Odd Driving Customs
 

I have lived in 9 states, driven in dozens more, as well as several other countries. Only in Alabama have I observed these 2 customs.

1. Turn signals for the car ahead of you. When a local driver activates his turn signal, he is likely to be copied by the driver behind him. I believe that the intention is to warn other drivers that this would not be a good time to pass. For a left turn, that makes sense, although it aggravates me that others automatically assume I'm not paying attention or am too impatient to tolerate the least delay or slowdown. Makes no sense for right turns (a less common practice) and potentially leads to other accidents because the signal is false.

2. Stopping for funeral processions. Put a line of cars on the opposite side of the road, with headlights burning during daytime hours, and the typical Alabama driver will pull off the road. I understand not cutting into one. I understand keeping intersections clear. I don't get pulling over. I've even observed it on multi-lane limited access highways. I thought I had witnessed a false procession pullover this past Sunday as I was in a long line of cars in a driving rainstorm. Turns out there was a tornado overhead and behind me that was causing drivers on the opposite side to stop. :D

These are my observations. Any from elsewhere?

I've seen the practice occasionally on narrow rural roads in heavily wooded, low visibility East Texas. It makes good sense, especially in areas with narrow unpaved shoulders, inducing vehicles approaching from behind to slow or stop. If you've ever seen some poor b*stard rear ended by a logging truck, you's do anything to prevent it, including emergency flashers.

Still seen throughout the rural South and near Southwest, an ancient custom of respect originally applicable to pedestrians. Less often seen today is a feature from deeper in history, male pedestrians removing hats/caps as the funeral cortege passes. I know of a couple of small towns in West Texas where the entire town shuts down for a funeral, and on the road ftoward the cemetery, approaching pickups will stop and the drivers dismount, "gimme" caps in hand.

A practice which says something meritorious about those who practice it, respect for others.

Priority to the right in Belgium. I will never understand why traffic comes to a halt in a major traffic circle to allow cars to enter from the right without stopping.

I'm not sure I'd define it as an 'odd' custom - More in the category of a 'nice' custom, but it was neat to watch how, in Ireland, everyone flashed their hazard light to say "thank you" after you let them pass.

Cheers,
Geoff Glave
Vancouver, Canada

The custom here in NY is to drive with a fist with the middle finger extended. :D

try driving in taiwan or even riding a bicycle here

I've driven in a few countries around the world - not sure if I can remember which ones off the top of my head, but I'm sure they're out there - where people actually drive on the WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD!!

You have no idea how many accidents they almost caused that way, when I was just minding my own business, driving on the RIGHT side of the road and they came head on at me IN MY LANE!

I'll tell you it was a miracle no one was killed!!

Nutjobs!







:p :D :p

Priority from the right makes perfect sense -- it's a very effective traffic calming tool (when used correctly), and I consider it much less obnoxious than the all-way stop in the US.

Priority from the right in roundabouts, however, makes no sense, and although I can't dispute that these aberrations exist, I'd say that it's much more common to find priority for cars in the circle.

not in england or japan ios doesnt they drive on the right

Everyday driving habits in Boston
 

1. Yielding to oncoming traffic making a left turn across your lane. Sure makes you feel good about yourself, who cares about the twenty cars behind you that have to come to a stop in support of your altruism. This is even better if there are 2 lanes in your direction, because then cars passing you on the right can easily collide with the one that you've encouraged to turn.

2. Making left turns from the right lane. You just drive down the right side of the line of cars waiting to turn, on the shoulder if need be, then at the last minute activate your turn signal thereby giving you the power to not have to wait like everyone else.

3. Making left turns across intersecting traffic by pulling out and blocking the rightbound oncoming lanes, then stopping and waiting for a chance to merge into the leftbound traffic no matter how long it takes.

4. Going straight across 80-90% of an intersection before deciding to turn left, instead of starting the turn as soon as possible. Maybe this is because they have lots of rotaries (traffic circles) up here?

5. Going the wrong way down a one-way street because otherwise you'd have to go around the block and your time is too valuable for that.

6. Double or triple parking.

7. Parking at an intersection so that others can't see oncoming traffic.

8. Stopping in moving traffic to let vehicles enter the roadway from right or left intersecting streets even though they are waiting at a stop sign. See #1, above.

9. Swerving into oncoming lanes because there is a car parked at the side of the road, no matter how much room you have to pass. After all, what would you rather do - sideswipe a parked car or head-on a semi? It's a no-brainer, like most of the drivers here! :D

When we had my grandmother's funeral last Feb in a small town in Nebraska everyone stopped and pulled over to the side of the road when we were moving from church to cemetary. It was a nice thing to do. I don't see folks doing it in the SF bay area much though.

