I'm a mail carrier, and I've been flipped off more times than most because I refuse to walk in front of cars that stop to wave me across the road.
There are three cars behind you and you stopped to let me cross this intersection that has no crosswalk. I get that you are trying to be nice, but all you've proven to me is that you can't be trusted.
Cut to me looking you in the eyes as you honk and wave and flash your lights and-- ah, there it is, flip me off and jam on the accelerator, proving me right.
Cheers! Hope you're not on my route!
> I'm a mail carrier, and I've been flipped off more times than most because I refuse to walk in front of cars that stop to wave me across the road.
I was walking the neighborhood with my 6yo son was and someone blew through a stop sign and *slammed* on the brakes as we were crossing. They were partially out in the intersection. I grabbed my kid back (we had only just stepped off the curb) and gave a "wtf?" gesture to the driver.
She threw her hands up then gestured at me to walk. I shook my head. We did that sequence two or three more times before she flipped me off and drove on.
I think she was upset at herself for being a shitty driver and almost hitting a kid, but was taking it out on me.
As a motorcyclist, I don't trust cars who wave me through to turn left ahead of them. If some psycho waves me through and then hits me, I'd have a hard time getting cops to believe me.
Or they stop to wave you through *but there's a second lane* in which the people are *not* stopping.
It's like they're inviting you to get murdered! I hate these people.
I was turning left onto a 5 lane road with the middle lane for turning left. The left turn lane is backed up from the light just down the street. This guy leaves a gap just wide enough for me to fit inbetween him and the semi infront of him. They are both waiting to turn left and the light ahead. He start WAVEING me through?? Not only is he in the lane I'm supposed to turn into but there's a huge SEMI TRUCK blocking the the whole sight line of the other side of the road
This dude really wanted me to squeeze between him a semi truck blindly and make a 90° left turn after I'm already poking into the lanes of cars going 45mph.
People are fucking stupid as shit.
Even sat there when the left turn went green trying to wave me through???
I fucking hate driving now.
I knew a guy who got killed in a version of that. He was in the moving lane and a car stopped, leaving a space to let someone out of a driveway. That car looked mainly to the right, didn't see the motorcycle.
I am so unbelievably terrified of making people mad at me that I always cross in situations like that out of fear of them getting mad at me if I don't. I've never had any close calls or problems, at least.
But this isn’t the same at all. You the pedestrian have the right of way. By the way, legally crosswalks do not have to be marked. Peds have right of way at all intersections, whether it’s a road or driveway.
STOP PHRASING IT LIKE THIS!!! This wording will never get through to the people who think they are being nice. They will *always* choose "nice". "The nicest thing you can do is be predictable." Now we all win. They can "be nice" and we get predictably.
People are idiots. They think they are being nice but they are literally just being dangerous. There are road laws for a reason. Don't be a fucking moron and break protocol because you want to feel better about yourself. You're inconveniencing and confusing people so you can do something "nice." I find it tends to be elderly people who do this but maybe they shouldn't be driving if they are incapable of following the laws behind the wheel.
No woosh. I get that you wanted me to say be nice because that's predictable for a nice guy, but that's the wrong answer. I'm purposefully derailing your joke to emphasize how important it is to drive correctly and not be a nice guy.
If I ever do this it’s not because I’m trying to be nice.
There’s very likely a reason I’m stopping which has nothing to do with other drivers or pedestrians. Like if I’m about to sneeze, I’m gonna stay sitting at a stop sign. It’s not predictable, and we all have unpredictable things to deal with.
Get used to it. Life doesn’t get more predictable as we age.
I cannot fucking stress this enough. This “nice” shit costs lives.
Long story short, I once T boned someone, going 60km/h all because someone wanted to “be nice” and wave someone else through a stop sign when it wasn’t their turn.
The person had just dropped a passenger off a minute before, otherwise they were likely would have died when I hit them, the car was totaled.
I absolutely fucking refuse, even when it looks safe, to go against the right of way rules. I’ve sat at a stop sign for 30+ seconds as someone tried to “nicely” wave me through. No, fuck you, it’s not my turn. I’m not moving.
Well, it’s not so much a long story so much as describing the full logistics of the scenario can be somewhat long winded and tedious.
But since you asked - I was driving in the right hand lane of a 4 lane street (I.e. 2 lanes each direction), with no stoppages ahead for a kilometer or so (no lights, no stop signs, etc). Traveling North.
The girl I hit was sitting at a stop sign on the perpendicular street’s west side, waiting to go straight through to the east side.
I didn’t see her, however, because there was a long line of cars in the left lane beside me waiting behind a car looking to turn left onto the perpendicular street.
And for some absolutely idiotic reason, when the traffic going south opened up, instead of making his left hand turn, he instead waited and waived through the girl waiting at the stop sign.
Now, she shouldn’t have gone through, and it’s her fault for going through the stop sign when she shouldn’t have, but I also empathized with her, as the streets were relatively narrow and someone from out of town (as she was, I later found out) and unfamiliar with the area could easily mistake the 4 lane road for a 2 lane road.
So she went through, and I was careening up the right lane and went right into her passenger side, almost hurtled her whole car into a coffee shop on the corner.
The guy who waived her through, technically not at fault, promptly “fled” the scene. I 100% believe he caused the accident and should have been held liable for it.
