Extremely annoying things about roads and idiots driving on them

[kalvado]

Just to spray some gas on the debate: anyone against RTOR should automatically be totally against any roundabouts, since those are essentially RTOR with red light always on.

No, those are a yield.  Stopping first isn't necessary if the roundabout is clear.  Whether that's safer at a particular intersection vs. always stopping first (to stridentweasel's point) is another matter.

Well, I have to agree - RTOR is safer than a roundabout.

[kphoger]

No way you can call a two-lane roundabout more dangerous for pedestrians than a four-way stop between four-lane roads with turn lanes.

[Ned Weasel]

I tend to think some places could do with part-time restrictions on turning on red. For example, intersections in downtown business districts that experience high pedestrian volume during the workday but that empty out for the evenings and overnight could have "No Turn on Red 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Weekdays" as the restriction, except perhaps in specific locations where the volume is higher at different hours, such as near sports arenas or the like.

Which would suck on holidays during which 80% of the workforce in that area is at home firing up the grill.

....

It would, but it's better than the 24/7 no turn on red restrictions that places like DC have been trending towards.

We do have places in Northern Virginia where the no turn on red applies only during the day, though I can't think of any where it's weekdays-only. That's part of what prompted me to mention the idea. There are also a lot of them in Alexandria where the sign says "No Turn on Red When Pedestrians Are Present." That might be one way to address your issue as to holidays. (One problem I have with the concept of "holidays" as a delineator is that the workforce presence can vary greatly depending on which holiday it is, as there are some holidays that aren't observed by large segments of the private sector.)

Instead of setting a fixed time range and specific days of the week, why not just use a sign that lights up when needed?  https://goo.gl/maps/7Cnk57zcNiVtobuW8

(In this specific example, I think the RTOR prohibition applies when southbound traffic has its protected left turn phase, so the permitted U-turn occurs without conflict.  Whether it also applies during a pedestrian phase, I don't know, but it's possible.)

[hotdogPi]

For every million cars turning right on red, you have significantly less than one crash. (I don't know the exact numbers.)

[renegade]

For every million cars turning right on red, you have significantly less than one crash. (I don't know the exact numbers.)

Yet someone will take the time to make a chart about it ...

[Scott5114]

For every million cars turning right on red, you have significantly less than one crash. (I don't know the exact numbers.)

Especially considering that the vast majority of RTOR maneuvers take place at intersections where there are negligible levels of conflicting traffic (little pedestrian use and even fewer U-turns).

[mrsman]

I tend to think some places could do with part-time restrictions on turning on red. For example, intersections in downtown business districts that experience high pedestrian volume during the workday but that empty out for the evenings and overnight could have "No Turn on Red 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Weekdays" as the restriction, except perhaps in specific locations where the volume is higher at different hours, such as near sports arenas or the like.

I have seen NTOR restrictions that are time limited to 7-4 for school days only (near certain schools).  So it kind of gets to the same concept and also would likely cover most of the bigger holidays.

Of course school days restrictions have their own ball of problems as you can't assume that the drivers are aware of the school calendar.  But for the most part, at least near a public school, its a proxy for weekdays and excludes the major holidays and Christmas week.  [Can't assume summer as there are some year round schools.]

[GaryV]

I tend to think some places could do with part-time restrictions on turning on red. For example, intersections in downtown business districts that experience high pedestrian volume during the workday but that empty out for the evenings and overnight could have "No Turn on Red 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Weekdays" as the restriction, except perhaps in specific locations where the volume is higher at different hours, such as near sports arenas or the like.

I have seen NTOR restrictions that are time limited to 7-4 for school days only (near certain schools).  So it kind of gets to the same concept and also would likely cover most of the bigger holidays.

Of course school days restrictions have their own ball of problems as you can't assume that the drivers are aware of the school calendar.  But for the most part, at least near a public school, its a proxy for weekdays and excludes the major holidays and Christmas week.  [Can't assume summer as there are some year round schools.]

