Nothing to do on a Saturday but peruse the State of North Carolina Driver’s Handbook, right? While Raleigh drivers are generally pretty good, I found a couple of things on which we all seem a little rusty:
Interstate Highway Merge
- "Decide in advance where you must enter and exit the highway" – in other words, find your hole in traffic before the acceleration ramp becomes parallel to the highway.
- "When entering the interstate, use the acceleration lane until your vehicle’s speed matches that of the other traffic and then merge safely." - Safe merging usually involves the use of the accelerator. Note that there is no bullet point advising constantly-moving highway traffic to quicky change its speed to allow for slowly moving entering traffic. The onus is on the merger.
Four-Way Stop Signs
- First Car Rule – "The vehicle already in the intersection has the right of way ahead of any vehicle that has not yet entered."
- Same Time Rule – "When two or more vehicles reach an intersection at the same time, the vehicle to the right has the right of way. The vehicle with the right-of-way may move straight ahead or, if legal and after signaling, turn right or left. When two facing vehicles approach the intersection at the same time, the right of way rules are not much help….If one driver is going straight while one wants to turn left, the driver who wants to turn must wait."
Pet-Peeves
We all have our pet-peeves with drivers, right? Here are mine:
The merge lanes from (inbound) Wade onto the inner ring of I-440 (view it), (inbound) Glenwood onto the inner ring of I-440 (view it), and Six Forks (south) to the outer ring of I-440 (view it) all continue for at least a mile. There is no need to dangerously merge onto the second I-440 lane from these three acceleration ramps. Perhaps the State should paint a solid white line for longer and move the signs so they can be seen from the entrance ramp.- Maintain speed up hills. Many cars eastbound on I-40 east lose 5-15 mph of speed when climbing Harrison Avenue Hill. This causes a ripple of serious highway delays for the remainder of the day. (map it)
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Pet peeve, you wanna know my pet peeve????
You are approaching an intersection. Another car already in or nearing the intersection, coming from the cross street, CUTS ACROSS YOUR LANE to take their left or right turn, so that you have to slam on your brakes not to hit them. THen they give you a “right did I do wrong?” pissed look (not putting down the phone, of course) and keep going.
This is MOST upsetting on streets where part of the intersection is blind, such as the bottom of Lake Boone Trail. You come down the hill on Lake Boone to the intersection with, oddly, what is also called Lake Boone to the left. You can not see the cars coming down the hill from the right, but they fly out, cut WAY across your lane and fly up the Lake Boone that you are coming from. I have almost wrecked there many a time. There are other places too, all over the City, but this is the one I cross the most.
Why do people not realize that you can not drive into an oncoming lane in making your turn. STOP BEING LAZY PEOPLE!!!
My biggest pet peeve is people that don’t use their freakin turn signal!! How hard is it really?
I am really frustrated by people not caring to use a signal when switching lanes and making turns. I don’t get it. And the fact that the state doesn’t care about that. Heck the law enforcement officers don’t signal, I had confronted at least one and his response was that he was responding to a call, bs, regardless.
How does one do something about this, people here don’t seem to realize but it’s about alot more than ettiquette, its dangerous when cars swirve back and forth with no warning. Then there’s the fact that this creates a lot of road rage because it feels like a competition between drivers on different lanes, ‘no I got the lane first’.
Help!!!
My major pet peeve… on the North Hills Dr. terminus at Lead Mine Rd, there are two left turn lanes which direct drivers into the appropriate lanes for accessing Glenwood north/southbound and the beltline. Every light cycle there are turn lane transgressions and jockeying that could be avoided if people simply followed the correct formula. If you’re destination is Glenwood southbound or the Inner Beltline, use the leftmost turn lane on North Hills. All other destinations need to stick to the right hand lane!
I moved here sevveral years ago after a couple of decades in the D.C. suburbs. I decided early on that Triangle drivers are worse — less polite and more dangerous — than the drivers I was used to.
So, I’ll second everyone’s pet peeves and add some of my own:
1. Speeding up when the light turns yellow, even if there’s a car in front of you. More than once, I’ve braked when the yellow come on, only to have the guy behind me come within inches of plowing into my trunk because he assumed that I, too, would be punching the gas pedal.
2. Turning left, across traffic, from the far right lane of a four-lane road, and vice versa.
3. Immediately switching lanes when the guy in front brakes for a turn. Ever hear of the blind spot?
My car insurance premium increased 25 percent when I moved here from northern Virginia. The insurance company said it’s riskier driving in Wake County.
Those are all annoying, yes… but ask any insurance company or safety officer and they’ll tell you that the #1 reason for fatal accidents is speed. People always seem to be rushing to get somewhere, but here in the Triangle, it’s so much worse.
I’ve seen people on both beltlines (I-440 & I-540), as well as the highways, and occasionally just streets weaving in between vehicles playing leapfrog with everyone’s life. They zig, zag, and zip between cars and of course, without signaling. This causes everyone else to have to brake-tap to accommodate a car that has just slid into a space barely big enough to fit.
I wish above all wishes that the police would crack down HARD on speeders. I also wish that the state legislators had the stones to really break a stick over speeders backs, as well. Enforcement of speeding laws seems drastically too lax throughout the Triangle. And, don’t get me started on the merged Interstate I-85/40 in Alamance County.
I broke my lead-foot habit many, many years ago. I’ve learned my lessons and no longer feel the “need for speed”. Perhaps everyone should review that safety video – “Red Asphalt”.
My peeve is that the state doesn’t test drivers any longer on whether they can parrallel park or not. As cities like Raleigh, Durham, and others do more and more to revitalize their downtowns, this is a crucial skill for drivers to be able to do…yet anyone can get a license whether they know how to do it or not!
All those people whining that they got tickets on Fayetteville Street last week for being more than a foot from the curb….give me a break! If you knew how to parrallel park you wouldn’t have had that problem!
In response to Nathan, people wouldn’t have to zip around so much if cars would obey the “Slower Traffic Keep Right” rule.
I don’t know how many times I see people merge onto I-40 then proceed to hop over to the 3rd or 4th lane and then go 60-65 mph.
To be honest, when driving I-40, I can go much faster in the furthest right-hand lane than I can the left. People think going 70 entitles them to drive in the “fast” lane.
Drive I-40 in RTP some night after 11 when it is wide open. People will merge on and then immediately move over 2 lanes when there is no traffic.
the fast lane is ‘faster within the speed limit’, no lane is supposed to be for cars going over the limit. So, the cars on the left lane going at 70 are going fast. Now, staying on the right lane except for passing is another issue
I drive maximum 60 MPH and always stay in the right lane. I drive 60 to save gas. (You should too, but whatever) What bugs me is when people are merging onto the highway and expect me to switch out of the right lane to make room for them. Aren’t they the ones supposed to be yielding?
RaleighRob is right on the money! Speeding isn’t the problem, its those people who drive too slowly in the lefthand lanes, forcing other vehicles to navigate around them!