The most common driver mistake that you see where you live?

[Brandon]

Sticking your middle finger up is not a proper hand signal.

Obviously it is considered one in Chicago and New York.  First we use the horn, then we give the bird.  Sometimes when we use the horn, we get the bird in return.

[jeffandnicole]

OK, look, I recognize nothing requires anyone to turn on red (be it right or left)...

Actually, the way NJ's law is written, it does require one to turn right on red.  This issue came up several years ago when someone received a ticket for failing to turn right on red.  It became a whole story in the newspaper about it.  The ticket eventually was upheld in court as well!

As far as I'm concerned, why wouldn't someone want to turn right on red?  Why would they just want to sit there (assuming there's no traffic and they can clearly see they can turn safely)?  Do these people sit at Stop signs waiting for them to become Go signs?

39:4-115  Making right or left turn.

The driver of a vehicle or the motorman of a streetcar: a. intending to turn to the right or left at an intersection where traffic is controlled by traffic control signals or by a traffic or police officer, shall proceed to make either turn with proper care to avoid accidents and, except as provided in b. below, only upon the "go" signal unless otherwise directed by a traffic or police officer, an official sign or special signal; or b. intending to turn right at an intersection where traffic is controlled by a traffic control signal shall, unless an official sign of the State, municipality, or county authority having jurisdiction over the intersection prohibits the same, proceed to make the turn upon a "stop" or "caution" signal with proper care to avoid accidents after coming to a full stop, observing traffic in all directions, yielding to other vehicular traffic traveling in a direction in which the turn will be made, and stopping and remaining stopped for pedestrians crossing the roadway within a marked crosswalk, or at an unmarked crosswalk, into which the driver is turning.  Both the approach for and the turn shall be made as close as practicable to the right-hand curb or edge of the roadway, unless such intersection is otherwise posted.

amended 1976, c.46; 2009, c.319, s.3.

[thenetwork]

In my town, people don't refer to the right-most pole-mounted signal for instructions when in a right turn lane.

I cannot tell you how many times I'm coming down a right turn lane and clearly seeing a GREEN right turn arrow on the side-mounted signal, yet McFly is watching the right-most overhead 3-segment signal which is red -- oblivious to the fact that I'm laying on my horn behind them for a reason.

Honorable mention are those in a left turn lane that will not move into an intersection when green, so at least a car or two can complete a left turn when the light changes from yellow to red.  Especially worse when the left turn lane has no protected left arrow phase!!!

[J N Winkler]

If discussion of this particular issue should be shifted to another thread, then it would be helpful to provide a link to that thread.  I have run searches on {two-way left-turn lane} and {TWLTL} and this thread is the first I have found in which this particular issue has surfaced.  The last discussion I remember which dealt with staging left turns actually pertained to a length of US 50 in northern Virginia where the median (no TWLTL is present) is narrow enough that double-stacking in the crossover is not allowed.

It's here: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=8252.msg191782#msg191782 and ff. The search term you wanted was "center turn lane", as it turns out.

Thanks for this--I have now had a look at the thread.  It turns out "TWLTL" appears in it too, but only comparatively late in the discussion, which made it hard to see that it was about using TWLTLs to stage left turns out of driveways.  Various posters make good arguments on both sides of the issue (based on law, precedent, original purpose of TWLTLs being to facilitate left turns both in and out of driveways, driver expectancy, visibility, etc.).  My overall impression is that while using TWLTLs to stage left turns is de jure legal in many places, legality is not universal and drivers in general no longer expect to see TWLTLs used in this way.  In the Swiss-cheese theory of accident causation, both of these factors are "holes" that, when lined up by a given set of circumstances, allow accidents to happen.  I still think it is a much better solution (certainly safer, and probably also more economic) to implement access management on high-volume roadways--in many cases skipping upgrade to five-lane C&G (with TWLTL) altogether.

[1995hoo]

....

Honorable mention are those in a left turn lane that will not move into an intersection when green, so at least a car or two can complete a left turn when the light changes from yellow to red.  Especially worse when the left turn lane has no protected left arrow phase!!!

The flip side of that, as I mentioned earlier in the thread, is people driving large vehicles who pull out close to halfway such that it's damn near impossible to see if you're making a left coming from the other direction. In that situation, say if a guy driving a Lincoln Navigator has pulled out from the other side, I'll always wait behind the line because I can see a lot better from there than I can up closer to a large SUV.

