Going back to the original post of the thread I asked for the opinion of drivers who hesitate to give way to mergers upon seeing their indicator flashing., and asked whether anyone else experienced the issue I face here in Newyork. A few responders got the question correctly and answered well. But others seem to completely misunderstood the question derailed the purpose of the question.
I already knew a question like this would not go without some bumps.
From my point of view, and like you noted, I believe coming off the accelerator to let a merger in is safer because by speeding up to get ahead the merging might merge into you, hitting you off the road.
Depending on the situation, but the particular situation I brought up here is that the car in the left lane is about half car length behind you and is not passing you, but rather just going at a constant speed.
So I’m always thinking “ Why does the driver speed up the moment I turn the indicator on instead of coming off the accelerator since he’s not in a rush going anywhere ?”
You are right. Reminds me of another problem I encounter on a daily basis here.
On a road with one lane that eventually turns into two lanes for passing for half mile, a car behind me would immediately go into the left lane to pass me, then once the lanes become a single lane, the car that passes me would return to its normal speed or even slower.
Never driven on public roads ? And you are wrong again . Been as far east , west , north and south as you can go in the US . Also ran a small trucking company for several years plus did oncall Air Freight delivery .
Likely the same reason people will speed up to beat you into a grocery check out lane if they see you eyeing the same spot
You’re trying to apply logic to the situation and that rarely works for gauging human behavior. It’s no different than the situation where you’ve been following someone and decide to pull into the left lane to pass them and they speed up to match your speed. Why? They have been going slower than that for miles but now there is someone trying to get ahead. It’s probably some part of the primitive brain where unconscious competitive instincts kick in. That person is going to get the food morsel before me!
The other possibility that comes to mind has already been mentioned. They know you want to move over for a reason, likely to turn left. This may be perceived as a potential inconvenience and so better to get ahead of the problem than get stuck behind it.
It has always amazed me when people view any action to slow their progress in a car as a big deal. Like stepping on the brake and slowing down take some significant physical effort or present some meaningful delay. I see this with people approaching a pedestrian. They would prefer to come over into the other lane with oncoming traffic than to take a few seconds to brake, slow down and wait for a clear opportunity to pass by the pedestrian safely.
Read this after I composed above. I’m ahead of you, I am winning A guy I know attributes this to people who have little control in their life outside the car. Now they have the power.
Listen to what the first caller says – car related – on today’s KQED Forum podcast. First caller at around 15-20 minutes from the beginning IIRC. Caller relocated from Fremont Calif (where my Corolla was manufactured in 1992) to Taos New Mexico.
The point you don’t understand is you now have to move over if you can. This causes more interruption in the flow of traffic. It also causes more chances for accidents to happen. Driving in the left lane is NOT safe…PERIOD…Get over yourself
Some people behave as though a trip to Walmart is like the Cannonball Run. If I plan to make a left turn at the next traffic light, I am going to hold my position in the left lane until I get there.
If we are all doing 80-90++ in a 65-70 zone I think the traffic is flowing pretty dang good and we are passing all the slower traffic in the right lane… Again I live in the South, you wouldn’t understand the way the flow of traffic is going, I see police speeding also and moving over to the left lane and never turning on their lights or going anywhere important… State Police very rarely mess with you unless you are going 15+ MPH over the limit, AGAIN DEPENDING on traffic and road conditions…
Having to move over to go around people going slower than the speed limit is more chances of causing a wreck when you are pulling in front of already speeding cars… I have had a lot of speeding tickets as well as excessive speeding tickets over the years, more so when I was much younger, but never had a reckless driving ticket as I know how to drive and am courteous to those around me, and if someone is doing over 100 MPH and wants to come around me I know how to speed up and move over, but if there are cars already doing about the same speed in front of me there is nowhere for the car behind me to go anyway… So before you start talking smack talk about me maybe you need to check yourself…
And BTW I have nothing to get over but sounds like you may have some issues to deal with…
Also, I am mainly speeding on the main freeways and interstates, very few people need to be in the left lane to turn left when there is VERY FEW left turns on the 65+ MPH roadways and if I know I have to be getting over soon I am capable of judging the traffic and move over without disrupting traffic, I NEVER disrupt traffic…
If I am on a regular road I can only drive as fast as the car in front of me…
As I wrote earlier, if someone just pulls over in front of me (with as little room as the OP originally indicated, I would probably just as quickly move into the lane they vacated. I do not know their intentions and I do not intend to use my insurance to finance their trip to Disneyworld after they slam on their brakes, “claiming a dog ran in front of them…” and have them jump out screaming “whiplash, whiplash…”
I know this less common as more and more folks are using dash cameras, but criminals are dumb and even when confronted with the video, they try to lie their way out…
Heh heh. That last one reminded me. I was at a luncheon in St. Paul and a lady got me in the parking lot on a story but used my town so I knew it was bs. I happened to be there a week later and same lady with a slightly different story.
Maybe not in your neck of the woods, but down here, it is normal… I can take you to many back roads ( some are 200 miles from me in another state) that are 50-55 MPH and if you aren’t doing 75-80 you will be passed…
So down here, you would be the danger causing back ups…
And BTW some people are just better drivers than others and know how to handle a vehicle, a lot of them were lucky enough to be able to get into professional racing or some kind of racing (most of those grew up around it or in it), some never had the opportunity to do so due to life events…
As far as needing to learn how to drive, I would love to see who is the better driver on a closed road course in spec cars rather it be FWD or RWD without any electronic handling controls…
Sorry not much time in 4WD unless it is off roading… lol
A guy I know attributes this to people who have little control in their life outside the car. Now they have the power.