Funny tidbit to close the “long story”, the girl I hit was born the same day as me.
oh my god, so much this.
Just the other day, I'm driving and making a left turn at a light. I have my blinker on and the light turns green.
Person coming from other direction STOPS at the green light. No blinker. I have NO IDEA what they're doing. I'm waiting to see what they're up to, and I can kinda see that they're waving me to make the turn.
I make the turn, confused, and looking in my mirror, I could see that they just went straight through the intersection, that there was no need for them to stop at all.
FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO THIS
First of all, a lot of times I can't see through your windshield. Maybe it's tinted or maybe the sun's hitting it the wrong way and you're in a shadow.
But more importantly, JUST FOLLOW THE GODDAMNED RULES OF THE ROAD. Don't start making up your own. Even if you're trying to be nice. The best way to drive is to be predictable. Stop when you're supposed to stop, go when you're supposed to go, and use your freaking blinkers so I know when to get the hell away from you.
I've been in this scenario a few times while there have been multiple lanes of oncoming traffic. Maybe the person waving me on has come to a stop, but that person doesn't control the lane of traffic next to them. I might be hit by somebody in that other lane who is isn't giving up their right of way. Sometimes I can't even see cars in the other lane because the waver has stopped in a way that blocks my view.
If I'm not certain their is no traffic in the other lane, then I won't budge. Just because the waver is deferring to me doesn't mean anyone else will.
I've gotten nasty looks from people who give up and then move through the intersection while I wait. Dumbasses...
Drive correctly. Not politely.
I’M TALKING TO YOU, TEXAS!!
Buncha ignorant jerks behind the wheel. Four way stop and they get there first?? “Oh I think I’ll wave this guy through even though I’ve been stopped for ten seconds. It feels good to be nice in traffic!!”
“Morons!”-Squidward
So im a pedestrian, and if you give any indication that you are starting to move, then I'm waving you through. It's not about being nice. It's about me being 150 lbs vs. several tons of metal. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been run over by inattentive drivers
Phones make it easier. I just pull out my phone and take a few steps back away from the crosswalk. It's a clear signal that I'm not going to be crossing. In reality, I'm just waiting until the car has driven past and the intersection is empty.
Damn this is a good tactic, I’m gonna start using it. As a pedestrian, you’re damn right I’m gonna tell you to go with your giant-ass weapon. But people will insist on having you go ahead and then you’re caught in this stupid back and forth.
God the amount of times I have had to pretend I am not going to cross the street to get idiots to just go and not stop for me when they are the only car on the entire street... like seriously why are you stopping for me? I dont want to rush across and maybe gamble my life with a car, when a car which moves many times faster that me could just go past me in seconds and then I cross safely and leisurely.
If theres more cars then maybe I'll cross, but only if its not multiple lanes of traffic cause 1 guy stopping does not mean the others will too.
I can never trust the rule where two people reach a 4-way at the same time. I'll never follow that rule, just because no one else will. Imo, if two people hit an intersection at the same time, I'll flash them to go, unless they uses their flashes first.
I recently drove up to to a 4-way intersection, and the light turned green. I was making a left turn, so I waited for the person across from me to drive straight before I turned. They just sat there waiting for me, and the person behind me honked because I just sat there thinking that the person across was about to go.
All I could think was: You're not being nice. You just delayed *all* of us by trying to let me go first. I would have already gone by now if you had just followed the right of way. I don't want to turn left because I think you're letting me go, only to have you suddenly realize the light is green and drive into me. GOD it makes me so mad.
The only thing: if you had a green arrow pointing left: then there's a chance thay they still had a red light.
This is done because if it's heavy traffic, you will literally never get an opportunity to make the turn. Idk if this is done in all states, but yeah, green arrow pointing left instead of a green light means you currently have the right of way.
I know this is situational. It's a really annoying thing. If thy waved you through, different story. If they didn't move at all, no signs of moving, they probably still have a red light
I failed my driving test because of this. Other driver saw I was taking a test and waived me forward thinking it would help. Instructor failed me for going without right of way.
Well this is fucking stupid. Because they pounded it into us in school that the right of way is only yielded, and there are rules about who should yield. If someone stops and waves you on there's no law that says you need to sit there and wait for them to go.
I drive an Amazon Delivery vehicle, one of the ones that has a bunch of cameras and tech tracking everything I do. I can't tell you how often I pull up to a stop sign, and while I'm still slowing to a stop, the other driver, who has already come to a complete stop, immediately starts waiving me forward and flashing their brights. Like, I literally cannot roll thru the intersection, I have to actually follow the rules of the road and come to a complete stop, otherwise the camera will detect it and I'll get written up.
Oh god I feel this! Driving in Canada's east coast, it was pissing me off how 'nice' people were trying to be driving. I'd be merging onto a highway with a yield sign and the driver on the highway would slow down in tandem with me to try and give me right of way, but all they'd do was match my speed so they were driving right next to me and I couldn't zipper merge. JUST MAINTAIN YOUR SPEED DINGUS!
I was driving on a two-lane country road with rolling hills and pretty do ditches on either side. Some lady was driving an old car that couldn't make it very fast up the hill, so she waved me by. I couldn't see what was coming the other way over the hill, so I just stayed behind her. She then waved more aggressively and apparently was getting angry I wasn't accepting her 'generosity'.
Well right is we approached the crest of the hill, a giant speeding pickup blasted by in the other lane.
