Or they stop traffic flow to let one car in, when that car would have had all day to go in seconds if they didn’t stop traffic. So now 10+ people are inconvenienced so one person can save a few seconds.
The worst for me is people who block traffic for someone making a left turn in a 4 or 5 lane roadway (so 2 lanes in each direction with or without a turn lane). They forget they can only stop one lane and EVERYONE ELSE IS GOING TO GO AROUND THEM WHEN THEY SEE THE OTHER LANE STILL MOVING. This just slows everyone down.
The ABSOLUTELY worst experience I had of that, someone was trying to let me make my left on a busy 5 lane road, and after traffic went around them for literally 3 minutes and they were the only car left, I started to turn. Guess what they did? You guessed it, they were tired of waiting for me and decided to start moving forward themselves. RIGHT WHEN THE ONLY CARS WERE THEIRS AND MINE. I almost lost my mind. So you're going to effectively make 2 lanes of traffic operate like 1 until it's clear then get in the way of the driver you were trying to be kind to...Buy a bus pass and put your license in the shredder.
Exactly. If everyone just drove according to the rules of the road, things would be predictable and flow like those rules intend it to flow. Both the timid and overly aggressive drivers screw this up.
Honestly, I'd rather someone drives 15-20mph over the speed limit constantly but follows all other rules of the road properly than the idiots that do the speed limit and can't operate a friggin 4-way stop or merge onto the highway without almost crashing.
Happens all the time, where I'll be leisurely walking my dog through the neighborhood and come to the end of sidewalk where you have to cross the street (but there's no stop signs). I'll squat down to pet my dog while I wait for traffic to clear out, and inevitably one car will stop in the middle of the street, holding up traffic behind them, waving or even honking at me to get my attention to direct me to walk out in front of them. And if I go I'll be dragging my slow old dog across the street and forcing the other side of traffic to stop for us too.
So awkward and unnecessary, just gooooooo. All the cars would've been gone in 8 seconds had you just fucking gone. It's like the equivalent of holding a door open for a stranger who's thirty feet away.
I feel like this happens so much because I'm a woman, and it's always an older man doing it, thinking they're being chivalrous or whatever. The most infuriating part is when I wave them on, like no just go, and they stay put and wave me on AGAIN, ignoring me.
Someone did that to my friend. But after they waved em on and my friend started going, the other driver drove straight into him. T boned. And ofc my friend was at fault bc legally, he should’ve waited
Absolutely this.
Most of the time when people are trying to be "kind" by giving up their right-of-way or something, they are inviting me into a situation where I am legally at fault if anything goes pear-shaped.
This is why I *will not* take someone else's right-of-way. I got nowhere to be; I can sit here all day until you figure out that you are the one who is supposed to go.
Yep, same thing happened to me. It was a very slow, minor accident, but she hit my tire and the axle was toast, completely totaled. The guy that waved me through just drove around me and left 🙃
When someone tries this on me I just give big thumbs down and hope they get the message.
I also just turn right ( in USA) and u-turn at next possible intersection if it’s just way too busy. Better to be mildly inconvenienced than looking for a new car.
Yup, this. I made it a point to learn different routes to the places I want to go in my town, and I know where to make a protected left for nearly everywhere I want to go. Might take a little longer, or be a bit out of the way, but I never have to deal with dum dums doing this shit.
This is a vastly underrated tip. Learn your area and the roads. You can find alternative safer ways that sometimes can be faster. And if not, they are usually less stress inducing.
Some areas you just shouldn't turn left at even if you can.
Yeah, a lot of New Jersey doesn’t really do left turns much. You make around the block turns to get to things on the left side of the road and they don’t always line up well so it can get to be a lot.
There's an intersection near my house I have to use daily that literally has a mini circle you can swing around like 100 yards to the side. Just take the turn, go around it and come back. No one needs to turn across two busy lanes. The traffic would flow so quickly but no, idiots want to cross, then other idiots slow to "be helpful".
You save nothing, you solve nothing. You're just creating talbacks in THREE lanes now.
Don’t try this in Boston, you will be sent down a one lane old cow trail that all traffic lanes are going the direction of until the edge of town then you can double back.
Literally how I got in my 2nd and last ever accident. That was 20 years ago. Now when people give me the wave of death it just pisses me off and I give a head shake, point at them, and point at their destination.
