Clueless drivers.

"Rainbow" (rainbeaux)
10/29/2019 at 10:43 • Filed to: None

Last night, I was coming home and came up next to a blue minivan that was parked well behind the sensor, so I cut in front of him to make the light go faster for myself and the yellow car (and the dozens behind us). Mr. Blue got mad and laid on the horn. Then we went, and he stopped right at the end of the arrow to make a left from the right lane. People were honking at him, but he just kept right on waiting until it was clear for him to go. Which took forever, because people were going around him on the left since he was blocking their lane.

I just don't understand how people like this ever managed to get their licenses.

DISCUSSION (19)

jimz > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 10:58

IIRC it’s “normalization of deviance.” a phenomenon that was heavily discussed during the investigation of the Space Shuttle Challenger. NoD basically means people get comfortable doing the wrong thing if nothing bad happens. in that case it was “well, we knew the O-ring joints on the boosters were a weak point, but they’ve never failed before so......”

most likely these people learned to drive and got their licenses the same as you and me. They’ve just found that being a dick on the road hasn’t caused anything bad to happen to them. just like texting while driving; the more times one does it w/o incident, the more likely they are to feel safe continuing to do it. Until things do go bad. then they act like “who could have seen that coming?”

MoCamino > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 10:58

Diverging diamonds work great - unless you involve people that don’t understand how they work. Add to that people that are too dumb to pull up to the line and then can’t understand why the light never changes...I am really glad I work from home and don’t have to deal with dumb drivers on a daily basis. :)

Arrivederci > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 11:00

Yep - always infuriates me to see people willing to hold up dozens of other drivers so as not to inconvenience themselves.

A week or two ago I was exiting the interstate onto a major road. Two turn lanes, both right turn only. If you wanted to go the opposite direction on the major road, you had to take a different exit. Some maroon in a Camaro decided that didn’t apply to them, so they were trying to make a left onto this major road from the left right-turn-only lane. I sat there laying on my horn and they finally went right and then pulled a u-turn like a normal human being.

Rainbow > jimz
10/29/2019 at 11:09

Believe me, I know that phenomenon better than most of us. “I’ve never had a problem eating in the car before. Surely nothing bad will-”

Kinja'd!!!

Thisismydisplayname > jimz
10/29/2019 at 11:26

Normalization of deviance... interesting name. Sounds like the same thing we deal with in construction, safety-wise. I’ve done it unsafely many times before and it hasn’t but me in the ass yet, so I’ll do it wrong again and roll the dice.

Thisismydisplayname > Arrivederci
10/29/2019 at 11:35

That explains a whole lot of shitty driving behavior. When people value their time as more important than all the others out there on the road, it can get pretty bad. A little consideration goes a long way, but it’s all too lacking nowadays.

I know I’ve went way out of my way because I screwed up along the way and missed a turn or something like that, and in lieu of being a dumbass and making others pay for my mistake, I just drive along and try again. But that’s way too much to ask for many people, because that might require them to pull their heads out of their asses long enough to observe what is going on around them as they pilot their metal missile down the road while checking their instabook.

Thisismydisplayname > MoCamino
10/29/2019 at 11:40

Any traffic easing device works great when the folks know what they’re doing, but all it takes is one individual to gum up the works. The other idea behind traffic circles and the diverging diamonds is that when it does go wrong, it’s not as severe a wreck due to the speeds and angles involved.

facw > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 11:48

Ooh, diverging diamond!

CobraJoe > Thisismydisplayname
10/29/2019 at 11:58

Too much consideration from other drivers is pretty annoying too.

I fairly often see people stopping in a lane with a green light to allow a driver pulling out of a parking lot to go first, or people who have the right of way in a 4 way stop sitting there waiting for the other person to go first.

The whole reason why we have standardized rules of driving is so that people know what is expected of them in most situations.

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 12:06

Oh god the Jimmy Carter 85 Interchange, it really freaks out some drivers especially at night where it looks like you headed head on int o oncoming traffic.

Chariotoflove > jimz
10/29/2019 at 12:09

I observed this at the Main Street to state street intersection in Ann Arbor. People would turn left from a two lane to a one way on red. That’s not legal. I looked it up to confirm. It everybody did it, including the cops.

VajazzleMcDildertits - read carefully, respond politely > jimz
10/29/2019 at 13:11

People have studied how to rectify these kinds of things in kids and it turns out the most effective solution we have at our hands is consistent enforcement of discipline, not the level of punishment. A punishment that never happens then results in an execution-level action never works.

I’m loathe to suggest lower levels of privacy, or to advocate more cameras on things, but tbh it’s going to require a culture shift. But if we did do that, everyone will hate it, but consistent enforcement of the policy will reduce that behaviour.

I’ve noted it works on our pets, and tbh I think they’d be better drivers than what I’m seeing out there.

Urambo Tauro > jimz
10/29/2019 at 19:11

They’ve just found that being a dick on the roa d hasn’t caused anything bad to happen to them.

Key words: “to them”. Ba d things are still happening, even if they aren’t resulting in crashes. Being such a shitty driver that you f orce others around you to take evasive maneuvers doesn’t really equate to “no harm no fo ul”.

Urambo Tauro > Chariotoflove
10/29/2019 at 19:46

N ot sure which intersection you’re referring to; I thought those streets ra n parallel...

Anyway, I’d like to hear more about your findings on the topic . I was under the impression that turning left on red from a two lane on to a one way w as permissible , per MCL 257.612 (1)(c)(ii).

Urambo Tauro > Rainbow
10/29/2019 at 19:59

Dunno why he sounded the horn; by stopping so far back, he was literally yielding to anybody who felt like passing him. *shrug*

Between pedestrians who need to use crosswalks, right-turners who need to see if the way is clear to turn on red, oncoming traffic turning left across your path, traffic signal sensors, etc., there really is no better place to stop than at the stop/limit line.

Chariotoflove > Urambo Tauro
10/29/2019 at 22:41

It’s been twenty years, but my remembrance was that you can turn left on red from a one way to a one way, but not from a two way onto a one way.

The law you reference says otherwise. So, if I was wrong about the law at the time , that would be egg on my face.

I may also be wrong about the intersection. So, basically you can probably disregard my entire post .

Chariotoflove > Urambo Tauro
10/29/2019 at 22:41

It’s been twenty years, but my remembrance was that you can turn left on red from a one way to a one way, but not from a two way onto a one way.

The law you reference says otherwise. So, if I was wrong about the law at the time , that would be egg on my face.

I may also be wrong about the intersection. So, basically you can probably disregard my entire post .

Chariotoflove > Urambo Tauro
10/30/2019 at 01:34

Follow up: I remember now! Pretty sure it was from Huron onto Division. I used to drive in to work from the west side on Huron and go through that intersection all the time.

Still wrong about the law though. I wonder why I was so certain of that. I thought I had researched it at the time. Must be getting senile.

Ash78, voting early and often > Rainbow
10/30/2019 at 12:09

On behalf of the blue van, what in the holy hell kind of intersection is that?!

It makes sense from above, but still looks like a sadistic German traffic engineer came up with it because it was 3% more efficient on paper.

You probably shouldn’t have cut, but city traffic is what it is. Get in where you fit in. But blue van should never have attempted a left from the right lane. They should have just found their next left and turned around like a normal human.