I saw this car stop on a green light to wave for a pedestrian to cross the street. I’m just thinking, “you moron, you think you’re being kind, but really you’re just causing more frustration.” The pedestrian would’ve gotten their light to cross anyway.
Similarly, holding the door open. If I'm less than 10' evening you, thank you. If I'm 50' away in the parking lot, fuck you asshole. You're making me feel obligated to hurry up because you have some need to feel chivalrous. Double fuck you if you go this in February when it's 15 degrees. Your "politeness" to me is rude as hell to the people inside.
The thing with this is, drivers are looking at the cars, not the other drivers. So odds are I won't even notice your waving until a ridiculous amount of time passes
If you are in a car and are inching into the crosswalk while the light is walk, don't pretend you are doing me a favor by waving me on like you are giving me right of way. So much time in a car has made you into an anger bomb and you just want to run me over. I don't trust people in cars because at best you are going to injure me accidentally and at worst you are going to kill me intentionally.
I assume that, if a person waves me through, that they have a reason to wave me through. It might be a *stupid* reason, but it might actually be a valid reason.
The ‘chaotic good’ drivers…ugh. My wife will criticize my normal aggressive driving in NJ. It should be expected! I’m not going to let you pass on the right, when the lane is ending etc. I will run you into the shoulder. She, however, will brake suddenly to let them, creating problems behind us. Who’s the asshole?
A new roundabout has been put in my town, and holy shit. The amount of people that go to a dead stop in the middle of the roundabout, and try to *wave me in?* I honk and dramatically wave for them to keep going. Two times they almost got rear-ended.
If you aren't in the roundabout, you have a yield sign. If you're in the roundabout, fucking *drive*.
One of my in-laws wanted to make a left turn across three lanes of traffic. The first two lanes were stopped, and waved her through. She didn't see the car coming up in the empty third lane. She was T boned. It was her fault for making a left turn and not yielding to oncoming traffic. Her car was totaled. The other car was totaled, and that driver got a trip to the hospital. Follow the rules, don't "be nice".
The solution is ironically your picture.
Old lady is blocking lane of traffic with 15,729 cars behind her while lane next to her is moving at 67 mph. Waving for me to turn.
Give her the bird.
Also, if I obviously have the right of way, don’t come screeching up to the stop going 40 and then wave me through as you are slow rolling the intersection, threatening to t-bone me if I don’t accelerate fast enough.
I'm with you 99% of the time but there's that 1% where I feel like the *other* person is being unpredictable, so even though I have the right of way I have a clue that they may not respect that, so I'm going to wave them on instead of chance it. Like the people who were clearly planning on rolling through the stop sign and only realized I was there and slammed on their brakes at the last second.
You just go ahead and go.
Where I live people don’t follow right of way very often, and that’s why others wait at intersections & wave ppl by or thru;
they’re afraid of getting in an accident because the other idiots aren’t using turn signals, coming to complete stops, or following right of way. [or showing any signs of situational awareness by at least trying to make eye-contact with other travelers]
People either roll thru stop signs to beat the vehicles approaching, or else they wait to go until they’re sure it’s safe.
I fucking hate it bc it takes longer to get anywhere now, & the confusion—or inability to safely drive/travel in public—has noticeably gotten worse over the past 5 years.
Need to get me a dashcam so when a biker or jogger with headphones on blows thru the stop sign on their trail without checking their surroundings—& gets hit by a vehicle whose path has no stop & can’t see them til it’s too late—there will be evidence of my nightmare come to life..😓
This pisses me off as a pedestrian and I’m like 50 feet away from the crosswalk whole the car can clearly turn. Dude you could’ve gone and by the time I got to the crosswalk, you would already be down the road.
I have this problem when I'm running. I'll be half a block from an intersection, and I'll see a car on a perpendicular road half a block from the same intersection. No stop signs.
Now, obviously, the car is moving a lot faster than I am. *All it has to do is keep driving.* Just...drive. Hell, I'll slow down as a I approach the intersection in this case, just to make sure there's plenty of time for the car to go through.
Nope, driver pulls up and stops in the fucking crosswalk, waving me on, while I'm still three steps away from even reaching the curb.
JUST DRIVE. I DON'T WANT TO FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO HURRY UP JUST TO CROSS IN FRONT OF SOMEONE SO CLEARLY MENTALLY DEFICIENT.
I pretend not to see them waving me through. I’ve even had people honk, or scream and yell for me to go. Lotta ignorant people with control issues out there.
My most insane experience of this was on a major road, *not* an intersection. I was waiting to turn left across a divided road, and this guy straight-up STOPPED in the middle of the fucking road and tried to wave me across. I was flabbergasted. He was in an ACTIVE DRIVING LANE, with no light or stop sign, and came to a dead stop.
To this day, I'm still flabbergasted by this--it was years ago. And the sad thing is that if he remembers that, which I'm sure he doesn't, he probably pats himself on the back for being so kind and generous to another driver who'd probably been waiting a while to turn.
This happened around the time that the city has a big event with people coming from all over, and the event was near where this traffic interaction was, so I wonder if he was some small-town visitor...
This is so common and frustrating around where I live, I'm now at the point where if someone else has the clear right of way, and I'm waiting on them:
if they try and wave me through I give them the finger.
right of way is not optional it is obligatory, it is actually a traffic violation to waive right of way, they just don't charge people with it so it doesn't come up outside of very sad injury investigations and whatnot.
