Topic awaiting preservation: Blinking Yellow Means GO! (Page 1 of 1)

It amazes me how many people on the road (everyone except me, of course) don't actually know how to drive. Did anybody read the driver's manual before they took that test?

Actually, this reminds me of a story a guy I used to work with told me. He said he went in and failed the written driver's test 4 times. He had come in enough times that the woman behind the counter recognized him. The last time he took it, he failed once again, but the counter woman felt sorry for him and corrected 2 or 3 of the questions for him so he would pass, and gave him a license, anyway.

If a guy is inept enough to fail the driver's test that many times, doesn't that make him someone we don't want on the road?

Anyway, on my way home from work, I came to a traffic light that had recently been installed. It wasn't functioning properly yet, so one way blinking yellow and the other blinking red. I was on the yellow side.

I waited in a line of cars made up of drivers who kept stopping at the damn blinking yellow light. This, you do not do. But despite my honking and attempts at educating these imbeciles, they just kept stopping.

So, for the rest of you out there who may not know: A blinking red is to be treated like a stop sign. Stop, then when the way is clear, you may proceed. A blinking yellow means proceed with caution. Don't stop. You go. Go. (This, of course, goes for American drivers.)

So are there any other rules on which you would like to educate the bad drivers of the world? (Remember to specify your country, and in the U.S., be sure if it isn't specific to your state.)

Just because you have your turn indicator on, does not necessarily, automaticly give you the right of way or that you have a clear lane (road, street,...etc.) to turn into.
*footnote* Turning (lane changing, ..etc) should be done from the lane closest to your target, not necessarily the one you happen to be in.

Country : U.S.
State : any

When I was in Florida, there was a news story about a man with 16 DUIs ( Driving Under the Influence) and was still driving. Apparently there are a very few of us that are overqualified for this...

'Yield' does not mean stomp on the gas to make sure that when I have to hit hit the brakes to avoid certain death for both if us, you have a clear path...

Just for the record, the same blinking Yellow/Red rules apply in Australia. I do however find that story quite disturbing, considering I don't even have a licence, it seems I know more about the road rules that some who do.

It's better to have imbeciles that stop at a blinking yellow than imbeciles that do not stop at a blinking red.

In Brazil we don't have these blinking signs (maybe only the blinking yellow).

EDIT: a quick search in Google and I find that we do have the blinking yellow, but in a rather different or broader context.

[This message has been edited by viol (edited 03-20-2004).]

As a bike rider (mountain bike, not motor bike) I'd like all prospective car drivers to spend a day or two in the saddle before they are put behind the wheel of car with nice metal protection all around them. Then perhaps they would not drive so close and fast past us, realising how dangerous this is.
I realise many of you will have outrageous stories of bad cyclists too, but, but, but! If a car tangles with a bike chances are it's the cyclist who ends up as mush on the tarmac.
Ah, I do feel better now after that.

:::tao:::

I took writting test once and driving once, passed both of them fast....

driving in PR is horrible..90% of people never use turning signals...neither on highway nor anywhere else....if it says speed limit 30, they drive at 50, if it says 45, they drive at 65....

such is Puerto Rico...

people are the worst ..

One of my pet peeves in traffic:

People that drive strictly according to the weather forecast in winter instead of thinking.
When they say that it *might* be icy roads, people drive at crawling speed at the highway. Regardless if it's -25 C or + 6C (neither temperature generally makes for very slippery road when you're having winter tires (which is required by law)).

But if the news doesn't say anything about icy roads, people drive like maniacs with minimum gaps between the cars. Even if it's icy rain and -2C.

(This applies to the southern parts of Sweden. People like me that learned to drive up in the northern part understand that you need to think and adapt to the situation at hand)

Tao:
In stockholm they have come up with this great thing for cyclists. They've put the bicycle lanes in the middle of the road to make the cars drive slower. Of course they do not, and people are riding their bikes on the sidewalk instead. One of many brilliant ideas from our local politicians

Winters are rather odd here in Connecticut. But they are always icy, snowy, slippery, slushy messes. They've been the same for centuries. People who live here should have no problem growing accustomed to driving conditions.

