| Re: drivers speeding away
On Feb 2, 5:11 am, tkeats2...@hotmail.com (Tom Keats) wrote:
> In article <1170261361.851213.149...@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups .com>,
>
> >> > (Personally, I dislike it when a motorist tries to be overly kind, for
> >> > example by trying hard to wave me through a 4-way stop when it's
> >> > clearly not my turn. My thoughts are "Forget the politeness contest;
> >> > just go, and stop confusing everybody.")
>
> >> I used to think that way, too. Now if they give it
> >> to me, I'll just receive it when it's safe to do so.
>
> > Still, as I say, I dislike it. Excessive, rule-breaking politeness by
> > one motorist can cause problems with other nearby motorists. When
> > everyone just does what they're supposed to, traffic flows better, and
> > I flow better within it.
>
> Sure, that's ultimately what the rules of the road
> are for -- to make traffic flow better.
>
> I'm glad you brought this up, though, because
> it invokes the social component of interacting
> with fellow urban traffic. And I've found that
> social component to be at least as significant
> as awareness, or adherence to the "rules of the
> road." Of course it takes more awareness than
> adherence to the rules of the road to recognize
> an operator of a vehicle as a /fellow/, than as
> their vehicle, itself.
Agreed.
I recall a pair of images from a "Sprocketman" cartoon book for kids.
The picture on the left was a view of a crowded city street, showing
cyclists, pedestrians, car drivers, a bus with driver and passengers,
etc.
The matching picture pointed out that they were _all_ just people
getting around, or words to that effect. That picture showed all
those people in the same positions, but on foot instead of in their
vehicles. The bus picture, with the driver standing in front of rows
of standing passengers, seemed particularly funny.
But it does make a couple good points. For example, no matter how big
and classy your car is, you're still just another person who's allowed
to use the roadway. You don't get extra privileges because you're
driving an Escalade.
> Two people at a lonely intersection, co-operating
> instead of contending -- what's wrong with that?
> Even if it's mutually decided that the guy on the
> left may go first?
Perhaps not much. But the four-way stops I go through on the way to
work are not lonely, they're usually busy. And if the guy to my right
starts waving me through, the guy to my left might run out of patience
and zoom across at the same moment I accept the invitation.
Let me give another, more extreme examplel of excessive politeness.
The nice young teenage guy who lived next door was once approaching
from the south on a busy two lane road as my wife and I rode south.
We were getting ready to make a left turn onto a side street, and I
noticed a gaggle of cars approaching from our rear. I was near the
center line, figuring to turn as soon as the teen passed us.
But he didn't. He began slowing and slowing, then came to a full stop
in his lane, enthusiastically waving for us to turn in front of him.
Cars behind him were blowing their horns, and cars behind us were
squeezing by to our right. (My mistake - I didn't take the lane,
because I figured we'd be gone before they arrived.)
There are all sorts of non-standard moves that work out fine in
deserted road circumstances. But I'm disussing interacting traffic in
volume, not just one driver on a deserted country road. And I think
there's no question that things almost always work out best if people
follow the rules, instead of trying to be overly creative. The rules
work.
- Frank Krygowski
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