I'm almost always pleased to see another driver exercise courtesy on our highways because it cancels out some of the selfishness that I see every day. I say almost because I saw a misguided act of kindness today that left me shaking my head. One driver made room so that the other driver could make an illegal lane change from a side road through surrounding standing traffic.
We were waiting for a red light when the vehicle in front of me began to back up. I was just about to sound my horn in warning when the vehicle stopped. The buffer between our vehicles was gone and we would become an accordion if I was rear ended. What was going on?
A car waiting at the yield sign to my right was now able to push its way across five lanes of traffic, including a single solid white line separating the left turning lanes. While that vehicle waited to make this improper move, traffic in that lane was stalled or forced to squeeze behind leading to confusion at the intersection. This violation does not make for a safe situation!
Done properly, the car in front of me would have stayed where it was because we were in the leftmost through lane. It would be up to a driver in the right hand lane to anticipate and leave room to allow this vehicle onto the cross street. Once in, that driver would have heeded the solid line and found an alternative, legal method of proceeding in the required direction.
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