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Old 03-13-2013, 11:36 AM   #309
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It has become very clear to me while driving all over the North American Continent that ever since Driver Education classes were abolished in high school due to budget cuts the skills of the drivers on the road today has reduced in quality to that of having baboons behind the wheel.

Dr4Film ----- Richard
No one actually learns to drive anymore so much as they learn to pass the test. I have seen people fail their driver's tests over some of the most stupid thing you can possibly think of. I have also watched so-called Driver Instructors teach to the test as opposed to developing a students skills and knowledge.
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Old 03-14-2013, 09:32 AM   #310
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Craig_R - I completely agree with you about drivers ed. I had it when I was 15 1/2 and passed my driving test of the first try. IMO the other big issue at least in our area (S California) is that the Highway Patrol hardly enforce any rules any more. It used to be that you knew to put on your blinker when changing lanes because if you did not and there was a highway patrol behind you that you would be subject to getting a ticket. Today enforcement of rules on the highway is very lax. At least compared to what it way say 30 years ago.
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Old 03-14-2013, 01:32 PM   #311
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I have spent most of my life driving around California and I can tell how close I am to a major urban area by how aggessive the drivers are around me and how close following drivers are off my rear bumper. When I visited Cambodia and Europe I was amazed at how courtesous the drivers were outside the USA. In Cambodia if someone (and often a family of 5) on a motorcycle or scooter needs to make a left turn they slow down and pull into the lane with oncoming traffic. The driver in the other lane, and it does not matter if they are driving a small car or a large dump truck, will slow down so that the people on the scooter can safely make their turn. It costs the driver in the truck all of about 5 seconds longer to reach their destination and even if it happened a dozen times they would lose only a minute. Compare that to the crazy drivers in the USA that act like they own the road around them and heaven help anyone who tries to steal their private space.

In Paris when in taxi's the roads would have two lanes but parked cars would often block the right lane. Whenever the taxi approached a section like this the other motorists would make room for the taxi to pull into their lane - it was no big deal. In the USA drivers would speed up to be sure the taxi ran into the parked cars or had to slam on their brakes.

The very nature of the question posed by the OP shows a very American attitude toward sharing the road with other drivers and their passengers. When I am driving and approaching a merging area I make sure in advance that I can get over one lane. It is common sense to do this and avoid a merging situation. Pro truck drivers do this without a second thought and it is both a matter of safety and common courtesy. Unfortunately common sense and common courtesy seem to be rapidly disappearing in this country.

People confuse not having had an accident with being good drivers when often they have survived in spite of themselves truth be known. The longer and slower your rig the more one should be thinking ahead and anticipating situations. To be caught in a merging situation is to have been "asleep" at the wheel and probably should not be driving a MH with a toad or boat.
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Old 03-14-2013, 05:13 PM   #312
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As a new Class A driver, I am pleasantly surprised to see how many people pull over when I try to merge, leaving it simple for me to do so. Trucks and cars both! I try to pass along the favor by doing the same. I have met some of the same idiots you have but I just smile and think how much nicer it is to be in my vehicle on the way to a campground or National Park than it is for the jerk going home from work.
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Old 03-14-2013, 07:23 PM   #313
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Now we are trying to get reasonable into the discussion. To actually plan ahead, to disobey the law of gross tonnage.. Next I will have to return those big airhorns and learn to pleasantly wave the mergers into my lane.
(Notice it's still my lane. Baby steps. ..) It might work.

Of course none of this applies between Indian Island, WA and the Coast Guard Air station at Port Angeles. Right of Way rules.
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Old 03-14-2013, 07:26 PM   #314
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Of course none of this applies between Indian Island, WA and the Coast Guard Air station at Port Angeles. Right of Way rules.


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Old 03-14-2013, 07:45 PM   #315
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As a new Class A driver, I am pleasantly surprised to see how many people pull over when I try to merge, leaving it simple for me to do so. Trucks and cars both! I try to pass along the favor by doing the same. I have met some of the same idiots you have but I just smile and think how much nicer it is to be in my vehicle on the way to a campground or National Park than it is for the jerk going home from work.
Could be that look of fear in your eyes?
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Old 03-15-2013, 06:42 AM   #316
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Hah! Fear could be a part of it.

Hooligan, thanks for the warning. I will be driving that route this July. Maybe I should get an air horn anyway?
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Old 03-15-2013, 07:17 AM   #317
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The inscription on his headstone said:" He had the right of way."
I guess that sums it up. Cheers Gerald
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Old 03-15-2013, 10:55 AM   #318
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jubilee32- Last time I flew into Port Angeles was 1967, things have probably changed a little since then. Really beautiful area, should be a great trip....
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Old 06-12-2013, 05:53 AM   #319
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Courtesy may not pay ...

Here we are cruising down the interstate just North of Lawton, OK, towards our next campsite in Wichita Falls, TX, when these guys in a beat up old pickup truck come up the ramp to merge in front of me. As they speed up and I slow down, I can see that a step ladder is about to float out of their pickup bed. I got on the brakes hard as the ladder bounced once in front of me then, fortunately, lay flat as it skidded down the middle of the road. I was able to drive right over it, thank God. One more bounce and it would have tangled up everything under the coach. Not too much traffic so it didn’t cause an accident and everyone else on the road scooted by without incident. Whew!!
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Old 06-12-2013, 07:03 AM   #320
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My query is exactly on the "right-of-way-when merging" topic, though you apparently didn't understand what I asked.
I obviously didn't make myself clear...I'm talking about the signals ON THE ON RAMP that meter cars into rush hour traffic. There's usually a "one car per Green" restriction. The light turns green and off one car goes...supposedly to merge with a solid stream of rush hour traffic.

Don't tell me you've never seen these...every metropolitan area in the U.S.A. has them!

Here's a picture of one, if that's any help to those of you that have never been inside an urban area:




So what's the protocol? Do the (bumper-to-bumper) cars already on the freeway "have the right of way", and the guy coming down the ramp on the green is just supposed to wait 'til rush hour is over???
We have them in a few places around Cincinnati, but I have NEVER seen them operational. I have been in/around/on/through that on-ramp in all kinds of traffic conditions. From free-flowing, to bumper to bumper, and those "metering lights" have never been working.

My guess is that O.D.O.T. needed a "hole to throw $$ into" to justify their budget for the following year.

Here's another question: If we're so worried about vehicles merging into traffic, why in the blue blazes does that image show two vehicles, that will be leaving at the same time if/when the light turns green, merging into one lane that will then merge into interstate traffic?

Kinda like a "drag race to a drag race" if you ask me....
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Old 06-12-2013, 07:56 AM   #321
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Here's another question: If we're so worried about vehicles merging into traffic, why in the blue blazes does that image show two vehicles, that will be leaving at the same time if/when the light turns green, merging into one lane that will then merge into interstate traffic?
Each lane on the on-ramp has its own light. And they alternate to let one lane go ahead of the other.
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