Proper Driving on American Roads - My Thoughts

Ever feel like this woman while driving? I was telling a friend that I was considering writing this article. After much thought, and wondering if I was just being too negative about other drivers, I decided to go for it and perhaps, if only one driver learned better driving habits, my job is complete. Every day, I encounter some sort of stupidity on the road. But certain events occur over and over, showing me that so many people do not know what is expected of them while driving. So I decided to list and explain proper driving on American roadways.

Proper use of turn signals

The purpose of the turn signal is to tell other drivers your intention to turn, or change lanes. This gives them the opportunity to avoid an accident because they are surprised by whatever follows.

For example: do NOT turn on your turn signal AFTER getting into the turn lane. Once you are in the turn lane, we know what you intend to do. The turn signal becomes redundant at that point. Put your turn signal on well before reaching the turn lane. That way, when you hit the brakes for no apparent reason, we won't rear-end you. If the turn lane is short, you will need to slow down before moving into it. If I have a warning that the turn is coming, I will also slow down, leaving you plenty of room to do what you need to do. This also applies to streets without turn lanes. Hitting the brakes without warning causes too many accidents.

If you have a center lane that is used for turning from either direction, put your turn signal on early. If you reduce speed, and I intend to turn also, I may get into the turn lane and catch up to you, possibly beside you. If you then proceed into the turn lane, an accident is very likely if you haven't checked on my position relative to you. If I know you intend to turn, I will not get in your way. I will match your speed, but prevent an accident. Also, oncoming traffic will know to not get into the turn lane early, because you will probably be there in a few seconds.

If you intend to change lanes on a highway, let other traffic know before doing so. While some drivers are jerks and will speed up to prevent you from changing lanes, most will offer you safe passage into the lane of your choice. But if we don't know you intend to change lanes, we won't slow down if required for you to do so safely. Personally, I will always let someone get in front of me if I know your intention. If I see you trying to change lanes without a turn signal, I may hit the horn to let you know I was not prepared to be so nice. Typically, that case occurs when the change is going to put you very close to my vehicle. I will aid your lane change if you extend the courtesy of informing me ahead of time.

Remember, the turn signal is the only communication device we have to let other drivers know what we are doing. If you fail to communicate what you want to do, do not get upset when other drivers are flipping the bird at you, or yelling out their windows "jerk" in your direction.

The "yield" sign: What does that mean anyway?

When you come to a yield sign, what should you do? First, the misconception (based on my experience) is that people believe this sign means "merge". IT DOES NOT!!! To yield, means that you give the right of way to any and ALL oncoming traffic in the lane you are trying to enter. So if 2 lanes come together, and you have the yield sign, you are to stop, unless there is no oncoming traffic. You do not need to stop if the lane is clear. This is not a "merge" where you "fit in" to the oncoming traffic. If your sight were to be impeded, this would have been a stop sign, where you would come to a complete stop, look for oncoming traffic and then proceed when clear. The only difference between a stop sign and a yield sign, is that you will have a complete view of the lane you are getting on to, so you do not need to stop unless there is traffic in the lane. Even if the 2 lanes seem to lend themselves to perfect merging, the yield sign removes your right to enter the lane if there is any traffic in it.

The 4-way Stop: Who’s Turn is it Anyway?

OK, you arrive at an intersection and all four roads entering the intersection have a stop sign. So who goes first? First rule of thumb is whoever arrived first has the right to continue through first. Whoever arrived second is next up, and so-on. But, what happens if 2 cars arrive at the same time? Well, that is going to depend on positioning. If the cars are approaching each other (head on) and both are going straight, they can go together. If one is making a left turn in front of the other, the car going straight has the right to go first. If the cars are perpendicular to each other, always defer to the vehicle on your right.

In the case that cars are lined up in all directions, take notice to the rotation currently being followed and stick to it. Changing the order creates confusion and it takes several moves to get order re-established.

AND by all means, NEVER, EVER wave someone through if it is YOUR turn to proceed. It may seem like a nice thing to do, but it creates chaos because no one will know what you intend to do next. For example, if 4 cars are there, and you are next to go, once you wave another car through, the driver that was to follow them now has to figure out if you intend to go next, or should they go next because that would be the proper rotation. If they proceed through, the next vehicle has to make that decision, etc. And when you finally go through, who is supposed to follow you? Does it revert back to the car behind you to get into a new rotation, or does it pick up where the last car BEFORE you was supposed to go, left off? Courtesy should be a standard in driving, but in this case, it is harmful to be too nice. Even writing this paragraph was confusing for me because YOU waved someone though!

