Actually, the signaling vehicle changing lanes is supposed to yield. They’re supposed to be the ones to slow down to find a gap in the traffic before making the lane change.
I notice that drivers in many big cities have got this backwards, and are therefore perceived as aggressive drivers.
For the record, this week I got on a taxi that, instead of the normal rear view mirror, had a camera shaped like a rear view mirror but showing the front view. I get it, it is a camera capturing the front view, but like, couldn’t you dear taxi driver get one and, like, keep the useful rear view mirror? Because if a middle aged taxi driver thinks the rear view mirror is useless/irrelevant/not needed, then the problem out there is seriously bad.
I am also starting to think blue trucks have a design flaw that obstructs the view. Saw one hit and drag the traffic cones a garbage truck had set…and drive off into the sunset.
Currently when I drive I am as paranoid about zebra crossings as I was as a pedestrian. That was great advice from my instructor: look at anything coming. Yes, that grandma on the bike will not stop because she has a red light. Expect that motorcycle to do a 180. The bus never sees you as it pulls out/in 3 lanes.
Before I started driving, I wanted a cute little car easy to park. Not anymore. If I could drive a Hummer, I would. The bigger, the safer.
It is
The drivers
Another problem with the blue trucks. They should make the vehicles out of clear plastic wrap and drivers would see better and be more cautious !
They need to put some kind of sensors too. I mean, how can’t you see a friggin garbage truck? There were 4 traffic cones. First he got so close I was afraid he’d drive right into the garbage compactor. Then he drives off at an angle, dragging the cone. One of the operators who was in front of him tried to stop him, yelled but had to get out of the way or else he was getting run over too.
wrong.
once a gap is found and the car begins the merge and enters the lane they are merging into, vehicles from behind must yield.
This doesnt happen. Scooters are notorious for occupying the space being merged into after the vehicle legally and rightfully enters the gap in the lane, right up to the completion of the merge. They will intentionally speed up and zoom dangerously around the vehicle on all sides. It is also illegal to overtake on the right, which they do all the time.
We’re talking about changing lanes, not merging. You’re not supposed to even begin to change lanes if doing so would force another vehicle to slow down. That’s called cutting someone off.
But obviously if someone does this to you, you should still brake to avoid a collision.
I have a question:
Let’s say I want to turn right at a crossing. If the light is green, I have to watch out for the scooters flying by on my right side, other cars turning right on my left side, and people/bikes crossing the road on the red light side. Heaven forbid I slow down or break mid maneuver or just sit there till the pedestrians clear, cause I get a chorus of horns from behind. What am I doing wrong?
And I get the same chorus or worse, a car coming from the right if the light is red.
I know, I know…step on it. But then how can I avoid hitting granny in a bike?
Nothing. Just ignore the honking and don’t flinch, so they know you meant to stop.
They’re honking because they can’t see the granny in the bike crossing the street. They can only see your butt. Once the granny enters into view, they will feel like idiots.
Merging is changing lanes and changing lanes is merging. Same thing.
2 lane road. Right lane has a sea of scooters. Car is in left lane wanting to turn right soon. They need to change lanes by merging or ekse they will end up, by your method, stopping in their lane and blocking traffic. Once a cae begins to merge / change lanes, it is wrong for a scooter to intentionally speed up from behi d to prevent the lane change. Yet it happens all the time.
Cutting someone off is completely different.
No, merging is when 2 lanes becomes 1 and traffic is forced together. Changing lanes is a choice.
No. Merging is when two lanes become one, or when one lane ends. Different rules apply in these cases.
Nothing wrong with that. Stopped traffic is a normal and expected part of driving. Cutting people off is not.
What you are describing (forcing a lane change) is the textbook definition of cutting someone off.
You’re changing the topic. We weren’t talking about what happens after the vehicle already begins to move to the next lane. Let me remind you what you initially posted:
Having your turn signal on doesn’t mean other drivers need to slow down and yield to you. It’s a different story, on the other hand, if you have already cut them off and began moving over, and they need to avoid a collision.
Yes.
Just go out and drive over a few people at the stop light.
Test passed.
The driving schools are what makes Taiwanese bad drivers.
Don’t be them.
On way to deal with scooters flying by on right side is to drive close to the edge of the road before the right turn so there is physically no space for them to pass you there.
Before the turn, when still in motion with a flow of traffic, signal right turn (you should do it anyway several seconds before turning) and start edging closer to the right edge. (you have few seconds for that before turn)
I will generally look at the gap between scooters when I have the speed and place myself close to the edge.
I’m sure I’m loved for this s/ but it is better for them than being dead.
Relax and ignore honking. Safety before somebody else’s convenience. Give way to pedestrians and bicyclists.
BTW in many countries it is illegal to ride bicycle over pedestrian pass. (legal only on designated bicycle path crossings)
Yeah, you are well within your rights to move into the shoulder and staying close to the right edge of the road when making a right turn.
If a scooter behind you is going straight, they can pass you from the left if they’re in a hurry.
Re: Bicycles crossing in the crosswalk, it is also illegal here in Taiwan. They either need to use the designated bike crossing, or just remain on the road.
It is so common, including right in front of traffic cops that it is effectively legal.
I’m ok with that if the bicycle reduces speed to match pedestrians.
Most jurisdictions assume it is not possible to enforce that speed restriction and just blanket ban it.
Same riding bicycles on the sidewalk: slow is ok.
Lanes merge.
Vehicles also merge.
When a vehicle changes lanes, it meges with the traffic in the lane it is moving to.
You cant just stop in a left lane waiting to change lanes. You can stop in a left lane to turn left, or stop in a right lane to turn left. But stopping to change lanes and causing all traffic in your lane to become trapped is not ok.
Changing lanes and merging with the traffic in that lane is not cutting someone off.
Cutting someon off is merging at the last minute too close to an approaching vehicle from the rear.
I never suggested this.
Cars will often signal the desire to change lanes and merge with traffic. Scooters will almost always see the signal and form a blockade by speeding up to fill the vacant space the car was trying to merge into. This is both rude and dangerous. If a scooter sees a car up ahead wanting to change lanes and there is ame room, it is the polite thing to do to not accelerate excessively into that space.
Even after cars begin their lane change, scooters dont care and will zip aroundd dangerously on both sides, essentially surrounding the car on all sides all throughout the lane change. They do t allow the car spa e to safely merge with traffic in their lane.
It is selfish, dangerous, and illegal.
One reason this is an issue is so many cars don’t start getting ready to turn well in advance of the corner. Instead, they wait to the last minute to start turning and then expect the world to accommodate them
If the other vehicle was forced to slow down when you changed lanes, then you were changing lanes at the last minute.
Yes, you can. And you should, if there isn’t an ample gap to make your lane-change.
Obviously the ideal situation is to change lanes well in advance so this situation doesn’t happen in the first place.
no you can’t. And no, you shouldnt.
Turning left or right, sure.
Changing lanes left or right, coming to a complete stop in your lane is absolutely not ok. This stops all traffic.
As you said, one should plan ahead and change lanes well in advance. But many dont and attempt to change lanes at the very last minute. If not possible, then keep going with the flow of traffic and change when safe. If you miss a turn, then circle back and try again.
We can agree to disagree. Perhaps you come from a country where this is not ok, but I come from a place where it is expected (if the only alternative is to force your way into the right lane).