Thursday, February 5, 2009

Is it just me...

...or has driving changed in recent years? I guess running yellow lights has been common for a while now, but lately I've seen people go through intersections as the light is turning red. That seems a little new to me. My kids used to call me Old Man when I'd stop at yellow lights. (I thought that's what you were supposed to do.) After watching more than one driver in my rear-view mirror get all animated, I decided to start running yellow ones, too. I felt a little guilty for doing this at first until I noticed that one or two cars behind me would run the same light. Do I have to start going through red ones now? I don't think I'd feel comfortable doing that; it seems a little dangerous.

Turning left at busy intersections has also evolved. Nowadays when you get the green turning arrow you often have to wait for cars turning left in front of you after their light has turned red. Then you often miss your green arrow and end up turning after your light turns yellow (or red). Again, not comfortable.

There's one practice that used to really throw me when I first started seeing it. I'd be driving along on a fairly busy street when someone perpendicular to my left would try to turn left into my lane. At first I used to get really distracted by this. I would slam on my brakes to avoid an accident. I gradually noticed, however, that they were often turning into the middle lane and using it as a merging lane. When the coast is finally clear they then complete their turn. When did this become commonplace? Is it legal? I've been meaning to ask a cop about this.

Do these things happen where you live or is it just suburban Chicago?

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