One last thought, what happens when 4 cars all arrive at the same time? Well, I never saw that happen, so I’m guessing it would be a “free for all”!

Turning Right on Red

I had to do a little research on this one because I thought my opinion might not be the actual law. It was good that I did, because my opinion was strict as compared to the law. In order to make a legal right turn on a red signal, you MUST come to a complete stop BEFORE entering the intersection. Once you come to a complete stop, you may make the turn ONLY if it is safe to do so. To me, the law is a little nebulous on that point. WHAT is considered “safe”? My opinion is that if your turn causes any driver to have to use their brake, then you should not have made the turn in the first place. If the driver with the green light is speeding, YOU are probably still in the wrong. Of course, that may depend on how fast the driver is going because if they were so far away, no danger seemed to be present, extreme speeds could throw off your judgment. My personal rule of thumb is that if I want to turn right on red, if there are two lanes and ANY vehicles are coming, I will not turn. If it is 3 lanes, I will go if the only vehicle is in the far left lane. The reason (based on experience) is that sometimes drivers will change lanes, for whatever reason, and I don’t want to put myself in danger by being in the lane they intend to get in. If the intersection I am at is close to another intersection, the driver with the green may want to turn at the next, and I may end up blocking their turn by being in the lane.

Another scenario I’ve seen is turning on red and moving to the far left lane as part of the turn. For example, I’m traveling in the right lane approaching a green light. The driver turns right on red, but crosses my lane to get in a left lane. While my distance may have been far enough away to make that sort of turn safely (not impeding my driving), this one is illegal. The law states that you need to make the right turn on red and get into the right most lane to complete it. You are not permitted to turn any other way. After completing your turn, THEN you may move to the left with the proper use of turn signals.

You must also yield to ALL pedestrians, bikes and possible U-turns. Essentially, if you have the red light, you have no right to turn if there are ANY reasons why you shouldn't. If your action interferes in any way with anyone else, you are not permitted to proceed.

I like to follow the idea that if I do anything that inconveniences another driver, I am doing it wrong. Now if you are driving at excessive speeds, or weaving through traffic, I may inconvenience you unintentionally (and I will not feel bad about it), but in general, my driving philosophy is to never interfere with another person’s driving. If I pull out and it requires you to slow down to allow me to do it, then I should not have pulled out in the first place.

Emergency Vehicles

I was going to write about something else, but sometimes when you see it happen, you just have to change gears.

Emergency vehicles: If you hear a siren, or see the flashing lights, or God forbid you are at an intersection and the ambulance is trying to go through it, you are to get out of the way and yield to it! I watched a driver cut the ambulance off as it began making its way into the intersection because the driver had a green arrow! Not only was the siren loud, but in this case the ambulance was much higher than all the surrounding cars (so all flashing lights were visible) and it was at the head of them all to cross the intersection. You would have to blind AND deaf to miss it. And I'm guessing if you are, then you can't get a license. I was in the left turn lane and we just got a green arrow. The ambulance had a red light, but as we should all know, we let any emergency vehicle through if they have flashing lights and sirens on. But not the driver I watched actually caused the ambulance to hit its brakes. We all know that life and death can rely on seconds. Is it possible that this stupid driver was the cause of someone losing their life? I have to wonder what goes through people's minds.

When driving straight with an emergency vehicle coming up behind you, you must pull over to allow it to pass. Once it has passed you, you may get back on the road. But please be courteous to other drivers. They also pulled over, so don't use the situation to gain distance on them. I've had a situation where we all pulled over and some driver (in a rush), pulled out nearly causing 3 accidents because he thought he would get past us all by not allowing us back on the road before he went on by. Hey, it sucks to be late to something, but if you are late, perhaps you need to plan ahead and leave earlier. If it takes 30 minutes to drive there, don't leave 30 minutes before you need to be there. Leave 40 minutes before and if something happens (like maybe an ambulance caused you to pull over), you will still arrive on time.

