Evolution has shaped us to process visual information perceived at a walking speed of 5 or 6 km/h. This means that looking ahead for 3 to 6 seconds of eye lead time is plenty to keep from running into objects in our path. This natural tendency is not enough for reliable driving decisions and collision avoidance.
This article is dedicated to the middle aged male driver who turned left in the intersection and completed his left turn half way into my lane as I approached him and half way into the lane that he was supposed to be turning into. Was he being inattentive, careless or did he not know any better?
Question: I was driving into work this morning and I went through a seat belt check and of course I had mine on but they pulled me over for my 6000K HID head lights and amber LED turn single lights. The police officer told me they were illegal because they were not factory equipment.
One sure sign of growing up when we were young was the ability to use our crayons and colour between the lines. An important skill for a "grown up" driver is also the ability to stay between the lines. Judging by the e-mails that I continually receive from readers who state that this is their main pet peeve, there is a sizable number of drivers out there who need to do a bit more skill improvement.
When you are upset enough about the way someone is driving and you call the police to make a complaint about it, the last thing that you expect to happen is to be discouraged by the complaint taker. Worse still, when you insist and get to speak with a constable they tell you that there is nothing to be done as well.
Question: I am concerned about an intersection that has an acceleration lane to allow traffic turning left from a stop sign to merge with through traffic. A driver in the through lane decided that he had to be first and I had to brake to avoid a collision when we reached the merge point at the same time.
There is probably nowhere that the unofficial rules of the road are "enforced" by other drivers like that of the line up at lane closures. You know, the long line up of traffic that forms on one side of the highway immediately after drivers pass the lane closed ahead advisory signs.
I think leaving a vehicle running, sometimes without the driver in it, while parking in a public place by should be a fineable offence under an anti-idling law. It has become so common now and is especially toxic when the vehicle is a large truck. Would you write about this please?
I've always wondered about the driver in the far left lane as I used the acceleration lane to join traffic already on the freeway. Would they change lanes to the right while I was trying to merge with the flow of fast moving traffic by moving into the same lane from the left?
I saw many things over the two decades that I spent in full time traffic enforcement. Some of those things left me shaking my head wondering why the driver ever thought their vehicle was still driveable! If you don't value the life of other road users, surely you value your own.