.

    • Player2@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      In an uncontrolled crossing the pedestrian always has the right of way (North America and Europe at least). They should almost never ‘wait’ to cross

      • ReveredOxygen@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        Doesn’t matter if I have the right of way, I’m not walking into the other lane (going 35 mph) and hoping they don’t kill me

        • Player2@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          I’m not saying you should be reckless, but too often I see people be either uninformed or unwilling to exercise their rights. To be fair, I do write with something of an urban bias, where thankfully those kinds of speeds are much less common.

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        lmao. That may be true in some places but in others it requires a crosswalk. Also, the rules aren’t going to pay your hospital or funeral home bills.

        • Player2@lemm.ee
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          7 months ago

          By crossing I mean a crosswalk, some sort of markings on the ground

      • Kusimulkku@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Always where? There’s a bazillion different rules about this depending on where you live

      • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        If you trust every driver to follow the rules exactly and have their eyes open, you can risk your life by walking out. Otherwise you might wait anyway. And the rules about right of way depend on your country and state.

    • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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      7 months ago

      Oh god, this reminds me of a cringe mistake just after I was getting my license. I was driving up to a crosswalk and there was a kid standing next to, maybe 8 or 9, holding their hand out. You know, just like they learn at school that they should do that to make it clear they want to cross even tho the car is supposed to stop anyway. I saw this and what did I do? I thought the kid waved at me and my new license, so I just drove past and waved back. What the fuck, brain?

    • Takumidesh@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Generally pedestrians have the right of way at crossings (unless it’s controlled with a light) in my state and neighboring states, most crosswalks even have signs that inform you to yield to pedestrians.

    • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Rules of the road:

      1. Be predictable
      2. Nobody else is predictable
      3. Everyone is indifferent to your existence; you are merely a car to them
      4. Your phone wants to kill you - leave it alone
      5. The faster you go, the less of a difference 5mph makes - be safe, not fast
      6. FFS maintain your damn car
      • RockyBass@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago
        1. Drive sober
        2. If you’re even remotely tired, you’re attention and reaction time is impacted more than you realize
        • pantyhosewimp@lemmynsfw.com
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          7 months ago

          Example warning!

          This is from real life.

          I hit the road late in the afternoon after working most of the day. It was a 14 hour drive. I had to be there as soon as I could. With my own car. Getting to my mom when Dad died.

          I pushed myself so much that I got so tired that I kept missing the freeway exits. I was desperate to pull over and go to sleep but I was also so exhausted that I kept driving past the turn offs unintentionally. A nightmarish feeling being in that situation. I only managed to make it by going turtle slow and then turning off at the next exit, and once on a regular road I just pulled over on the shoulder and fell instantly asleep.

          I was 31 and physically fit. The point is, assume you are more tired than you think you are. Take it easy on yourself. Be cautious. If I had hurt someone I couldn’t live with myself.

          • 3ntranced@lemmy.world
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            7 months ago

            Been driving between Chicago to Houston in single shot trips the past few weeks while relocating. Only 25 and can still stay awake for a good 42 hours or so before I collapse, but mix in the hypnotic highway constantly running past/the car vibrations and it’s a different story.

            So I always stop for coffee to make sure im mentally present before hoping on I45.

        • Strawberry@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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          7 months ago

          really good point. Sleep on your friend’s couch, get a motel room, sleep in your car in a Walmart parking lot… Just don’t drive when you’re tired

      • Maggoty@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        to expand on number 5, drive the flow speed! If traffic is moving at 55, yeah that sucks but you’re not going to make up more than a minute or so by speeding through them. And if traffic is doing 75, don’t do 55 unless you’re desperately low on gas. The savings from not maneuvering so much are huge. (Unless you’re driving EVs, they have constant power instead of gears and RPMs. Which is why they should be far more clearly marked.)

        • dejected_warp_core@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          This goes especially for EVs. Wind resistance really chews up your power budget once you’re above 55mph or so. May as well run the heater with the windows down at that point.