I have observed this on multiple occasions in semi-rural North Carolina (Gaston and Cleveland counties), even on a four-lane divided highway.

I come across #1, #2, #3, #4 and #8 daily in Cleveland too.

SF although hard does do it.

For my grandfather's funeral we had cops on motorcycles help us through traffic. It helped then :p

Here's what I have noticed about the use of a turn signal on the east coast. I look at the license plate of the car, and depending on the state the driver is from, activation of the turn signal means:

NJ I am planning to turn
NY I am now turning
PA I just turned

:)

Right on! ^ I thought I was the only idiot who observed this.

Well, in some countries thats a common practice and a very effective
feature for population control.


I've heavily driven in countries where they drive on the
left side of the road.. also in countries where they drive on the right
side of the road and in places where they pick any side and drive :D

I'll pick the 3rd one.. much better than any video game. its very real.

ST Croix (STX)
 

In St. Croix, US Virgin Islands, they drive US made cars with the steering wheel on the left hand side, but drive on the left hand side of the road (as they do in the UK and elsewhere). It takes a little getting used to before feeling comfortable!

In Northern part of Cyprus, they have cars with left hand steering and
right hand steering on the same streets...

In Japan, they drive on the left side of road. :) Same goes for England. But in mainland Europe, they drive on the right side of road.

I should know, I am going to Japan again for my 3rd time this Saturday. :)

Back to the topic, the oddest driving custom in Japan is the right hand turn on a scooter. Basically its just like the Melbourne turn (right hand hook turn). You go through the intersection on a blue light and pull to the far left and turn your scooter and wait there at the crosswalk corner until the light turns green for normal traffic and you pull out in front of the traffic before they stomp on their accelerator.

Sanosuke!

In Mexico City they line up 5 or 6 abreast in the intersection when waiting to make a left turn. Typically onto a 1 or 2 lane street. :D

From time to time you'll see this in the Midwest....usually in rural areas.

Is it just my perception....or does Alabama have its own little "Boston" when it comes to driving in Mobile?

I was having lunch with a customer a few years back, and on our way to the restaurant we observed a couple of particularly brazen traffic manoevers. (to put it mildly!!!)

My customer wasn't at all fazed by this. He simply announced, "Contrary to what you may think, Jack, they actually DO sell cars with brakes here. Its just that nobody's ever gotten around to ever using them".

France switched from priority to the right, to giving priority to those on the roundabout. It was chaos for a while (I was there during it) as no-one knew who had priority, or who was going to assume that they had priority.

I have to remember not to do that when driving abroad, as I think it is a peculiary UK and Ireland custom. You can either use hazards (when thanking those behind you) or flash your headlights (for those in front of you - e.g. if they have let you through on a constricted roadway). Of course nothing is ever that simple, flashing your headlights in the UK can mean:
- thank you!
- You're an idiot and I would have tooted, but it wasn't that serious!
- You're driving the same car as I am!
- hello! (if you know the other driver)
- watch out, there's a policeman ahead with radar or speed camera
- watch out there's an accident ahead (usually I flash hazards as well, but not everyone does).
- you forgot to/need to turn your lights on
- there's a bit of your car which is obviously broken, and you will not be able to see it
- I'm an ambulance or police car wanting through (Ok, they also generally have blue flashing lights and sirens)
-move out of the overtaking lane, you are going too slowly and hogging it and I want to get buy - this is kind of a subset of the second one too... ;)

So you need to learn to interpret flashing headlights in the UK with care... you can usually narrow it down to 2 or 3 possibilities ;)

One of my favourite roadsigns as you approach a roundabout in France: "Vous n'avez pas la priorité." Certainly sums things up rather nicely.

However, I think l'Étoile in Paris is still priority to the right, but I don't know why they left it that way.

I didn't know this had spread outside of Pittsburgh. At a red light, the first car making a left has the right-of-way on green over opposing traffic going straight. That's just how it is.

When I was in grad school, my Human Behaviour professor, who had recently moved to town, spend half a class describing the dynamics of the "Pittsburgh Left".

A strange rule in New Zealand is the "give way" rule for turns.

Two cars are approaching a side street from opposite directions. The car turning left must give way to the car turning right.

To cast it in driving on the right terms:
Two cars are approaching a side street from opposite directions. The car turning right must yield to the car turning left.

