If you could ensure that one traffic rule were obeyed completely, which one would you choose?

The use of blinkers. There have been countless times when I have nearly hit somebody because they haven’t used a blinker and have swooped into my lane and it’s only been through my quick foot on the brake pedal that there hasn’t been an accident.

That they put the goddamn blinkers on!
Why? Because it’s necessary unless you want to crash.

I could not possibly name only one, but the one that does irk me the most is…the cars that have the optional turn signals. I think some people opt out of the turn signals!

To yield to oncoming traffic. Too many people out there just swoosh onto the highway without even looking! If you’re not paying close attention…it’s pretty much a guarenteed accident. They need to enforce it..big time!

Slower traffic keep right.

Obey the lights.

That the sign that says TURN ONLY ON GREEN is obeyed. Too many people assume that the sign that says it is illegal to turn on red only applies to other people.

@Chongalicious yeah, the people comng off of the cloverleaf ramps always scare the crap out of me because they don’t look and you never know what they are going to do.

@ShanEnri my wife and I joke about that one, we usually say, “Well, remind me not to buy an X (where X equals the car in question) as it doesn’t come with turn signals.”

We also refer to one car going ten mph (or more) under the speed limit as “one car funeral processions.”

Drive the freaking speed limit! For the love of Jesus and all that is holy, drive the speed limit. And “passing” in the left lane does not give you a free pass to speed. You still have to drive the speed limit, shockingly enough.
God, I hate people.

Oh, sorry. I missed the “why” part of the question. Because you do not have the right to put everyone else in danger just because you feel the need for speed. It drives me so crazy. What gets me is that I don’t even think people think it is wrong anymore. How arrogant. I especially hate it here in the wild west where the speed limit is 75 mph. Do you really need to go faster?!

DRIVE IN THE RIGHT LANE AND PASS IN THE LEFT ON HIGHWAYS. i cannot stand at all when i’m on an interstate and someone is doing 45 in the passing lane and i cant get around the slowpoke in front of me in the right lane. oh it is so annoying.

My opinion… If you want to race, go on a track. If you drank, take a cab. If you’re tired, sleep… If you’re angry, take a breather… It aggravates me when people are not respecting other drivers…

Cheers

@deni, those are the times I wish there were 50 caliber machine guns under my front bumper.

After @Les answer I have to say, “slower traffic keep right.”

@Judi: Fine. I will. Just know that you speedies in the left lane are still supposed to be doing the speed limit.

@evelyns_pet_zebra – ah yes as do i. so that is why im having one installed tomorrow.

@Tearofdeception – i cant believe i didnt think of drinking and driving. yeah, its amazing that people can be stupid enough to do that. how stupid of them.

@deni, aim for the rear tires, as watching them spin out of control and flipping over in the median or the ditch is pretty darn entertaining. If you have your window down. you can also probably hear them scream (or swear) as you go by. =)

@deni – That is mine.

No drinking and driving. Zero tolerance. The end.

Excuses are for people who lucked out, didn’t kill anyone and lived to make them. Sometimes again and again and again.

For those assholes that tailgate – quit it. People like me, that have been rear ended, really despise your lack of consideration for others on the road. I don’t want a Camry shoved in the back of my car. I don’t want to worry about the idiot that is either: not paying attention, riding my butt- instead of passing, or just a bad driver that follows too closely. I’m not going to be nice, if you hit me, either. GRRR.

I’d have to say using the turn signals is definitely one of my biggest pet peeves with driving. I don’t see how hard it is to just use them, and it helps people know what is going on.

Also, I live at a ridiculous intersection, we have to run down to car accidents probably at least 5 times a year…probably more than that. It’s a three way stop, and two of the ways don’t have to stop if they’re making a right turn (it’s stop signs) So, people behind the person turning left believe they can just keep going, if they are making a right hand turn. This backs up traffic for hours. You cannot make a turn until the person ahead of you has turned, that is illegal (from my understanding) So, I always block people from being able to turn while I’m trying to make a left turn. This pisses people off.

Easy question for me – no using the cell phone while driving!!!

Left lane is the passing lane.

@cak LOL….Tailgating #1 offense for sure!

driving while impaired, perhaps?

Stop at stopsigns/redlights. Go at greenlights.

I’m amused at how many people listed “use your turn signals”, yet no one mentioned mine – turn OFF your turn signal after your turn or lane-shift. And the corrolary – if you are making a right turn, and there are 5 right turn possibilities coming up before yours, don’t put your blinker on until after the 4th one.

If I’m waiting to turn onto your street, and you’ve got a blinker on in my direction, that’s supposed to be a signal to me that you’re turning onto my street, and that I should be okay to go.

If you feel like going 25 in a 55 zone, pull the fuck over when you have an option to.
I live in a rural area, when I’m trying to get down to real society, I have a choice of going down 1 of 3 different windy, downhill roads. With plenty of options to pull over. Slow drivers barely ever take the chance to do so, but rather just make the other 20 of us go half the speed limit

Get up to fricken speed BEFORE you GET ON the highway.

Don’t slow down until AFTER you GET OFF the highway.

Do not make a left turn over a double yellow. People act like it’s perfectly legal, and then get mad at me when I honk.

In NY you CAN if you’re going into a driveway.

