Modern Buddy

Today I was in the left hand lane of a two lane road, waiting to take a left hand turn. I was behind a line of a few cars waiting to do the same. There was no oncoming traffic but instead of taking the right of way the guy in the first position waves in a guy coming from the left where there is a stop sign. Sure enough this other guy pulls out to cross the main road but doesn't see that there is a car coming up our right hand lane. CRASH! Scared the heck out of me. Luckily no one appeared to be seriously injured.

So, my lesson for the day is we can never, ever be too careful at an intersection. That and people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

LuvMyScoot wrote:So, my lesson for the day is we can never, ever be too careful at an intersection. That and people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

This is so true.

Ride safe.

LuvMyScoot wrote:. That and people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

Amen.

LuvMyScoot wrote:That and people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

This is one of my pet peeves. Like at a 4-way stop, when someone "politely" lets you go before them, even though it's their turn. It wastes so much time for you to make sure that they're really not about to go, that it would've been faster and less aggravating if they'd just gone when they were supposed to. They're like one of Warner Bros' Goofy Gophers: "After you." "No, after you." "No, I insist: after you." Except the other gopher is trying to follow the law.

It's always good to read little things like this, it really just shows how rough it can be out there.

I travel to work on Vic in the weee hours of the morning, and I have to cross a main intersection that is a B-line to Grady Memorial Hospital. Being it's so early when I get to work ambulances rarely slow down at that hour. So I go from being a prarie dog to a prarie dog on speed when I get to that intersection.

Of course if I ever get creamed at least I won't have trouble finding an EMS.

I saw the very gruesome aftermath of an intersection collision last weekend. A Nissan Sentra had plowed into a motorcycle cop. EMTs were on the scene and it was… bad. Horrifying. One of those things it's hard to think about without re-envisioning.

This morning I saw a guy in a Scion haul ass to run a red light to make a left turn. The opposing light had already turned green. If a scoot or MC had been in front of that pack and had ridden out into the intersection… pow.

Be careful out there. Spring is upon us, and spring means it's crash season.

ericalm wrote:Be careful out there. Spring is upon us, and spring means it's crash season.

Unfortunately there isn't a season for stupid, inattentive drivers... they are everywhere year-round

Must have been a Rhode Islander waving the guy on to make the left. It's so common here that I'm shocked when someone actually takes their rightful right-of-way.

TVB wrote:

LuvMyScoot wrote:That and people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

This is one of my pet peeves. Like at a 4-way stop, when someone "politely" lets you go before them, even though it's their turn. It wastes so much time for you to make sure that they're really not about to go, that it would've been faster and less aggravating if they'd just gone when they were supposed to. They're like one of Warner Bros' Goofy Gophers: "After you." "No, after you." "No, I insist: after you." Except the other gopher is trying to follow the law.

This is so true! I have an aunt that is the most timid driver I have ever had the miserable aggravation to be trapped in a vehicle with. She will literally stop at a 4 way stop and insist that all of the other drivers go before she will--even if all of the other directions are stacked up with several cars.

The ONE time that I got stuck in a car with her I looked at the guy behind us and I swear the man was going to have a stroke he was SO furious-I mean I have honestly never seen anyone quite that angry in my life. She just sat there, blocking him, directing one care after another after another after ANOTHER to go, like she had suddenly become Ms Junior Traffic Cop or something. There were at least 15 cars that she insisted on making go before she would venture into the intersection.

The laws are there for a reason, laws are a code that everyone agrees to follow for the safety and well being of all, if someone decides that they know better than the law and does not follow the law, they are not following the law, PERIOD.

As for trusting someone else to direct you to go at an intersection or across lanes of traffic, NO WAY am I going to put my life into the hands of some stranger. I am perfectly capable of making that determination on my own like a big girl.

Having said that, I try to stop early at busy intersections to allow someone that is trapped because they are trying to get out onto a congested road, but I am not directing them to cross other lanes of traffic and I simply leave some space that they can pull into in front of me.

-v

ericalm wrote:This morning I saw a guy in a Scion haul ass to run a red light to make a left turn. The opposing light had already turned green. If a scoot or MC had been in front of that pack and had ridden out into the intersection… pow.

Be careful out there. Spring is upon us, and spring means it's crash season.

Thanks Eric for another great reminder: Don't just pull out when the light turns green; make sure that traffic on the opposing light has come to a stop. The life you save could be your own!

siobhan wrote:Must have been a Rhode Islander waving the guy on to make the left. It's so common here that I'm shocked when someone actually takes their rightful right-of-way.

OMG, it WAS a Rhode Islander! Good tip that RI drivers like to give up the right of way; I'll be even more careful on my next trip to Javaspeed.

LuvMyScoot wrote:

siobhan wrote:Must have been a Rhode Islander waving the guy on to make the left. It's so common here that I'm shocked when someone actually takes their rightful right-of-way.

OMG, it WAS a Rhode Islander! Good tip that RI drivers like to give up the right of way; I'll be even more careful on my next trip to Javaspeed.

They're so considerate. Funny how they can be so close to Worcester, and yet drive so differently.

LuvMyScoot wrote:

siobhan wrote:Must have been a Rhode Islander waving the guy on to make the left. It's so common here that I'm shocked when someone actually takes their rightful right-of-way.

OMG, it WAS a Rhode Islander! Good tip that RI drivers like to give up the right of way; I'll be even more careful on my next trip to Javaspeed.

Sad to say, Javaspeed is gone. Patrick closed up shop at the end of last year. Supposedly he'll be opening a small shop to do service/maintenance but back to his original focus on vintage scoots.

As for Rhody drivers, I've lived in a lot of different places and each place has its quirks when it comes to driving, but I've never been in a more dangerous place than Rhode Island. Give me a tailgating Long Islander or a cereal-eating Angeleno over the pure randomness of the Rhody road warrior.

LuvMyScoot wrote: ...people who give up the right of way do more harm than good.

Word.

Under New Jersey law, anyone who waves another automobile into traffic can be held liable if the car being waved into traffic causes an accident.

siobhan wrote:

LuvMyScoot wrote:

siobhan wrote:Must have been a Rhode Islander waving the guy on to make the left. It's so common here that I'm shocked when someone actually takes their rightful right-of-way.

OMG, it WAS a Rhode Islander! Good tip that RI drivers like to give up the right of way; I'll be even more careful on my next trip to Javaspeed.

Sad to say, Javaspeed is gone. Patrick closed up shop at the end of last year. Supposedly he'll be opening a small shop to do service/maintenance but back to his original focus on vintage scoots.

As for Rhody drivers, I've lived in a lot of different places and each place has its quirks when it comes to driving, but I've never been in a more dangerous place than Rhode Island. Give me a tailgating Long Islander or a cereal-eating Angeleno over the pure randomness of the Rhody road warrior.

I didn't know Javaspeed is closed! As soon as the weather warmed up I was going to bring my girl in for her spring tuneup. Where do you bring your Buddy now?