How to tell which car to get behind at a red light

[forgop]

Rule of thumb of who not to get behind:

1) Handicapped license plates
2) Minivans
3) Trucks

 

[Brandon]

Rule of thumb of who not to get behind:

1) Handicapped license plates
2) Minivans
3) Trucks

You forgot buses.

 

[Frosty]

I usually just stay in the right lane until the maniacs can hash out the order they are going to follow in, then I whip over and blow their doors off! I have one intersection (39&us 40) you never ever get in the left lane unless your turning left! Lots of traffic and no turn arrow!

 

[88GT]

If you can, observe their behavior before they get to the light. Absent that, I get in the left lane which supposedly is the fast lane.

This is usually my MO.

I try to pick the lane that doesn't have:

a pick-up truck
a mini-van
a hybrid
a handicap plate
a Buick Lesabre
a semi

Must be location dependent. Around here half of the trucks are the speedsters. (The other half belong to the scrappers and it's fairly obvious they max out at 45mph.)

 

[db1959]

I always get behind the muscle car.

 

[forgop]

You forgot buses.

True, but I'm seldom on the same street or at a time where buses are an issue where I'm headed.

 

[stephen87]

Look for the one inching forward. Get behind the other one, because the incher always misses the change.

 

[jrogers]

On a motorcycle you can just go between them. Illegal here, but one of the things California did get right.

 

[Sylvain]

I dont get your question.Just drive right in the middle at full speed and dont stop.Duh!

[video=youtube;djlLrKhyNrU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djlLrKhyNrU[/video]

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

A twist to the original question: You approach a traffic light with two lanes, both going straight (there are separate lanes for lefties and righties)...the left lane has many more cars than the right lane--which one do you get in?

This is always a crap shoot. Often, I'll get in the shorter lane and bet on the probability that one of those in the left lane (probably one of the ones towards the front) is a slow-poker.

 

[jrogers]

Are you guys transporting human organs for transplant? Between this and the traffic outrage thread I'm baffled as to why seconds seem to matter so much.

 

[ghuns]

Are you guys transporting human organs for transplant? Between this and the traffic outrage thread I'm baffled as to why seconds seem to matter so much.

Can't expect a flaming lefty to understand the concept that time is money.

 

[jrogers]

Can't expect a flaming lefty to understand the concept that time is money.

Only on INGO am I considered a "flaming lefty," but if that's what it takes to avoid stressing myself into a heart attack over an extra thirty seconds of commute I'll wear the title with pride. Seriously, life is finite. Why not try to enjoy it rather than getting worked up over trivialities?

 

[MrsGungho]

I don't try to guess and I don't switch lanes, unless of course one is empty, I will mover over, or one has a semi, I will move over.

other than those 2, a second or 2 doesn't matter

 

[hoosierdoc]

Are you guys transporting human organs for transplant? Between this and the traffic outrage thread I'm baffled as to why seconds seem to matter so much.

i don't think we're stressed about saving a few seconds, I think it's more of an analytical game. I figured INGO likes to over-analyze and it would be a fun thread. I was right

 

[patience0830]

When you've meditated in traffic for as many miles as I have, you come to realize that those three seconds you gain at one light will most certainly be lost at the next one, you just quit worrying about it.

One less stressor in my life. Now if y'all would just learn to drive I'd have nothing to worry about.

 

[jrogers]

i don't think we're stressed about saving a few seconds, I think it's more of an analytical game. I figured INGO likes to over-analyze and it would be a fun thread. I was right

That's fair. When treated as a game it's entertaining. Between my commute and other obligations I drive >100 miles/day, so although I do play the game I'm much less obsessed with speed than safety.

 

[ghuns]

Only on INGO am I considered a "flaming lefty," but if that's what it takes to avoid stressing myself into a heart attack over an extra thirty seconds of commute I'll wear the title with pride. Seriously, life is finite. Why not try to enjoy it rather than getting worked up over trivialities?

Lighten up Francis. Jess jerkin your chain.

 

[spec4]

IMO it's dangerous to drive behind a "putzer". They will do anything from making sudden turns to making sudden stops when there is nothing in front of them. US 30 between the mall and 41 is a haven for people who have no business being on the road. The only way I maintain my sanity is to pass the ones I can, and suck it up when both lanes are blocked by putzers. As I posted before, some people think they have to reduce speed a half mile before their turn. Then they hit the brakes, and as they are making the turn you see the directional signal come on. Another source of amazement; a hot car with a young male driver but driving like an 85 year old lady in her deceased husbands Buick. Please explain that because I see it a lot.

 

[88GT]

i don't think we're stressed about saving a few seconds, I think it's more of an analytical game. I figured INGO likes to over-analyze and it would be a fun thread. I was right

Kind of ironic.

At any rate, it has been my experience that the slow pokes are the ones that aren't paying attention. They operate their vehicle as if they are the only one on the road. They are oblivious to their surroundings and make decisions accordingly. They impede the flow of traffic (which IMO is worse than the one driver that wants to speed) everybody then gets impatient, starts looking for a way around. That's when people get cut off, tailgated, and brake-checked. And that's when the collisions happen. All because some schmuck had to take 2 miles to hit 45 mph.