One NTOR during school hours sign near us remained in place for a year or more after the school had closed.

[webny99]

I've actually found that I'm a calmer driver and less prone to getting worked up since the pandemic started. Traffic isn't as intense, which has helped, but I'm also viewing traveling as more of a privilege than a right, which wasn't really the case before this year.

[74/171FAN]

I've actually found that I'm a calmer driver and less prone to getting worked up since the pandemic started. Traffic isn't as intense, which has helped, but I'm also viewing traveling as more of a privilege than a right, which wasn't really the case before this year.

On this subject, sometimes I have to remember that I know a few women that are not able to drive (or have not been able to in the past) due to having seizures.  It definitely humbles myself very quickly knowing how much I hate to be dependent on others.

Usually, I am calmer when I have expectations for what is coming (even in heavy congestion).  Avoidable situations are what leads to me being angry in life including on the road.

[Katavia]

A couple things I find annoying about roads:

- Obstructions in the median and/or on the corner blocking the line of sight at a intersection, especially if it's a 4-way stop
Local example: the intersection of Memorial Boulevard and Medical Park Drive at the area hospital - GSV hasn't updated to match the current situation, but there's a line of trees in the median on the east side of the intersection (along Memorial) and a parking garage on the corner of the intersection that block the line of sight of hospital-exiting Medical Park Drive traffic bound for US 29 or the nearby mall. Please cut some of them down Atrium.
- Disappearing pavement features/lane lines due to lack of maintenance
Kannapolis Parkway has a section that's rather old and hasn't had its lane lines painted in quite a while. There aren't any cats' eyes, street lights, or other reflective pavement features to guide you either. At night the lines are basically nonexistent.

Some more things I find extremely annoying about the idiots who use the roads:

- People who J-walk
Please just use the crossings that have been provided for you, okay?
- People who feel the need to get on my bumper while I am going at the speed limit
Yes, I try to stay around the posted speed limit (and stay to the right) unless I can't for whatever reason, but some people seem to find this rude. Hey, it's their ticket to pay for, not mine.
I've experienced many an occasion where an impatient driver passes me but we both get to the next light while it was still red.
- People who stop at the last minute, especially if they are behind me
At red lights I try to slow to a stop more gradually. Sometimes I can time the light change well and get to the light just after it turned green.
- People who overly honk as their full-time employment
Extra-long honking doesn't make people any more aware that something is happening, it just makes the honker look like an ass.
- People who think they are Dale Earnhardt Jr./Jeff Gordon/[name your favorite NASCAR driver] and drive at 90 or 100 on area highways (which have speed limits ranging between 55-70 MPH)
A couple years ago, while merging onto I-485 off of US 74, I almost got sideswiped (missed by what felt like a few inches) by a pickup highly exceeding the speed limit. The pickup was also driving on the shoulder, which was barely wide enough to fit said pickup.
On a somewhat related note, I'm curious about how many speeding tickets are issued in cities that have televised motor racing events, compared to similarly-sized cities that lack them.

[kphoger]

- People who J-walk

Please just use the crossings that have been provided for you, okay?

Here's another one:  people who think crossing the street anywhere other than a crosswalk constitutes jaywalking.

Generally, except in very specific circumstances, pedestrians are legally permitted to cross the street wherever they please, so long as they yield right-of-way to vehicular traffic when doing so at a location other than a crosswalk (the only exception in the UVC highlighted below).

Article V – Pedestrians' Rights and Duties

§ 11-503 – Crossing at other than crosswalks

(a) Every pedestrian crossing a roadway at any point other than within a marked crosswalk or within an unmarked crosswalk at an intersection shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway.

(b) Any pedestrian crossing a roadway at a point where a pedestrian tunnel or overhead pedestrian crossing has been provided shall yield the right of way to all vehicles upon the roadway.

(c) Between adjacent intersections at which traffic-control signals are in operation pedestrians shall not cross at any place except in a marked crosswalk.

