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"ttyymmnn" (ttyymmnn) 04/28/2017 at 15:03 • Filed to: None

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As part of the ongoing community discussion about crosswalks that I !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! about here, a Travis County Deputy who lives in the neighborhood chimed in to say that you only have to stop when a pedestrian is IN the crosswalk. That settles that. He also addressed a question about turning. He said that if you are turning right, you must follow the nearest curb, so you must turn into the RH lane of a two-lane street. However, turning left, you can choose whichever lane is “lawfully available.” I had heard about turning into the near lane, but I didn’t know it was an actual statute. At least in TX.

Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 15:25

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Still, be careful with pedestrians. My University pulled a sting/cash grab where they had a student purposefully step off the sidewalk into a crosswalk where nothing but a panic stop is keeping you from running through as the student stayed at the curb. Bam, ticket, can’t fight it as pedestrian was in the crosswalk. It was incredibly shitty.

ttyymmnn > Cash Rewards 04/28/2017 at 15:26

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The TX statute specifically states that pedestrians can’t do that. Also, fuck your school. That’s BS.

facw > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 15:31

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Most of the the intersections I see here in TX where there are two left turn lanes have the dashed lines such that the rightmost left turn lane goes to the rightmost lane on the road being turned to, like this:

What I’m a bit unsure about are places where there is only one left turn lane onto a multilane road, and the lane next to the left turn lane is not marked as straight only. It seems like under some interpretations it would be ok to make a left from there as well, but it seems likely to be illegal. Really TX needs to do a better job signing their intersections in general.

As for the crosswalk thing, in order for cars to have to stop it needs to be a marked crosswalk (not just an intersection with sidewalks ramping down to the street). Also even though the driver is required to to yield, there’s no way you should actually trust that as a pedestrian. There’s no enforcement, crosswalks aren’t signed, etc.. And the fine for running someone over in crosswalk is only $500. Presumably they could hit the driver with some other charge, but there’s clearly not much interest in protecting pedestrians. 

facw > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 15:36

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Also, I really wish people would follow that right turn rule. So many times down here I get stuck behind drivers who won’t turn right when it is clear, because the want to go into the leftmost lane and are waiting for a chance to cut across immediately instead of turning right and changing lanes (and there is almost always room for them to do so). I see this behavior much more in Texas than other places I’ve lived, but I’m not sure if that is bad drivers or bad road design (probably a bit of both).

ttyymmnn > facw 04/28/2017 at 15:40

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Most intersections in Austin (but certainly not all) have signs like the ones in the upper left, which indicate which lanes do what. They are usually (not always) posted far enough back for you to have time to make a choice. I use these signs all the time. But problems arise when people assume that two lanes turn left when they don’t. I see that all the time. So, if there is only one lane turning left, I usually aim for the left lane of the cross street in the eventuality that some dipstick is turning left from the #2 lane when he shouldn’t be. I always keep an eye on my side view. But, by law, if only one lane turns, you can hit any lane you like (according to the deputy).

For me, the whole issue of pedestrians boils down to both the pedestrian and the driver working together. Even if I’m in the crosswalk, I’m not going to walk out there and expect the driver to stop. I’ll make sure he’s stopping before I cross, and then I’ll wave just to be courteous, even though he is obeying the law. It’s just the nice thing to do, and everybody gets along on their way as fast as possible.

Mondial goes to 11 > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 15:42

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The turning law is the same in California but as I recall from a different oppo post, it varies by state. It seems that in Arizona you can only turn left into the leftmost lane .

facw > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 15:46

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Other places I’ve lived you can definitely just walk out in to crosswalks (you still want to be paying attention to make sure the driver sees you, and obviously you don’t walk out if there’s not room for the car to stop). Down here, I feel like even if the car sees you the whole way, most drivers will feel they have the right of way because they are in a car, and not even slow down. The rules are clearly no ingrained in peoples heads.

As for the intersections, sometimes they have those signs, but often not. I’m also bothered by the fact they rarely do one traffic light per lane. In many cases you don’t really need that many, but having them one per lane allows both unambiguity about which signal applies, and provides a helpful reference as to where the lanes are, and how many there are as you approach the intersection.

Cash Rewards > ttyymmnn 04/28/2017 at 16:04

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(looking at you, University of Maryland). They’re my highest degree, and my least favorite Alma matter.

ttyymmnn > facw 04/28/2017 at 16:20

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Here’s a prime example of what you are talking about, and I deal with it all the time because this is the exit from the liquor store where I buy my cigars. You have to turn onto the feeder road to MoPac, and the cars are coming pretty fast (50-60). They recently changed the traffic pattern to add an acceleration lane out of the shopping center, but most people who leave want to immediately get in the far left lane so they can turn left at the top of the hill. There is a sign at the exit that directs turning cars to turn to the rightmost lane, and you can even see the lines they painted to that effect. In fact, there is no stop sign here; you can drive straight out into the acceleration lane. But, as you see the white car doing in the photo, people stop at the end of the exit road and wait, and wait, and wait until it’s clear enough for them to drive straight across. I hit that right turn at speed and accelerate up the hill—in the acceleration lane. It drives me nuts.