[agentsteel53]

As far as I'm concerned, why wouldn't someone want to turn right on red? 

timid, passionless, sleepy, tepid, emotionally deadened drivers.

as I say... if you don't want to go, stay home!

[1995hoo]

....

As far as I'm concerned, why wouldn't someone want to turn right on red?  Why would they just want to sit there (assuming there's no traffic and they can clearly see they can turn safely)?  Do these people sit at Stop signs waiting for them to become Go signs?

....

As a general matter I agree with that, but on the other hand, in most jurisdictions it's not required that you do it. Even in New Jersey, I assume the statute you cited would not be construed to require someone to turn on red if he doesn't feel it's safe for whatever reason. (I can think of times when I wasn't satisfied it was clear and so didn't turn, and then it turned out I could have gone. Several of those were in Mexico in areas with high volumes of scooter traffic.) Nobody except the guy at the front of the line gets to decide whether it's safe to turn.

With all that said, I've known quite a few Europeans who were extremely reluctant to go right on red when visiting the United States or Canada because said movement (or the UK equivalent left on red) is not legal in their home countries and so they're not used to doing it. I guess I can understand that.

[J N Winkler]

I can think of times when I wasn't satisfied it was clear and so didn't turn, and then it turned out I could have gone. Several of those were in Mexico in areas with high volumes of scooter traffic.

RTOR is not legal in Mexico and the cops do pull people over for it--I was caught in this way years ago by a tránsito in Chihuahua City (fortunately he decided I was an ignorant gringo tourist and let me go).

[1995hoo]

I can think of times when I wasn't satisfied it was clear and so didn't turn, and then it turned out I could have gone. Several of those were in Mexico in areas with high volumes of scooter traffic.

RTOR is not legal in Mexico and the cops do pull people over for it--I was caught in this way years ago by a tránsito in Chihuahua City (fortunately he decided I was an ignorant gringo tourist and let me go).

Normally, yes, but in some places there are signs allowing it (I've encountered several on Cozumel, for example). I didn't always do it when the sign allowed it for the reason I stated previously.

[jeffandnicole]

....

As far as I'm concerned, why wouldn't someone want to turn right on red?  Why would they just want to sit there (assuming there's no traffic and they can clearly see they can turn safely)?  Do these people sit at Stop signs waiting for them to become Go signs?

....

As a general matter I agree with that, but on the other hand, in most jurisdictions it's not required that you do it. Even in New Jersey, I assume the statute you cited would not be construed to require someone to turn on red if he doesn't feel it's safe for whatever reason. (I can think of times when I wasn't satisfied it was clear and so didn't turn, and then it turned out I could have gone. Several of those were in Mexico in areas with high volumes of scooter traffic.) Nobody except the guy at the front of the line gets to decide whether it's safe to turn.

With all that said, I've known quite a few Europeans who were extremely reluctant to go right on red when visiting the United States or Canada because said movement (or the UK equivalent left on red) is not legal in their home countries and so they're not used to doing it. I guess I can understand that.

If there's an apparent reason, sure.  But if the driver is staring right at the traffic light, or down at the phone, and clearly isn't looking right or left for traffic and/or pedestrians, then the driver is just being clueless.

Another issue is the red light cameras.  You'll see motorists that won't turn, ever, because they were caught at an intersection with a camera. In those cases though, the driver probably blew thru the light without stopping. It didn't have to do with turning right on red, it had to do with not stopping first. 

[realjd]

Honorable mention are those in a left turn lane that will not move into an intersection when green, so at least a car or two can complete a left turn when the light changes from yellow to red.  Especially worse when the left turn lane has no protected left arrow phase!!!

That's not standard practice here in Florida, at least not where I live, and it's extremely dangerous here. I've personally witnessed and been first on the scene four different times the past few years where a left turning car did this only to get t-boned by an oncoming car racing the yellow light. And due to people running the red light, by the time oncoming traffic actually stops and you are able to turn left and clear the intersection, cross traffic already has a green. It's only the visitors and newcomers from saner states who do it here, and I learned very quickly to wait at the line when I moved here.

[NE2]

And due to people running the red light, by the time oncoming traffic actually stops and you are able to turn left and clear the intersection, cross traffic already has a green.

