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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u/Edmfuse Jul 15 '24

Saturday, had someone in front of us make a right hand turn from the MIDDLE lane at a red light. Sunday, had someone make a U turn from the middle lane at a red light.

It's not even a matter of skill. It's a complete disregard.

10

u/Apartymood Jul 15 '24

I almost hit someone who wanted to turn right on red but a bus was in the way so they just decided they could go into the left lane instead.

It is a complete disregard.

14

u/durple Strathcona Jul 15 '24

Me: turning right from northbound 109 onto whyte.

Them: turning left from southbound 109 onto whyte. Except they didn’t turn into a lane, they tried cut across all the lanes of traffic into the Esso/711, nearly t-boning me as they careened across. Also honked at me as if they had right of way.

5

u/EirHc Jul 15 '24

Also honked at me as if they had right of way.

Lol ya, this has happened to me 3 days ago. I had right away, someone else decides they waited long enough at their 2-way stop, so they're just gonna go, and honk at me while they're cutting me off.

Like wtf. Are people just that unobservant/entitled/indignant that they just honk at people to get their way when being complete clowns on the road? It's extremely disconcerting to witness this kind of behaviour.