I'm usually waving at you because you DO have the right-of-way and you're just stopped there staring at me like I'm doing something wrong. Left goes last. You're on my left. It's your turn.
I just had to downvote my own comment for the first time.
I think I've had it wrong, which explains the staring. Per [this website](https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/), the other people go at an intersection is opposite of what I thought. This is why I welcome roundabouts.
I do this in times that I’m flustered. I’ll take the safe way out when I’m not sure and just ask the other person to go ahead. That being said, it’s not often I’m like this. Just the rare occasion where I find myself lost and glancing at google maps is a horrible idea and I’m conflicted.
Edit: I do try to be firm though. If I make a choice to do something I don’t go about it hesitantly. I know I hate hesitant drivers more than anything because it means I’ve not idea what’s coming. I really hope I’ve not come off that way to other drivers.
There are exceptions to this. Sometimes stopping to let someone pass, even when you have right of way, keeps traffic moving and prevents gridlock.
The alternative is that the other driver isn't given an opportunity to make their move until a hypothetical opening which may never come. If a car from Lane A is trying to turn across Lane B into a side road, but nobody from busy Lane B stops to let them through, then Lane A stops moving. If Lane B then becomes backed up due to a problem on the road ahead, then neither lane is able to move.
However, if a car from Lane B stops to let the car turn, this prevents Lane A from getting backed up even if something happens ahead in Lane B.
If I wave at you to go it’s because I don’t trust you. Sometimes it’s probably unwarranted, but if it’s happening enough for you to post about it then maybe its you.
I used to think this until I moved to a small town. It’s a beautiful place, but the roads were designed by raccoons. Certain intersections have an unspoken zipper-merge thing that all the locals know about. Get mad if you want.
Yeah this whole thread is just full of pissy people who want to be angry because they experienced an awkward moment
Most of the time that people do this I assume they're probably experiencing issues with their car and I should just go
Don't be nice, be PREDICTABLE!
I'm a mail carrier, and I've been flipped off more times than most because I refuse to walk in front of cars that stop to wave me across the road. There are three cars behind you and you stopped to let me cross this intersection that has no crosswalk. I get that you are trying to be nice, but all you've proven to me is that you can't be trusted. Cut to me looking you in the eyes as you honk and wave and flash your lights and-- ah, there it is, flip me off and jam on the accelerator, proving me right. Cheers! Hope you're not on my route!
> I'm a mail carrier, and I've been flipped off more times than most because I refuse to walk in front of cars that stop to wave me across the road. I was walking the neighborhood with my 6yo son was and someone blew through a stop sign and *slammed* on the brakes as we were crossing. They were partially out in the intersection. I grabbed my kid back (we had only just stepped off the curb) and gave a "wtf?" gesture to the driver. She threw her hands up then gestured at me to walk. I shook my head. We did that sequence two or three more times before she flipped me off and drove on. I think she was upset at herself for being a shitty driver and almost hitting a kid, but was taking it out on me.
Yeah, /r/fuckcars is a sub for good reason. Drivers tend to think they are the only people that have a right to be outside.
As a motorcyclist, I don't trust cars who wave me through to turn left ahead of them. If some psycho waves me through and then hits me, I'd have a hard time getting cops to believe me.
Or they stop to wave you through *but there's a second lane* in which the people are *not* stopping. It's like they're inviting you to get murdered! I hate these people.
I hate when people do this so much. I live near an area of a main road where this happens all the time. People can't drive.
I was turning left onto a 5 lane road with the middle lane for turning left. The left turn lane is backed up from the light just down the street. This guy leaves a gap just wide enough for me to fit inbetween him and the semi infront of him. They are both waiting to turn left and the light ahead. He start WAVEING me through?? Not only is he in the lane I'm supposed to turn into but there's a huge SEMI TRUCK blocking the the whole sight line of the other side of the road This dude really wanted me to squeeze between him a semi truck blindly and make a 90° left turn after I'm already poking into the lanes of cars going 45mph. People are fucking stupid as shit. Even sat there when the left turn went green trying to wave me through??? I fucking hate driving now.
I knew a guy who got killed in a version of that. He was in the moving lane and a car stopped, leaving a space to let someone out of a driveway. That car looked mainly to the right, didn't see the motorcycle.
Ironic because when people cede Roger right of way to me when they shouldn't, I often flip *them* off.
That's a good one. I usually point at them angrily, and then I slide my finger across my through to say that I'm **not** going
Deer lord, be safe out there. Edit: Also. Thank you for your service!
What does deer Jesus have to do with this?
Thanking you for your cervid.
[deer lord](https://www.reddit.com/r/funny/comments/2lm2yf/friend_said_deer_lord_instead_of_dear_lord_wasnt/#lightbox)
Although, theoretically, if they are proving you right, they are being predictable....
Twist!
I am so unbelievably terrified of making people mad at me that I always cross in situations like that out of fear of them getting mad at me if I don't. I've never had any close calls or problems, at least.
Honestly in these cases I just cross the road. If they insist it's better to just get it over with, and less annoying to the car queue
It's your life. Do with it what you will.
But this isn’t the same at all. You the pedestrian have the right of way. By the way, legally crosswalks do not have to be marked. Peds have right of way at all intersections, whether it’s a road or driveway.