So you wait until then if you have to. Cross traffic would have to be utterly blind to hit you when you're out in the middle like that.

[bugo]

How much time you got buddy?  Driving in the left lane, driving 10 under the speed limit, driving 10 under the speed limit in the left lane, pulling out in front of cars and not speeding up, pulling out in front of cars and straddling the dotted line, stopping at a red light and not turning right until the light turns green, riding your ass, cutting in front of you when you were following the car in front of you at a safe distance....etc.

[texaskdog]

As far as I'm concerned, why wouldn't someone want to turn right on red? 

timid, passionless, sleepy, tepid, emotionally deadened drivers.

as I say... if you don't want to go, stay home!

dang you, they have text messages to send!!!

[texaskdog]

Red lights are considered to be green in Pueblo for at least two seconds after they turn red. Green protected left turn arrows remain in effect for at least ten seconds after they go out as long as there is a continuous flow of left-turning traffic.

In Alaska you are expected to enter an intersection on yellow.  If you dont, the car behind you will likely run you over.

[lepidopteran]

...cutting in front of you when you were following the car in front of you at a safe distance....etc.

I'm reminded of this "Shell Answer Book" from the 1970s.  Remember those yellow books they gave out at Shell stations?  Or in some cases, appeared as magazine inserts (called Shell Answer "Series" instead of "Book", for some obscure legal reason).  This book was mostly about defensive driving.

Q. How should you react when people cut in front of you?
A. You're following at a safe distance and someone cuts in front of you. You back off to a safe distance and someone does it again.  What next?
Believe it or not, the answer is to back off again. If you get frustrated, and start following too closely, you're only increasing your chances of a possible rear-end collision. Keep a level head. Never let emotion get the best of you.

(From Shell Answer Book #14, "The Driving Skills Book".  These and others are readable here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3417946/Shell-Answer-Books  Worth a look if only for the vintage cars and Shell petroliana pictured.)

[kphoger]

I can think of times when I wasn't satisfied it was clear and so didn't turn, and then it turned out I could have gone. Several of those were in Mexico in areas with high volumes of scooter traffic.

RTOR is not legal in Mexico and the cops do pull people over for it--I was caught in this way years ago by a tránsito in Chihuahua City (fortunately he decided I was an ignorant gringo tourist and let me go).

As mentioned farther upthread, RTOR is permitted in some jurisdictions.  It is a matter of state and local law, just as in the USA.  For reference, here is the applicable law for the state of Jalisco:

REGLAMENTO DE LA LEY DE LOS SERVICIOS DE VIALIDAD, TRANSITO Y TRANSPORTE DEL ESTADO DE JALISCO

CAPITULO III
Artículo 32

III.
g) La vuelta a la derecha, aún con semáforo en alto, es permitida con precaución, previo alto total y
otorgando preferencia al peatón.
Así mismo es permitida la vuelta a la izquierda, aún con semáforo en alto, proviniendo e ingresando
a calles de un solo sentido de circulación, con las mismas restricciones y precauciones que la
vuelta a la derecha cuando no exista señalamiento expreso que lo prohiba.
Estas disposiciones no son aplicables a los vehículos del servicio público colectivo de transporte de
pasajeros.

[link: http://programas.jalisco.gob.mx/leyes/pdfLeyes/Reglamento_Ley_Servicios_Vialidad_Transito_Jalisco.pdf]

You'll notice it not only permits right on red, but also left on red from a one-way to a one-way.

[agentsteel53]

it also seems to indicate that colectivos (small buses, effectively) are not allowed to turn right on red.  is this a law anywhere in the US as well?

[signalman]

it also seems to indicate that colectivos (small buses, effectively) are not allowed to turn right on red.  is this a law anywhere in the US as well?

Not sure about transit buses.  I know school buses aren't allowed to turn right on red.

[empirestate]

My overall impression is that while using TWLTLs to stage left turns is de jure legal in many places, legality is not universal and drivers in general no longer expect to see TWLTLs used in this way.  In the Swiss-cheese theory of accident causation, both of these factors are "holes" that, when lined up by a given set of circumstances, allow accidents to happen.  I still think it is a much better solution (certainly safer, and probably also more economic) to implement access management on high-volume roadways--in many cases skipping upgrade to five-lane C&G (with TWLTL) altogether.