And yet, year after year, every winter, the first time the roads get icy, there are literally dozens, scores, of accidents from jackasses simply driving too damn fast and flying off the road on all stretches of highway in the area.

It's a running source of entertainment to count them on the way to work for comparison. It's like a "who saw the biggest asshole"

And then the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th times that it gets cold enough to get icy, you have a single line of cars going down the 2 lane highway at about 25 mph, white-knuckled and freaking out.

And then it's back to flying like a bat out of hell and off the roads again.

And I would like to reiterate an important safety note that has seemed to escape some people's grasp:

1) Owning a four-wheel drive vehicle does not affect the performance of your vehicle unless you actually put it into four-wheel drive.

2) Four-wheel drive does not stop you from sliding on a sheet of ice when you drive at 80 mph.

3) Your overwieght unsafe 4WD SUV does slide further and crash harder when you fly off the side of the highway at 80 mph.

Here's a couple I was reminded of during my little errands this afternoon ...

1. Once you're on the onramp to the highway, you are no longer bound by the speed limit of the road you were previously traveling. The onramp is there so you can reach highway speed before you enter the highway. Do not go 35 mph as you enter the highway. You should be at highway speed before you try to merge.

I was behind a jackass going, yes, 35 as he was getting on the highway. He, and subsequently, I almost got our asses run down. Of course, after he made it into the lane, he sped up to 65.

2. When you pull into a parking lot, slow the hell down. I was almost hit, and screamed at, by a crazy woman who entered from the street and continued to do 40 in the cross lane of the parking lot as I was exiting a row.

Incidentally, I notice that the people who usually drive the worst are the people driving the POSs. Do they really find no connection between the way they drive and their missing bumpers and smashed-in doors?

Thanks for an insigtful comment, you can actually learn something from that!

I dont have a pet road peve as such, besides people who should have had a pillow
put over their mouths as soon as their parents realised that they are a functional
imbeccile. Not that I support euthanasia but this is an act of kindness before
these walking dead somehow manage to get a licence and kill people with a car.

A tip I learned from on old ambulance driver. When you see a car about to enter the roadway (Tjunction, parkway)
you look at its wheels to see if they will begin to move so you can hit the breaks earlier if they elect to move
straight into your car. Most people look at the car or even at the driver.

RE: Blinking yello. In Australia I have never seen a red light blink.
Orange blinking means as far as I know; 'Cross intersection with caution.'


---
"The future is not written in stone.
It is written day by day,
What are you writing today?"
http://wulfius-khan.deviantart.com/
http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/wulfius/

The only problem with that bit of advice now is those godawful new hubcaps -- dunno what they're called -- but they have an independently spinning gadget that keeps moving even when the vehicle is stopped. It's some crazy bling bling crap that, in my opinion, should be outlawed. More than once, I've freaked out because I thought a car was coming at me when it was sitting perfectly still. It was just the damn hubcaps continuing to spin.

Incidentally, for those outside the U.S. ... when I talk about a blinking red and blinking yellow, I'm talking about a regular stoplight, with red, yellow and green lights. When it hasn't been programmed (recently installed), when it's malfunctioning, or when it's late at night and strict regulation of that particular intersection isn't necessary, the busier direction will blink yellow, while the less busy will blink red. Red stops, yellow proceeds with caution. Sometimes, both directions blink red and it's treated like a 4-way stop.

Edit: Here's an example of those damned wheels ...



[This message has been edited by Wes (edited 03-21-2004).]

Ohh yeah ! those are for ghetto people..

psssst! Wes! I think you are missing the point... those hubcaps make the cars go Faster!


[antique sigs are us]

The farthest left lane on a highway or interstate is for passing. I hate people who camp out in the left lane and force everyone else to pass them on the right.

