Accident Waiting To Happen?

[royhobie]

I think most of us at one time or another has been at an intersection waiting until it is clear to enter a road. For example, Great Mills Road is interesting. Traffic flies down the road, STS buses stop in the travel portion of the road, which we all learned to expect, although it has caused some minor accidents. No big deal so far. But, how about the cars flying down the right lane with their "turn signal" on, even though they don't plan on turning for AT LEAST 3 to 4 more turns ahead. Sometimes even more!

They call themselves giving notice to any traffic behind them that they are turning. When, in fact, if the car waiting to pull out on to Great Mills Road, believes the turn signal indicating to the driver that he is turning in to where you are, some folks might just pull out to be a nice guy; thinking you might give him more room to pull in. When in fact, he has no intention of pulling in where you are. Instead he would ram you right on the drivers side of your car, almost certainly causing serious injury to you and your family. Far fetched? Not really. It happens more than you think.

You would think the guy with the turn signal flashing indicating his "intent to turn" is at fault. However, both share the blame. It may be a question of the car pulling out not yielding the right of way. However, the other driver would say he was going down the road and never intended to turn in where you were, although his turn signal was on. You try to explain to the police officer the turn signal was on. However, the signal he had on smashed to a million pieces when he smashed in to you as you pulled out when you "believed what he was telling you". But, now the guy can simply say he never had a turn signal on. The police officer is certain not to check the position of the turn signal, nor would he probably care to do so. In an accident reconstruction, the officer should investigate this aspect because it would be called a "contributing factor". But, this would be only if the thought of it. Usually he would not. It would only come up during your court case. This is if you survived getting hit on the driver side. Not a good situation any way you look at it.

Long story short, and to save you money and perhaps the LIFE of you AND your loved ones, DO NOT pull out of ANY intersection even though a person has a turn signal on. It may be for several intersections down where he "really means to turn". You need to drive defensively all the time. And when you pull out of any where, look as you pull out and continue to do so as you navigate your way in to the lane of traffic you want to be in. When driving down the road, allow extra room in front of you. Cars in front of you always like to stop for a wide range of reasons. Yesterday I saw a deer jump across the road in front of a van. Look at not just the car in front of you, but several down the road in front of him. Look all around you. Pay close attention to the blind areas. Depending upon how vehicles are made, "blind areas" vary greatly. Their angle of no sight (ANS) varies by as much as 15% on average. Remember, anything can happen any time. How about a hole in the road blowing out a tire? They're all over the place now after the snow we had. Lumber falls off of a truck? And the faster you go, the less time you have to react when something does happen! If you remember some of this, you might make it to paying the $30.00 for your next driver's license renewal.

 

[aps45819]

Breaking News?

DO NOT pull out of ANY intersection even though a person has a turn signal on.

Is this a recent revelation for you?

 

[awpitt]

You would think the guy with the turn signal flashing indicating his "intent to turn" is at fault.

Nope.

However, both share the blame.

Strike two.

It may be a question of the car pulling out not yielding the right of way.

Bingo! Except that there's no question here. If you pull out from a side road onto a main road and you're hit, it's your fault. It doesn't matter how someone on the main road is using their turn signals. It's up to you to make sure trafic is clear before entering the main road.


.

 

[vraiblonde]

I never ever trust a turn signal. And I never trust that since there *is* no turn signal, the person doesn't intend to jump into the lane I want to turn into.

 

[playerhater]

I never ever trust a turn signal. And I never trust that since there *is* no turn signal, the person doesn't intend to jump into the lane I want to turn into.

I trusted a turn signal once, which we all do from time to time. Was at that new intersection on Chancellors and Buckhewitt. I was on Buck with left signal light on to get on Chancellors and a car was approaching from my left with his right signal on. I pulled out and he was continuing with a lot of speed not slowing. So I looked at the car again as I was nearing him because he slowed down, he cut his signal light off, so obviously he forgot it was on and realized that is the reason why I pulled out. We all make mistakes while driving. Too bad most of the time the cost is loosing a life or surely having a accident.

 

[glhs837]

Agreed. Heck, back home in Boston, using a turn signal is like giving information to the enemy, only done to give misinformation.

 

[Lizzy4459]

90% of the time no one uses a blinker around here. Just the other day I saw someone with a left blinker on turn right. Yes potholes will cause a blowout but have you seen some of the tires on the cars around here? YIKES! They are as bald as can be. Plus the lack of third brake lights. I once counted 18 cars with blown third brake lights from gate 3 to rt 4. But without an annual state inspection these things get over looked.

