Pop quiz - fail and lose your license

"Chairman Kaga" (mike-mckinnon) 05/12/2015 at 10:41 • Filed to: None

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I propose a special arm of your state police/DPS should be authorized to randomly pull over drivers and ask them to explain basic traffic laws. If you don’t answer correctly you have to retake the entire license exam.

Seriously. The percentage of people who don’t have the first clue how to negotiate a 4-way stop is probably above 75%. I got into a bar argument with someone this past weekend who was certain that you get to go first if you’re going straight, and people who are turning have to wait. This morning a woman in a gray Odyssey seemed to validate that belief when she almost wiped me out then aggressively cut me off. With kids in my car. And kids in her car.

American drivers are ignorant, uneducated, untrained, belligerent idiots.

EL_ULY > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:45

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I here you can get a fine for doing the “you go first wave” in a 4 way because only a police officer can direct traffic.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:46

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There are easier ways to go about it. Prius driver? Banned. Lexus SUV driver? Banned. Minivan driver? Well, minivans have some functionality and there are reasons to buy them, so that shouldn’t be an autoban, but they’re definitely going to need some more attention.

As Du Volant > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:46

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Approach stop sign a split second after other car.

Wait for other car to go. Other car doesn’t go.

Wave them through since they have the right of way.

Wait for other car to go. Other car doesn’t go.

Screw it, I’m going. Other car starts going the exact same time. Both cars slam on the brakes and stop again.

Go back to 2.

scoob > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:46

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It’s not only that people don’t know, tons of people think they’re too important for the rules.

fhrblig > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:49

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THIS.

This is a major pet peeve of mine. No one follows or even understands the rules anymore. I can’t stand:

- Drivers who yield right-of-way when a) they have no reason to other than being “polite”, and b) it’s dangerous for all other drivers on the road

- Drivers who wander down a street at 5 miles per hour because they are lost, but refuse to pull over out of traffic

- Drivers who refuse to go faster than 32 mph on an on-ramp while merging onto a 65 mph freeway

- Drivers who pass you on the right when they could have just as easily passed you on the left (this one fills me with rage every time.)

There are many more, but I have to leave for work soon.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > As Du Volant 05/12/2015 at 10:49

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I’ve stopped giving them chances. If they don’t go, I’m just going to go.

Chairman Kaga > EL_ULY 05/12/2015 at 10:52

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There was a rash of insurance fraud going on around Austin a couple of years ago where a driver would wait at a 4-way for someone to come up on their left, wave them through, then pull out and try to cause a crash. If it worked it became a “your word against mine” situation, but since the car that was on the right technically had the right of way, they got the settlement.

Baeromez > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:52

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Or we could just re-test people at regular intervals instead of never. Did you know that there are actually people (for example my 82 year old grandfather) driving around with legitimately issued driver’s licences who never even had to take a driver’s test or written exam?

Chairman Kaga > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 10:53

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People who have a minor fender bender on the interstate or highway but don’t pull over to the median, instead blocking an entire lane of traffic and leaving themselves and the police officer at great risk.

iseedeaddaleks > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 10:54

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If there is room for them to pass you on the right then you are in the wrong lane. Slower traffic should always stay right! This one drives me nuts.

fhrblig > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:56

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Oh, I have one more fun story.

Last week I was driving on a two-lane road with a double-yellow line down the middle. I came upon a school bus that had stopped on my side of the street to pick up a special-needs child, and it had its lights on and the ‘Stop’ sign out. Miraculously, everybody in both directions stops, which is the law. Bus driver sees that I’m stopped and WAVES ME TO GO AROUND. I look at him right in the eye, point at his Stop sign and shake my head no. He goes back to loading the kid. Once the kid is in the bus, he looks at me again, and looks at the traffic stopped in the other direction. Does he go back in and retract the Stop sign? NO. He waves at all of us to go, while his lights and Stop sign are still on. Guess who is behind me? A cop.

I wanted to murder this fucker. He is going to get a kid killed someday.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 10:56

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Drivers who pass you on the right when they could have just as easily passed you on the left (this one fills me with rage every time.)

This one depends. If they passed you on the right, it sounds like you were in the wrong lane. If I’m in the right lane going 5-10 over on the highway and come up on someone going slower than me in the middle lane, I’m not going across two lanes to pass. I’m going to stay in my lane.

EL_ULY > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 10:56

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OH DAMN! I gotta look out for that. Fuckin some people man

fhrblig > iseedeaddaleks 05/12/2015 at 10:58

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I’m not talking about being a slow car in the left lane and someone passes it. In that situation you don’t have a choice. I’m talking about a situation where the left lane is wide open, like if you are in the middle lane of a five-lane highway that has virtually no other traffic on the road.

Matthew Phillips > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 11:00

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This is all fine and dandy until you get pulled over just to remember you don’t remember anything from the Permit test.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:00

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So you’re talking about a situation where you should be in the right lane.

fhrblig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:01

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No, I should have been clearer. I mean when someone is directly behind you and both the left and right lanes are open, and they choose to pass you on the right. What’s worse is when they do that then swing across all lanes to be in the left lane, which is where they could have been if they followed the law.