I think the idea was to make right turns (across traffic) easier. The main problem is that Kiwis don't use their turn signals any more than anyone else. Yielding to someone who's turning in front of you is a problem if you don't know they're turning.

I was just talking about this. As far as I'm concerned, the Pittsburgh Left is different than what is described above about Boston. In Pittsburgh, nobody is yielding to the left turner. That left turner is taking the right of way, traffic rules be damned. It is tolerated, but it is not a giving by the oncoming traffic so much as it is a taking by the left turning car it seems to me. The oncoming traffic moves right along if a left turning car does not choose to take the Pittsburgh Left.

Let's not forget one other, most important NYC custom. It's one I take with me everywhere I drive.

When you cut someone off, be sure and honk at them as if it's their fault you cut them off. :D

In Los Angeles they shoot you.

Actually, in LA, the strangest custom is for people to buy sportscars in the $150,000 - $350,000 range, with max speeds of 150 mph or much greater, and then to never drive them faster than 30 mph, stopping every 30 seconds, because of the heavy traffic and ubiquitous stoplights.

In the NY Metro area it's "I can drive the slowest speed possible in the left lane and not yield to the right" custom....

I would love to have German Autobahn customs in America where even if you are doing 160 km/h in the left lane you get the frick out of the way by moving right for guy doing 200 km/h.

heaven.

- HF

Nomination for strangest, and most dangerous, use of turn signals: The Mexican states of Puebla and Oaxaca. A slow moving car will signal that the road ahead is clear for passing by using the left turn signal. Obvious complication: The same sign is also used to say, "keep off, I'll make a left turn."

The California "Creep": When making a left hand turn on a two way street with no left hand turn arrow, you are supposed to pull up and move almost into oncoming traffic so that when the light turns red you are halfway into your turn. When the light turns red, you and the car behind you are allowed to make your left turn.

I moved here from the East Coast. We creeped back east, but apparently not enough for the people in L.A. I got yelled at daily when the light turned green and I did not creep into oncoming traffic.

I also learned not to "block the box" when driving in NYC. In L.A., I got yelled at for not blocking the box. :confused:

Ok, here's a question about where you live (or drive)-

At the intersection of two two-way streets, if you and the a person in the oncoming lane both want to turn left (respectively), do you pass in front of each other or around each other?

In NY we seem to go around each other. Maybe because streets are relatively narrow compared to larger newer cities or suburban roads.

Actually, with the exception of roundabouts, "priority to the right" seems to be alive and well in rural France. At least, I assume that is why people on major roads stop and allow me to enter from the side road when I'm on their right.

And I really appreciate those French drivers entering roundabouts who use their left-turn indicators to signal that they're not taking the first exit, and, of course the right-turn indicators to signal that they are taking the next exit.

You still turn in front of each other.

I've seen that in many other countries, and "sometimes" I find it very effective.
Especially on busy single lane highways.

Signals Easy To Misunderstand
 

All over Mexico, ancient custom required that after twilight, cars would flash their lights when (a) coming up on curves, of which Mexico has a Switzerland-sized allowance, and (b) as a signal to cars behind that no cars were approaching and it was semi-safe to pass.

The canyons and deep valleys of Mexico are strewn with battered and burnt metal of the vehicles of drivers who thought they were receiving signal (b) when the driver ahead was signalling (a).

Imagine speeding up to pass, and finding that you're accelerating off of the edge of a precipice into the vast and dark unknown below (as Mexico may not have gotten around the guard rails, and the occasional white-washed boulder along the verge provides little protection....

On dark nights, if one listens closely, one can hear the ghostly panicked cries of mistaken drivers.

Many people when renting a car overseas don't realise that although the traffic rules may be 99% the same, it's the 1% difference that will catch you out.

For those heading for the US from Britain these include :

1. Right turn on red. Unknown in Europe (would be left turn in the UK).

2. Give way to pedestrians when turning at junctions. Again, not known in Britain, rules are different.

3. Stopping for School Bus. I always am impressed by the way all the trucks stop without anyone standing in the road to control them so one small child can walk across the road. But I'm sure those holidaying from Europe don't always know the rule.

4. Flashing red/yellow traffic signals at quiet times and what this means on each road.

5. Four-way stop.

6. Railway crossings without any gates or signals where trains pass at full speed and it's up to you to check along the railway.

7. Freeway exits out of the fast lane.

In Italy, the horn is used much more than here in the USA. In Rome, I was driving in heavy traffic with a truck that would honk his horn at every traffic signal, when the light turned green. On the outside chance, I think, that the first car just might not see the light change.