I guess the only person you can trust is yourself. So the moral of your post is just stay alert no matter what!

 

[kwillia]

I never ever trust a turn signal. And I never trust that since there *is* no turn signal, the person doesn't intend to jump into the lane I want to turn into.

Maryland follows the Boulevard Rule...


The boulevard rule is a principle in traffic law which states that the driver of a vehicle entering a highway from a smaller road or entrance (called the unfavored driver) must stop and yield the right of way to all oncoming highway traffic (the favored drivers).[1] The rule often comes into play in road accident cases, when a court must determine if a driver is negligent in causing a collision, due to his breach of the duty of care imposed by the rule on the unfavored driver.

New York[2] and Maryland[3] are among the U.S. states which follow this rule, but not all states have similar provisions in statutes or case law.


This goes for all you idgits who get pizzed at me for holding you up at the yield when I'm making a right off of St. Andrew's onto 235. If a southbound vehicle takes that far right lane at the same time I do... I am the vehicle at fault even if they didn't use a turn signal. So just sit and wait it out patiently... because I do.

 

[chernmax]

I think most of us at one time or another has been at an intersection waiting until it is clear to enter a road. For example, Great Mills Road is interesting. Traffic flies down the road, STS buses stop in the travel portion of the road, which we all learned to expect, although it has caused some minor accidents. No big deal so far. But, how about the cars flying down the right lane with their "turn signal" on, even though they don't plan on turning for AT LEAST 3 to 4 more turns ahead. Sometimes even more!

They call themselves giving notice to any traffic behind them that they are turning. When, in fact, if the car waiting to pull out on to Great Mills Road, believes the turn signal indicating to the driver that he is turning in to where you are, some folks might just pull out to be a nice guy; thinking you might give him more room to pull in. When in fact, he has no intention of pulling in where you are. Instead he would ram you right on the drivers side of your car, almost certainly causing serious injury to you and your family. Far fetched? Not really. It happens more than you think.

You would think the guy with the turn signal flashing indicating his "intent to turn" is at fault. However, both share the blame. It may be a question of the car pulling out not yielding the right of way. However, the other driver would say he was going down the road and never intended to turn in where you were, although his turn signal was on. You try to explain to the police officer the turn signal was on. However, the signal he had on smashed to a million pieces when he smashed in to you as you pulled out when you "believed what he was telling you". But, now the guy can simply say he never had a turn signal on. The police officer is certain not to check the position of the turn signal, nor would he probably care to do so. In an accident reconstruction, the officer should investigate this aspect because it would be called a "contributing factor". But, this would be only if the thought of it. Usually he would not. It would only come up during your court case. This is if you survived getting hit on the driver side. Not a good situation any way you look at it.

Long story short, and to save you money and perhaps the LIFE of you AND your loved ones, DO NOT pull out of ANY intersection even though a person has a turn signal on. It may be for several intersections down where he "really means to turn". You need to drive defensively all the time. And when you pull out of any where, look as you pull out and continue to do so as you navigate your way in to the lane of traffic you want to be in. When driving down the road, allow extra room in front of you. Cars in front of you always like to stop for a wide range of reasons. Yesterday I saw a deer jump across the road in front of a van. Look at not just the car in front of you, but several down the road in front of him. Look all around you. Pay close attention to the blind areas. Depending upon how vehicles are made, "blind areas" vary greatly. Their angle of no sight (ANS) varies by as much as 15% on average. Remember, anything can happen any time. How about a hole in the road blowing out a tire? They're all over the place now after the snow we had. Lumber falls off of a truck? And the faster you go, the less time you have to react when something does happen! If you remember some of this, you might make it to paying the $30.00 for your next driver's license renewal.

I'd be afraid to read one of your long stories...

 

[Vince]

The moral of the story....never trust the person with the turn signal on. They're not going to turn. They just have it on to fool you, or maybe they think it's Christmas and want the flashing light for decoration.

 

[blacklabman]

Maryland follows the Boulevard Rule...


The boulevard rule is a principle in traffic law which states that the driver of a vehicle entering a highway from a smaller road or entrance (called the unfavored driver) must stop and yield the right of way to all oncoming highway traffic (the favored drivers).[1] The rule often comes into play in road accident cases, when a court must determine if a driver is negligent in causing a collision, due to his breach of the duty of care imposed by the rule on the unfavored driver.

