When sitting at a red light as the first car at the light your job is to have your attention on that light. When it turns green look left and right to make sure no one is running the light(of which you should already be aware of since you have been paying attention) and GO when it is your turn. All the drivers behind you are counting on you.
When a semi is trying to get in front of you give them a headlight blink when they have room to come over. They all know what it means and they appreciate it. They even give you a tail light blink to say thanks.
If you are in a line of cars in the left lane passing a right lane slow poke don't rush up to the back of the slow poke and jinx over to the left lane into a really small gap like an aggressive, power tripping jerk.
Just go with the left lane flow like everyone else.
I drive a lot of back roads. If youre not satisfied with my speed go ahead and pass me, i will make room. If you dont have the guts to make the pass, even after i stuck my right tires in the shoulder, get the berkeley off my bumper you smelly piece of E36 M3.
In reply to gearheadmb :
Amen!
It is such a habit for me that I sometimes do it for other divers. But I doubt that 5% of the driving population knows what it means.
Pete
In reply to gearheadmb :
AMEN
gearheadmb said:When a semi is trying to get in front of you give them a headlight blink when they have room to come over. They all know what it means and they appreciate it. They even give you a tail light blink to say thanks.
I’m old enough to be a lot of you all grandfather but remember my dad doing this since I was a little kid. I started doing this way back. Almost always you get the taillight blink of appreciation from the truck driver. I’ve really come to appreciate this (mostly from truck drivers) when driving our motorhome pulling a car or car trailer.
rslifkin said:Knurled. said: Keep right except to pass. This means stay out of the middle lane unless you are actually passing people in the right lane.With one exception: On a very empty highway late at night where there are pretty much no cars but potential deer and other wild life, the middle lane can be the safest place to be (as you have a larger buffer of road on all sides so more chance to see that wildlife and avoid it).
I prefer "drive in whichever lane has the fewest potholes, unless you are being overtaken...then get out of the way so they don't have to change lanes to pass you."
If I'm in heavy interstate traffic and being aggressively tailgated, I get out of the way and let them burn their karma. If they're successful, then I'll drive through their wake.
It's interesting to see debris ahead and watch people driving straight at it and see just when they become aware. I'd say at 70mph, it's typically less than 100yds.
Also, don't ride behind dump trucks or any flatbed utility trailers that are going to drop gravel. Saw a lady riding ~75' behind an excavator trailer full of clods yesterday....decisively passed them both....watched her get windshield get smashed and then sweve off an entire lane in my rearview.
BTW...if you pull a trailer or dump and don't have your load reasonably clean/secured I say you ARE responsible for busted windshields...you shall be judged.
My dad is an excellent driver and taught me a few things when I was first learning to drive:
* The gas pedal is used to modulate speed. It is not an on/off switch, so there's no need to slam on your brakes except in an emergency. ESPECIALLY on the highway.
* When parallel parking, use the turn signal to indicate so when next to the spot.
* At an intersection, right of way is determined by who gets to the stop sign first. NOT by who was waiting in line longest.
* Pay attention to other cars' body language. NOT what they're "supposed" to do.
* The horn is an attention getting device and high beams are for windy and/or dark stretches of highway. Neither should be used to "punish" another driver and jeopardize everyone's safety on the road.
As a reaction to the current trend of pulling in to the fast lane to slow to the posted speed limit and the then check you cell phone, I now wave at the driver as I am passing them on the right.
The wave is with a open hand and all fingers extended. I also add a smile as I go by, for the benefit of the passengers.
Sharing the love, you know!
First roundabout from the rental-car center at Heathrow: The traffic will appear from the right. Not the left. It's probably actually written somewhere and thus doesn't count. I've had 3 near misses there after transatlantic flights when I'm still in zombie mode.
jr02518 said:As a reaction to the current trend of pulling in to the fast lane to slow to the posted speed limit and the then check you cell phone, I now wave at the driver as I am passing them on the right.
The wave is with a open hand and all fingers extended. I also add a smile as I go by, for the benefit of the passengers.
Sharing the love, you know!
I usually just wave my gun, that seems to always get the point across
edizzle89 said:jr02518 said:As a reaction to the current trend of pulling in to the fast lane to slow to the posted speed limit and the then check you cell phone, I now wave at the driver as I am passing them on the right.
The wave is with a open hand and all fingers extended. I also add a smile as I go by, for the benefit of the passengers.
Sharing the love, you know!
I usually just wave my gun, that seems to always get the point across
Oh not this E36 M3 again.
Unless it's actually foggy, turn your freaking fog lights off, they're not helping you nor anybody else.
