Drivers that don't know all the traffic rules:

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:17 pm

Not sure about other countries, but here in the states, smaller cities will often switch the traffic lights to flashing red or yellow at night depending on the intersection. As a driver, you're suppose to know what flashing red or yellow means when you approach the intersection. Flashing red means the exact same thing as a stop sign. Flashing yellow means you have the right of way and don't have to stop (officially it's "proceed with caution"). So when you come to an intersection with flashing red on your direction and flashing yellow for the intersecting road, that means you have to stop and wait until no cars are coming from that direction before you can drive on through. Yet...

You'd be amazed on how many people with licenses have no clue how to handle flashing light intersections! Last night after getting a load of groceries from the store, I have to slam on the breaks at a flashing yellow as a fricken FUEL TANKER just blows right on through the flashing red on his lane. All my groceries go flying about and my milk jug busts open and drains. He sees me and slams on his breaks, right in the middle of the intersection! Meanwhile a bunch of other retarded drivers proceed to use him as a "lead blocker" while they blow the flashing red themselves. I have to just sit there until he figures out I can't get around him with traffic using him as a blocking wall, so finally he gets the hint and pulls through.

This is just one of many, many experiences with idiots not knowing how flashing light intersections work. Often times I come up to someone confused at the intersection, where they are stopped on the flashing yellow. Other cars start honking at them, causing them to get even more confused and they slowly creep out into the intersection. It's like "Hello? How did you get a license without knowing traffic rules?"

Rashidi · Post by **Rashidi** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:31 pm

did color-blind folk allowed to have their driving license (in states) ?

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 4:41 pm

What I suspect going on is:

"Oh the traffic light is flashing. Hmmm, it must be broken! That means I can just speed on through. Yay! Der de der!!"

blackmyst · Post by **blackmyst** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:43 pm

People are fucking dumb, what else is new. :/

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:47 pm

My mother lived in Houston.
And where I am now, traffic is not awesome either.
People are idiots.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:49 pm

If you had to suddenly break and all your groceries came flying inside your car, I think you weren't "proceeding with caution".

Drive defensively and that won't happen.

VietBitter · Post by **VietBitter** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 6:57 pm

The OP wasn't in the wrong though, I'm pretty sure if he didn't "proceed with caution" he would be dead there and then. It was the other idiot that was stupid.

Post by **grinvader** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 8:26 pm

Being in the right sure helps a lot when you're dead.

Hint: bigass trucks drivers don't brake whenever they want because they don't die when you hit them.

blackmyst wrote:People are fucking dumb, what else is new. :/

Solutions: Don't be tightassed about traffic rules. Shit happens. Engage in verbal altercations to let steam off.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 10:03 pm

VietBitter wrote:The OP wasn't in the wrong though, I'm pretty sure if he didn't "proceed with caution" he would be dead there and then. It was the other idiot that was stupid.

"Breaking" isn't proceeding with caution, it is not being stupid.

"Proceeding with caution" would have been reducing your speed when you get near an intersection with flashing red/yellow BECAUSE there are dumb fucks who don't obey the traffic rules, so in case of needing to break, you won't spill your groceries.

Unless they were piled all over the seats, outside of bags, which would also be pretty dumb.

That's why you need to drive defensively, keeping in mind that there are retards behind the wheel.

blargg · Post by **blargg** » Sat Mar 14, 2009 11:38 pm

Obviously the proper solution is to avoid buying groceries. No buy = no out = no milk spilled. Simple.

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 12:00 am

blargg wrote:Obviously the proper solution is to avoid buying groceries. No buy = no out = no milk spilled. Simple.

No, Obviously the proper solution is to avoid needing to eat period.

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:00 am

Ugh, I HATE those kinds of intersections...

it could be worse, I had no idea about right-of-way in parking lots till I got hit in the side that one time (and btw, those that are in the aisles have to yield right of way to those in the loop area)

thankfully it wasn't my fault, since I was in the loop and the other dude was in the aisle \o

hint: they also switch to that mode when there's a disaster (eg: black out, or smth) going on.

alexz721 · Post by **alexz721** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:28 am

Joe Camacho wrote:If you had to suddenly break and all your groceries came flying inside your car, I think you weren't "proceeding with caution".

