"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
12/29/2015 at 10:40 • Filed to: None
2
24|
"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
12/29/2015 at 10:40 • Filed to: None | 2
| 24 |
If you want to get onto the freeway, you get into the leftmost lane and take either one of the blue paths. (Preferably, you alternate like a reverse zipper merge to fit as many cars as possible on the bridge in an organized way, but I am okay with that not quite happening) You do not take the yellow path. Ever. Those lines are only dashed because they are in the intersection and get crossed by two separate directions of traffic. That is not a place to merge. You never merge inside of an intersection.
I always take the right side of the blue paths because traffic usually piles up in the leftmost lane for some reason, and I have had several close calls with people who just don’t get it.
We need a mandatory, once-a-year, 30-minute refreshment seminar thing for all licensed drivers, just going over simple things like this, which, admittedly, I can sort of understand how people get confused about. You just get a short worksheet to fill out during the class, and then you can either keep your license or go to a slightly longer, more in-depth class. Fail that one and retake your whole license exam.
d15b
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 10:52 |
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The average American driver, sucks. You know this, I know this. But I understand.
VENT!
It is good for you!
CaptDale - is secretly British
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 10:54 |
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OMG!!! The amount of people that merge or switch lanes in intersections is fucking ridiculous. Then they get mad at you, like WTF!?
Scott
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 10:56 |
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Ideally yes. But sadly markings for interstates are often terrible at best. You often need to be prepared to move left or right as you do not know what side of the road the on ramp will be on. Invariably the time you think that you need to be left to cross the road and go down an on ramp, it will be a clover leaf to the right, and you have to jump across 3 lanes to get on. Or if your on the right, it's not a clover leaf and you have to jump over to the left and fight your way on. If they marked that you need to be in the left lane to get on going that way any time prior to reaching the actual onramp than yes you could argue your point. Since 99.9% of the onramps depend upon you having knowledge of the road to know exactly what side you need to be on, the safest bet is to be in the middle lane so once you see the onramp and know it is on the left or right, you can jump over and be in the correct lane.
SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 10:57 |
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In situations like this, I generally take the right hand line and intentionally block out the people who are trying to merge.
Tripper
> Scott
12/29/2015 at 10:59 |
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This.
jariten1781
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 11:08 |
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I don’t know if it’s your markings obscuring the picture for me, or just a horribly marked intersection, but that certainly looks like a 3 into 4 area where everything gets sketchy without good markings.
Also:
You never merge inside of an intersection.
That’s only true in some states. In others it’s perfectly legal and accepted though it often gets passed around with other false driving rumors like ‘driving without shoes is illegal’ and ‘pedestrians always have the right of way.’
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Rainbow
> jariten1781
12/29/2015 at 11:11 |
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It is 3 into 4, but the left turn lane (for the next intersection) starts before this intersection and already has solid lines when it gets to this point. There are those weird short dashes going all the way through. It’s essentially two different roads at that point, and only the left-turn one is splitting. The straight lanes just go straight across.
Urambo Tauro
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 11:17 |
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I’ve had to deal (on a regular basis) with an intersection that has similar features.
As you know, in the middle of an intersection, these broken lines function as solid lines. I’m glad the lines are there, because they help to make it obvious where to place your car. But they’re frustrating too, because they break consistency with what they usually mean on the road. I wonder if it would be better to just make them solid.
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jariten1781
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 11:20 |
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Yeah, that’s what I figured...those setups are always sketchball so I tend to stick in the far left lane just to avoid it even if it means missing a cycle.
They should re-mark and paint a go straight arrow in the left go straight lane and put up those flex poles just before and after the crosswalk. Wouldn't solve it (there's no 'solving' a 3-4) but should cut down on the swappers.
718Rogue
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/29/2015 at 11:31 |
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You’re a dick.
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Urambo Tauro
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 11:53 |
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For that particular situation, I’d be tempted to do the following:
Set up in the proper lane for getting on the expressway, then when the light turns green, continue through and take the right-most of the two turning lanes. At the same time, keep pace with whatever car is to your right, effectively blocking any such maneuver.
It may be rude, but it is a 100% legal solution to a 100% illegal problem.
