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I hate to keep beating a dead horse but once again, How?
I ease forward in the intersection.
I am now in the intersection but I can't turn because cars are coming.
The light turns yellow but I still can't go because cars are still going through.
The light turns red and now that I'm in the middle of the intersection I have no choice but to go.
Again, the light has turned red.
You are behind me.
Unless you are planning on actually running the red light there is absolutely no way I am holding you up.
You need to wait for the light to cycle through before you can go anyway so me being in front of you really isn't going to matter and there is no way I am holding up traffic.
Once again I don't trust traffic cameras and I don't trust oncoming traffic until it stops, and many times it doesn't stop until several moments after the light has turned red. If a cop was any where nearby he may see me making the turn well after the light has turned red without knowing the details. Therefore I am not taking the risk. I like my excellent driving record, low insurance rates, and my life.
This is what I've been talking about all along and the situation I described in another post is exactly what I've been talking about.
BTW. I don't stop on a green light when going straight through. But I may take several moments to get started from a stop after it turns green. Enough time to make sure I can see and that the other cars are actually stopping.
I don't think this horse is going to move so I'm outa here.
Intersections here are large enough that 2-3 cars can actually pull out into the intersection to prepare for a left turn, so you would be holding up 1-2 people behind you if you refuse to do so. (Though this is a non-issue usually because the majority of large intersections here also have dedicated left turn signals as well at all times of day since dual left turn lanes are so common. However, I know those are not as common on the east coast, so there is more opportunity to pull into the intersection to prepare for a turn.)
Additionally, I find it scarier to attempt left turns from behind the line. I will always pull into the intersection if the stoplight configuration allows, because there is a shorter distance I need to travel to complete my turn. If it turns out that an oncoming car is speeding and I was not able to recognize this before beginning my turn, I have a better chance of hitting the gas and getting out of their path than if I had started from behind the line. It is also easier to see oncoming traffic by pulling forward and angling my car ever so slightly to the left than it is from behind the line facing completely straight ahead.
By all means, keep doing what you are doing if it has worked for you for many years, but don't be surprised when I come up behind you and become aggravated when you don't pull forward (despite this being completely legal), especially because my way, though different from yours, has been working for me for many years.
I think you guys (marlin and others) are fighting for nothing and everyone is saying the same. I think it's perfectly fine to go in the intersection if I think I have decent chance of turning left at least when the light turns yellow. However, I also see situation where it is impossible to do that as you can see cars coming continuously as fas as you can see. In this case, chances are oncoming traffic will keep moving even when it turns yellow for them so you will have to turn on red. And I am not talking about super congested cities like DC so intersections are huge. In congested cities it is almost necessary to do that as otherwise you will never be able to turn as you will always have oncoming traffic. What irritates me is situation above when you can see there is no chance still guy behind is honking so "both" can turn on red when there is no need to do that really as after red it will be left turn signal or there will be no oncoming traffic.
I think you guys (marlin and others) are fighting for nothing and everyone is saying the same. I think it's perfectly fine to go in the intersection if I think I have decent chance of turning left at least when the light turns yellow. However, I also see situation where it is impossible to do that as you can see cars coming continuously as fas as you can see. In this case, chances are oncoming traffic will keep moving even when it turns yellow for them so you will have to turn on red. And I am not talking about super congested cities like DC so intersections are huge. In congested cities it is almost necessary to do that as otherwise you will never be able to turn as you will always have oncoming traffic. What irritates me is situation above when you can see there is no chance still guy behind is honking so "both" can turn on red when there is no need to do that really as after red it will be left turn signal or there will be no oncoming traffic.
So I was stopped at a green light behind another car. The light turned green and the car in front didn't move. I honked, used headlight signals, repeated a few times, after some 15 seconds I decided to move around, wondering if that car was broken or the driver impaired, as soon as I pass the guy steps on the gas and hits my left rear wheel, some 15 feet ahead of where he was stopped.
It turns out he was a 83 yo man, disoriented, with bad attitude and expired insurance, the police wouldn't file a report because no one was injured.
Who is at fault?
So I was stopped at a green light behind another car. The light turned green and the car in front didn't move. I honked, used headlight signals, repeated a few times, after some 15 seconds I decided to move around, wondering if that car was broken or the driver impaired, as soon as I pass the guy steps on the gas and hits my left rear wheel, some 15 feet ahead of where he was stopped.
It turns out he was a 83 yo man, disoriented, with bad attitude and expired insurance, the police wouldn't file a report because no one was injured.
Who is at fault?
The elderly gentleman is clearly at fault, but where you went wrong (in my opinion, of course) was sitting behind him, honking and flashing your lights. I give one quick little honk-honk (I don't lay on the horn), if they don't start moving a second or so after that and I have room, I just go on around them. Sitting there honking and flashing your lights at them just gets them steamed up further, especially someone like this clown with anger management issues.
If there isn't adequate room to get around them, I will just sit there until they decide to move, or I'll make a turn to the left or right and double-back if they don't move after one light cycle.
99% of the time, a simple honk will do. The remaining 1% of the time, their car broke and there's not much to do than go around.
Where I live, a honk is a sign of aggression and will bring on a RAGE. Don't.
We also need more threads like this. Things like this make us upset and we need the discussion, to vent a d educate. Continue.
How about those that stay stopped at the green on purpose...
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