Drive defensively and that won't happen.

You could be going 10 miles an hour and slamming on your brakes would still make shit fly everywhere.

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 1:55 am

alexz721 wrote:
Joe Camacho wrote:If you had to suddenly break and all your groceries came flying inside your car, I think you weren't "proceeding with caution".

Drive defensively and that won't happen.
You could be going 10 miles an hour and slamming on your brakes would still make shit fly everywhere.

What about 5, at that point it might only glide instead of taking flight.

blargg · Post by **blargg** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 4:27 am

If you go too slowly through the intersection, you also increase the risk of someone colliding with you, since you're in it for longer. 5 MPH is pretty damn slow.

And in parking lots, I didn't think normal traffic laws applied, since it's private property. Not that one should following anything different (yield at unmarked intersections, stop at stop signs).

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 4:31 am

blargg wrote:If you go too slowly through the intersection, you also increase the risk of someone colliding with you, since you're in it for longer. 5 MPH is pretty damn slow.

And in parking lots, I didn't think normal traffic laws applied, since it's private property. Not that one should following anything different (yield at unmarked intersections, stop at stop signs).

Yes you can put a five year old at the wheel and spin around in parking lots and its legal afaik

unless you get chased into the parking lot, then they have jurisdiction

megamanzer0 · Post by **megamanzer0** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:11 am

alexz721 wrote:
Joe Camacho wrote:If you had to suddenly break and all your groceries came flying inside your car, I think you weren't "proceeding with caution".

Drive defensively and that won't happen.
You could be going 10 miles an hour and slamming on your brakes would still make shit fly everywhere.

but if you are going that slow you don't need to slam the brakes

Gil_Hamilton · Post by **Gil_Hamilton** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:45 am

I've had good experience with flashing lights.

Now, DEAD lights, THOSE I've had some serious WTFs with.
Fact: Two busy 6-lane roads converted into a 4-way stop is NOT good.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 8:58 am

Joe Camacho wrote:
VietBitter wrote:The OP wasn't in the wrong though, I'm pretty sure if he didn't "proceed with caution" he would be dead there and then. It was the other idiot that was stupid.
"Breaking" isn't proceeding with caution, it is not being stupid.

"Proceeding with caution" would have been reducing your speed when you get near an intersection with flashing red/yellow BECAUSE there are dumb fucks who don't obey the traffic rules, so in case of needing to break, you won't spill your groceries.

Unless they were piled all over the seats, outside of bags, which would also be pretty dumb.

That's why you need to drive defensively, keeping in mind that there are retards behind the wheel.

Actually the Vietbitter had the right idea and you are wrong about me. Had I not been paying attention to the other lane, I would have hit him. It was at night, and the lane I was in had a posted speed limit of 40. You approach it from a hill, so even looking, you only just have a enough time to hit the breaks if someone speeds through from the other direction. Had I not been cautious, it would have been VERY bad. Also, my groceries were on the seats in those shitty plastic bags they now use at most stores. Nothing I could do about that because the trunk had stuff in it.

Thank you for just assuming you could properly judge the scenario against me. Thank you very much. How do you think I even knew the rule was "proceed with caution" to begin with?

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:33 am

humm... we don't get flashing lights here in Australia o_O or not anywhere near Brisbane at least.

Joe Camacho · Post by **Joe Camacho** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:05 am

FirebrandX wrote:
Joe Camacho wrote:
VietBitter wrote:The OP wasn't in the wrong though, I'm pretty sure if he didn't "proceed with caution" he would be dead there and then. It was the other idiot that was stupid.
"Breaking" isn't proceeding with caution, it is not being stupid.

"Proceeding with caution" would have been reducing your speed when you get near an intersection with flashing red/yellow BECAUSE there are dumb fucks who don't obey the traffic rules, so in case of needing to break, you won't spill your groceries.

