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captainsblogEmily's road test is in just over two weeks, so she drove to and from Wegmans earlier tonight with me as her official proctor. It was still rush-hourish and she did very well in it.
Far better than some, as it turned out.
The main drag between here and the store, Sheridan Drive, has a long stretch before the turn before our subdivision where (a) there are no left turns into side streets heading this way (due to a country club taking up most of the south side of the road) and (b) evening rush-hour traffic often backs up at the North Forest intersection.
As in this conveniently circled-in-red one:
As a result of the combination of (a) and (b), westbound drivers heading toward that intersection often get into the left turn lane as much as a quarter mile before it begins, sometimes long before the temple you see there, using the "suicide lane" in the middle reserved for left turns into and out of the side streets. Oh pish, there ARE no side streets on the left, they say, so what's the harm? Well, other than "suicide lanes" being called that for a reason generally, it's also damn rude to the drivers coming out of the side streets on the northbound side of the street who are trying to position themselves to head east.
As some yahoo behind us jumped the queue and began his suicidal approach at about the far right edge of the above map, Em and I talked about the official rules of the road (don't get into the turn lane until it actually appears marked as such on the pavement, maybe a centimeter before the intersection on the scale of the above map), and also the unofficial house rules of this area (cheating a little is usually okay as long as you don't get piggish and you wait to make your move until you get past the last side street on the north side). I also reported that I never, even then, cheat until someone behind me goes first, because they're the one who will get the ticket.
Not two seconds after I said that, we saw the suicide lane blocked. By an APD cop that pulled into it himself in the eastbound direction to stop both the original idiot and one of his me-too followers who were cruising along in it, probably over the speed limit on top of everything else.
Percentage reduction in my town taxes from the increase in revenue: .0000001 percent.
Good feeling that my kid knew and did the right thing at precisely the right moment: priceless.
Far better than some, as it turned out.
The main drag between here and the store, Sheridan Drive, has a long stretch before the turn before our subdivision where (a) there are no left turns into side streets heading this way (due to a country club taking up most of the south side of the road) and (b) evening rush-hour traffic often backs up at the North Forest intersection.
As in this conveniently circled-in-red one:
As a result of the combination of (a) and (b), westbound drivers heading toward that intersection often get into the left turn lane as much as a quarter mile before it begins, sometimes long before the temple you see there, using the "suicide lane" in the middle reserved for left turns into and out of the side streets. Oh pish, there ARE no side streets on the left, they say, so what's the harm? Well, other than "suicide lanes" being called that for a reason generally, it's also damn rude to the drivers coming out of the side streets on the northbound side of the street who are trying to position themselves to head east.
As some yahoo behind us jumped the queue and began his suicidal approach at about the far right edge of the above map, Em and I talked about the official rules of the road (don't get into the turn lane until it actually appears marked as such on the pavement, maybe a centimeter before the intersection on the scale of the above map), and also the unofficial house rules of this area (cheating a little is usually okay as long as you don't get piggish and you wait to make your move until you get past the last side street on the north side). I also reported that I never, even then, cheat until someone behind me goes first, because they're the one who will get the ticket.
Not two seconds after I said that, we saw the suicide lane blocked. By an APD cop that pulled into it himself in the eastbound direction to stop both the original idiot and one of his me-too followers who were cruising along in it, probably over the speed limit on top of everything else.
Percentage reduction in my town taxes from the increase in revenue: .0000001 percent.
Good feeling that my kid knew and did the right thing at precisely the right moment: priceless.
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Date: 2010-06-09 01:43 am (UTC)