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Ever since my mother was Tboned by a guy running from the cops as he blew threw an intersection, I always seem to just slow down just a tad at all intersections, but it makes sense to slow down a tad when you get to intersections since bad left turns can lead to head on collisions or people just not paying attention too. I always just say be prepared to slow down or stop at most intersections, since its so many impatient or bad drivers on the roads now.
If you perceptibly slow down at every intersection, you have just become the "unpredictable erratic driver" that other drivers cannot trust to conform with the controlled flow of traffic. The same if you hesitate before starting when a light turns green.
If you perceptibly slow down at every intersection, you have just become the "unpredictable erratic driver" that other drivers cannot trust to conform with the controlled flow of traffic. The same if you hesitate before starting when a light turns green.
Absolutely NOT the same if you hesitate before starting when a light turns green. If you DON'T hesitate when a light turns green, you are an idiot who is willing to put their life on the line. Sorry, not me and probably most intelligent drivers who value their lives. Seriously?
If you don’t scan the intersection here in SW Florida you WILL become a statistic. Florida drivers have developed the nasty habit of turning left against oncoming traffic. Every day I see so many very near misses.
Absolutely NOT the same if you hesitate before starting when a light turns green. If you DON'T hesitate when a light turns green, you are an idiot who is willing to put their life on the line. Sorry, not me and probably most intelligent drivers who value their lives. Seriously?
I've driven at least a million miles, maybe two million. Even when I started (1955) somebody had already invented the amber light, giving traffic a few seconds warning that the light would be red soon. I have never, not once, seen a car go through a red light after a normal relaxed-but-attentive start from a green light. Sure, I've seen a few people running the yellow, and maybe a few that went through after it turned red. But it takes (me) at least three seconds to get my car out into the cross traffic lane after the light changed, and anybody who would run a red that late has probably killed himself before he got to me.
Turnabout being fair play, if YOU are an idiot who gets out into the cross traffic lane in less than three seconds, maybe you do need to, well, hesitate.
If you perceptibly slow down at every intersection, you have just become the "unpredictable erratic driver" that other drivers cannot trust to conform with the controlled flow of traffic. The same if you hesitate before starting when a light turns green.
It is possible to scan without perceptibly slowing though. Not always, but most of the time.
I've driven at least a million miles, maybe two million. Even when I started (1955) somebody had already invented the amber light, giving traffic a few seconds warning that the light would be red soon. I have never, not once, seen a car go through a red light after a normal relaxed-but-attentive start from a green light. Sure, I've seen a few people running the yellow, and maybe a few that went through after it turned red. But it takes (me) at least three seconds to get my car out into the cross traffic lane after the light changed, and anybody who would run a red that late has probably killed himself before he got to me.
Turnabout being fair play, if YOU are an idiot who gets out into the cross traffic lane in less than three seconds, maybe you do need to, well, hesitate.
Are you in the Philippines? And have you always been? Maybe things are different where you are living?
My ex used to tell me that driving in the Philippines was like the wild west compared to the US. In the short ~40 years I've been driving, I've seen many people run cold reds. I can remember/count at least 4 in the last 3 years or so.
I always scan left and right at intersections, and, at train tracks--even when the crossing bars are up. It is surprising how many drive right on to the tracks without looking left and right when crossing bars are up. In recent years, I have witnessed several vehicles blow through lights and stop signs and they have been talking on their phones. I do quite a bit of cycling and only stick to bike paths and trails for this reason. Too dangerous to bike in traffic anymore.
Are you in the Philippines? And have you always been? Maybe things are different where you are living?
My ex used to tell me that driving in the Philippines was like the wild west compared to the US. In the short ~40 years I've been driving, I've seen many people run cold reds. I can remember/count at least 4 in the last 3 years or so.
Yes. No. Yes, they are different, but I've never driven here. But I think Ive driven in about 50 countries. Americans are the least attentive, everywhere else, people are tuned into what they are doing and pay attention to conditions and traffic movement. Americans just think the book sayd I have the right of way, so nobody better try to take it, or I'll lruln them over. Philippine drivers, and a lot of other countries, are very patient and are always ready to yield to someone who wants to make a Uturn in the middle of the block in heavy traffic, they know someone will do the same for them. Outside the central city of Cebu (4 million metrlo) there are virtually no traffic lights or other controls, everyone just shares the roadway they have in common. At major intersections, the light phase if 5-7 minutes. If its red, you shut off your engine until it turns green, then traffic flows through for the next 5-7 minutes. Only during am-pm rush does it take my taxi over an hour for me to get from myt suburb to anywhere in the metro, including the airport. Nothing that resembles a freeway.
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