New York[2] and Maryland[3] are among the U.S. states which follow this rule, but not all states have similar provisions in statutes or case law.


This goes for all you idgits who get pizzed at me for holding you up at the yield when I'm making a right off of St. Andrew's onto 235. If a southbound vehicle takes that far right lane at the same time I do... I am the vehicle at fault even if they didn't use a turn signal. So just sit and wait it out patiently... because I do.

If he crosses a solid white line to get into the far right lane (acceleration lane) then he is at fault. A solid white line means no lane change.

 

[awpitt]

If he crosses a solid white line to get into the far right lane (acceleration lane) then he is at fault. A solid white line means no lane change.

Yep.

Even if the line is not solid, as soon as he starts the lane change, he no longer has the right-of-way. He must yield to any cars that are in the lane he's switching to.

 

[BernieP]

I never ever trust a turn signal. And I never trust that since there *is* no turn signal, the person doesn't intend to jump into the lane I want to turn into.

yep,
what I find entertaining is the person making a right from a side street THINKS they are turing into right most lane, but because of the curb and the lanes are not as wide as they think, they actually swing into the left lane. Amd then they wonder why they got honked at.

 

[aps45819]

I never ever trust a turn signal. And I never trust that since there *is* no turn signal, the person doesn't intend to jump into the lane I want to turn into.

Threre is ALWAYS a turn signal.

Ride a bike in traffic and you'll learn how to see them

 

[Sydney]

Threre is ALWAYS a turn signal.

Ride a bike in traffic and you'll learn how to see them

I wish the guy that leaves the Mechanicsville post office in the evening riding a bike would learn signals. I was in the intersection, going straight, and he jumped out in the middle of the road and cut me off. I was in the intersection first, I had an uneasy feeling about him and thankfully I waited, or he would have been squashed!

 

[BernieP]

If he crosses a solid white line to get into the far right lane (acceleration lane) then he is at fault. A solid white line means no lane change.

Ah grasshoper, it is not a merge or acceleration lane. That lane is for RIGHT TURNS, it's for traffic exiting the highway.
And that solid white line was foolishly applied at both CR & Rt 4 as southbound traffic has to almost immediately exit right to enter either Sheetz or WaWa.
The concept being they don't slow up or stop on the main highway causing a chain reaction accident.

 

[awpitt]

Ah grasshoper, it is not a merge or acceleration lane. That lane is for RIGHT TURNS, it's for traffic exiting the highway.
And that solid white line was foolishly applied at both CR & Rt 4 as southbound traffic has to almost immediately exit right to enter either Sheetz or WaWa.
The concept being they don't slow up or stop on the main highway causing a chain reaction accident.

That solid white line may or may not be there by mistake; however, as long as it's there, you're not to cross the solid. If you do and hit a car that already in that lane, you're at fault because you're the one entering the lane.

 

[BernieP]

That solid white line may or may not be there by mistake; however, as long as it's there, you're not to cross the solid. If you do and hit a car that already in that lane, you're at fault because you're the one entering the lane.

By mistake I should say the "close cover before striking highway engineers" designed an intersection that doesn't allow cars to exit legally in accordance with the planned use of the right hand turn lane. The masterminds of highway confusion allowed for a driveway so close to the intersection that the without illegally crossing a solid white line you could not exit the road safely.

 

[aps45819]

Ah grasshoper, it is not a merge or acceleration lane. That lane is for RIGHT TURNS, it's for traffic exiting the highway
The concept being they don't slow up or stop on the main highway causing a chain reaction accident.

... and traffic TURNING right onto the main highway can do so without causing a backup on the secondary road then accelerate and exit the turn lane

so, how does one enter the highway without using the "turn" lane?

 

[BOP]

I think most of us at one time or another has been at an intersection waiting until it is clear to enter a road. For example, Great Mills Road is interesting. Traffic flies down the road, STS buses stop in the travel portion of the road, which we all learned to expect, although it has caused some minor accidents. No big deal so far. But, how about the cars flying down the right lane with their "turn signal" on, even though they don't plan on turning for AT LEAST 3 to 4 more turns ahead. Sometimes even more!

Infidel! Liar! SMIBs don't use turnsignals!