| QUESTION: You're in the yellow car in heavy traffic. The red car on your right is signalling a left turn. What do you do? a) Stop. Avoid blocking the lane. Wave the red car through. ANSWER: |
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Dr. Leon James
©1997
| Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 23:14:49 -1000 From: FauxWorld@aol.com To: dyc@DrDriving.org Subject: Right of Way Module Test Hello DrDriving: I stumbled onto your very interesting website and just thought I'd let you know some of my thoughts regarding your right-of-way Module 1 test. These scenarios are excellent. In my daily commute I encounter most of them every day. In Question 1 we are asked how to deal with a car exiting a side street wishing to make a left turn in heavy traffic as we approach his intersection with stopped traffic ahead of us. I agree with your analysis to stop but not wave him through for the reasons you stated. However, the scenario reminded me of how often I have been that driver exiting the side street, or parking lot, gas station etc. needing to make a RIGHT turn onto a major street. Usually, even if the oncoming cars have to brake anyway for stopped traffic ahead of them, they will pull forward until they block my lane. Then, when their light turns green they proceed. Invariably, another driver behind them will see my plight and, with a green light ahead and anxious drivers behind, they will stop and wave me in. Misplaced courtesy? In my mind yes. Question 2 deals with the classic problem at a 2 or 4-way stop - who got there first? It isn't always clear who got there first! After all you do have to watch the road - it may be curvy or bumpy or who knows what. I think it works better that a left turn should always yield. It takes the guess work out of 2 and 4 - way stops. Question 3 has to do with trusting another driver to obey a stop sign. Your advice is to wait a few extra seconds to make sure the third driver stops. I have never heard the quoted statistic that only 1/3 of drivers stop at stop signs. If it is true, it must be because of stop situations where you are the only car, or where drivers are so familiar with a particular intersection (such as one close to your home) they fall into a routine where a precise stop is not executed but a clear sharing of right of way is. Many drivers roll through in those situations. But 2 out of 3 blatant running of a stop? I just haven't seen it. Besides, let's face it - we have to trust other drivers. Often it is only a painted line on the road that separates us. Question 4 I agree with and is good because it acknowledges the fact that impeding traffic can cause problems. Aggressive drivers get most of the bad press, but passive drivers cause their share of problems. Question 5 involves an area of driving that I believe is a major cause of stopped traffic on our freeways - merging. I always say that we as a culture have problems merging as seen from divorce rates, racial intolerance, religious intolerance etc. so why should traffic be any different. Anyway, my observation of merging traffic is that too many drivers bail out of the right hand lane when they see cars coming up the on-ramp. This causes an exodus into the middle lane which then causes a chain reaction into the next lane and so on. Often I see a car bail out because of a merging car only to "bail" back in and take the very next exit! Usually cutting off the merging driver in the process. I think that the reason drivers bail out is because too many drivers do not accelerate rapidly to meet the prevailing speed of the other freeway drivers. No one wants to slow down. Passing a merging driver is not a cure-all in my mind either. A merging driver is taught to accelerate up to freeway speed so passing them can create a situation where they run out of on-ramp as you "cut them off." I used to pass in this situation exclusively. But the last few years i've changed. It's because I've had to use a freeway on-ramp which is located at the bottom of a steep hill. Even if I floor my vehicle, going up that hill does not allow me to reach freeway speed by the time my on-ramp peters out. It really helps if an oncoming driver slows a little, not braking hard mind you, to let me in. The alternative is merging cars passively entering the freeway ready to brake as cars whiz by them. You have a great web site! Happy motoring |