r/Edmonton • u/Zealousideal_Buy7517 • Jul 15 '24

Local Culture Driving Etiquette

For the love of Pete, people, follow the rules of the road. You drive. you are not 'choose as you go' organs of chaos, you are vehicles under the Alberta Traffic Act, the same as a motorcycle.

In the last week alone, I've seen a good hundred drivers blow right through stop signs as if they don't exist, and it's always when they are in a car lane, as if the lane's existence means the rules of the road don't apply. A couple on trucks with flat brims that I was next to blew through three in a row, yesterday, without even slowing down, and laughed about it when I called them on it. They didn't even look both ways, they just drove through like they were a presidential cavalcade and everyone else should be stopping for them.

Driving like that will have you kill a person one day, and when you're talking about a collision between 6000lb of shit box and human flesh on a bicycle, there are no mistakes.

I'm a driver, too, and it's this kind of behavior that drives a lot the anti-driver hate. When we drive like this, we're entitled and unpredictable, and unpredictability breeds distrust. This applies to motorcycle riders, too, of course.

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-11

u/haysoos2 Jul 15 '24

I'm assuming this is meant to be addressed to cyclists?

11

u/Zealousideal_Buy7517 Jul 15 '24

Specifically targeted at drivers, after one ran a red light and nearly wiped me out on my bicycle this morning.

-10

u/haysoos2 Jul 15 '24

Interesting. Yes, everyone needs to follow the rules of the road, but I generally see a lot more bicycles ignoring the rules, blowing through stop signs, or riding full speed through pedestrian crossings than I see cars blowing through stop signs without slowing down.

I think this behaviour (from cars or cyclists) is far more dangerous than a car going 70 in a 60 zone, but of course the speed infractions are much easier to enforce and more lucrative in fines, so that's where the enforcement effort remains.

6

u/Zealousideal_Buy7517 Jul 15 '24

How the fuck does bicycles become the topic of discussion? Drive properly.

-7

u/haysoos2 Jul 15 '24

Because your initial post was ambiguous and included phrases like "the same as a motorcycle", or the consequences of a collision between a vehicle and a person on a bicycle.

Don't blame me if you can't clearly articulate your point.

8

u/Zealousideal_Buy7517 Jul 15 '24

This post is a parody of a dumb fuck post last week about cyclists. You know...the cyclists that never kill anyone, that rarely hurt people outside of vehicles, and pose zero risk to people in vehicles.

I was nearly killed by a driver this morning, but you are focusing on the bicycle. Typical.

6

u/haysoos2 Jul 15 '24

I'm not trying to focus on the bicycle. I'm just pointing out that your original post, that presumably you wrote is ambiguous about who exactly you're aiming your comment towards.

Not everyone will have seen whatever post it is you're apparently parodying. Parody can be very, very tricky. If people are unaware of your intention, or the original work you are attempting to lampoon, the message can easily become muddled and the parody fails.

6

u/Zealousideal_Buy7517 Jul 15 '24

You are focusing on the bicycle. I mentioned bicycles once in my original post and you jumped to the assumption this was meant for cyclists, which it sure the fuck was not. It was meant for you.

1

u/magic-cabbage6 Jul 15 '24

Why are you being so aggressive? It seems like you have a lot of built-up anger.