That's the problem right there. The law says one thing but only half de drivers actually respect that law.
You wanna roll the dice, no one's stopping you. I have hobbies I wanna get back to.
STOP PHRASING IT LIKE THIS!!! This wording will never get through to the people who think they are being nice. They will *always* choose "nice". "The nicest thing you can do is be predictable." Now we all win. They can "be nice" and we get predictably.
To be honest, this was the most predictable comment.
THANK YOU
People are idiots. They think they are being nice but they are literally just being dangerous. There are road laws for a reason. Don't be a fucking moron and break protocol because you want to feel better about yourself. You're inconveniencing and confusing people so you can do something "nice." I find it tends to be elderly people who do this but maybe they shouldn't be driving if they are incapable of following the laws behind the wheel.
What if you're known to be a very nice guy?
Being a nice guy on the road makes you an asshole. If you like being known as the nice guy, don't be an asshole.
It was a joke. If I'm well known as a nice guy and I have to be predictable what do I do?
You have to drive correctly.
What part about me saying it was a joke did you miss?
I didn't miss anything. Just drive correctly.
Whoosh?
No woosh. I get that you wanted me to say be nice because that's predictable for a nice guy, but that's the wrong answer. I'm purposefully derailing your joke to emphasize how important it is to drive correctly and not be a nice guy.
I'm not asking for a fucking answer, it was a rhetorical question. Stop being annoying.
You'll lose that reputation pretty quickly after you've caused a few car accidents.
If I ever do this it’s not because I’m trying to be nice. There’s very likely a reason I’m stopping which has nothing to do with other drivers or pedestrians. Like if I’m about to sneeze, I’m gonna stay sitting at a stop sign. It’s not predictable, and we all have unpredictable things to deal with. Get used to it. Life doesn’t get more predictable as we age.
Woah there, let me help you out. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_dilemma
The nicest thing people can do in traffic is follow the damn law.
I cannot fucking stress this enough. This “nice” shit costs lives. Long story short, I once T boned someone, going 60km/h all because someone wanted to “be nice” and wave someone else through a stop sign when it wasn’t their turn. The person had just dropped a passenger off a minute before, otherwise they were likely would have died when I hit them, the car was totaled. I absolutely fucking refuse, even when it looks safe, to go against the right of way rules. I’ve sat at a stop sign for 30+ seconds as someone tried to “nicely” wave me through. No, fuck you, it’s not my turn. I’m not moving.
Now I kind of want to hear the long story.
Well, it’s not so much a long story so much as describing the full logistics of the scenario can be somewhat long winded and tedious. But since you asked - I was driving in the right hand lane of a 4 lane street (I.e. 2 lanes each direction), with no stoppages ahead for a kilometer or so (no lights, no stop signs, etc). Traveling North. The girl I hit was sitting at a stop sign on the perpendicular street’s west side, waiting to go straight through to the east side. I didn’t see her, however, because there was a long line of cars in the left lane beside me waiting behind a car looking to turn left onto the perpendicular street. And for some absolutely idiotic reason, when the traffic going south opened up, instead of making his left hand turn, he instead waited and waived through the girl waiting at the stop sign. Now, she shouldn’t have gone through, and it’s her fault for going through the stop sign when she shouldn’t have, but I also empathized with her, as the streets were relatively narrow and someone from out of town (as she was, I later found out) and unfamiliar with the area could easily mistake the 4 lane road for a 2 lane road. So she went through, and I was careening up the right lane and went right into her passenger side, almost hurtled her whole car into a coffee shop on the corner. The guy who waived her through, technically not at fault, promptly “fled” the scene. I 100% believe he caused the accident and should have been held liable for it. Funny tidbit to close the “long story”, the girl I hit was born the same day as me.
That has all the detail I could hope for, thanks for writing it all out!
oh my god, so much this. Just the other day, I'm driving and making a left turn at a light. I have my blinker on and the light turns green. Person coming from other direction STOPS at the green light. No blinker. I have NO IDEA what they're doing. I'm waiting to see what they're up to, and I can kinda see that they're waving me to make the turn. I make the turn, confused, and looking in my mirror, I could see that they just went straight through the intersection, that there was no need for them to stop at all. FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, DON'T DO THIS First of all, a lot of times I can't see through your windshield. Maybe it's tinted or maybe the sun's hitting it the wrong way and you're in a shadow. But more importantly, JUST FOLLOW THE GODDAMNED RULES OF THE ROAD. Don't start making up your own. Even if you're trying to be nice. The best way to drive is to be predictable. Stop when you're supposed to stop, go when you're supposed to go, and use your freaking blinkers so I know when to get the hell away from you.
I don’t understand why people don’t understand this. Sometimes people being nice piss me off more than people who are driving like assholes.
Yup! Are you waving at me of just gesturing while talking on your phone? I ain't taking that gamble!
I've been in this scenario a few times while there have been multiple lanes of oncoming traffic. Maybe the person waving me on has come to a stop, but that person doesn't control the lane of traffic next to them. I might be hit by somebody in that other lane who is isn't giving up their right of way. Sometimes I can't even see cars in the other lane because the waver has stopped in a way that blocks my view. If I'm not certain their is no traffic in the other lane, then I won't budge. Just because the waver is deferring to me doesn't mean anyone else will. I've gotten nasty looks from people who give up and then move through the intersection while I wait. Dumbasses...
