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Driving question.

Again with the "shitty design." How could they have designed a right-turn-only lane on a street not wide enough for one? Sheesh.

Yeah the street is too narrow for a right-turn only lane. If only there was some way we could make streets wider!

So now you'll be stuck behind a train AND stuck in construction! Yay!
 
People like Trekker are the reason driving sucks. You start thinking the rules are for other people and don't realize that it's you who becomes the public menace.
Especially when you consider that safe driving is predicated on reasonably assuming what other people will do. When other people do things unexpected (like pulling around a car in front of them illegally), accidents can and do happen.

I agree with this. You may feel that you are performing the action safely, Trekker, but when you do something like that that other drivers or pedestrians are not expecting, there is the potential for danger. The whole point of the rules of the road are so that you can know what to reasonably expect from other drivers, and adjust your actions accordingly. When something unexpected happens, even if done innocently and safely enough, accidents are likely to happen. In this particular case, can you likely do it and get away from the situation without a scratch? Sure, maybe that happens most of the time, but on the other hand, why put yourself or others in harm's way simply because you're impatient? It's better to be safe than sorry in situations like these.
 
Last I checked, cities, towns, whatever, did not widen roads simply to avoid inconveniencing others. While people on planning committees could possibly overlook something like the need for a right turn lane, I would suggest that there most likely was a valid reason for not putting in a right turn lane.
 
Whatever your feelings may be on the matter, let's try to remember to keep the personal comments out of this please. Thank you.
 
I obey all traffic laws, drive no more than 5-miles over the speed limit and a courteous driver to others on the road.
Clearly you don't obey all traffic laws. Only the ones you think are necessary. You've admitted to driving around a car stopped at a red light to turn right around them more than once in this thread.
 
Yeah, Trekker, just don't do it. Unless you are in a rural locale in western Kansas when car #1 is an old 1930s pick up truck with an old farmer who fell asleep.
 
Yeah, Trekker, just don't do it. Unless you are in a rural locale in western Kansas when car #1 is an old 1930s pick up truck with an old farmer who fell asleep.

Hey, I found Kal-El first, old man in the truck!
 
Similar scenario, I was at a "T" intersection, I was car 1 waiting to right as soon as traffic cleared coming from the left. Car 2 got in the turn lane, when traffic cleared I turned right, so did car 2. Car 2 was then struck by my SUV, car 2 was a Corolla. Car 2 got F'd big time, SUV some slight damage to bumper. Car 2 driver was cited, no insurance either. Car 2 driver went bye-bye.

So Car 1 could decide to go right when Car 2 pulls dick move, Car 2 driver would get cited.
 
Per a cop friend of mine..

"There is no justification for that maneuver, period."
 
I know that I'm coming off pretty harsh here but we all have loved ones driving around and I can't stand the thought that someone would put them in this kind of danger because of impatience. I would be ashamed of even considering something like this, not trying to justify it.

Please be considerate of others when you drive, guys.
You're not coming off "harsh" at all. Expecting others to follow traffic laws should be the norm.

The fact that Trekker is trying so hard to justify breaking this particular traffic law is disturbing to say the least. Being "in a hurry" is no excuse at all.

Very true. Also, Trekker fails to include some very important information. What is actually on that corner on the right? If there is a business, school, or park there, then what he describes is a dick move in more ways than one since the guy could simply back up a bit, pull into the lot, and come out on the other side. No inconvenience for anyone at all and no danger of hitting a car or pedestrian on the other street.

Same with whatever is on the corner on the left.

Again with the "shitty design." How could they have designed a right-turn-only lane on a street not wide enough for one? Sheesh.
Yeah the street is too narrow for a right-turn only lane. If only there was some way we could make streets wider! Oh, wait. They can by just, you know, widening the street. There's room to do it.

Last I checked, cities, towns, whatever, did not widen roads simply to avoid inconveniencing others. While people on planning committees could possibly overlook something like the need for a right turn lane, I would suggest that there most likely was a valid reason for not putting in a right turn lane.

There has to be a justified need for it when it is widened AND they have to have the funding available to pay for it. It would never be built simply to avoid inconveniencing anyone.
 