:::11oh1:::

That's my #1 peve too, people who drive slow in the fast lane, or people who block the centre lane, by lining the front of their car with the rear bumper of the car in the fast lane, resulting in someone getting trapped, and having to pass on the shoulder, or slow down. If you're in the fast lane, and a car is gaining on you from behind, move to the centre lane, this should seem like common sense, but it's one of the most frustrating things I ever experience.

If someone has a radar detector, don't form a line behind them, or group up beside them. Why... why would you do that? If you're following on their bumper, or beside them in the next lane over, they're going to get you ticketted. Next cop that comes up, they'll slow down, you'll think they're exiting and pass them, and next thing you know, they'll be laughing at you, and feeling very proud of themselves. It's also very irritating because you can't switch lanes while you're being mobbed by cars.

they're called spinners, and any quality spinner is NOT a hubcap. They're basically a status symbol - if you've got that kind of money to waste, whatever. I think they're gaudy.

My biggest pet peeve right now is when people don't understand that when a light is OUT, that means to treat it as a four-way stop. I almost got killed tonight by some asshole driving straight through a broken stop light.

Other pet peeves include people who throw aluminum wings in excess of 6" on an otherwise stock car. People with electrical superchargers. Those fucking "whistle" exhaust tips. Those idiots with the fake "spooling device" in their muffler. I also can't stand people who think their car is tough shit and will rev at a 700+hp GTO (old school, not the new POS). Street racers also get on my nerves - take it to the damn track! Let's not forget blown cars with drivers that only like to hear their own blow-off valves. They particularly piss me off. Anybody that thinks a 15 second quarter mile is fast has a thing or two to learn. Body kits on an otherwise stock car tend to get on my nerves too - don't just make it look fast... make it fast damn it!

Sorry. Where was I again? Oh, right... I don't like people who don't know that a broken stoplight = four way stop.



[This message has been edited by Raptor (edited 03-22-2004).]

Funnily enough I just finished watching a show calle "The Great New Zealand Driving Test", which was sort of an interactive quiz show on driving rules. (I'm in NZ at the moment)

The studio audience was able to answer the questions, and viewers could text the answers or input them on the website.

Unfortunately, at the end of the show the majority of people only got 50% or so right. Not a good sign.

And Taobaybee, the minimum distance over here for passing bicyclists is 1.5 metres. It should be the same in the states but my Washington license expired in January and I haven't had a chance to renew yet.

:edit: And the original spinners were going for $10,000 USD per rim last I heard. Definitely a status symbol thing. Then again, I just saw an E! on Puffy and the (lucky) bastard has a watch worth a million dollars so small change for some of us I guess. :edit:



[This message has been edited by silence (edited 03-22-2004).]

how about one for the pedestrians out there, its annoying how in the UK we have the right of way at a junction[minor to major] as soon as we step of the curb. Still its not something you can really enforce, heh i'm not gonna argue with a 10 tonne truck anyway

Oh MAN! Do not get me started on driving pet peeves. I firmly believe that each driver's license test should include a basic IQ test and Common Sense Quiz. I also think that the written test should be taken each time you renew your license - not just when you forget to do it before your birthday the year it expires.

People on the road are bloody stupid and even more bloody egotistical.

Regarding the whole 4-way stop thing... It's not just the blinking red lights. It's all 4-way stops. At a 4-way stop, the first person to get to the intersection has the right of way, and then the next person who got to the intersection, and then the next, and so on. If you're in the North lane of a 4-way stop, and the person in the East lane got their first, it's their turn to go. And if you're in the lane behind the first person at the intersection, then you do not get to go just because the person in front of you does. You then become the LAST person at the 4-way stop.

There's a 4-way stop intersection at the grocery store where I usually shop. I am constantly having to educate people on who's turn it is to go. Usually, I'm the one someone's get the jump on.

I'm down on cars these days. I just went through a harrowing experience buying a new vehicle, and am really thinking I should have gotten a bicycle...

