Rotary rules

OK, for all those who don't know this already, read this aloud:

Rule #1: The traffic in the rotary (traffic circle) has the right of way.

Rule #2: The traffic entering the rotary must yield to the traffic in the rotary.

Rule #3: If yielding means stop, that's OK.

Rule #4: If you are in the rotary and you yield to incoming traffic, expect my horn.

Rule #5: If there's any doubt, refer to Rule #1.

These are the five rules of rotaries in Massachusetts. And yet, for every one of these dozens of roadway phenomena, there are at least 10 people driving cars with Massachusetts plates who don't get it.

I am constantly having to swerve around someone coming in too fast who is expecting me to stop, or jamming on my breaks because someone else stopped to let incoming traffic through.

There's this one rotary I am on every day. At least once a week when I am stopped waiting to enter the rotary, another car comes up behind me and whizzes into traffic, nearly causing an accident with the rotary traffic; or as I come around the rotary cars are whipping down another road so fast they treat the rotary like an extension of the road so they can slingshot their way out. The latter has caused me to adopt a very aggressive posture coming around that particular part of the loop, and sometimes means I or an oncoming driver must swerve or hit the brakes. One of these days though, knowing the incoming driver has to yield, I would love to let the person hit me. Just once. The trouble is it wouldn't be worth it because I would only teach one person a lesson, not the public masses. So, it's an ill-advised example to set.

On a final note, I was on a different rotary recently. I won't mention the town because I don't wish to anger the cops there, but I had someone else very nearly fail to yield. In fact the car was all the way in the rotary before it acknowledged my horn and my moving steel. Two cars behind it was a cop. I wished the cop would have pulled over the driver and cited him. Instead, the cop went on his own way never to be seen again, and that's partly why we have these problems.

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posted by Tim @ 9:56 PM (0) comments

Add another rule

There's another rule to add to an ever-growing list for Boston driving. Anyone in an SUV who feels he or she has waited long enough for a break to change lanes can just move over even if there is another car there.

I've seen this a lot in heavy traffic in Boston. Some are work vans and work trucks. Some are run-of-the-mill SUVs. Today's offender was driving the enormous-for-no-good-reason Toyota Sequoya (Don't ask me why Toyota got rid of a perfectly good vehicle like the Land Cruiser for the Sequoya).

After waiting what must have seemed like an eternity to the driver (it was about 35 seconds by my count), the driver just moved over into my lane, cutting off the driver in front of me who, of course, had to jam on his breaks at 20 mph. Now 20 isn't that fast, but in the dead-stop traffic I was in tonight, it seemed like we were on the open road.

I've written about karma before, in the most recent post behind this one in fact, and karma came through again when I eventually got into another lane at the JFK exit on the Southeast Distressway and passed him. I never saw him again.

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posted by Tim @ 6:28 PM (0) comments

What goes 'round comes 'round

I'm a firm believer in karma. I practiced good tipping karma when I waited tables. Every server, no matter how awful, got a minimum 20 percent from me. The idea was that I would also receive good tips, even if I was having an off day.

The same goes for driving. If I'm feeling particularly anti-social one day and I don't wish to let someone into my lane, I expect there will be someone somewhere who will do the same to me. This past weekend, I had the chance to be on both sides, and in this case it was to return some bad karma received on credit.

On our way into Marshfield on Thursday evening, Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving and I were heading eastbound on Route 139. We were almost in front of the Dunkin' Donuts where 139 merges from two to one lane, just after the Pembroke line (there's a Dunkin' Donuts in Marshfield center where the same phenomenon happens, so there's a need for the distinction).

We were in the right lane and about to merge behind a typical sedan, when the truck in the left lane decides not to share its space. The driver speeds up, rides the tail of the sedan, AND, moves to the right to make it very clear that we were not going to even try to ride beside the truck any longer. Our proper place was staring at the truck's tailgate, and that's that. This almost put us into the curb to avoid a collision. For the record, Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving is no shrinking violet when it comes to the road. Although she backed off, she didn't panic or anything.

Then, to really make the point clear, the driver decided that it was important to jam on the brakes every time traffic slowed. Remember when I said we were forced to look at the tailgate? Well, the truck had emblazoned on it "Boston Drain Co." and two telephone numbers. In fact, the name and numbers of the company were on all sides of the truck. So, I called. I spoke to a woman who was most likely working for a hired answering service, but I was pissed enough that I didn't care. I gave the license plate number (DRAIN1), our location and the type of driving maneuvers being pulled. I hung up satisfied, knowing that I had called, and that I would post here. I felt better. It was cathartic.

But my catharsis was further realized on Friday. Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving was in front of me in Quincy center. We were just coming from picking up my car from being serviced. We were both on the right lane in front of Quincy City Hall, heading towards West Quincy. For those who don't know Quincy (Quin-zee) Center, there's about five lanes of one-way traffic. Two go left towards Quincy High School, three go straight with one becoming a right-turn-only lane. My wife and I were turning right to go towards Bergin Parkway to get to Route 93.

All lanes were stopped for a traffic light. When traffic started moving again, a truck tried to push its way in front on Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving. Guess which company it was from. Guess. That's right, Boston Drain Co. Not one to miss a beat, Mrs. Boston Crazy Driving swerves around the truck and keeps moving. Seeing all this and noting that it was a different truck, I too swerved around the truck, added an annoyed and lengthy horn. For good measure, I abruptly, and without reason, stopped before turning right. I had a green arrow, while the other lanes were red again. Karma, asshole. It sucks.

We ended up lining up at the next light, but the Drain Co. truck had to really inch up to get next to me. The guy in the passenger's side was actually motioning to me. This is a long light. I wasn't going to get into a verbal scrap when I was five cars back at a long red. But it proved to me that I was dealing with an entire company that doesn't give a damn that its drivers' road habits are reflecting poorly on the company.

As I have said before, I refuse to patronize companies that have drivers who act like jerks. I said many times I should make a list. If I were really sinister, I would call all them and make them waste time while I pretended I wanted their business only to say, "No thanks. You're on my list of jerk drivers. Here's the date and time and truck number of the jerk who (insert jerky driving maneuver here). Now, buzz off." But I started this weblog instead.

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posted by Tim @ 5:53 PM (0) comments

Gas: One thing crazier than the driving

Today I saw something that I have never seen before. I saw a difference of $1 per gallon of gas. Where? Malden. How far apart? A few blocks. On the corner of Eastern Avenue and Maplewood Street, a no-name gas station was selling gas for $2.49, and nine-tenths. That was about 60 cents cheaper than a Mobil on Eastern Avenue. I was surprised. That was until I was driving down Salem Street a few blocks away when I saw gas for $3.49 a gallon.

A whole dollar difference. Wow. I've heard from people who are paying better attention than me that gas stations are increasing their prices by the hour. They're not buying it by the hour.

I have seen as much as 20 or 30 cents, but not a whole dollar before. I bet it's not the end. Anyone want to take bets on how soon it will hit $4 a gallon for 87 octane? Or how long until the T has to start doubling up its bus, subway and rail routes?

The good thing? Fewer crazy drivers.

Check Universal Hub for other local commentary.

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posted by Tim @ 8:28 PM (0) comments