There could very easily be a pedestrian in front of car 1 that is obscured from view. There could also be a car coming up to the intersection intent on entering the left-turn-only lane. Neither the pedestrian nor the oncoming car would anticipate a person "going around" in the manner you describe from a stopped position. That's the sort of thing that creates accidents.

Yep. A similar situation is when I slow down to stop for a pedestrian and the car behind me assumes I'm just being too slow and races around me like a maniac. The maniac usually has to come to a screeching stop when they finally realize that there's a pedestrian coming across the road.

Regarding the OP: I would prefer if nobody pulled a move like that one...but if you're going to do so: do it cautiously. Don't just swerve around car #1 like a maniac. Come to a complete stop next to car #1 (front bumper no farther than car number #1). Look both ways once you have a complete field of view. Then (gradually) make your move to the right.
 
Trekker, I gotta' point out...you open the thread and ask the question. Seemingly honestly and with good intent.

Every single response has been no, this is unacceptable and illegal.

And yet you continue to argue the point even though the overwhelming response, from 100% of the responders, has been that it's wrong.

Now I feel like you didn't ask the question honestly, but that you just wanted us to tell you what you wanted to hear, for whatever reason.

If someone else did something in traffic that you thought was wrong, that everybody thought was wrong, but that driver continued to argue that what he did was okay...how do you think you would respond to that person?
 
Very true. Also, Trekker fails to include some very important information. What is actually on that corner on the right? If there is a business, school, or park there, then what he describes is a dick move in more ways than one since the guy could simply back up a bit, pull into the lot, and come out on the other side. No inconvenience for anyone at all and no danger of hitting a car or pedestrian on the other street.

Same with whatever is on the corner on the left.

I was always led to believe that using a business parking lot to avoid a light or other reason why traffic was stopped was possible illegal and just not cool. However, it would be a better option than what the OP suggested.

A quick Google search shows that in some areas, it's plain illegal, and in others, the state has no law, but many cities and towns have ordinances against it. So I guess it depends on the local laws, but again, it is generally seen as a dick move, though less dickish than the movie the OP suggested.
 
It's a very rude, and most probably illegal manouevre.

Having said that, I've done it (or something vaguely comparable) once*, although in my situation the field of view for me was much wider than in your diagram, and it was perfectly safe. Still a rude thing to do but I wasn't in the mood to care at the time. I did check there were no cop cars around before doing it. :D

The guy in the equivalent of Car 1 made some hand gestures conveying his sense of disturbed equilibrium, IIRC. :lol:

Funny thing is, once I did it, that gave a sense of social permission to two other people behind me who immediately pulled off the same move. Gotta love how fragile our sense of etiquette is.

(*assuming that in your diagram, there's no possibility at all of N/S traffic, no pedestrians and there's no possibility of forward motion of Car 1).
 
This is how accidents happen. And you have way too much time on your hands. Let me ask this: If the driver of the offending car was under directions from his doctor to not drive, does that change the fact pattern?
 
This is too good to be true...

What attracted me to this thread was not the topic itself so much as the way it appeared on the discussions list at the moment I happened to see it:

Driving question.
by Alpha Romeo

:guffaw:
 
You cannot "safely" break the rules of the road. They're rules, not suggestions. Period.

Be careful with such absolutes.

Hypothetical: It's 3am, you're at a red light. There are no cars anywhere around and you have good visibility on all approaches. You eventually realize that the traffic light has gone through three cycles without giving you a green for your turn. Do you continue to sit there indefinitely? Maybe moving your car a few feet forward or back will trigger the sensor. Maybe not. Under these circumstances, treating the light as broken and proceeding cautiously would be acceptable, IMO.
 
There's a light around the corner from where it seems the sensor has it's issues too, I've sat at the light through several cycles without getting a green-arrow, meanwhile cars behind me are lining up beyond the cut-out for the turning lane meaning it's now obstructing traffic in the straight-aways. So I treat the light as a 3-way stop, "running" it when the oncoming traffic is clear (no cross-traffic.)
 
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