Right turn green light question.

X2. Some may say I drive a bit fast. Some may say I drive offensive, even aggressive. One thing though that can also be said is I can combine those traits with the traits of a courteous drive. I believe it's in all our best interests to make sure everyone has the opportunity to get to work (or wherever else) as smoothly as possible. It doesn't kill us to get over to the left when someone noticeably wants to turn right. It doesn't kill us to not block the intersection of a shopping center when we're stopped during a long wait at a red light during rush hour. It also doesn't kill us to attempt to remain towards the right most lanes on a highway to allow others traveling faster to pass. All of these things ultimately make for a better and happier driving experience for those around you. The person you let turn right on red... the person you let sneak past you at the red light to get to the shopping center.... and the person you let pass in the left most lanes could ultimately be be driving next to your wife and kids on the way to a movie a few miles down the road. Wouldn't you prefer that person to be happy, and not agitated doing so?

 

yah i suppose

but if one is in a exit only lane and the lane that has been dotted for the last half a mile is now a solid line, i won't go out of my way to let that guy in.

is this the right forum for this question tho

 

i think u would be able to cross the green light and get to the red light if you got an ev switch, heh

 

Those of you that said you would "get over to the left", did you mean over into a left lane, or just to the left side of your current lane? Two cars in one lane is illegal and unsafe. It is also illegal and unsafe to use the shoulder as a turn lane, or to otherwise cross a solid white line. This is one of the more common moving violations that I see.

Tom

 

I don't know if this is a Arizona thing or not.... also, this is something a driving instructor discussed at driving school (yea, for a ticket) several years ago. He said (and I have not verified) that it is legal to "share a lane" when turning right (presumably on red) as long as the vehicle you're "sharing" with is another car/truck and not a motorcycle or bicycle. Once again, never verified this fact, but I've followed this for several years since, even in front of police officers without issues.


Mike

 

That's not the case in Michigan, although you can get away with it most of the time. If you get an officer in a bad mood you'll get a ticket for it. It's much like making a lane change during a turn. Many people will turn left and move over to the right-most lane, all in one motion. To do it legally, you have to turn into the closest lane, then make a legal lane change. If you sit by an intersection and watch, you'll see driver after driver make this type of illegal turn. Usually the police don't bother enforcing it.

Tom

 

Staying out of the right lane is a courtesy and a good idea. Right turns on red are good for all because they reduce idling and so also air pollution and fuel consumption.

 

I will continue to try to improve my driving habits to get the best mpg under reasonable conditions. I will run my tires at a higher psi, but not over max rating and certainly not to a point that significantly reduces traction and thus safety. After all that is the trade-off. It's the reduction in traction that results in the improved mpg. I will not be rude or inconsiderate to other drivers just to gain a few mpg in my car. That is a self centered attitude and counter productive, if you, in fact claim to care about the environment. If you understand traffic patterns at all and the problems of moving traffic around, as efficiently as possible, to save the environment, you will understand that while you may think you are saving gas, you are backing up everyone behind you. If the lights are set up to let x number of car through on a green, and because if you, only half or less gets through, you are doubling the time that it will take these cars to travel the same distance, thus increasing fuel consumption. And if enough people do it then you will be increasing the average commute times and fuel comsumption. So by all means, if you want to save that extra tenth of a gallon, idle to the next red light. The h**l with the person behind you, and the person behind them, and so on and the environment. Whatever their reason to be out on your route or need to be somewhere in what they thought was a reasonable amount of time, sc**w them. You need that mpg. And as more and more people follow your lead and rush hour becomes grid-locked and you are caught in the middle of it like everyone else, well shucks, there goes your mpg to h**l too. Oh! wait everyone won't do it, just you. Oh! that's O.K. then. I also will not do anything knowingly illegal to save gas. I will move up and over a little, but not out of my lane, to leave someone enough space to safely have access to the turn lane. I'm sorry if my post sounds rude or inconsiderate. My driving habits are much more defensive and less agressive than my postings get when someone hits on one of my pet peeves. I believe that passive agressive driving is just as rude, inconsiderate and as much a cause of accidents, although not usually as deadly, as full out agressive drivers. And while your saving that tenth of a gallon in your car, it is costing every car that you back up behind you. So go ahead, get that extra mpg. Just, please don't say you are doing it in the name of our environment.

 

I'll have to say I agree with you. Well done. BTW, you deserve to stand on a soap box. I worked for a company that had an office where you live. I flew out there about once a month. Your area has the worst traffic congestion of any place I've ever driven. For this, you certainly deserve a bit of soap box time on this topic.

Mike

 

Thanks for the post, Mike. I'm really anxious to see how the Prius performs. We average ~18mpg per tank on the Avalon. The interesting thing is that we get ~25mpg on weekends which represents ~150 of our ~270 miles per tank. That calculates out to ~12.5mpg for my wifes 4 days of commuting @ ~30miles per day. Basically same terrain, similar roads, only difference, traffic. The more people you can get though an intersection on a light, the shorter the rush hour(s). The shorter the rush hour(s), the less fuel spent. The less fuel spent, the less $'s and emmissions, and so on.

 

I try to strike a balance between fuel economy and courtesy. In your scenario I won't glide at, say, < 10 MPH for a couple hundred yards when someone's behind me with their right turn signal on and I'm keeping them from a right turn lane. On the other hand, when I'm moving or slowing at a reasonable rate and they're telling me through their proctologist imitation that they expect me to floor it to an upcoming red light and then slam my brakes at the last minute, I ignore them.

 

No I agree! I don't race to the next light for anyone, any more then I will creep along at idle speed if it means impeding the normal flow of traffic. I will often try to time it so as not to have to stop for the light, but again, only if I'm not impeding other driver's chances to make it though the light behind me. As many things in life, it's a judgement call. A I'm not going to deliberately implede the normal flow of traffic, at the risk of sc**wing someone else's day up to gloat over a few extra miles on a tank of fuel. But then I don't park in handicpped spaces or fire lanes @ shopping centers, I actually let people merge out of side streets if they are waiting their turn, will come out of cruise if necessary to allow someone to merge smoothly from a ramp, in general, I do try to be a courtious driver, respecting the other driver as an individual with as much right to be on the road as I have. And at the end of the day, frankly, I find that alot more gradifying than my MPG readout. But then it's a personsal choice each one of us have to make and live with.

 

Two words... paragraph breaks.

 

Thanks for the reminder! I do try. I will try to do better.
I usually go to Preview to edit for typo's and run-on's and para breaks. I hit Submit instead of Preview. Did some editting but was tired and got sloppy.
No excuse, just like coasting, gliding or idling in traffic, it can unnecessarily waste other's time.
Thanks again! :thumb:

 

Think about this: by blocking the right turn lane, you make several cars idle needlessly and pollute more than if you went in the other lane.
It's not only courtesy, it's good sense to not block them.

 

Agreed! But I think they were talking about a wide single lane and trying to make room for a car to squeeze by in the same lane to make a turn.
I will inch inch over as far as I can but I won't cross any lines and a will block the lane in the center, and not move over, unless I feel there is going to be enough room for another car to get by w/o taking my side mirrors with it. I don't know about your area but here the SUV's pickups, and even the cars will go 2 wheels up on the curb to go by for a turn or to go around you if you're waiting to make a left and there is no center turn lane.
I've driven all over the country from coast and Canada and I have never seen anything like Metro Atlanta driving habits.
Well anyway, that;s the point that I was trying to make in a previous post in this thread.