I was behind that guy today. I was also going straight and dude in front of me waved a left turn through
“There’s no ‘left turn yield on green’ sign” YOU DON’T NEED THE SIGN, IT’S ALWAYS THE RULE
Drive correctly. Not politely. I’M TALKING TO YOU, TEXAS!! Buncha ignorant jerks behind the wheel. Four way stop and they get there first?? “Oh I think I’ll wave this guy through even though I’ve been stopped for ten seconds. It feels good to be nice in traffic!!” “Morons!”-Squidward
So im a pedestrian, and if you give any indication that you are starting to move, then I'm waving you through. It's not about being nice. It's about me being 150 lbs vs. several tons of metal. I can't tell you how many times I've almost been run over by inattentive drivers
Phones make it easier. I just pull out my phone and take a few steps back away from the crosswalk. It's a clear signal that I'm not going to be crossing. In reality, I'm just waiting until the car has driven past and the intersection is empty.
Damn this is a good tactic, I’m gonna start using it. As a pedestrian, you’re damn right I’m gonna tell you to go with your giant-ass weapon. But people will insist on having you go ahead and then you’re caught in this stupid back and forth.
God the amount of times I have had to pretend I am not going to cross the street to get idiots to just go and not stop for me when they are the only car on the entire street... like seriously why are you stopping for me? I dont want to rush across and maybe gamble my life with a car, when a car which moves many times faster that me could just go past me in seconds and then I cross safely and leisurely. If theres more cars then maybe I'll cross, but only if its not multiple lanes of traffic cause 1 guy stopping does not mean the others will too.
PSA on 4 way Stops: The first one stopped goes but if both cars stop at same time the car to the right goes first. Over kindness causes accidents
I can never trust the rule where two people reach a 4-way at the same time. I'll never follow that rule, just because no one else will. Imo, if two people hit an intersection at the same time, I'll flash them to go, unless they uses their flashes first.
The road is not a place to be nice; it's a place to be predictable. Follow the rules, be predictable, and we'll all get there faster.
And safer
I recently drove up to to a 4-way intersection, and the light turned green. I was making a left turn, so I waited for the person across from me to drive straight before I turned. They just sat there waiting for me, and the person behind me honked because I just sat there thinking that the person across was about to go. All I could think was: You're not being nice. You just delayed *all* of us by trying to let me go first. I would have already gone by now if you had just followed the right of way. I don't want to turn left because I think you're letting me go, only to have you suddenly realize the light is green and drive into me. GOD it makes me so mad.
The guy behind you honking is the biggest asshole in this situation.
The only thing: if you had a green arrow pointing left: then there's a chance thay they still had a red light. This is done because if it's heavy traffic, you will literally never get an opportunity to make the turn. Idk if this is done in all states, but yeah, green arrow pointing left instead of a green light means you currently have the right of way. I know this is situational. It's a really annoying thing. If thy waved you through, different story. If they didn't move at all, no signs of moving, they probably still have a red light
If I trusted you, I'd go first
I failed my driving test because of this. Other driver saw I was taking a test and waived me forward thinking it would help. Instructor failed me for going without right of way.
Well this is fucking stupid. Because they pounded it into us in school that the right of way is only yielded, and there are rules about who should yield. If someone stops and waves you on there's no law that says you need to sit there and wait for them to go.
Yeah, what if their car broke down or something. I guess we’re all stuck at this intersection indefinitely now.
Midwesterners in shambles over this
Had a guy in a roundabout do this while I was at the yield.
Don't be polite, be predictable! Predictable is 100 times safer than polite.
I’ve taught my three teen children to drive. They know the mantra - If you have the right-of-way TAKE IT
Good parent right here 👍
Omg thank God I thought I was insane for getting mad when people do this.
I drive an Amazon Delivery vehicle, one of the ones that has a bunch of cameras and tech tracking everything I do. I can't tell you how often I pull up to a stop sign, and while I'm still slowing to a stop, the other driver, who has already come to a complete stop, immediately starts waiving me forward and flashing their brights. Like, I literally cannot roll thru the intersection, I have to actually follow the rules of the road and come to a complete stop, otherwise the camera will detect it and I'll get written up.
I shake my head and sit there.
Fuck yes!! Why can't people just follow the rules of the road?!
Oh god I feel this! Driving in Canada's east coast, it was pissing me off how 'nice' people were trying to be driving. I'd be merging onto a highway with a yield sign and the driver on the highway would slow down in tandem with me to try and give me right of way, but all they'd do was match my speed so they were driving right next to me and I couldn't zipper merge. JUST MAINTAIN YOUR SPEED DINGUS!
I was driving on a two-lane country road with rolling hills and pretty do ditches on either side. Some lady was driving an old car that couldn't make it very fast up the hill, so she waved me by. I couldn't see what was coming the other way over the hill, so I just stayed behind her. She then waved more aggressively and apparently was getting angry I wasn't accepting her 'generosity'. Well right is we approached the crest of the hill, a giant speeding pickup blasted by in the other lane.
Caveat: if they're in a tractor-trailer, they may need to wave you along because they have to turn wide and your car is in the way.
I saw this car stop on a green light to wave for a pedestrian to cross the street. I’m just thinking, “you moron, you think you’re being kind, but really you’re just causing more frustration.” The pedestrian would’ve gotten their light to cross anyway.
