I agree with most of the comments here, but I don't see what the big deal is about backing into parking slots. If one knows how to use side mirrors, it is actually easier to back into a parking slot.
@doubledutch -
And that’s the point - a LOT of people that do this don’t know how to drive or use mirrors, or even have good depth perception if they ARE using mirrors.
I can’t tell you how many times I see people driving around with their side view mirrors aimed so that I can see their faces in them when they’re directly in front of me stopped at a light. That isn’t right. And then I see them proceed to try to back into a space? There’s a reason several cars at our office have big gouges down the side of them.
And yet these people THINK they know how to back into a space… invariably meaning that even a “good” job leaves them straddling lines, barely missing vehicles, making me have to get in through the passenger side of my car, etc…
meanjoe75fan - Some drivers swing out so far on turns that you need to swerve to avoid them.
If they say in their lane, why swing out? Why not just edge over a bit far ahead of the turn?
I sincerely don’t like to be surprised by a driver swinging out, especially if they are entering my lane. What is the advantage?? This just tells me that someone doesn’t know how to drive.
The safest rule,
No ifs or buts
Is drive like everyone else
on the road is nuts
Courtesy of Burma Shave
One of my gripes is people on the highway who are about to miss a right side exit, because they are in the left lane, so they brake hard and start forcing their way over in a kind of dangerous, panic maneuver, because OMG, if they miss that exit…well the next exit is like 1/2 mile up the road.
…or they back up on the shoulder (and likely part of the right lane) until they are squarely in the exit lane, where other drivers have to dodge them like bumper cars. Because…it would just be so difficult to find your way to your destination from the next exit…
Eraser, LOL…I also see people’s faces in their side mirrors when they’re sitting in front of me. I am trained to drive tractor-trailers and I drive a bus daily, so I tend to be a stickler when it comes to mirror adjustment and use. But why is it that so few people have even a basic knowledge of such things? A friend of mine had TWO lane change accidents that were his fault, and when I tried to explain mirror adjustment and use to him, he acted like I was the idiot! So many people think they know it all, when they in fact haven’t a clue, and they refuse to even try to learn!
@doubleclutch - it certainly doesn’t help that people keep referring to them as “rearview mirrors”, completely ignoring that that they’re actually sideview mirrors. I’ve even heard dealers refer to them incorrectly, which certainly doesn’t help people understand their purpose.
Well all I can say is watch out for trucks and big vehicles that off track a lot at intersections,a compact car is no match for a 11R22.5 coming up over your fender.They are not bullying you they are trying to make the turn safely,unfortunately some roads were designed without large long vehicles in mind.And most vehicles have blind spots behind them when using the side mirrors,a rearview mirror helps a lot if the back shelf or glass isnt obstructed-I dont always suceed,but I try to avoid retaliation and road rage,ill will isnt worth it-Kevin
PhilipNeuman-Yeah, that’s why I said, “so long as they maintain strict lane discipline” W/R/T cars. There’s really no excuse for a passenger vehicle to deviate outside a lane to make a turn. (Now, with a 18-wheeler or other vehicle towing a trailer, sometimes it’s physically impossible to make a 90-degree turn without “swinging wide.”)
The reason a car might want to make a right-hand turn from the leftmost edge of his designated lane is the same reason racers “apex” a turn: going “outside/inside/outside” on a turn produces the largest possible radius, allowing for the fastest possible speed to be maintained.
Now, I don’t generally do this on four wheels, but I will start a right-hand turn at an intersection slightly to the left of center when on two wheels. This is more about safety: starting from the middle (or, Heaven forbid, the right edge) in such a skinny vehicle will tempt other motorists to “squeeze by” in my lane!
(Also, you don’t have to drive like a maniac to “apex” a turn. It’s an intellectual excersize, really, to determine the apex, and I’ve been known to drive a milder form of the racer’s line (at lawful speed) just to keep that skillset sharp. It’s fun on a country road, too.)
meanjoe75fan - Those I have seen swinging out on a turn are going at a normal speed for a turn, or just creeping. There is no need to perform this maneuver with a passenger car or pickup.
Whether they leave the lane or not when swinging out, it is not pleasant to be coming up on a car that is headed toward you in your lane.
Re swinging wide at intersections, if street corners were radiussed appropriately drivers could easily make the turn without all the problems.