Well, I'm ot a driver, so I can't really say what my pet driving peeve (although being in a car with a person who either speeds, brakes late or takes corners too fast is pretty annoying to me), but I have been a cyclist all my life, and I do have a few peeves regarding that.

my pet peeve as a cyclist is both drivers and pedestrians. Not all, but enough of them. See, in Australia the law regarding where cyclists are supposed to ride isn't particularly clear, so I've constantly got pedestrians telling me I should be riding on the road when I'm on the footpath, and drivers telling me I should be on the footpath when I'm on the road. I mean, make up your damn minds!

That, and the drivers who, when you are on the road, seem to aim for you. I have been clipped by a driver's wing mirror more than once, and the one time that it broke off, and I had the driver out of his car and swearing a blue streak at me, as if I deliberatly rode into it.

"Yes, Mr. Imbecile, I like this throbbing pain in my arm and the huge bruise that's going to present there as soon as I get some ice onto it. So, towards that end, I deliberatly put my arm into the path of your wing mirror, instead of you riding the left curb where you're not supposed to be."

Idiots.

Justice 4 Pat Richard

quote:

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Just because you have your turn indicator on, does not necessarily, automaticly give you the right of way or that you have a clear lane (road, street,...etc.) to turn into.

---

By the same token, if you see someone with their turn signal on because they want to change lanes, it's polite to make a little room for them.

Cell 1250 :: alanmacdougall.com :: Illustrator tips

Absolutely true, PT. That falls into the "common courtesy" catagory which, along with "common sense" and another "common" or two, are in pitifully short supply.
Makes ya wonder why we put the "common" in there, eh ?

Sadly, anything "common" is anything but

Yep - I agree. Let's scratch the Common Sense Exam, and change it to the Just Plain Sense Exam. Either way, it should be mandatory for all when requesting a license to drive a potential deadly weapon.

Drivers of automobiles should be made aware that cyclists have a right to the roads as well. It should never be considered an inconvenience to slow down a little and give some berth to a cyclist on the road. In the US - it is not legal to ride a bicycle on the sidewalk. Sidewalks are for pedestrians. Cyclists must use the road. (Granted - for their own saftey, cyclists often ride on the sidewalks...) It's pretty scary riding down a small neighborhood street and being nearly sideswiped by an SUV because the egotistical owner of the large vehicle thinks that you shouldn't be there. I imagine, if you get seriously injured in that way, you've got a pretty good legal case. The cycle laws in NC are pretty clear about right of use for roadways.

We have a lot of cyclists, especially here in Greensboro. It's a college town, and a lot of students use bicycles as their sole means of transport. We have some great bike paths, the often don't go directly to where one might want to go...

If you ride a bicycle a lot, I strongly suggest boning up on the local cycle laws. You may find you need them one day!

Most people I encounter have very little compassion or concern for their fellow human beings. This lack of consideration pisses me off more than anything in the world. We're all here together - let's try to get along, shall we?

The presence of a cop on the side of the highway does *not* drop the speed limit down by 10 mph....

I'm constantly amazed at how many people, all at once, hit the brakes on the highway because there's a cop with a radar gun.

And I don't mean people who are speeding dropping down to a legal speed - I mean people going the speed limit dropping down to 50-55 mph (speed limit 65).

I've noticed a positive thing, in the great state of Texas no less, they have wide shoulders on many of their roads, county roads, country roads, small highways etc... When you come up quickly behind someone it seems about 75-90% of the time, out of courtesy, these folks will pull over and drive on the shoulder, allowing you to pass!

that's just awesome. God bless 75-90% of Texas!

Another thing that I hate are those people who think that they can speed up and follow you once you pass them. If you don't have the balls to go a certain speed alone why do you think I'm going to let you follow me and do it?

I don't mind so much if the person does it way in the distance but some people make it so obvious as to what they are doing it's ridiculous.

:::11oh1:::