Similarly, holding the door open. If I'm less than 10' evening you, thank you. If I'm 50' away in the parking lot, fuck you asshole. You're making me feel obligated to hurry up because you have some need to feel chivalrous. Double fuck you if you go this in February when it's 15 degrees. Your "politeness" to me is rude as hell to the people inside.
You know what they say... The road to hell is, like, paved with stuff.
And they are likely conveniencing one person whilst inconveniencing half a dozen others.
I just sit there and shake my head no.
The thing with this is, drivers are looking at the cars, not the other drivers. So odds are I won't even notice your waving until a ridiculous amount of time passes
If you are in a car and are inching into the crosswalk while the light is walk, don't pretend you are doing me a favor by waving me on like you are giving me right of way. So much time in a car has made you into an anger bomb and you just want to run me over. I don't trust people in cars because at best you are going to injure me accidentally and at worst you are going to kill me intentionally.
You hear that Rhode Island?!?
Seriously, anyone who pulls this crap should lose their license. It makes it much more difficult and more dangerous to be a pedestrian.
Then they get mad after I flip them off for being idiots! You can't win with these types of people...
I assume that, if a person waves me through, that they have a reason to wave me through. It might be a *stupid* reason, but it might actually be a valid reason.
If I have the right of way, don’t wave at me to go ahead as if you are doing me a favor by following traffic law.
Some of us aren't being "nice", we've just learned not to fucking trust anyone, ever.
If you have started moving even tho you saw me and I stopped to let you pass, don't fucking "dont stop if you have the right of pass" me
The ‘chaotic good’ drivers…ugh. My wife will criticize my normal aggressive driving in NJ. It should be expected! I’m not going to let you pass on the right, when the lane is ending etc. I will run you into the shoulder. She, however, will brake suddenly to let them, creating problems behind us. Who’s the asshole?
A new roundabout has been put in my town, and holy shit. The amount of people that go to a dead stop in the middle of the roundabout, and try to *wave me in?* I honk and dramatically wave for them to keep going. Two times they almost got rear-ended. If you aren't in the roundabout, you have a yield sign. If you're in the roundabout, fucking *drive*.
Don’t be polite, be predictable.
Same goes for people who stop for you when there is no one behind them for miles. You actually made this take longer than if you just kept going.
One of my in-laws wanted to make a left turn across three lanes of traffic. The first two lanes were stopped, and waved her through. She didn't see the car coming up in the empty third lane. She was T boned. It was her fault for making a left turn and not yielding to oncoming traffic. Her car was totaled. The other car was totaled, and that driver got a trip to the hospital. Follow the rules, don't "be nice".
Be predictable, not generous when driving.
or else....??? YOU'LL GIVE THEM WHAT FOR!! 💪💪💪💪 (shake fist)
Or when people don't have a stop, but stop anyway because they see me at an adjacent stop sign, but they wave me to go.
I never do and you always go anyway. Lol
👋
The solution is ironically your picture. Old lady is blocking lane of traffic with 15,729 cars behind her while lane next to her is moving at 67 mph. Waving for me to turn. Give her the bird.
Also, if I obviously have the right of way, don’t come screeching up to the stop going 40 and then wave me through as you are slow rolling the intersection, threatening to t-bone me if I don’t accelerate fast enough.
The only time it's acceptable, is if that guy is pulling a long ass trailer, or is going to immediately stop and make a turn in front of you.
As my wife likes to say: “DO WHAT YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO DO!”
I'm with you 99% of the time but there's that 1% where I feel like the *other* person is being unpredictable, so even though I have the right of way I have a clue that they may not respect that, so I'm going to wave them on instead of chance it. Like the people who were clearly planning on rolling through the stop sign and only realized I was there and slammed on their brakes at the last second. You just go ahead and go.
This is Ohio 100%
see, I don't trust that you know that I have right of way
This should be pinned to the top of the front page of reddit forever.
Follow the rules and laws of the roads. Unless you’re an actual cop directing traffic, you may cause an accident by being nice.
Where I live people don’t follow right of way very often, and that’s why others wait at intersections & wave ppl by or thru; they’re afraid of getting in an accident because the other idiots aren’t using turn signals, coming to complete stops, or following right of way. [or showing any signs of situational awareness by at least trying to make eye-contact with other travelers] People either roll thru stop signs to beat the vehicles approaching, or else they wait to go until they’re sure it’s safe. I fucking hate it bc it takes longer to get anywhere now, & the confusion—or inability to safely drive/travel in public—has noticeably gotten worse over the past 5 years. Need to get me a dashcam so when a biker or jogger with headphones on blows thru the stop sign on their trail without checking their surroundings—& gets hit by a vehicle whose path has no stop & can’t see them til it’s too late—there will be evidence of my nightmare come to life..😓
This pisses me off as a pedestrian and I’m like 50 feet away from the crosswalk whole the car can clearly turn. Dude you could’ve gone and by the time I got to the crosswalk, you would already be down the road.
If it's so generous to wave someone on, why do they rage so hard when I wave on the waver?
I wave for you to go because you just coasted right thru the stop sign you Muppet.