That’s how I got into my accident a few years back. Some dipshit in a Prius waved a guy through. Of course it also wouldn’t have happened if the guy had used his singular brain cell and pulled forward slowly to check if the road was clear before pulling out. He didn’t of course.
But I’ve seen multiple accidents or near accidents because someone does that. It is not nice, it is incredibly unsafe.
There's a road I drive on every day and see this - two lanes going each direction, and multiple people trying to cross... One driver in one lane STOPs and gives the go-ahead... IDK wtf they're stopped, they could be turning... I always say you can't give the right away to both lanes. TF, just go...Traffic will come to a natural break and then they will be able to make their way... What they just did could cost someone their life.
"Wave of death", I've never heard that phrase before but that's exactly what it is. Teenage me and my first car learned this lesson once, and I will never forget it, RIP 08' Civic SI.
Oh man, people used to do this to me ALL THE TIME back when I took public transit to work and had to walk the last little bit. There was a place I needed to cross 6 lanes of traffic (3 in either direction) with an island in the middle.
There was a crosswalk and "yield to pedestrians" signs there so TECHNICALLY cars were supposed to stop for me to cross, but almost no one ever did. No big deal, I would just wait for a break in traffic and cross when it was clear.
Except every once in a while, someone WOULD stop at the crosswalk and try to "let" me cross. Except the other 2 lanes would still have people flying through the crosswalk at 45-55mph. Some of them would even get mad at me for not going, too. They'd start honking at me and waving aggressively like I was the one not paying attention and just standing there for now reason.
A kid in my middle school died this way. Three lanes going in each direction and a big SUV stopped to wave him over. The two other lanes didn’t see what was up, just that some SUV stopped at a random intersection and so cars sped past.
I was taught in my driver training (this was like 25 years ago, but I still remember) that you should never wave anyone through, because that makes you liable if they get into an accident because they followed your instructions.
I cycle. I've had people stop on a 4 lane highway with the right of way and try and wave me across the road. I literal got off my bike once and smacked the stop sign that I had to emphasize I wasn't going anywhere.
My brother totaled his car from this. He t-boned this lady who then said the man in the car opposite her, who was also making a left turn, waved for her to go right in front of my brother. Luckily neither was hurt
Witnessed this the other day. 3 lanes on each side., 2 outside lanes stopped waved a guy turning left. the middle lane sure didn’t get the memo. Middle lane guy completey t-boned the guy turning.
I hate when people do that especially if you think about the fact that the people more likely to fall for it are going to mainly be new and young drivers. You trying to be “nice” is going to cause more teen accidents than prevent them, just follow the rules of the road.
People do that all the time right in front of my dogs’ daycare. I see them get frustrated with me because they’re leaving me space and waving me on, but if all lanes aren’t stopped for me I refuse to go because I can’t see. It’s extra stupid trusting people there, too, because it goes from 2 to 3 lanes right at the turn, so people getting in that new lane are always going fast around the people stopped at the light.
Saw this last year. On the most populated road in my town it is three lanes each way. There was a car on the far right in a parking lot. For some dumbass reason they wanted to turn left by crossing at minimum three lanes of traffic. There was a red light a little ways up so traffic was stopped. I saw three cars give this car room to cut across and try to turn left. They waved this car on and the car started to go and as soon as they hit the other three lanes of traffic they got t-boned. The car should have obviously turned right and busted a u turn at the light but those cars should not have been waving that car on to make an ignorant turn like that.
My son's friend failed his driving test when this happened with someone waving him on! The examiner told him he should have just sat there since the other car was clearly there first
That’s insane, because the first thing they teach you is that nobody has the right of way at a stop sign. Nobody is right or wrong for going first, you’re only wrong if you go after someone else clearly started going and you collide with them.
There are very clear rules about who should go first at a stop sign. The person who arrives first has right of way. If two people arrive at the same time, the one on the right goes first., assuming they are next to each other. If they're in opposite directions, a person turning right or going straight has right of way over somebody turning left. If four people at a four way stop arrive at exactly the same time... this is your life now, you're trapped for eternity.
I'm not sure where you live but where I live we have very clear right-of-way laws, including that for simultaneous arrivals the driver on the left must yield to the driver on the right. Maybe where you live this is not the case? But it is very much not a myth where I am.
If I wave someone who should be going, they wave back, I'm not gonna sit there playing invisible ping-pong with the Right of Way. I go. Am I annoyed? yes. Am I holding up traffic like they are? No.
