Last weekend we went on a camping trip to the other side of the state. This is a 2 hour drive, mostly by interstate, and along the way I noticed many of my pet peeves were happening time and time again. When my kids are in the car, I get doubly frustrated by the way some people drive. So I decided today to share a few driving tips that drivers seem to have forgotten...
1. If you are in the on-ramp to get onto the interstate, you actually DO have to yield. The driver on the interstate should try to get over to the left for you, but that is not always possible, so if they can't move or haven't moved, don't try to pull into the side of their car in an effort to force them to move.
2. Sticking to Rule #1, if you are in the right lane and no one is coming up in the left lane, it would be nice if you did move over. I'm finding more and more drivers don't bother to move over and it is a pain in the behind having to come to a complete stop on the on-ramp and then accelerate in a hurry as you try to get back up to the 65mph of the interstate.
3. Stop signs... There seems to be a huge issue with them these days. They actually do mean stop. I'm all for a "California Stop" where you slow and then proceed slowly if no one is coming, but you actually have to make the effort to look both ways--emphasis on both ways. I've had more drivers run a stop sign when I'm on Route 7 and they are coming off side roads. They either are blind and don't see them, in which case they shouldn't be driving, or they ignore them, in which case I wish I were an undercover cop so that I could then offer the expensive ticket.
4. Construction or Obstruction depending on your point of view. Vermont interstates are a mess. Over the past winter, the top layer of asphalt crumbled away and there is currently a big push to fix those areas, so there is a lot of obstruction out there. So I was heading to our local Walmart (a 40 minute drive by interstate) and had this guy from Massachussetts pull up behind me in a construction zone where it was posted slow to 55 or get a double fine. Vermont's big on doubling the fine in a construction zone and I can guarantee there is always a sheriff there in the midst just waiting to get you. I have no issue slowing down. It can prevent the construction crews from getting hurt. However, the guy in this truck with Mass. plates apparently had issues and proceeded to tailgate something fierce while swerving back and forth. As soon as he noticed the sheriff he stopped, but this is just juvenile behavior that doesn't belong on the roads. There are double fine warnings for a reason, so deal with it, or skip the interstate.
5. Bicyclists - you guys need to follow the rules of the road too. That's a big pet peeve of mine. We live on the Champlain Bikeway, so we have bike traffic coming up and down our road and roads surrounding us. I was coming up my road one day and there is this T intersection where the traffic coming off Georgia Plains Road has to stop, but our road goes straight through and doesn't have a stop sign. So this person on the bike completely ignored the stop sign and went right out in front of me. I swerved and went into the grass and they kept right on going. That's a good way to get yourself killed. Another pet peeve is when traffic is stopped at a red light and a bicyclist runs the red light. You DO have to obey the traffic signals just as a car does.
6. Turn signals. I was pulling out of our local Maplefields (Gas Station/Convenience Store) and was making a left across traffic. No one was to my right and there was one car to my left, so I was going to wait and then she put on her directional signaling a right into the Maplefields parking lot. So I watched her slow and pulled out. Suddenly she sped back up and almost hit me while giving me the finger. If you are going to change your mind, be warned that other traffic can't read your thoughts - especially if your turn signal remains on, which it did until I lost sight of her.
7. No Turn On Red. This is one of my favorite stories. Down the road where our Costco is - there is the interstate off-ramp and a sign that clearly states "No Turn On Red." I have been there multiple times and had someone beep their horn when I don't make the right turn during the red light. I always get annoyed and point the sign out - not that it seems to make much difference. So one day, I was at that light again with an unmarked town cop car behind me, only I was turning left. So the next lane over a guy proceeds to make the right on red. Cop car lights came on and the guy was ticketed. It's always great to see someone get got there! Kind of makes up for all the times I've been beeped at.
8. And my other favorite story. Burlington is Vermont's college town. UVM draws a huge crowd and a good deal of these male college student drivers, drive like your average teen male. I had a kid in a car plastered with UVM stickers beep at me and swerve all over the place - I was doing 45 in a 40 zone and apparently that wasn't fast enough for him. He ended up passing me on a corner. Right around that corner was a state trooper who nabbed him. Again, any time this kid saved by speeding was taken up now by his waiting as the ticket was issued. I just hope he enjoyed it.
9. If you are merging from an on-ramp and there is a third lane, that third lane is yours. You don't need to suddenly pull out in front of oncoming traffic to get into the middle lane. Wait 'til it's clear!! We only have one section of interstate (that I know of) where this is the case, but every time I drive through there, the people coming in from the right immediately feel the need to cut in front of you instead of waiting until it is clear.
10. Trust local drivers. This one is important. We have a stretch of interstate through Burlington and South Burlington where it slows to 55mph for about 3 miles. I know the spots where the DMV and officers hide to catch speeders, so I always slow to 55-60. Yet, I'll have out of staters fly by me giving me dirty looks for having slowed down. Time and time again, I've seen those same speeders then get nabbed by the DMV truck that usually sits right around the corner. Usually locals know the quirks to the roads and it is a good idea to watch and follow suit.
I think I'm done venting for the day. I have to go to Costco later, which means I'll be heading out and I'm betting at least the No Right Turn rule gets ignored today. It almost always does.
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