7.05.2005

People with a wait problem

Sorry about the long lag in posts. There really hasn't been much to report lately. I still get cut off, and I am still being tailgated when I'm not the lead car. But this weblog isn't just my rants about all the individuals who make me crazy on the roads.

But a trend popped up today that is worth mentioning. It's what I call the wait problem. No one wants to do it, especially at stop lights and four-way stops. Everyone knows what I am talking about and everyone can be accused of it at one time or another. It's that little creeping over the stop line as we "patiently" wait our turn.

Some drivers are remarkably bad about this. I watch people ahead of me, across from me and those waiting to cross my lane from either side do this all the time. Here's how it goes: They are cruising at 40 or higher, notice something red (stop sign? red light?) and stop. Then they roll. I've seen people roll right into the middle of the intersection while waiting at a red light. The only that stops them from going through before it turns green is the cross traffic. But there's nothing that bugs me more than the people making a left across my lane who jump the red to beat the line of traffic (especially when the line consists of only me).

If memory serves, and anyone is welcome to use the link to the rules of the road at right to verify it, state law requires that all left turning traffic must wait for oncoming traffic to clear (unless of course there is a dedicated turn light or delayed green on the other side). But some people are in just too much of a hurry to wait for one or two cars to pass.

Sometimes I think it is a game with the people making the left, so I gun it off the light, then blow my horn in disgust to make a big scene.

I've also been beeped at for not creeping into an intersection so someone can make a right on red. What's that all about? Oh, excuse me, let me get out of your way while making an ass out of myself by blocking the intersection. OK. Sounds fair. On second thought...wait your goddamned turn!

After all that's what it all comes down to. There'd be a lot less road rage if we all waited our turn. Only in a true emergency (like someone in the car is carrying an appendage packed on ice or is expecting a baby) should someone drive like this.

That's all on that subject for now. I'll try to note any other trends before I decamp for a week in the wilds of Montana to visit family. They have no daytime speed limit on the interstates out there, so I'll be interested to see if their drivers are any worse than those on Route 3 heading to the Cape.

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