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:01

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- Drivers who yield right-of-way when a) they have no reason to other than being “polite”, and b) it’s dangerous for all other drivers on the road

There’s an onramp that I have to take every morning. If you are turning left onto the ramp, you are controlled by the light. If you are turning right, you have a YIELD. There is always some floozie that is turning left onto the ramp, and STOPS before the merge point with the people turning right onto the ramp, to let one of them in.

I’ve seen about 3 accidents almost occur because of this.

Polite == Predictable. DO NOT BE UNPREDICTABLE! That is the most polite thing you can do!

This leads to:

- Drivers who refuse to go faster than 32 mph on an on-ramp while merging onto a 65 mph freeway

Even my mother (who is not a fast driver), asked me why people do not accelerate on the onramp.

I’ve even been brake checked (while driving my BMW) by a soccer mom in a minivan who was doing 32 up the *uphill* onramp to get on a 65 MPH freeway, with limited acceleration lane (because the engineers assumed you’d accelerate if possible going up the goddamn hill). At least the engineers gave a wide enough shoulder for me to slip by.

This leads to the most idiotic thing ever...

Stopping at the end of the freeway onramp.

fhrblig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:02

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No.

Baeromez > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:02

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My neighbor has TWO Lexus SUVs. Just this week I was being picked up by a friend who was blocking her driveway for a few seconds while I got in his car. The neighbor was backing out of her driveway at the same time and only realized that there was someone parked behind her at the last second. While you would expect a competent driver to simply apply the brakes and wait for us to move, she decided to cut the wheel and back into her neighbor’s yard and over his trash can. Then, as we pulled away, she drove back across her driveway and into her own yard. After that she honked the horn, and got out and went back insider her house, leaving the Lexus parked in her yard with the driver’s side door open and the engine running.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:02

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Yeah, they’re idiots, but in that case you were still in the wrong lane.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:03

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Yes. Keep right except to pass. If you aren’t passing, keep right.

fhrblig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:04

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In the situation I described: no traffic, five lanes open, I’m in the center lane.... how am I in the wrong lane, exactly?

KusabiSensei - Captain of the Toronto Maple Leafs > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 11:04

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It must be people in Odysseys.

There’s a rash of people who don’t accelerate to freeway speed on the onramps. A soccer mom in an Odyssey (likely with her kids in it), attempted to brake check me (from 32MPH about 4/5ths the way up the onramp to a 65MPH freeway) in my BMW.

At least the engineers gave a sufficiently large hard shoulder.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:04

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How were they in the wrong lane then either? Keep right except to pass. It’s that simple.

Chairman Kaga > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:05

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My rule of thumb is don’t take any direction from anyone other than a police officer. I don’t even make eye contact at 4-way stops. I’ll let people get furious trying to “politely” wave me through a 4-way but will sit perfectly still staring straight ahead, until it’s actually my turn. And it’s not that I’m that much of a rule follower when the rule doesn’t make any logical sense. But a 4-way stop is perfectly logical. Just know the damn law. If you don’t and are trying to defer your right of way because you don’t understand it, you’re possibly a dangerous driver and I don’t want you anywhere near me.

fhrblig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:06

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Let me make it simple: if you pass someone on the right when you had ample opportunity to pass on the left, you are ALWAYS in the wrong. The law exists for a reason.

fhrblig > SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie 05/12/2015 at 11:07

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Right. Because there’s never a situation where the two lanes on the right become exit lanes a mile or two down the road.

iseedeaddaleks > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:07

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In your five lane highway example you are in the wrong lane. You should be in the farthest right lane or at least the second in from the right (to allow cars to use the farthest right lane for exiting and entering the highway). We drive on the right - you should be as far right as possible and each lane to the left should be moving faster than the one to that lane’s right. On an empty five lane highway, you should not be in the middle lane. Below when you complain about people crossing multiple lanes of traffic to pass you on the left, you are the one causing the problem. If you were in the far right lane, they would only have to cross one lane.

SidewaysOnDirt still misses Bowie > fhrblig 05/12/2015 at 11:09

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That’s not what you’re describing.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 11:11

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This is harsh, what if I just can’t remember the answer because I’m drunk?

titsinmymitts > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 11:32

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No thanks. I’d rather not give police the explicit authority to randomly pull over whoever they want.

jmedarts > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 11:44

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“What I do, when I come up behind these people, is the same thing you do, namely pass them on the right and glare at them. Unfortunately, this tactic doesn’t appear to be working. So I’m proposing that we go to the next logical step: nuclear weapons. Specifically, I’m thinking of atomic land torpedoes, which would be mounted on the front bumpers of cars operated by drivers who have demonstrated that they have the maturity and judgment necessary to handle tactical nuclear weapons in a traffic environment. I would be one of these drivers.” - Dave Barry

KirkyV > Chairman Kaga 05/12/2015 at 14:25

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I don’t know how to negotiate a four-way stop... Thankfully, there’s not a single one in my entire country, so I think I’ll get away with it.

(I think I read somewhere that it’s the person to your right who has right of way?)

Stephen the Canuck > KirkyV 05/13/2015 at 06:59

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Pretty much. If two vehicles arrive at the 4-way stop at the same time, then the one on the right has the right of way. If they arrive at different times, whomever stops first has the right of way.