The basic rule of thumb with emergency vehicles: ALWAYS yield to them and give them clear passage to get to the victims who need their help. If it was you needing them, you could die because some driver did not follow the rules and delayed their arrival. Think about others for a change!

That White Line at a Traffic Light

What is that white line all about? Most of you probably think this topic is rather stupid as we ALL know what it’s for. Well, based on experience, I’m guessing that we all DON’T know what it’s for, or perhaps don’t CARE.

That white line is an invisible barrier that is supposed to let you know that you MUST stop at that line if the light is red. Your car is not to break the vertical wall that extends upward from the line itself. Just yesterday, I was about to make a right turn on red at an intersection. My white line was about 6 feet closer to the intersection than the lines in the straight/left turn bound lanes. With that additional 6 feet, I was able to clearly see any oncoming traffic, making my turn safe and easy. I drive a Jeep Wrangler, so I sit rather high, but a Ford F250 has a hood that is even higher than where I sit. Even though the truck cannot turn left or go straight until the light turns green, the driver still felt it was necessary to pull up WAY over the white line, the front of his truck even with the front of my Jeep, making it impossible for me to see the oncoming traffic. What does pulling over the white line even do? Do you gain time or distance? Why is it so hard for so many people to understand that the location of the line was chosen with some reason behind it. For example, the left most lane will often be further back than those in adjacent lanes. The reason is for those vehicles making left hand turns from the right of your location. When they make the turn, being back further makes the turn easier for them, and safer for you. If you cross that line, you put your vehicle in their path and yourself in danger. Obviously, we ALL know what the lines are for. But why do so many people ignore them?

Merging

Some basic thoughts might be the place to start. If you are going to merge into traffic, always consider how you will affect the traffic flow you are merging into. For example, if you are merging onto a major highway, it is YOUR job to match the speed of the flow prior to merging. If I am on the highway, it is NOT my job to slow down to let you merge in. It is YOUR job to get up to the speed of traffic in order to merge.

Use of turn signals is also a very good tool. If the lane of the off-ramp is also an on-ramp to get back on the road you just came off, then the turn signal let’s everyone know that you are planning to merge rather than being in that lane to get onto the other road. Depending on several factors, I may not know that you are getting off the other road, and I may think you are getting on to it. So the turn signal is your way to let me know what is happening.

What about merging when going from a certain number of lanes down to fewer lanes? There is no real magic to this one. TAKE TURNS! If the right lane is merging into the left lane, use your turn signal to let them know you have reached the point of moving over. It is best not to wait until the very last second to do it though. If I had to drive at 5 mph for the last mile because I got over early, I am going to be ticked off if you blew past me only to try to get ahead of me. Take the best opening to merge early rather than force yourself in because your options are gone. Yes, it may add a few minutes to your drive, but leaving early is always the best way to arrive on time. Plan ahead for possible delays! The rest of us are also driving slowly. You are not the only one this delay is affecting.

If the car in front of you was allowed to merge into the new lane, don’t be a butt and try to get in right behind them. Get in behind the vehicle that allowed them over. It’s all about courtesy. Most drivers will co-operate IF you provide some courtesy to them.

If the merge lane is very short, then you need to be looking ahead and thinking about how you will merge BEFORE you need to do it. Actually, whether or not it is short, thinking about what to do before executing it is always a good thing.

When you plan your merge, if the vehicle where you planned to merge in won’t allow you to move over, fall back and merge BEHIND it. Trying to stay ahead just ticks everyone off and your chances get lower of finding a sympathetic driver to help you. If I see the vehicle in front of me deny your merging effort, I am more likely to allow you in front of me. But if you drive faster to just move over in front of me, there is no sympathy for your predicament, and now it’s a game of chicken.

Finally, if you are in a lane that becomes a “turn only” lane, or “this lane ends” type situation and you don’t want to be there, immediately use your turn signal to let others know you need to move over. Then look for the earliest opening to merge. Don’t go faster to find an opening, falling behind a vehicle will show you are not trying to gain time, but are willing to submit to the other drivers. Your chances of merging without incident go up dramatically.

For future consideration

There are many other traffic situations that can be talked about. I’m going to call this piece “Part 1” and if you leave comments as to what other situations you would like to see discussed, I’d be happy to create a “Part 2”.