Sloth turn lane confusion

Approaching an intersection with two right turn lanes and a green light,
I move into the rightmost turn lane and follow the car in front of me.
An SUV driver in the other turn lane turns on the right blinker and
tries to come into my lane. I didn't hit the brakes and passed the SUV.
As I enter the turn, the SUV driver swerves behind me and honks at me!
The Sloth then drives into the left lane of the intersecting roadway,
cutting off the other traffic that continued normally in that leftmost
turn lane. Why didn't the SUV driver stay in the lane? And why do so
many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then drive down the middle,
and then finally get into one or the other lane?

On Fri, 15 Apr 2005 05:22:42 +0000, Alexander Rogge
> wrote:

>Approaching an intersection with two right turn lanes and a green light,
> I move into the rightmost turn lane and follow the car in front of me.
> An SUV driver in the other turn lane turns on the right blinker and
>tries to come into my lane. I didn't hit the brakes and passed the SUV.
> As I enter the turn, the SUV driver swerves behind me and honks at me!
> The Sloth then drives into the left lane of the intersecting roadway,
>cutting off the other traffic that continued normally in that leftmost
>turn lane. Why didn't the SUV driver stay in the lane? And why do so
>many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then drive down the middle,
>and then finally get into one or the other lane?

I think the answer is because so many drivers are in SUVs or oversized
pickups these days. They don't know how to turn using only 1 lane.

I did see a non-SUV swerve into my (middle lane) on a surface street
yesterday, but he only used up a few inches and I didn't even have to
exit my lane to swerve around him.

In general, drivers are morons.

In article >, Alexander Rogge wrote:
> Approaching an intersection with two right turn lanes and a green light,
> I move into the rightmost turn lane and follow the car in front of me.
> An SUV driver in the other turn lane turns on the right blinker and
> tries to come into my lane. I didn't hit the brakes and passed the SUV.
> As I enter the turn, the SUV driver swerves behind me and honks at me!
> The Sloth then drives into the left lane of the intersecting roadway,
> cutting off the other traffic that continued normally in that leftmost
> turn lane. Why didn't the SUV driver stay in the lane? And why do so
> many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then drive down the middle,
> and then finally get into one or the other lane?

Get this....

not too long ago I am on my way to work. I'm in the left lane of a 4 lane
arterial. A woman turns on to the road in front of me doing 10 under.
Fine, I'm making the next left, so I'm stuck. I put on my signal, and
sure enough hers comes on and she jams on the brakes and drops to 10mph
then enters the turn lane. She creeps down the turn lane and makes the
left at 5mph and goes wide into the right lane. (I take this turn 3-4
times faster than that on my _BICYCLE_. She begins accelerating. I turn into
the near lane(left), and knowing the right lane ends after a curve, I
pass her. I was going just under the speed limit (40), she was doing
20mph. She gets upset that I pass her, I mime to her to put down
the accelerator. I pass by a cop, I see her flag down down the cop. I end
up with a papers check. All because I didn't stay behind this sloth. I
hope I encounter her again and am in front of her. I'll drive/ride very
slowly just to make her 'happy'.

Alexander Rogge wrote:
> Approaching an intersection with two right turn lanes and a green
light,
> I move into the rightmost turn lane and follow the car in front of
me.
> An SUV driver in the other turn lane turns on the right blinker and

> tries to come into my lane. I didn't hit the brakes and passed the
SUV.
> As I enter the turn, the SUV driver swerves behind me and honks at
me!
> The Sloth then drives into the left lane of the intersecting
roadway,
> cutting off the other traffic that continued normally in that
leftmost
> turn lane. Why didn't the SUV driver stay in the lane? And why do
so
> many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then drive down the
middle,
> and then finally get into one or the other lane?

I fear any intersection with a double turn lane. Seems like at least
every other time I encounter one someone doesn't understand the
concept. Not that long ago I ended up doing this fun little dance with
the guy next to me because he a) apparently didn't have any
directionals and b) wanted to turn right into a gas station despite
having turned from the leftmost lane...

nate

Alexander Rogge wrote:
> Approaching an intersection with two right turn lanes and a green
light,
> I move into the rightmost turn lane and follow the car in front of
me.
> An SUV driver in the other turn lane turns on the right blinker and

> tries to come into my lane. I didn't hit the brakes and passed the
SUV.
> As I enter the turn, the SUV driver swerves behind me and honks at
me!
> The Sloth then drives into the left lane of the intersecting
roadway,
> cutting off the other traffic that continued normally in that
leftmost
> turn lane. Why didn't the SUV driver stay in the lane? And why do
so
> many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then drive down the
middle,
> and then finally get into one or the other lane?

I fear any intersection with a double turn lane. Seems like at least
every other time I encounter one someone doesn't understand the
concept. Not that long ago I ended up doing this fun little dance with
the guy next to me because he a) apparently didn't have any
directionals and b) wanted to turn right into a gas station despite
having turned from the leftmost lane...

My method of dealing with them? Just hold my line and pretend not to
see any of the other drivers involved until they actually drift into my
lane, then I honk at them. If they see that you see them, it seems,
that gives them license to cut you off.

nate

Alexander Rogge wrote:
> And why do so many drivers take up two lanes when turning, then
> drive down the middle,

Well, it's the best line through the corner (least sideways G,
shortest time taken). I do that if there is no other traffic
nearby.

> and then finally get into one or the other lane?

Sometimes it can take a couple of seconds to determine which
lane has the fewest Sloths.

Scott en Aztlán wrote:
> I can't count the number of times some dumbass has exited a freeway,
> say, and selected freely from 2 or more available lanes, and then, as
> soon as they make their turn, they're in a panic to change lanes
> because they didn't think to select the correct one as they came down
> the off-ramp. For example, they will select the left lane, and then
> fight their way over to the right to make a right turn at the next
> intersection which is a block away. Why couldn't they just get into
> the right hand lane in the first place?

Often this is not the driver's fault. Many of these ramps have signs
which purport to tell you which lane to get in, only they're wrong.