Driving in the area

Driving in this area seems to have gotten significantly worse lately, so I wanted to provide some handy tips for you folks out there who may not be aware of them.

  1. Lane markings are not just decorative. It's bad enough when you drive your ginormous pickup trucks and SUVs close to the center line instead of in the middle of your lane, but that double yellow line in the middle of a two-lane road? That means that the pavement on the other side is my lane and you really shouldn't have both of your left wheels across it in a curve to the left.
  2. There really isn't a prize patrol vehicle cruising the area looking for the last person to turn on their headlights in the evening. It's January at about 42 degrees north latitude, so it gets dark early. Even if you don't think you need the lights to see, it will help other cars see you, especially if you're in traffic where most of the other cars have their headlights on.
  3. Stop signs. They mean "stop". Not "slow down and roll into the intersection at 10-15 mph". They also don't mean "I'm behind a car that stopped for the sign, so I can just go when they go".
  4. 4-way stops. There are rules for these, and they're really not rocket surgery. They don't include "I think I've been sitting here long enough" as a criterion for when you can go.
  5. Turn signals. Contrary to what appears to be an increasing belief, using your turn signals is not giving information to the enemy.
  6. Order of operations. Kudos to those of you who use your turn signals when changing lanes. I just want to point out that using them when you're already halfway into the other lane is, shall we say, not optimally helpful to the drivers around you. Signal, then change lanes.
  7. On- and off-ramps. Most of the exits on our highways in the area have reasonable length ramps. The reason they're long is that you're supposed to use them for acceleration when getting on and deceleration when getting off the highway so you don't try to merge in at a significantly lower speed than the surrounding traffic, or slow down other traffic before getting onto the exit.