(d) No pedestrian shall cross a roadway intersection diagonally unless authorized by official traffic-control devices; and when authorized to cross diagonally, pedestrians shall cross only in accordance with the official traffic-control devices pertaining to such crossing movements.

Basically, unless there's a stoplight at both intersections nearest to you, then you are permitted to walk across the street wherever the heck you want.  Just make sure and yield to traffic when you do so.

[hotdogPi]

Does part d there mean that I can't cross residential streets diagonally even if they have very few cars?

[1995hoo]

....

- People who stop at the last minute, especially if they are behind me
At red lights I try to slow to a stop more gradually. Sometimes I can time the light change well and get to the light just after it turned green.
....

In this situation, I may honk if the person slows down to the point where it's impeding my ability to get into the left-turn lane so as to get to the line and trip the green arrow.

[webny99]

- People who stop at the last minute, especially if they are behind me
At red lights I try to slow to a stop more gradually. Sometimes I can time the light change well and get to the light just after it turned green.

In this situation, I may honk if the person slows down to the point where it's impeding my ability to get into the left-turn lane so as to get to the line and trip the green arrow.

Sounds like a one-off, uncommon type of problem... except I know exactly what you're talking about because it happens all the time at this location and along this part of the NY 104 corridor in general.

[vdeane]

Meanwhile, I find people who slow down very gradually (outside of snow/ice conditions, where it's actually necessary) to be annoying.  I just want to stop and put the car in neutral so I can take my foot off the clutch, not ride my brakes!

Also, one thing to keep in mind is that some people are more annoyed by driving slowly than they are at being stopped at the light.  Although that does bring me to something I find very annoying (and can't remember if it's been mentioned before in this thread, by myself or anyone else): when I'm stuck behind a slowpoke for a while and they just barely cruise through a light that I end up stuck at, but which I would have easily made had I not been stuck behind the slowpoke all that time.

[deathtopumpkins]

Meanwhile, I find people who slow down very gradually (outside of snow/ice conditions, where it's actually necessary) to be annoying.  I just want to stop and put the car in neutral so I can take my foot off the clutch, not ride my brakes!

I'm one of those people who slows down very gradually, because I figure it's both more fuel efficient and saves wear on my brakes to just let off the gas and coast when I see that a signal ahead is red. I guess this explains why my brakes last longer than average and I average better fuel economy than my car is supposed to...

[jeffandnicole]

Meanwhile, I find people who slow down very gradually (outside of snow/ice conditions, where it's actually necessary) to be annoying.  I just want to stop and put the car in neutral so I can take my foot off the clutch, not ride my brakes!

I do this more often now in my Insight due to the hybrid nature of the vehicle and the regen braking.  That said, I try not to do it when people are behind me for your very reason.  Or, I may start slowing further back slowing from, say, 40 to 30 mph, but as I get closer I'll just apply the brakes as normal.

Also, one thing to keep in mind is that some people are more annoyed by driving slowly than they are at being stopped at the light.  Although that does bring me to something I find very annoying (and can't remember if it's been mentioned before in this thread, by myself or anyone else): when I'm stuck behind a slowpoke for a while and they just barely cruise through a light that I end up stuck at, but which I would have easily made had I not been stuck behind the slowpoke all that time.

I imagine they get a certain amount of glee from doing this. 

Even more annoying for me - the same slowpokes that are going at or below the speed limit "because it's the law", then roll thru a stop sign or making a right turn on red, probably thinking they did stop when they never truly did.

[74/171FAN]

People who think they are Dale Earnhardt Jr./Jeff Gordon/[name your favorite NASCAR driver] and drive at 90 or 100 on area highways (which have speed limits ranging between 55-70 MPH)

Kyle Busch (my favorite driver) has done that away from the racetrack.

