I go to work early to avoid the worst traffic in the Baltimore/DC area. Even though there is a lot of traffic at 5:30AM on Rte 95 on my trip it usually doesn’t stop. There are traffic back-ups on Rte 95 in VA, Rte 270 in MD, and Rte 66 in VA as early as 5AM. There’s a lot of good things about living in a huge metropolitan area, but traffic is not one of them.
What little sanity that I have remaining would quickly vaporize if driving the D.C. beltway were a daily event. I drove from Mt Fuji to Yokosuka Japan in a 6x6 truck following instructions on a 3 x 5 card with less trouble than getting around D.C.
DC/Baltimore was declared the worst commute in America last year. I’ve been in gridlock traffic in LA at 10PM going into town, and we are worse?! I’m just glad I don’t face the I95 VA mess every day. It’s a huge mess every day from DC to Quantico, where the HOV and regular traffic lanes merge.
Long trucks often have a sign on their rears saying, “Warning! This vehicle makes wide turns”.
Perhaps drivers who like to swing out should have a similar sign in big letters on the rear of their cars. A warning would be helpful.
Again, there is not a corner in the country that cannot be negotiated without swinging out if you are driving a car or a van. If you swing out, you also have to swing back, making unnecessary turns of the wheel.
Swinging out is a bad habit and not to be defended. No driving school would condone it.
I think we all just need Nerf cars.
Bad habits are all too common. Some swing wide at intersections. Some pick their noses.
@oblivion – what do you think about my idea that cars should have those spring-loaded rubber bumpers that go 360 degrees around the whole car, like on amusement park bumper cars? First of all, low speed accidents wouldn’t do much if any damage. And you’d never have to worry about people dinging your car in parking lots. If a rude person swung into the space next to you, radio blaring, and swing their door into your car, your bumper would spring back, push it back with enough force to slam their door shut with a “bang” and jam their thumb in their door jam to boot! It’s karma I say! 360 rubber bumpers is what we need!
@GeorgeSanJose: Not a bad idea except for two things… 1. It would be butt-ugly. 2. As happened to regular bumpers, manufacturers would drop the ratings from 10 MPH to 5 MPH, then down to where the bumpers were practically mere decoration and cost $1,500 to fix if you were in an event where someone actually bumped into them at more than a very slow crawl with something heavier than a shopping cart.
How about we just teach people to be more responsible and careful? I know that’s really a stretch, but…
Yes, that would be a major stretch, DfromSD.
Unfortunately, our society nowadays contains a huge number of people who are so self-absorbed that they feel that they are never responsible for anything. Everything that befalls them is always somebody else’s fault, at least in their distorted thought process.
And, as to being careful…the percentage of drivers in my area who drive with one hand, while pressing a cell phone to their ear with the other hand is…staggering. A few days ago, I did an informal, totally unscientific “survey”, and found that something on the order of 80% of the drivers were gabbing on a hand-held cellphone while driving. And, I observed at least one young dude texting while driving. Of course, it just goes without saying that if he kills someone, he will claim that it was the victim’s fault.
Yesterday as I was driving through an intersection, a woman made a left turn in front of me.
I had to hit the brakes to keep from broadsiding her. I honked the horn, long and loud.
She didn’t even look up from whatever she was doing.
Which is worse, the old who are overwhelmed as they hold the wheel with white knuckles and drive 10 mph under the limit or the young who steer with their knees at 10 mph over as they text several friends? Of course, there we are watching the GPS and looking for the exit trying to dodge them both. I hope that those who made it home due to my “excellent” driving skills appreciate me. I recall a few drivers whose quick reflexes and close attention allowed me to slip by unscathed. I may visit Baltimore again this summer. I hope the beltway crowd is ready for me.
One of the most irritating things I run into frequently is when you are driving down a stretch of open road with a mile to the next light. About halfway between you and the light is a vehicle that’s stopped and wanting to turn in the same direction as you are going. There are no other cars between you and them. They sit there and wait and wait until you are within a few yards of where they are and then they pull out in front of you. They had plenty of time to execute their turn safely and not impede the flow but noooooo… They just HAD to pull right in front of you.
Ah, everyones a victim now(refering of course to the other callous road owners) I only hope and pray my ineptnitude doesnt harm some one else.Learned to forgive and forget other drivers for quite awhile now.knowing that I’m not Mario the second and I be darned if it doesnt seem my driving skills are slipping a bit(thats why I let the ol’Lady drive,quieter that way.Maybe someday a person will have to prove they are fit to share the road-Kevin
" I may visit Baltimore again this summer. I hope the beltway crowd is ready for me."
I’m ready, and we’re used to some really crazy people around here. I’m sure you aren’t nearly as wild as many of the local 80 MPH weavers. BTW, if you visit Charm City, watch out when you approach a road work zone. MD uses speed cameras in work zones now. The speed limit is typically 50 MPH in a work zone on I-695. Make sure you drop to no more than 6 MPH over the posted speed. Otherwise, you will get an unpleasant letter in the mail. The camera is near the sign that posts your speed.
PhillipNeuman: I realise this is CAR talk…but driving on a public roadway requires one to deal with all traffic on the road–from the very big to the very small.
I already stated why a large truck/vehicle with trailer will need to “swing left” to turn right. It also appplies to the smaller vehicles on the road; particularly those with 2 wheels.
For example, a right turn (into a parking lot) might entail negotiating a “curb cut” in the sidewalk that isn’t exactly flush with the roadway proper. A right turn might also entail navigating a tar strip when turning onto the intersecting road, a transition from pavement to dirt/gravel, or a train track/trolley car track parallel to the road one turns off of.
ALL of these variations would require a motorcycle or bicycle to hit the anomaly as close to right angles as possible; which would require the two-wheeler to “swing left to turn right.”
While you claim to only be flummoxed about why a car might do this, as the operator of (several) two-wheeled vehicles, I would worry that–should be be immediately behind me when i attempt to negotiate a right-hand turn–you would not anticipate my need to perform this manuever, and therefore fail to grant me the time and space necessary to perform it safely.
meanjoe75fan - I will state it one more time - It is never necessary for a car to swing out on a turn of any kind. I never do and don’t have to. Nowhere, nohow.
Any driver instructor will tell you to not swing out.
What is especially disconcerting are those drivers that swing out suddenly and widely.
As someone else said in this thread, swinging out can raise your blood pressure as you
never can be sure what the swinger is going to do.
IDK about you, but I’ve seen some driveways that are curbed such that you can barely fit through it straight on. So unless you want to jump up on the curb and maybe knock something under your car or hurt your tire, you have to be going basically straight on when entering the driveway or entrance. Some people don’t want to damage their tires, suspension, lower body work and who knows what else to make the turn the “correct” way.
I can’t imagine becoming “disconcerted” when a vehicle makes a wide turn unless doing so requires me to slam on my brakes to avoid them. Lighten up PhillipNeuman. Why drive with a chip on your shoulder… Don’t sweat the small stuff. And crossing the center line when doing so does not interfere with other drivers is certainly small stuff.
I’ve never had to swing out in my life to make a turn under any circumstances and I can only assume that anyone who does doesn’t know what they are doing.
Driving instructors teach you not to do this with the emphasis on safety.
Driving over an obstruction is better done at an angle. Take it from an off roader with 4WD experience.