    • johannesvanderwhales@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Ugh, I hate this. I don’t care about waiting. As a cyclist, all I want is for it to be really clear what people are doing. Anything that messes with the right of way is sketchy.

      • glitchdx@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        People try to wave me on all the time. They refuse to move until I go. I refuse to go until I can fucking see what might fucking kill me. Twice, the guy waving me on has been rear-ended by a vehicle three times their size.

  • quink@lemmy.ml
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    7 months ago

    That, to me, looks like an intersection I would never want to turn left on in the first place in anything but the most deserted area.

    • Lesrid@lemm.ee
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      7 months ago

      Which is the delusion that the US’s traffic engineers based all of their decisions on 60 years ago.

      “This’ll be fine hardly anybody lives out here”

      • ilinamorato@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        It’s compounded by the delusion that the US’s traffic engineers base all of their decisions on now.

        “It’ll be fine, it’s been here for 60 years.”

      • marcos@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        It doesn’t work when nobody lives around either.

        The only way this can work is if both all cars are from the 30s, only able to move at 50 km/h, and nobody lives around.

      • meowMix2525@lemm.ee
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        7 months ago

        Yeah this is the only legal way to turn left in a road with a median like this in michigan. You have to turn right to turn left.

      • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        7 months ago

        I have never seen a roundabout here in Australia that allows for these sorts of conflicting movements, that would be asinine. Are you saying there’s multiple lanes that can exit or go straight such that someone in the inside lane can turn out in front of someone continuing around in the outside lane? Is this a North American thing? Of course that would result in accidents, don’t build your bloody roundabouts like that!!

        I drive through three lane (six lane road) roundabouts all the time and no one gets hurt. In fact I have to drive through two such roundabouts to get to the nearest freeway.

        • wander1236@sh.itjust.works
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          7 months ago

          There are so many like this in the US. I don’t understand who thought they were a good idea or why they keep getting made

          • Null User Object@programming.dev
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            7 months ago

            I’m absolutely calling BS. I’ve never seen such a thing and wagering that you are just confused about what lanes can do what (or you’re just making shit up). There are several roundabouts near me where an inside lane can turn out or go straight, but in all of those cases all lanes further out are required to turn out. The people that design traffic patterns aren’t idiots, but there’s no shortage of idiot drivers that can’t follow even the simplest patterns.

            If you want to insist, all you need to do is link to such an intersection in google maps so I can look at the aerial view. I’m honestly curious how they would paint the traffic lanes to indicate what you’re describing.

            • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              7 months ago

              I’ve got some near to me that both lanes can exit, but you must be in the inside lane to keep going round. They’re very strangely designed.

              • digdug@kbin.social
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                7 months ago

                Even on that, a driver in the right lane must exit. If they want to continue to the left, they are required to make a lane change, in which case all lane change rules would apply.

        • 3ntranced@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Right near my old house, dubbed the “Suicide Circle” for how everyone drives through it seemingly unaware of any other drivers on the road.

            • 3ntranced@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              It’s more the amount of choke points that turn to gridlock at rush hour. That plus it’s the Midwest so 85% of the population doesn’t understand how they work.

              • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                7 months ago

                I think it’s probably got more to do with the drivers. There are plenty of roundabouts like this where I am in Aus, and they get used just fine. Over here they have a far lower rate of accidents than other types of intersections. We never have 4 way stops either, we just put a roundabout there.

        • marcos@lemmy.world
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          7 months ago

          Imagine a roundabout where most of the traffic flows straight on only one of the streets. Things would improve a lot of you gave that street the right of way and cut a shortcut on the middle of the roundabout, wouldn’t them?

          (/s by the way, but a lot of transit engineers to really believe in this. Unironically.)

          • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            7 months ago

            You jest, but we do kind of have something like this in Melbourne, Australia. Except the vehicles that get to cut through the middle of the roundabout are Trams. Plus while they’re trundling through, everyone else has to stop and wait for them.

            • marcos@lemmy.world
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              7 months ago

              I was not joking when I said a lot of transit engineers believe on it.

