Rules of the road. Right of way questions

[Carpenter96]

Right of way is something you should only give! When right of way is taken, bad things happen, like crunching metal.

Regards Bob

[capncarl]

Gotta remember when driving, some people are just rude and shouldn't be behind the wheel, others are distracted and can't drive because of Facebook, and then you have the ones that shouldn't drive because they are abitual speeders and have no respect for others life and are going to pass you and cut you off. If you have a little car that is hard to see you are at risk. The best vehicle for these kinds of drivers is a big nasty stinking garbage truck. Everyone seems to stay away from them.

[JSUPreston]

What I hate is when the law and common sense are in conflict.

I think I've told y'all about this one before. Almost 5 years ago, my family and I had a wreck in the minivan. We were 2 weeks away from paying it off and owed about $620 on it.

I was making a left turn at a very busy intersection. I had circular green (marked turn left on circular green when clear). Coming in the opposite direction was a car in the right turn lane at a very slow rate of speed. This car had a yield sign for that lane before it turned onto the road we were both turning onto. There was no other oncoming traffic (about 9:30pm).

As I enter the intersection making my left turn and am almost halfway through my turn, the car illegally changes lanes (crossing solid white line, no turn signal, and almost hits a concrete median) and then accelerates from about 20 to 40mph. They hit my van in the right front fender, and the impact destroys my suspension. My wife's right shoulder hit her b-pillar and required surgery. Obviously, both kids were upset.

To try to finish the story, both cars were totaled. The van was a Kia Sedona with less than 50k miles, but the repair was going to cost more than blue book. The driver of the other car was uninsured (against the law in Alabama). Even though eye witness testimony (included passenger in the car that hit me) matched mine, the officer doing the investigation told me I was considered at fault. However, the way he said it and the look in his eye told me that is was a legality. He knew that the other driver did everything wrong, but they got me on the turning left on solid green.

The other folks tried to sue me, but insurance investigation proved they were pretty much as at-fault as me. The investigator knew the intersection well, and told me that even he would have done the same thing. In the end, my insurance paid more to them than me just to get them to go away. Total cost (not counting wife's surgery) was nearly $20k. Almost half of that was the other folks "medical expenses).

[Black wallnut]

Fourway stop first to arrive first to go, in case of a tie yield to the vehicle on the right. Opposing stop signs left turning traffic must yield.

[leehljp]

Rules are rules vs Defensive driving.

Defensive driving - some people don't get the reality of it. Speaking of which - LOML is one! She had a wreck in 2001 at a merging lane just past an intersection. She was on the main road and had the green light; the street to the right has a merging/yelding lane onto the main road. She says she saw the fellow (who was on drugs) seemingly not paying attention and swerved into her to get into the main lane.

LOML says: He was wrong.
Me: Didn't you see that he was going to do that?
Her: Yes, I could tell that he looked like he was, but it doesn't matter, he was in the wrong! He wasn't supposed to do that. I had the green light and the right of way.

Of course he was in the wrong and he was charged on multiple counts. But that is exactly what "Defensive driving" is NOT! Defensive driving is anticipating that the other person may not drive rationally! After a long drive, I am tired from watching. I am slightly on the paranoid side when other drivers have the potential for acting irrational or out of lapse of attention.

Rules are rules, but it is the guy that doesn't follow the rules that gets you killed or maimed. Knowing the rules help legally and for the most part keeps order, but it is defensive driving that does more beneficial.

This kinda reminds me of a conversation I had in Korea back in '86. I was visiting from Japan. In Japan, there lots and lots of bicycles for commuting locally. In Korea, I did not see many. I asked my host "Why not many bicycles?"
Host: If you ride bicycle on the street and you get hit, you will be dead!
Me: Don't you have laws on that?
Host: What good is law when you are dead? Laws only helps the surviving family!

[JSUPreston]

Lee, I agree with you completely about the defensive driving. I have always been a defensive driver, but even more so after riding a motorcycle for a couple of years. Bought one to try to save gas, but decided a few bucks a month wasn't going to do me any good 6' under. Had a couple of close calls where I had to pry myself off the seat because of the "pucker" I had.