Unless they were piled all over the seats, outside of bags, which would also be pretty dumb.

That's why you need to drive defensively, keeping in mind that there are retards behind the wheel.
Actually the Vietbitter had the right idea and you are wrong about me. Had I not been paying attention to the other lane, I would have hit him. It was at night, and the lane I was in had a posted speed limit of 40. You approach it from a hill, so even looking, you only just have a enough time to hit the breaks if someone speeds through from the other direction. Had I not been cautious, it would have been VERY bad. Also, my groceries were on the seats in those shitty plastic bags they now use at most stores. Nothing I could do about that because the trunk had stuff in it.

Thank you for just assuming you could properly judge the scenario against me. Thank you very much. How do you think I even knew the rule was "proceed with caution" to begin with?

Well, from rereading your OP I didn't see any physical description of the flashing light intersection, so, unless being able to read your mind is now a requirement to respond, I still think my post is adequate to the OP.

And they really must be shitty grocery bags in order to break with that speed then, that's how I judged you were going too fast, I have drove around 40 miles (64 kms) an hour with grocery bags and other than some bags moving around, nothing spilled and nothing broke when I used the breaks suddenly.

Although a 40 mile speed limit is still pretty fast road, I still think that slowing down is the best way with dealing with an intersection, even with right of way, you could reduce you speed to around 25 miles (40 kms) and still have an acceptable speed to cross the intersection, you don't need to cross around 5 miles (8 kms). It's better to reduce your speed because you never know if a dumbass will follow the traffic rules.

I once had a car accident that way, I had the right of way but a guy didn't see the street sign and hit me. As Grin said, it's no good to be on the right when you are dead.

So, or you were going too fast, or your grocery bags just suck, still, from the OP it could be a an intersection in the middle of the desert for all I could read, so cut me some slack.

FirebrandX · Post by **FirebrandX** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:16 am

Cut you some slack?? How about cutting me some slack? Yes, the plastic bags are VERY shitty. They are thin, small, and spill very easily. I've had some dump just making a simple turn. But this is all besides the point. Bag quality doesn't matter, and the point I stressed to you is I WAS being cautious. This would include NOT speeding and paying attention.

What it boils down to is every thread always has somebody that wants to counter-argue the OP just for the sake of being Devil's advocate, regardless of circumstances. That's you in this thread. I take issue with it because of how you matter of factly put the blame equally on me. There would have been a collision if that were the slightest bit true.

Edit: One more thing. Your point about how it could have been in the middle of the desert is also a strawman argument. From the OP, there's enough to know the following:

1. It was at night
2. It was in a city setting (they don't put traffic lights on an intersection in the middle of the desert, you know that).

The only information you didn't know was how fast I was going, which you just jumped to the conclusion I was speeding. As others pointed out, there are cases where you have to slam on the breaks even going 15 mph.

gllt · Post by **gllt** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 11:43 am

FirebrandX wrote: What it boils down to is every thread always has somebody that wants to counter-argue the OP just for the sake of being Devil's advocate, regardless of circumstances. That's you in this thread. I take issue with it because of how you matter of factly put the blame equally on me. There would have been a collision if that were the slightest bit true.

THE OP IS ALWAYS RIGHT

actually, no

now while I entirely respect you,
stop posting threads on the internet and getting upset when someone disagrees and then bawwall of text to counter it that makes you look like an idiot and turns the thread into a huge war.
or rant on a blog instead of in the troll pen
you know

adventure_of_link · Post by **adventure_of_link** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 5:34 pm

Firebrand, it could be worse.. try explaning this on the boat. Despite last time it wasn't my fault they all still jumped to the conclusion of LAL ITS ALL UR FALT

FitzRoy · Post by **FitzRoy** » Sun Mar 15, 2009 6:08 pm

I don't like the flashing light system. There are a lot of people who never see it, and when they do, they can't remember what it means. Whatever time it's trying to save, it's not worth risking lives.

There are also countries that use yellow as a "get ready" from stop to go, which also sucks.