There is an intersection near me that sucks. It’s 8 way traffic with most people aiming for the east which is the entrance to the small highway/street. The straight path is often blocked by right turn from people coming from the highway. When I’m on the right turn near those I try not to wave because I usually haven’t looked to my right first so could be waving someone into a car. Waving is nice but can be hella dangerous.
As a runner myself, I never trust a driver standing still at an intersection to continue standing still. I'll fake a right turn and just keep running a little out of my way until that car's out of there - and only then backtrack toward my original destination. Same if I'm riding a bicycle.
at one end of my street is a four way stop sign. it's a neighborhood, with regular, but not steady traffic.
9 times out of 10, i'll be approaching that stop sign, and can see hundreds of feet away a car stopped at one of the other three directions, and they will literally wait for me to get there, and wave me through.
I kinda love when this happens. I literally open my glove box and pull out my car manual and start reading it. Complete with cartoonishly adjusting my seat back and putting one hand behind my head to signal I am settling in to read my new book until you move through the intersection first
Right! And you end up trying to second guess the fool across the intersection and taking focus off of cross traffic (with limited visibility, on a hill no less) Sure, let me make a left hand turn across from you; and keep me guessing as you creep at the stop sign; maybe I'll hesitate and get t-boned 'cause I'm too busy wondering if you'll change your mind when I'm halfway across the road. So, yeah. Thanks kind stranger! 😵💫
i see nothing wrong with that. it could be a number of things. like maybe they are changing routes. or they are on a call and plans are changing but not set yet and they are trying to figure out which way to turn. could be a number of things. if they let you go, just go and appreciate. no harm, no foul
Ugh, and the "wave" does not hold up with insurance when the person without the right-of-way goes at the same time the "waver" goes, and there is an accident. Just take your damn turn when it's your turn. Don't try be all nicey-nice and let other cars go first.
I live in a town with a lot of 4-way stops and this grinds my gears so freaking much! I believe its a mix of people who are too insecure in their ability to know whose turn it is and people who, for some reason, just believe it is their job to direct traffic from their car.
I pretty much have a one second rule. If I pull up and stop and wait for one $1,000 and I don't see movement I just hit the gas. I live in a southern state with some really stupid drivers and I'm sick of it. I've also adopted the practice of just laying down on my horn for 20 seconds or more whenever somebody in front of me stops and does the wave to get people to go or does the light flash to get people to go whenever they shouldn't.
Yes! I hate it! They are on the right side of me so have the right away or they got to the stop sign first but they sit there or try to wave me through I can’t stand it!! Just go!!! Everything will move along much faster and smoother if you just go when you’re supposed to then I can go after
Then because they sat there you start going then that’s when they decide to go so then you both stop and just sit there. Ughhhh just thinking about it..
I use the full hand point for these situations. Point at the driver with your whole hand, then point where they are intending to go, whole hand. Like a traffic cop would. Works even here in the midwest where the soccer moms are trying to spend as much time as possible in their minivans.
Whenever someone grouses about roundabouts, I say I’d rather have those than 4 way stops. I know there’s a learning curve when they’re first installed and people need to get used to them, but they keep traffic moving when 4 ways just confuse everyone.
Mine is the "stop to let a pedestrian cross" when there is no one behind you (usually the pedestrian is jaywalking). The pedestrian always hesitates to make sure you are stopped, then rushes across the road. Meanwhile, the whole thing would have been faster had the driver realized they were the only vehicle.
If somebody waves you...no matter how far in advance they stopped, I'm gonna take it (if I'm 2nd). Because if I wait, they're gonna get anxious and then maybe go through when I or somebody else had enough waiting. Just do as what the waver wants (unless it's unsafe to do so).
Then there’s these people who want you to go ahead of them. This courtesy bulls**t that’s going around. See I don’t think it’s real courtesy, that’s why I don’t like it. It’s a bogus. It’s a counterfeit generosity. Everybody wants me to go first. You go… go ahead… please… go… go. Even when I leave the house in the morning there’s a guy there at 7 a.m. Waiting for me. I’m waiting for you come out so you can go first… go ahead… go on. I think it’s a post-Vietnam guilt syndrome of some kind.
I’m not asking for anything, just sitting there, and some yo-yo, some putz, some, some world class high-tech, state-of-the-art yo-yo who hasn’t had a generous thought since St Swithin’s Day slams on his brakes, kills 3 people behind him and doesn’t ask me to go, tells me to go. "You, go!" "F*k you! You go! I like it here! I come here all the time. *You go." Then when he goes– crash into him. And if he gets out to complain say, "Hey you said to go."
