Again, I keep coming back to simple concepts.
Today's lecture is how to turn right at an intersection. This is different than my rant on "No Right Turn On Red", as today we're talking about how to turn right when it is legal, even at red lights.
Here's the trick - turn into the most immediate lane. Not only is it what you're supposed to do legally, but it will actually give you more opportunities to turn. This mostly comes from my frustrations with people not turning right on red at Delmar from Kingsland. They sit there and wait, and wait, and wait for either the light to turn green, or for there to be zero traffic. BUT, if they simply turned into the most immediate lane, they wouldn't have the problem, because the traffic on Delmar is forced to stay in the left lane, as the far right lane doesn't start until after Kingsland. This may not make any sense as I'm describing it, but believe me, it makes a ton of sense when you're at the intersection.
And it's not just at red lights.
Say you're turning right onto Big Bend from a side street (let's use Hiawatha as an example). You don't have to wait for both lanes to be clear to turn right. If there are cars coming and they are in the left lane, but the right lane is open, you can turn directly into the right lane. I promise you it's OK. But for some reason drivers around here don't seem to believe it, as they sit there waiting, petrified, hoping that all traffic goes away before turning right.
St. Louis (drivers), you are a joke.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I love this. Do you think this is why lights going both ways at an intersection change from red to green, and vice versa, simultaneously? If this happened in any other major city, there would be massive casualties at every corner.
ReplyDeleteYour rant reminds me of living in the Lou. There was no difference in the way people drove between a sunny, rainy or completely iced over day. I always summed up St. Louisans as (very nice) people who didn't know they were supposed to be in a hurry.