Posted by: safedriver | November 28, 2010

Keep the flow of traffic….flowing

We’ve all done things that affect other people. For example, if you’re in a service industry, your work pace can affect your customers and your fellow workers. If you’re slow with getting your work done it can slow down production. If you’ve done that during your job, would you do that as a driver?

The first photo above showed a driver ahead of me the other day that decided not to move up to the stopping line in a line of traffic. Now, I’m all in favour of keeping space ahead to provide an escape route in case of trouble, but this was a bit too much. The driver ahead ended up making a right turn, so why not move up to make that turn? Since I also wanted to make that same turn, he was slowing down the flow of traffic.

One of the reasons most jurisdictions allow a right turn on a red light is to keep the traffic flow moving. In a lot of jurisdictions, a left turn on a red light can also be made; provided you’re on a one way street and you’re turning onto another one way street. By doing this it will help promote a co-operative driving culture. After all, being co-operative will help other drivers reach their destinations a lot easier and with fewer frustrations.

The second photo showed another driver making a left turn without being in the left turning lane. Why would they do this when the turning lane went all the way along the street? They ended up stopping the traffic flow behind them while they waited for a gap in traffic. Were they unaware of the turning lane? Were they looking for a specific street to make that left turn and just saw it at the last second? Whatever their reason, it wasn’t good enough. It really turned into a selfish driving action. Looking well ahead and planning the route would really help them keep traffic moving along.

The actions of these two drivers affected the flow of traffic behind them and added to frustration of many drivers. Think ahead of time about what you need to do to keep the flow of traffic moving along. Choose the proper lane to be in well ahead of time. There will be times that won’t happen, but if you can help the flow to move along at a safe pace, go for it.

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