On the converse, turn your headlights on when it's night, dawn, dusk, or the weather demands it. And make sure the rest of your lights work too, trailers included.
Funeral processions don't own the road.
Give a signal light before you slow down and turn to let the driver behind you anticipate your deceleration and possible stop. Giving the signal after you've stopped is pointless, but what most people do
If all cars are merging into one lane because of a hazard ahead, you DO NOT have the right to take advantage of the situation and use the empty lane to get ahead a few cars and cut in.
Hungary Bill said:The first rule in the book...
My rule is that if I'm doing my job, no one has to do anything differently as a result of my being there. No one should ideally have to speed up or slow down as a result of my actions. I'm not in the way unless I have right of way at an intersection.
SVreX said:If all cars are merging into one lane because of a hazard ahead, you DO NOT have the right to take advantage of the situation and use the empty lane to get ahead a few cars and cut in.
This is incorrect. Two lanes are designed to handle the traffic flow of two lanes. Just cause you moved over early and now regret that decision does not over ride my desire to move efficiently through traffic. There is no me first, you second. Nobody gets a trophy at the end of the day.
In reply to vwcorvette :
I agree with the use of both lanes, but it takes some adjustment to get over the urge to move over right away in anticipation of the lane drop.
The bigger problem is proper technique requires everyone to play nice, and many people are too self absorbed to cooperate.
Just a quick google of “zipper merge” leads to a slew of opinions on both sides of the argument
Go fast enough to merge while changing lanes! Slowing down to wait for a gap eliminates most gaps that you can use.
Not my job to punish bad drivers with more bad driving,
You DON'T have to be first in line. This is pointed at the people who fill the far right lane, preventing all right on red turns simply because the other lanes have a car already in them.
Take your right of way and get OUT of the way.
If I ever win a beauty contest I will state that world peace and ending hunger are all good, but I think using and responding properly to turn indicators would work too.
Bruce
vwcorvette said:SVreX said:If all cars are merging into one lane because of a hazard ahead, you DO NOT have the right to take advantage of the situation and use the empty lane to get ahead a few cars and cut in.
This is incorrect. Two lanes are designed to handle the traffic flow of two lanes. Just cause you moved over early and now regret that decision does not over ride my desire to move efficiently through traffic. There is no me first, you second. Nobody gets a trophy at the end of the day.
There aren’t two lanes. Hazard ahead. Everyone will be forced into one lane.
Your desire to prove you are a shiny happy person will not change that.
On-ramps are for speeding up to join the traffic flow, not slowing down.
Yield signs at the bottom of on-ramps do not mean the guy already on the highway should move over to give you space. They mean you should yield.
In reply to vwcorvette :
I did a little homework, and am going to backtrack what I said.
You are right. In most cases, the law calls for zipper merging.
However since this is a thread about “unwritten rules”, I gonna add my opinion...
I believe the engineers are incorrect on this one. I agree that in theory it is a better and more efficient way to merge, but it fails to take human limitations into account. I have been part of road crews working in those construction zones, and I have not witnessed zipper merging to be most efficient in practice.
What I have seen is that the drivers who have merged earlier and are waiting are slowed further by the zipper mergers. The early mergers are the more timid drivers. The zipper mergers are the most aggressive drivers. When several ZMs force themselves in at the last minute, the early mergers (more timid) apply their brakes, which slows the entire line. 5 or 6 ZMs may get through quicker, but dozens and dozens of early mergers are further slowed down. This leads to frustration (and sometimes road rage).
The math theory of zipper merging is correct. The practical human application is different.
I concede you are correct and I am incorrect. But as an “unwritten rule of the road”, I still think zipper merging is problematic.
I thought zipper merge was one from the right, one from the left, one from the right,one from the left, etc.
Whether it’s a construction zone, a lane ending or a freeway on-ramp into traffic, seems pretty functional and courteous for everyone to move ahead to the point of intersection and alternate.
i think the difference is that vwcorvette said “early” as in if someone merges early, why should he wait?
and I agree. I just find it a little selfish for people to go past the person in front of them who is merging at the reasonable point of intersection all the way up to the last possible point they can go on the right and then cut in.
The freeways in la are horrible for this; I see people driving on the shoulder past the merge point.
Not dealing with that is one of the benefits to lane splitting on a bike ;)
SVreX said:On-ramps are for speeding up to join the traffic flow, not slowing down.
Yield signs at the bottom of on-ramps do not mean the guy already on the highway should move over to give you space. They mean you should yield.
Wish I could thumbs up this more than once.
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