road rules | Mommy Adventures

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Learn how to drive

Have you ever noticed that other drivers are ridiculously annoying? Or maybe it’s just me. But they are. Seriously. I’m not one for road rage (mostly because I have kids in the car, and yelling at other drivers doesn’t really set the best example, nor would it make the kids feel comfortable. Plus I’d never actually yell at the offending person, just inside my car with the windows up. I am not about to get myself shot!), but sometimes the rude and stupid driving of other people makes me want to scream.

For starters, what is with those people who stop about 10 feet from the marked this-is-where-you-stop line on the road? Do they think it’s going to bite them or something? Once I was driving with friends many years ago, and this old lady in front of us stopped so short of the line in a right hand turn lane (we drive on the left hand side over here, don’t forget) that the turning arrow wasn’t actually triggered. After 2 or 3 cycles of light changes, I had to get out of the car and go knock on her window, probably scaring the pee right out of her in the process, to tell her to move up a bit so we could actually get to our destination.

Why stop way back there?!?! SO ANNOYING! Oops, I drew the car on the wrong side of the road. My bad.

Other people stop way short of the line and then turn into creepers! ARGH, CREEPERS ARE SO ANNOYING (In Minecraft, and on the roads). It doesn’t even have to be the line, they also stop 2-3 car lengths back from the person in front of them. After sitting at the red light a while they start creeping forward. They go about a foot, then stop. Then they go another foot, then stop. Some people do a giant creep, covering the 2-3 car lengths all in one go. Not even when the light is about to change to green, in some sort of ridiculous effort to get a move on quicker. No, creepers do the creep when the light is still red and is obviously not changing any time soon. And by obviously, I mean you can tell by the steady stream of cars still going through the intersection perpendicular to the creepers. When they finish creeping, there is a 2-3 car length gap between their car and mine. Then if I don’t move forward, I look like the ass who left a giant gap.

Why does the giant gap matter? In part because it makes you look ridiculous, but mostly because a little further down the road, behind the giant gap, there will be a left turning lane that some poor chap can’t get into because they can’t quite fit past the car in front of them. Of course if the giant creeper gap wasn’t there, the car in front of turning guy could move forward and he could actually use the green arrow that is sitting there on the light, doing nothing because none of the turners can get in the turning lane.

Sometimes the car that is blocking the turning lane is the one that left the giant gap. If he was paying any sort of attention to his surroundings, he’d notice me, right behind him, with my left blinker on, attempting to get my car past the edge of his without mounting the curb so I can turn on my green arrow. But giant gap man doesn’t notice. Or doesn’t care, and sits there with 3 car lengths between him and the car in front of him and no one can get past to turn. Ass.

Argh, I can’t get through!

Back to right turn lanes. Usually on a busy road that has a decently high speed limit, the right hand turning lane is quite long. Unfortunately, that also usually means that ridiculous drivers don’t feel they need to move into the turning lane until about halfway down. Since the speed limit is high, they hit their brakes whilst moving into the turning lane, which means everyone behind them has to hit their brakes too. Can’t you just move into the turning lane at the very start of it and then start braking? Is it really that hard?

Move into the turning lane sooner! like at the beginning of the turning lane.

Oh, and then there are those suburban roads that have lots of little side streets. A little ways before the side street, the solid white line on the left hand side, separating the road from the shoulder, turns into a dashed line. That is there so you can move into that shoulder area and turn from there. You don’t have to come to a near stop in the middle of the lane to turn onto the little side street. Most people do get that you are supposed to move over into the dashed line shoulder area, but then they fail to move all the way over. They move halfway over, so they are mostly in the turning lane, but you still have to slow down and wait for them to turn because part of their car is still in the normal lane and if you go around them, you will have a head on collision.

Move all the way over!

There are a few large roads around here that you turn left onto. Time and time again, I see people (usually in front of me, prompting me to honk my horn and keep a lid on annoyance) turn the corner and stop, waiting for a gap in the traffic so they can move to the right. Seriously people? DID YOU NOT SEE THE GIANT LANE ADDED SIGN? Or perhaps notice that right in front of your car is open road?

Lane added! You don’t need to stop there!

Or what about those people who drive in the middle lane of the freeway/motorway? They’re not passing anyone. They’re not even going the speed limit. They’re just cruising along, oblivious to the people passing on their right AND left. Oblivious to the fact that other cars are having to change lanes to get around them. Oblivious to the numerous “keep left unless overtaking” signs that line the motorway at regular intervals.

Speaking of freeways and motorways, WHY, oh WHY do people slow down when trying to merge onto a motorway?? It’s much easier, AND safer to actually be going the speed limit when you are trying to merge into motorway traffic that is going 110 kilometers per hour. Going 80kph is just dumb. Then you pull into the gap between me and the guy in front of me and I have to slam on my brakes so I don’t rear end you, since you are stupidly pulling into 110kph whilst going 80kph.

What do other drivers do that makes you want to scream? Or, if you do one of the things I mentioned, why do you do it? Maybe you have a legitimate reason that I just can’t seem to think of?

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