What’s Gotta Go

After yesterday’s surprisingly hot topic, I figured I would come back to a more mundane yet equally annoying situation I experience every day.  This one may be a little difficult to describe so you can visualize it, unless it is something you notice as well.  Each day on my drive to work, at least on one of my available routes, I have to turn left onto a 5 lane road.  This is no small task at some hours, but since I typically head to work at a fairly early hour, I can manage the turn in under a minute.  Not too bad.  There are lights within a half mile either direction, so traffic gets stopped at some point.  When it becomes more difficult is when someone turning right wedges in to the side of me, directly blocking my view of oncoming traffic so I can see when it is safe to go.  This minor yet completely annoying situation is my pet peeve of the day.

To further create a visual for you, this is a single lane (each direction) road at the intersection, so the vehicle is sharing the lane and half of the shoulder to achieve their position.  Legal, something I do all the time in the same situation, but how it is done is all the difference.  I realize this isn’t done with malicious intent.  I don’t lash out with road rage when I watch this car pull up exactly in my field of vision, but it bugs me nonetheless.  This driver is simply pulling up so they have a clear view of oncoming traffic from the left so they can make their turn out quickly while I am left to wait until they are finished for my needed view of the right, or make a made dash out in hopes that I can avoid a side swipe by my ill-advised maneuver.

I guess what bugs me most is when I am in my little car vs my truck.  When in the truck, unless it is an equal or larger vehicle I can generally still see what is going on. But that Suburban, Expedition or the like pulls up, I am stuck waiting no matter what vehicle I drove that day.

Here’s the solution that I wish these drivers would realize as they pull up.  They don’t need to pull so far up that they are seemingly halfway into the lane already to get a clear view.  Just pull up enough that you can see, and no more.  The they pull up, the more they block my ability to see traffic.  I get this thought in the back of my head that they are completely unaware of their surroundings, obvious to the fact that they are inconveniencing anyone else…that is what irks me.  It is not that basic angles preclude us both from seeing and one of us has to be the one to wait for a clear view.  What makes me shake my head is watching them pull up (after I am already there) clear up well ahead of my vehicle now, and look around to see their chance to snake into traffic without a clue that they have blocked me.  I am not sure if I would be more peeved if they knew what they were doing or not.  Sometimes ignorance sets me off more than deliberate stupidity.

So next time you are headed into this kind of situation, whether you are turning left or right, take a little thought as to how far you pull up and if you are blocking the view of your fellow inhabitant of the intersection.  Perhaps the small courtesy may go unnoticed, but you’ll feel better for having offered it.