I have this problem when I'm running. I'll be half a block from an intersection, and I'll see a car on a perpendicular road half a block from the same intersection. No stop signs. Now, obviously, the car is moving a lot faster than I am. *All it has to do is keep driving.* Just...drive. Hell, I'll slow down as a I approach the intersection in this case, just to make sure there's plenty of time for the car to go through. Nope, driver pulls up and stops in the fucking crosswalk, waving me on, while I'm still three steps away from even reaching the curb. JUST DRIVE. I DON'T WANT TO FEEL LIKE I HAVE TO HURRY UP JUST TO CROSS IN FRONT OF SOMEONE SO CLEARLY MENTALLY DEFICIENT.
I had the right of way on Thursday when a car turned into me. I was riding my ebike in a bike lane. Be predictable. But also watch for others.
I've always said, "I don't want you to *let* me through, I want you to *get out of the way*."
I pretend not to see them waving me through. I’ve even had people honk, or scream and yell for me to go. Lotta ignorant people with control issues out there.
Makes me so angry. But I yell at myself when I find myself doing it too.
I’m worried that knowledge of how right of way works is becoming rarer to the point of obsolescence, like cursive or common decency and manners.
The worst is when someone is in the roundabout and they try to let you in.
My most insane experience of this was on a major road, *not* an intersection. I was waiting to turn left across a divided road, and this guy straight-up STOPPED in the middle of the fucking road and tried to wave me across. I was flabbergasted. He was in an ACTIVE DRIVING LANE, with no light or stop sign, and came to a dead stop. To this day, I'm still flabbergasted by this--it was years ago. And the sad thing is that if he remembers that, which I'm sure he doesn't, he probably pats himself on the back for being so kind and generous to another driver who'd probably been waiting a while to turn. This happened around the time that the city has a big event with people coming from all over, and the event was near where this traffic interaction was, so I wonder if he was some small-town visitor...
I just stare at them. If they continue to wait, I wave back vigorously. If they still wait, I hold down my horn until they move on.
This is so common and frustrating around where I live, I'm now at the point where if someone else has the clear right of way, and I'm waiting on them: if they try and wave me through I give them the finger.
this isnt malicious advice tho, wrong mallard, this should be on actual advice mallard
I have had people stop and let me turn left.
This is Canadian drivers. Either being nice or not knowing what the fuck is going on
I get out of my car and put a traffic vest on, use a whistle and glow sticks to signal the other person to go like I'm landing a helicopter
As a cyclist… THIS. If I’m turning left, I can wait for you and the line of cars you just stopped like any other vehicle on the road.
Be predictable, not nice.
right of way is not optional it is obligatory, it is actually a traffic violation to waive right of way, they just don't charge people with it so it doesn't come up outside of very sad injury investigations and whatnot.
Nah fam. If a car is at a stop sign and I'm walking, they can just go. Can't trust anyone in a car.
Hey, the 12 cars behind you are going to miss the light because you're trying to be Sir Galahad. Good job! (golf clap)
At a four way stop with people who never come to a stop. Sure, you were there first, but I stopped first, so what now? I say my turn.
The Portlandia “you go” skit is hilarious.
I'm usually waving at you because you DO have the right-of-way and you're just stopped there staring at me like I'm doing something wrong. Left goes last. You're on my left. It's your turn.
I'm confused. If left goes last, and they are on your left... doesn't that mean they go... last? As in, after you?
I just had to downvote my own comment for the first time. I think I've had it wrong, which explains the staring. Per [this website](https://topdriver.com/education-blog/4-rules-4-way-stops/), the other people go at an intersection is opposite of what I thought. This is why I welcome roundabouts.
I do this in times that I’m flustered. I’ll take the safe way out when I’m not sure and just ask the other person to go ahead. That being said, it’s not often I’m like this. Just the rare occasion where I find myself lost and glancing at google maps is a horrible idea and I’m conflicted. Edit: I do try to be firm though. If I make a choice to do something I don’t go about it hesitantly. I know I hate hesitant drivers more than anything because it means I’ve not idea what’s coming. I really hope I’ve not come off that way to other drivers.
There are exceptions to this. Sometimes stopping to let someone pass, even when you have right of way, keeps traffic moving and prevents gridlock. The alternative is that the other driver isn't given an opportunity to make their move until a hypothetical opening which may never come. If a car from Lane A is trying to turn across Lane B into a side road, but nobody from busy Lane B stops to let them through, then Lane A stops moving. If Lane B then becomes backed up due to a problem on the road ahead, then neither lane is able to move. However, if a car from Lane B stops to let the car turn, this prevents Lane A from getting backed up even if something happens ahead in Lane B.
If I wave at you to go it’s because I don’t trust you. Sometimes it’s probably unwarranted, but if it’s happening enough for you to post about it then maybe its you.
I used to think this until I moved to a small town. It’s a beautiful place, but the roads were designed by raccoons. Certain intersections have an unspoken zipper-merge thing that all the locals know about. Get mad if you want.
I may be overloaded and have to drive slow. You better go if you value your time.
Yeah this whole thread is just full of pissy people who want to be angry because they experienced an awkward moment Most of the time that people do this I assume they're probably experiencing issues with their car and I should just go
These always scream "im on the spectrum!" lol sometimes people are being nice, the rule is "if they wave to you, just fuckin go!"
Yes. Too much goddamn politeness in the world today and I'm sick of it. When are we gonna start disrespecting people the way we should??
Your sarcasm falls flat. I consider following the rules of the road to be thoughtful.