[Billy F 1988]

Missoula seems to be a hotbed for drivers not paying much mind to cyclists and cyclists not paying much mind to drivers. The two major roadways that annoy me a lot are Broadway and Reserve, sometimes Russell Street, but not often. That stretch of Reserve at the folded fork intersection with Broadway all the way down to where Brooks Street/US 93-12 meet up tend to be a bitch during moderate traffic hours (7-9 AM, 12-2 PM and between 5 to 8 PM). The University area gets a bit tricky when the students are out and about and especially on game days. Note Madison Street over the bridge to 5th Street outbound, 6th Street inbound, Arthur Street, Eddy Street, and Beckwith Street. Those spots can somewhat irk me when I go through there. Then you have the Orange and Van Buren Street roundabouts at I-90. Ooooh. Can't say I hate it, but I get leery when I go through both of them. I mention these not so much as to say I hate driving these roads, but more so to say that I can get easily annoyed at times when I feel someone is a little too close for my comfort level.

I have seen at times drivers come out of the side roads in Missoula right as I am crossing the intersection. They will start to come out of the posted stop zone they had just passed and begin to roll. Every time I see that, I think "You really want your nose to get clipped off, right?"

US 93 from Missoula to the Bitterroot Valley can get a little nerve racking for first-timers going through Montana from the "boot" section of Idaho. The scarier section of US 93/MT 200 is The Wye up to Polson city limits before US 93 meets with MT 35.

When I feel someone is dogging me, I try and find a spot to pull over and let them by. It's always hit or miss. Often I'll be having to drive a certain distance with the hot-dogging runt behind my tail waiting for it to turn off somewhere or me finally finding that pullout area to let them by.

[kphoger]

Does part d there mean that I can't cross residential streets diagonally even if they have very few cars?

Yes it does.  Funny thing is, I've taught my children to cross diagonally in our residential neighborhood, because they can check all four directions and then only have to cross once.  Oh no, I'm teaching them to be lawbreakers.

I'm one of those people who slows down very gradually, because I figure it's both more fuel efficient and saves wear on my brakes to just let off the gas and coast when I see that a signal ahead is red. I guess this explains why my brakes last longer than average and I average better fuel economy than my car is supposed to...

I don't think coasting vs braking makes any difference as to fuel economy.  Both save fuel over keeping your foot on the gas till the last minute–unless you then have to accelerate more than you would have because the light turns green–but coasting and braking both have your foot off the gas.  However, I do think braking gradually saves wear and tear on your brakes vs braking precipitously.  Even though it requires the same amount of force to come to a stop, and therefore theoretically the same brake pad wear, the peak heat reached by those pads will be higher if you brake precipitously.  Higher peak heat leads to shorter brake life, I think.

[vdeane]

Meanwhile, I find people who slow down very gradually (outside of snow/ice conditions, where it's actually necessary) to be annoying.  I just want to stop and put the car in neutral so I can take my foot off the clutch, not ride my brakes!

I'm one of those people who slows down very gradually, because I figure it's both more fuel efficient and saves wear on my brakes to just let off the gas and coast when I see that a signal ahead is red. I guess this explains why my brakes last longer than average and I average better fuel economy than my car is supposed to...

It's one thing if you're just coasting to avoid brake use.  It's another if you're just spending a really long time lightly holding the brakes and extending the whole thing out (and thereby forcing everyone behind you to do the same or stop and then creep forward).

[webny99]

It's one thing if you're just coasting to avoid brake use.  It's another if you're just spending a really long time lightly holding the brakes and extending the whole thing out (and thereby forcing everyone behind you to do the same or stop and then creep forward).

Yeah, coasting vs. braking where I was thinking of heading with this conversation, too. I'll definitely coast if I think doing so will avoid future braking.

[epzik8]

People who don't signal, people who don't use their lights at certain times of the day and in certain conditions, and people who are impatient at red lights.

[epzik8]

People who think they are Dale Earnhardt Jr./Jeff Gordon/[name your favorite NASCAR driver] and drive at 90 or 100 on area highways (which have speed limits ranging between 55-70 MPH)

Kyle Busch (my favorite driver) has done that away from the racetrack.

My favorite NASCAR driver is Joey Logano