@tinyfaery never heard this one before. Can you give an example? Where you live, are there seriously turns that are physically possible to take, but simply not legally allowed because the yellow lines aren’t broken? That is, no “no turn allowed” sign or similar?

In CA it is illegal to make a left turn over a double yellow line, in all cases.

@tinyfaery: I have to say I’ve never heard this law before either. How are you supposed to turn left onto a street or into a driveway then? Not trying to be nitpicky, I am honestly curious.

That’s what middle turn lanes are for. Or go up to the signal and make a u-turn, or approach from the opposite direction.

Driving in CA is different than in most other states.

Huh?
That’s something I’ve never heard. Where in CA are you?

I can’t imagine making a U instead of taking a left over every double yellow.

@tinyfaery: oh okay, I see what you’re saying. That makes sense. I thought you meant when there were only two lanes.

Look at the ca DMV handbook. It’s in there. The fact that you don’t know makes me realize why everyone holds up traffic just so they aren’t inconvenienced.

@tinyfaery: Maybe the laws are honestly different. I live in CT and I went to driving school and have never heard this. Also I think, in CT at least, U-turns are illegal unless specific conditions are met like if there’s a median.

We have the same rule as @tinyfaery is referring to, but there has to be a sign. Otherwise, it is okay.

Wherever in CA you are, @tinyfaery, your roads seem to be set up differently than they are down here. I don’t see traffic held up regularly by people trying to make left turns.

I’m in L.A. and it’s the law everywhere in CA.

@katawa I was only referring to CA drivers.

california drivers are my favorite in the country!! pennsylvania are the worst, i think, without a doubt.

@deni Excuse me? Have you been to Jersey??

@tinyfaery: Okay, sorry, missed that part.

@deni: I drove in NY city once and I thought someone was going to kill me…

@casheroo well i have been to jersey but not stayed there for any long period of time. i have heard bad things about their drivers but honestly i cant imagine how they could be worse than here. i really cannot.

@tinyfaery, that’s the law in VA also. it’s not just cali. I actually think it’s a little scary that others don’t know this…it’s caused too many accidents! I don’t even have a license yet and i was fully aware of that law…

@tinyfaery There are exceptions to your double-yellow-line rule. In these cases, it is, in fact, “perfectly legal” to do so

From: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/traffic_lanes.htm#lanes
Two solid yellow lines mean no passing. Never drive to the left of these lines unless you are:

* Turning left at an intersection.
* Turning into or out of a private road or driveway.
* In a carpool lane that has a designated entrance on the left.
* Instructed to drive on the other side of the road because your side is closed or blocked.

And from: http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/hdbk/turns.htm#legalu
A U-turn is turning around in the street to go back the way you came. To make a U-turn, signal and use the far left lane or the center left turn
lane. You may make a U-turn:

* Across a double yellow line when it is safe and legal.

Tell that to the police who gave my wife a ticket for turning into a driveway across a double yellow. And to the two people who got tickets because they turned across a double yellow and hit her. The private driveway cannot refer to turning across traffic over a double yellow. And that’s my only contention.

And I never said anything about a u turn, except to make one.

The relevant paragraph is: Two solid yellow linesmean no passing. Never drive to the left of these lines unless you are:

Turning left at an intersection.
Turning into or out of a private road or driveway.
In a carpool lane that has a designated entrance on the left.
Instructed to drive on the other side of the road because your side is closed or blocked.

I read this as saying it is OK if you are turning into or out of a private road or driveway.
If you got a ticket for this, don’t pay it. Go to court with the handbook and some photos of where it happened, and get it dismissed.

I agree with yarnlady. The only way to know for sure is to go to court and fight it. The cops could very easily be mis-applying the law. Not that they are dumb as dirt or anything.

Oh another one that totally pisses me off. You know that center turning lane? You are sitting in it, waiting to turn left and some idiot that is coming towards you stops, thinking they are being considerate to allow you to turn in front of them. They are breaking the law, by stopping traffic unnecessarily. This is illegal, and if you do it to be polite, QUIT IT! If you do that, and someone rears ends you, they get the ticket even though you are the moron.

@cak, to handle tailgaters, simply tap your brakes occasionally. The smart ones will back off, the stupid ones will hit you and lose their license and insurance for being stupid. They also get to buy you a new car.

@tinyfaery No, YOU tell the cop. More importantly, you tell the court. If the cop doesn’t know the law, that doesn’t mean you have to pay tickets he gives you.

@cak, another of my favorite techniques for tailgaters is to slow waaaaaay down. Like doing half of the posted speed limit. Of course, this puts me in one of the categories that people on here are complaining about, but if the guy behind me wasn’t up my ass, we wouldn’t look like a funeral procession without the flags and a hearse.

I agree with @Les . We should stay at the speed limit.
Many accidents are caused by people going too fast, or by uneven traffic flow.
Also, going upwards of 75 really wastes gas.
A couple years ago, I drove to Las Vegas for a funeral. We drove there in 9 hours, and stayed about 75–80 mph the whole way.
On the way back, we hit terrible traffic. Long periods of not moving. It took us 14 hours to get home, and it turned out that even though we were sitting in traffic for so long, and the engine was on for 5 hours more, we used about a half tank less of gasoline.