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SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
> 718Rogue
12/29/2015 at 11:54 |
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Not as much of a dick as the guy intentionally cutting off a line of traffic because he didn’t feel like waiting in line. ;)
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718Rogue
> SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie
12/29/2015 at 12:24 |
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People make mistakes, especially when the signs aren’t clear, just chill out one extra car in front of you isn’t the end of the world.
Funktheduck
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 13:05 |
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My merging issue of late is assholes not getting up to speed. It used to happen every now and then but recently it’s been almost daily.
One of two things happen: they merge onto the highway with me behind them going 10-20 mph slower than traffic or they floor it at the very last moment possible to merge at speed.
I've gotten a little better at predicting which is which. The dangerously slow are generally old and/or Prius drivers and the second group is usually people on their phones and/or truck/suv drivers.
TylerJ
> jariten1781
12/29/2015 at 13:25 |
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> false driving rumors like ‘driving without shoes is illegal’
Well, one of my good friends in college actually did get a citation for “improper footwear”. The officer watched him walk out of Dairy Queen barefoot and get into his truck to drive off. The officer instantly pulled him over.
It was hilarious.
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Rainbow
> 718Rogue
12/29/2015 at 14:02 |
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So we should drive differently to accommodate assholes who break the law? No thank you.
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jariten1781
> TylerJ
12/29/2015 at 14:12 |
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Haha, awesome. What state? Kind of curious to see if the shoe statute actually exists (doesn’t in any state I’ve lived in...and I’ve lived in a lot) or if the cop wrote him up on a catch-all like ‘unsafe operation of a motor vehicle’ and just listed improper footwear as amplifying info.
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TylerJ
> jariten1781
12/29/2015 at 14:24 |
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It was either Louisiana or Texas. I looked into the laws for the state of Louisiana and didn’t see it.
I did however work in the traffic (where you would pay your tickets) and accounting departments at a local sheriff’s department and know that there was an actual citationable offense for “improper footwear”. It must have been a parish law.
Also, you wouldn’t believe the amount of people that thought they shouldn’t get a ticket for speeding just because they are in the military. People would literally cuss the workers out for making them pay the ticket.
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jariten1781
> TylerJ
12/29/2015 at 15:02 |
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Oh, I believe it. I worked in my dad’s firm for a number of years when oil and gas (his primary concentration) was tanked and he was desperate for any work he could get. Divorces, custody cases, and *shudder* traffic. He was constantly cussed out for stating “Well, you can pay me to defend this but the best you can hope for is a reduction in charge which you’ll have just as much luck talking to the prosecutor yourself so you’d be wasting your money”. People just assumed they could get out of shit for whatever nonsense excuse they’d built up in their minds.
Coincidentally, the time I spent there is why I like to review all state traffic laws whenever I move somewhere. Cops, all the damned time, would write citations for stuff like ‘crossing a solid white’ or whatever when it wasn’t illegal (and put it under stuff like ‘unsafe lane change’). They’re just as susceptible to tribal knowledge as anyone else. Those were cake cases.
It’s good to know what you legally can and cannot do rather than just relying on the stuff your parents/drivers ed/dude at the bar told you. Doesn’t mean that stuff like changing lanes in an intersection, while normally legal, are wise things to do (again, cops can write you up improperly) but it does give you a leg up on the other schmoes.
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718Rogue
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 17:05 |
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So what are you gonna do, block them from merging and make the traffic jam behind you worse? The world doesn’t revolve around you
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Rainbow
> 718Rogue
12/29/2015 at 18:17 |
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I have no idea what you’re saying. That wouldn’t affect traffic behind me at all.
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718Rogue
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 20:14 |
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Too lazy to explain the specific situation I’m picturing. I just think it’s always good to be the nicer one and believe that people are making honest mistakes.
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Rainbow
> 718Rogue
12/29/2015 at 22:07 |
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Still, you can’t fix a mistake by making dangerous/illegal maneuvers. Just keep going until you can safely turn around.
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718Rogue
> Rainbow
12/29/2015 at 23:08 |
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That makes sense when traffic’s flowing well... I guess I should remember that most people don’t live in L.A. where during rush hour it takes 5 light cycles to get through every block, cars are moving so slow that no possible collision would endanger anyone, and going a block up the street and making a u-turn can take 20 minutes.