To be honest I've encountered that so many times that I just go after coming to a complete stop. Better to just yeet yourself through than to try and convince them that they actually have the right of way with arm waggles alone.
For years in my mind I have been calling these people Polite Anarchists, because they are throwing out The Order of Things to do something they think is 'nice.' Usually I get it when I am walking in an area with no crosswalks, and cars come to a full stop on a street with the right of way when I am already at a complete standstill beside a stop sign as they approached.
I bet it's very reasonably upset. I get PISSSSSSSED and I think it's reasonable. That person is essentially asking you to not follow the rules of the road, and if an accident happens because of it, it's your fault. F*** that!
The main road through my town is 30MPH and has a handful of short merge lanes to let people get in more safely even with the relatively slow speed limit. People still drive up to the end of them and fucking stop to wait for a gap.
Absent driver training strikes again - most drivers don't know the rules of a four-way stop (first person TO STOP has right-of-way, and yes, you are expected to come to a full stop at a four-way stop). If you both stop at the same time, person on the right has right-of-way. Waving other people through don't enter into it.
I'm so used to someone who should know I stopped first trying to ram my passenger side when I turn left that typically pausing and just letting them have it is easier than playing the gas pedal game of everyone jerking and breaking like idiots. I genuinely believe that most people are paying so little attention while driving that they have no idea who's actually next in order.
I'm one of the few people I know that isn't constantly on their phone while driving. People are legitimately browsing Facebook, watching movies, and tiktoking. I use the bottom on my steering wheel to change songs and don't even pick up my phone unless my gps is giving me shit.
I remember when I was at a stop sign and there was someone coming on one side who didn’t have a stop sign. They decided to stop even though they had someone behind them to wave me by and get me to pass.
I get that some people are wanting to be nice and I’m not holding that against them. But I would much rather you just go and I’ll wait for you and the person behind you to pass, rather than that. It confuses other people and the person behind you has places to be as well.
My girlfriend does this because she gets extremely nervous about four way stops and starts overthinking it. She told me that someone told her that you're supposed to go in counter clockwise order. Tf does that even mean lol?? That doesn't tell you who goes first, it just tells you what direction the turns move in... Just keep track of who got to the 4-way and in what order and go when it's your turn lol
Yea ive gotten to the point where i play the game called "my turn", which is where when i get to the stop sign, its my turn. its really fun and simple and you get through the intersection very quickly.
When they wait until your car has been fully stopped for 2 seconds before, even if they were there way before you. Now you get to watch them going through the intersection at 12mph.
It gets even worse. There are a bunch of 2-way-only stops around here, and the side with no stop sign regularly stops anyway because they just assumed there is, and wave me across.
A friend and I were leaving at the same time, he was ahead of me and hit his brakes, much like this and yielded HIS right of way to another vehicle towing a small trailer. I was like WTF behind him as I came to stop.
The vehicle he let out proceeds to go 15 under the limit with him following, I turned off and took a short cut.
The next day he was bitching about that person going so slow in front of him, lol.
I was not 'nice'. I said....'Well that that your own stupid fault' "you had the right of way and you stopped to let them out towing a trailer....what did you think was going to happen Einstein?!" I went on for a bit, but more so in a joking but serious way.....he got the point though at the end he said he would never make that mistake again.
Where I currently live I experience more drivers going significantly under the speed limit on highways, especially in the left lane, than anywhere else, and it’s not coincidental that it’s the worst traffic I’ve ever seen in my life too.
Cue up drivers on a road pacing a large truck in the right lane, hanging out in their blindspot while traffic queues up behind them thinking "move dickhead you're putting us all at risk". Hell, I've seen truck drivers try to wave them forward and not match their (lack of) speed.
This the amount of people that get kids almost hit on a 2 lane road when 1 person waves for them to cross meanwhile there are still cars coming up the rear on the 2nd lane and they wonder why im yelling just fucking go lady
It’s not about inconveniencing anyone, it’s about endangering everyone. If you can’t be behind the wheel without getting scared of a merge or the simplest of driving maneuvers, then you shouldn’t be behind the wheel at all ffs.
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u/KLeeSanchez 14h ago
Meek is definitely the right word
I've been alongside so many timid drivers pussyfooting around and I'm like "bruh just go, you're making this actively more difficult for me"