I run into similar driving situations almost daily. I frequently pass a convenience store that has it’s driveway about a third of a block from the intersection. I am normally westbound at the time and I’ll see drivers constantly turning at the intersection to go east bound, but rather than staying in their proper lanes will “angle” across my lane to the store’s driveway. How do they feel this is legal (or safe)?? Several times I’ve had to stop or slow way down to avoid hitting them. Many times they’re distracted finding their lottery tickets or gabbing on the cell phone and don’t even notice me coming at them.
Rod Knox - I and most people have no problem turning any corner without swinging out.
It’s not necessary and it’s a bad idea.
Well, some of us don’t mind if we leisurely swing wide to make a turn. But most of us are aware enough of what we are doing so as to avoid crowding other drivers. Seems quite picayunish to me to care whether a car breaks the center lines in a turn if it doesn’t interfere with others.
Rod, IMHO it’s a bad and unnecessary habit to get into.
Our habits we do without checking and thinking. It’s things that are not habits that cause us to check around to see if we’ll be interefering with other drivers. If you do in fact check whenever you turn, I have no qualms with it, but most who swing wide wimply do it without regard to those around them.
city streets allow the very minimum radius required for a mid size sedan to safely make a right turn while remaining CENTERED in the appropriate lane. Even the mundane and ubiquitous soccer mom vans cannot negotiate a right turn at an urban intersection without going wide or jumping the curb. For reasons of economy and to discourage speeding through intersections cities refuse to widen the radius of the curbs at intersections. We must live with it. I will continue to make the utmost effort to avoid crowding other drivers. It really is no big deal since drivers should be aware of where they are going.
There is the INTENT of the law and there is the LETTER of the law. The lines on the streets are not deadlines.
Rod, when people do something unexpected, like swinging left to turn right, it makes me wonder what else they will do that is unexpected. If I’m in the left lane and the guy on the right and just ahead of me swings towards the spot I will occupy in a few seconds, I am alarmed. While they might know what they are doing, I can’t assume they will swing back immediately. I realize that there are some vehicles with long wheelbases that do have to swing left to turn right, like limos and long pick-ups, but there are others that practice this too.
Should they outlaw the vehicles that are unable to toe the line. Mr Sanders? Laws are to guide us toward being civil, not a trap. But maybe it’s a regional thing. In my part of the country, if I drive down a rural 2 lane road and a car is following me when I approach where I want to turn left, long before reaching that turn I signal my intention to turn and move totally to the left lane before decelerating to allow the car behind to continue on with no interruption in their speed. But then, most people my age learned to drive on 1950s model cars and trucks with manual transmissions, no power steering and no power brakes. Maybe everyone should drive an IH flat bed with no power steering that runs 0 to 60 in one minute flat and that’s unloaded on a level road to get a license. On a 2 lane city street those trucks required the entire intersection to make a right hand turn. I can assure you the driver wouldn’t be texting or surfing channels on the radio while driving, even on the open road.
I guess we know your hot button now, Rod. I wasn’t trying to beat you up, but explain my concerns. And I would expect that flat bed to swing left on a right turn and said as much. Anyway, we live in very different places. Most of my roads are not country lanes as yours are. I’m used to driving on roads with at least 2 lanes in each direction, and that’s how I responded. If I was behind your flat bed and you did the deed, I wouldn’t be all that concerned unless I was trying to pass you. Where I am on the road when someone makes this type of turn makes all the difference. But I will say that if your flat bed did swing a little left while I passed going the other direction, I would still be alarmed. I would hope that the flat bed driver would be aware enough of traffic that he would wait for oncoming traffic to clear before turing if he had to swing left during a right hand turn.
My button is luke warm these days, Mr Sanders. But I am grateful to be fortunate enough to have many safe miles behind me with rare, minor mishaps. Certainly, there have been a few occasions that I have been very thankful that some driver was paying close attention and made some allowances for my poor judgement. But honestly, all in all, it seems that many more times I recognized someone else’s mistake and allowed for it. Now that work no longer interferes with my life I travel more and find it difficult to believe that people get up every day and fight bumper to bumper traffic, sometimes for more than an hour each way, when I drive to Baltimore on occasion. It would seem that the commute is more demanding than many peoples jobs. And, I recently enjoyed a few days in Galveston and took the back road and the Bolivar Peninsula Ferry instead of fighting the Houston/Bay City nightmare.