Naturally, if not having a TWLTL if the best solution, great, but by definition, that isn't what we're discussing here. :-)

As for the safety of staging a left turn, I recognize the potential conflict with traffic entering the lane from the main road; however, in a situation where I'd consider staging my turn because I don't anticipate a break in all lanes of cross traffic within a reasonable period, it seems to follow by simple happenstance that the potential conflict is much greater with that through cross traffic than with the left-turning traffic. Consequently, I find it more manageable to deal with only half of that cross traffic at a time. So, I first negotiate the oncoming traffic from my left, plus that entering the TWLTL from my left. Second, I negotiate the oncoming traffic from my right, plus that entering the TWLTL from my right. To do the turn all in one shot, I'd have to simultaneously negotiate the oncoming traffic from my left, the TWLTL traffic on my left, the TWLTL traffic on my right, and the oncoming traffic from my right.

[djsinco]

...cutting in front of you when you were following the car in front of you at a safe distance....etc.

I'm reminded of this "Shell Answer Book" from the 1970s.  Remember those yellow books they gave out at Shell stations?  Or in some cases, appeared as magazine inserts (called Shell Answer "Series" instead of "Book", for some obscure legal reason).  This book was mostly about defensive driving.

Q. How should you react when people cut in front of you?
A. You're following at a safe distance and someone cuts in front of you. You back off to a safe distance and someone does it again.  What next?
Believe it or not, the answer is to back off again. If you get frustrated, and start following too closely, you're only increasing your chances of a possible rear-end collision. Keep a level head. Never let emotion get the best of you.

(From Shell Answer Book #14, "The Driving Skills Book".  These and others are readable here: http://www.scribd.com/collections/3417946/Shell-Answer-Books  Worth a look if only for the vintage cars and Shell petroliana pictured.)

Thanks for the link. I am not sure why, but I am fascinated by stuff from that era.

[kphoger]

TWLTL, TWLTL, TWLTL.  I just like saying it over and over.  It sounds vaguely naughty.  Don't show people your TWLTL.

[J N Winkler]

As for the safety of staging a left turn, I recognize the potential conflict with traffic entering the lane from the main road; however, in a situation where I'd consider staging my turn because I don't anticipate a break in all lanes of cross traffic within a reasonable period, it seems to follow by simple happenstance that the potential conflict is much greater with that through cross traffic than with the left-turning traffic.

Certainly one would expect to see much greater volumes of cross traffic going straight through (past the driveway) and not maneuvering into the TWLTL to begin a left turn; however, it takes just one car entering the TWLTL in preparation for a turn, without signalling, to collide with a car moving into the TWLTL to stage a left turn.  One would expect this scenario to be more likely opposite driveways which serve popular businesses or other heavy traffic generators, or in situations where driveway consolidation has occurred without some form of turn protection (such as signalization) being put in.

Consequently, I find it more manageable to deal with only half of that cross traffic at a time. So, I first negotiate the oncoming traffic from my left, plus that entering the TWLTL from my left. Second, I negotiate the oncoming traffic from my right, plus that entering the TWLTL from my right. To do the turn all in one shot, I'd have to simultaneously negotiate the oncoming traffic from my left, the TWLTL traffic on my left, the TWLTL traffic on my right, and the oncoming traffic from my right.

The real problem with the single-stage scenario is that it requires a wide gap in traffic, which on a busy road may not occur for several minutes (especially if you execute it in properly cautious fashion and wait for all of the lanes in your desired direction to be clear, not just the lane you intend to turn into).  On the other hand, using the TWLTL to stage the left turn is open to some of the same objections as a turn that puts you side by side with another moving vehicle (e.g. you turn right to right, and another vehicle coming from the other direction turns left to left so that it is next to you)--it requires you to make assumptions about other drivers' intended lane position and direction which, if not borne out in reality, result in a conflict and possibly a collision.

I would suggest a less risky way of using a TWLTL to stage a left turn is simply to turn right out of the driveway, into one of the through lanes (not the TWLTL), move left, enter the TWLTL at a point which is not part of the approach to a driveway in either direction, and U-turn.  This essentially uses the TWLTL as an informal Michigan left.

[Brandon]

^^ If traffic's that bad, then just turn right and go around the block.

[texaskdog]

I know in my lifetime I will be cited for road rage.  Most likely for someone not using a turn signal.  We have people from all over in Austin, too many idiots who brought their bad habits with them.