              That one is one of the least bad I’ve seen. Try imagine it on the cross of two roads (actual high-speed roads, country-side). I’ve seen many of those.

              • Norah - She/They@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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                7 months ago

                I’m bloody sorry but did you just say this is one of the least bad you’ve seen?? Let me give you a different view:

                Trams traverse the traffic lanes at three points, as well as one making an immediate left turn exit. There are four traffic lanes. Royal Parade has inside lanes and service lanes.

                But I also don’t have to imagine that at all, those are common here too and I’ve never had a problem at them:

                Notice how the approaching lane at the bottom left has an artificial curve added to it? It’s traffic calming to help slow down cars before they get to the roundabout itself.

                • marcos@lemmy.world
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                  7 months ago

                  That second picture of yours is just a normal roundabout. Try making one of the roads pass directly through it. And don’t change the signaling.

                  I’ve noticed that the tram line cuts the traffic in 3 points. What is the speed of that street? Anyway, the tram line is clearly signed in a way that can be noticed on the photo. And every car there is making a weird curve, nobody is speeding anyway.

  • Onno (VK6FLAB)@lemmy.radio
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    7 months ago

    Watching a couple of Dashcam videos is the perfect way to explore this phenomenon in full HD colour and often colourful sound.

  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    Yup. Be predictable, not courteous. You’ll save lives.

    I’m fine with moving forward and using his car as my new stop line until the lane is clear. He’s the asshole for assuming everyone waiting behind him wants to be as courteous and patient.

    • ameancow@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      Nothing like getting to a 4-way stop and the cycle is going smoothly then some dipshit starts waving cars and throws everything out of whack and next thing you know everyone is inching forward at the same time.

      Equally bad, the entry drives into shopping centers are often made to not stop when entering the lot, this way during busy shopping times traffic won’t back up out into the street. This is a normal, common thing, usually plastered with signs “INCOMING TRAFFIC DOES NOT STOP” and you still get people stopping and waving cars through, thinking they’re doing anyone a favor, when instead it’s confusing everyone as to what the rules are at the intersection. Then cars start driving around each other and you get to hear that sickening “scrrrunch-POP” as the other lane started moving without noticing the rules had changed.

      I have a feeling these are the same people who push a full cart into the self-checkout having never used a self-checkout in their lives.

    • Scrubbles@poptalk.scrubbles.tech
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      7 months ago

      Thank you!

      You’re not being kind by doing this! You’re being kind to the one person you see but being an asshole to everyone behind you! Follow the rules of the road and everyone will get on better.

    • Semi-Hemi-Lemmygod@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      People always complain about Altimas because they’re unpredictable, but the absolute worst offenders I see are Honda CRV drivers specifically because they’re trying to be polite on the road. I’d take some busted Altima weaving through traffic over a CRV who decides to be nice and stop at the end of the onramp so they don’t cut anyone off.

  • UncleGrandPa@lemmy.world
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    7 months ago

    As a pedestrian I had to turn my back to make a guy stop trying to “help” me get in a fatal accident. He was bound and determined to get me killed… By being a “nice guy”

    • theluckyone@lemmy.world
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      7 months ago

      I’ve got several years of experience riding motorcycles. It’s taught me to read traffic. I see a gap in a line of traffic like that, it’s either a driver who’s smart enough not to block an intersection (rare), or someone letting another someone out.

      • LyD@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        When I saw the gap I started watching it closely. I probably wouldn’t have been able react fast enough otherwise.

      • LyD@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        She had to slam on her brakes or she still would have hit me. When I looked back she made a clear “I fucked up” gesture that wasn’t caught on cam.

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      7 months ago

      tbh there weren’t many options for them besides waiting for the entire line of cars to pass which could’ve taken forever

      • LyD@lemmy.ca
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        7 months ago

        The guy leaving the gap tried to wave her through but I guess she didn’t see the “STOP” gesture he started throwing when I got too close.

      • Fishbone@lemmy.world
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        7 months ago

        To quote alice in wonderland:

        “How long is forever?”

        “Sometimes, just one second”