Stories about Intersections - Driving Storytime Thread

E.Coyote

I watched someone almost get obliterated a few weeks ago because a fire truck was going 3x the speed limit in a school zone with lights, but no siren.

tynic

Calica wrote: »

When I was in high school, the bus would drop a bunch of us off at a particular intersection. We then had to cross the street to get where we were going. This wasn't a terribly busy street or anything, but there was no crosswalk, and most of the time we had to wait a few minutes for traffic to clear from both sides at the same time.

Sometimes some kind soul would notice the gaggle of teenagers shivering on the sidewalk and stop to wait for us to cross, which I kind of hated because often as not they'd sit there and wave at us while cars kept driving past in the other lane.

One day, a driver in the far lane (US, so moving right to left from our perspective) stopped to let us cross. The near lane was clear, so we waved thank-you and took the opportunity. I was at the front of the group, and just as I cleared the far side of the stopped car, some idiot coming up behind them decided to illegally pass on the right while barely slowing down. Their driver's side mirror missed me by inches.

I hope I scared them as much as they did me. They didn't stick around to ask.

I know several people who have been injured or killed this way. It's a form of 'politeness' I will rail against for hours. Stupid and dangerous.

EvmaAlsar

I dunno how it is over there, but it's drilled into us here that you never, ever signal to someone else to do something on the road; you leave them to figure it out for themselves so as to not make yourself liable.

It's too easy to misinterpret another's signals. In the UK, flashing your high beams is inviting someone else to take priority in a meeting situation, where almost everywhere else in Europe it's a warning like "GET OUT OF THE WAY, IDIOT, I'M COMING THROUGH". It's been very confusing for a lot of Polish drivers new to the area.

chromdom

For the fourth time in half a day, pedestrians decided crossing against the light was fine, and just kind of meandered across the street, leaving me fuming at my green light. So on this fourth occasion, I felt within my rights to honk at them.
Unfortunately, in my impotent rage, I forgot there was a car between me and them, a car who was doing nothing wrong in waiting for the pedestrians and whom I had no cause to honk at. So their anger at me was completely justified, and I accept their rebuke, and can only apologize to them.
Those fucking pedestrians though, they can fuck right off. I waited a whole extra cycle of lights because of you fuckers last time, fuck you!

Jedoc

EvmaAlsar wrote: »

I dunno how it is over there, but it's drilled into us here that you never, ever signal to someone else to do something on the road; you leave them to figure it out for themselves so as to not make yourself liable.

It's too easy to misinterpret another's signals. In the UK, flashing your high beams is inviting someone else to take priority in a meeting situation, where almost everywhere else in Europe it's a warning like "GET OUT OF THE WAY, IDIOT, I'M COMING THROUGH". It's been very confusing for a lot of Polish drivers new to the area.

I grew up the son and grandson of truckers, so I've always used a couple of flashes to signal to a truck "you're clear of my nose, go on and merge."

I can see how that would be a real disaster if there were other people on the road who grew up using that to mean "make way, I'm puttin' the hammer down."