<p>I had my license since a year ago, but have not really been driving. I just don’t have a car and only borrow my brother.</p>
<p>Anyhow, I had to do an errand in downtown today. Busy street. </p>
<p>The light turns green, and there is this car who stopped in the middle of the street talking to a guy. I was already in that lane, and so I stop. Wanting to change lane, but can’t because there a lot of car in right lane. While waiting, suddenly, the SUV backed up and I was so nervous. That never happened to me. I honked the car coz I don’t know what is wrong with her, and I want her to stop backing up. I might have looked mad because the guy she was talking to went to my car and asked me whats wrong. I told him, well can’t you see she is reversing her car. He tried to tell me something, but I shouted “WTH!” coz she did it again, reversing the car. </p>
<p>I don’t really understand what she wants to do. SHE KNOWS there is a car at the back. She saw me. The guy keeps looking at me as if my reaction was wrong. </p>
<p>She wants to reverse the car in order to park her car in the spot near the intersection which is where I am. What does she want me to do??? REVERSE the car? Block the intersection?</p>
<p>yes that is what she wants you to do. It is all about her. So you hold your ground til you can move to the other lane and get around this ignorant person who cares nothing about everyone else around her.</p>
<p>It’s hard when other drivers sometimes invent new ways of driving that seem to make sense, but because not everyone else understands, it can be very dangerous.</p>
<p>For example, I was patiently waiting in a suicide lane (center turn lane) to turn left. Lots of oncoming traffic from the other direction. Two lanes of oncoming traffic. All of a sudden, one driver in one lane stops to let me turn left, and flashes his lights and waves and wants me to turn. Problem is there is another lane of oncoming traffic that he can’t control, and I don’t trust all of the drivers. So I just sit.</p>
<p>he was really mad that I didn’t turn left. But had any other car decided to go forward as I was turning left, I would have got a ticket for failing to yield, as I wasn’t allowed to turn in front of oncoming traffic.</p>
<p>OP, welcome to the wild and weird world of driving. People do stupid things, rude things, illegal things; it comes with the territory. In addition to watching your own driving, you have to watch out for other people’s driving too.</p>
<p>A million years ago when I took driver’s ed, one of the defensive driving rules I learned was “always leave yourself an out.” It means that no matter what the other guy does, I must always have a way to get out of the situation. So in your situation, for example, you might have stopped further back from the SUV – if someone is stopped where they’re not supposed to be stopped, you want to leave ALOT of room between them and you. It gives you more time and space to maneuver. </p>
<p>Another defensive driving rule was “Get the big picture.” That means knowing not just what’s right in front of you, but also what’s going on all around you, behind, on both sides, and way up ahead. So in this case, if you saw a situation coming up where the SUV was stopped, maybe you could have gotten into the other lane while you were still moving and had a better chance of getting into that moving traffic – instead of waiting until you were right behind it and forced to stop.</p>
<p>Also: NEVER engage in a shouting match with another driver (or in this case the guy talking to the driver). Anger and driving are a really bad combination.</p>
<p>Bottom line, you just have to always assume the other guy is going to do something stupid, and plan ahead on how to avoid it.</p>
<p>Abyontheway – that is one of my major pet peeves, when people think they are doing you a favor by letting you turn left when there’s still another row of traffic that you can’t see and you’re even more blind to it if you are turned. I share your frustration!</p>
<p>Ditto Pizzagirl and Babyontheway! Why do ppl think they are doing you a favor by setting you up to be slammed into by oncoming traffic? And then they bet mad when you don’t accept their “kindness.” Nowadays I just look past their car and don’t engage eye contact (why do ppl expect you to look inside their cars? lol). I just sit there and wait for them to follow the rules of the road!</p>
<p>P.S. I have a friend who was hit twice (!) in this kind of situation.</p>
<p>I motion for them to go ahead. They don’t realize that it’s much safer just to follow the flow of the traffic and have me wait for a natural break.</p>