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I've confirmed through multiple sources that this is legal in Texas, at least they say there's no law on the books that says you can't pull up before turning left. Ditto for California. Some places might have laws that say you can't pull up if the street you're turning onto is completely jammed because you'll be stuck in the intersection when the light turns red. (that might have been California).
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I was going to ask them for a cite. As far as I know, it is legal to pull into the intersection to wait for oa chance to turn left. Of course, the only exception being, as you mentioned, if the traffic on the road you want to turn onto is backed up. If there is a law against it, no one here has ever cited one.
In the doubled-nickel days, Montana drivers proposed a "constant throttle" speed limit, in which the speed limits would be different going uphill or downhill. You could hold your throttle constant, which would result in a speed of about 40 going up hill and 80 downhill, and would maximize fuel efficiency. It made no sense to guzzle gas going uphill at 55, and then go downhill with your brakes on.
I don't see a big difference between Ohio and Michigan drivers. Before we moved to the area, a friend's son was going on and on about Ohio (he's a Michihoonian, big surprise eh?) and how crappy the drivers are and how everyone in Ohio is an a-hole, etc. etc. I asked what makes them all a-holes? Crickets.
AT any rate, the midwest in general seems to consist of drivers whose turn signal fingers are all broken and whose depth perception via the rearview mirror is quite compromised, since they like to cut in after passing.
Also, many in my area see driving as a secondary activity, far behind #1 which is texting their BFF!! LOL! OMG!! LOL!! etc. etc.
It's not uncommon to see a textidiot lag 5-10 seconds after the light turns green, and then mosey along at 20 MPH in a 40 zone. Patient drivers stacking up behind them. I WISH more people around here would lay on their horns, New Yawk style, for idiots like that. They need to awaken from their slumber and pay attention.
Even if it's just for 10-20 seconds. Before more very important text messages come through.
I don't see a big difference between Ohio and Michigan drivers. Before we moved to the area, a friend's son was going on and on about Ohio (he's a Michihoonian, big surprise eh?) and how crappy the drivers are and how everyone in Ohio is an a-hole, etc. etc. I asked what makes them all a-holes? Crickets..
I see it every time I go "home" to Michigan. In Ohio, they drive really slow on the Turnpike. No surprise with all the troopers every few miles sitting there waiting to nab speeders. Even I slow it up a tad in Ohio. At the Michigan border on I 75, things change. Everybody starts going much faster! The speed limit is higher too. That's one big difference. The other difference are minor. BTW, it is Michigander or Michiganian, though I prefer the first one.
I see it every time I go "home" to Michigan. In Ohio, they drive really slow on the Turnpike. No surprise with all the troopers every few miles sitting there waiting to nab speeders. Even I slow it up a tad in Ohio. At the Michigan border on I 75, things change. Everybody starts going much faster! The speed limit is higher too. That's one big difference. The other difference are minor. BTW, it is Michigander or Michiganian, though I prefer the first one.
Yes, there is definitely a pronounced difference. Mostly they are just slow. They brake and stop a lot too. On the other hand they do not tailgate as much or drive as aggressively. Yhey also seem to pay attention to their driving less often. Ohio has a lot of great tings about it, low insurance rates, decent roads, cheaper gasoline, cool caves, cedar point, a better library system, overall they seem to have a better government. . . . Driving skills is not one of them.
As a cyclist, when I'm doing road biking, drivers swerve a lot farther left to avoid me in the DC area than they did in the Chicago area (though both keep safe distances).
Utah has an odd, passive-aggressive driving style that takes the cake for sheer stupidity. People drive with eyes straight ahead as if they're the only one on the road. Literally.
In a merging situation nobody, NOBODY, will let someone merge, nor will they even look at them: eyes straight ahead to avoid eye contact. This has some odd side effects. If you're on the highway approaching a merging lane, the expectation of the merger is that nobody will let them merge. therefore they slow down to fall in behind the car on the main road. If you slow down to let the merging car merge the merger will inevitably slow down to let the car on the highway get ahead of them. Everyone I know has repeatedly seen merging cars practically stop because of this.
The same I'm-the-only-driver-on-the-road mentality also results in parking lot crashes that total one or both of the cars. I didn't think it was even possible to go that fast in a lot, but they do. I've never seen this anyplace else.
I see it every time I go "home" to Michigan. In Ohio, they drive really slow on the Turnpike. No surprise with all the troopers every few miles sitting there waiting to nab speeders. Even I slow it up a tad in Ohio. At the Michigan border on I 75, things change. Everybody starts going much faster! The speed limit is higher too. That's one big difference. The other difference are minor. BTW, it is Michigander or Michiganian, though I prefer the first one.
I just don't observe that. I was surprised the first time I was (recently) on the Ohio Turnpike, because of all the stories I'd seen over the years about Ohio State Highway Patrol. I observed almost no OHP, took no radar hits, and everyone was running 5-10 over just as they do in Michigan and Indiana.
Though it's not officially an interstate in Michigan but it becomes 475 in Ohio, US 23 driving is if anything more erratic in Michigan. Going out to Detroit Metro via US 23 and I-94 will usually give me a few loonies who need to be reported.
The first time you drive in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, it's pretty startling to see that people pass on 2-lane roads, paying no attention to whether there is oncoming traffic or not. Everyone just widens out and makes room for the third lane. If you see a car behind you gaining on you, you just east over to the right edge to make room for him to pass, as a courtesy, because he will pass you anyway. You always have to be mindful that traffic coming toward you is doing the same thing, and you might need to make room for a passing car coming in your lane. In recent years, I've noticed a lot less of this, but it was very common decades ago anywhere south of Corpus and San Antonio.
I learned that this was very common in Spain when I was there many years ago. The roads were wide enough so that this was a fairly safe procedure. In most of the US two-lane roads are not wide enough for three cars side-by-side, or the center lane is marked for left turns only.
I just don't observe that. I was surprised the first time I was (recently) on the Ohio Turnpike, because of all the stories I'd seen over the years about Ohio State Highway Patrol. I observed almost no OHP, took no radar hits, and everyone was running 5-10 over just as they do in Michigan and Indiana.
Though it's not officially an interstate in Michigan but it becomes 475 in Ohio, US 23 driving is if anything more erratic in Michigan. Going out to Detroit Metro via US 23 and I-94 will usually give me a few loonies who need to be reported.
Either things have changed, or you just got lucky to not see troopers. I have been through once or twice where I didn't see many, so it is possible.
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