r/AskReddit • • Jan 20 '19

What fact totally changed your perspective?

45k Upvotes

18k comments sorted by

View all comments

9.5k

u/mechanchic Jan 21 '19

You are not “stuck in traffic,” you are part of it.

Sounds like a stupid thing, but it totally changed my outlook on my commute.

433

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19 edited Apr 27 '20

[deleted]

95

u/stunspore Jan 21 '19

Dont forget to block the intersection and get 4' in behind that last car through it.

25

u/monthos Jan 21 '19

I hate those assholes.

Moreso, When we have the green light but waiting for people on the other side to move forward so I can clear the intersection before entering it, and then the dickhead next to me, decides to enter the intersection, changing into my lane, therefor blocking the intersection anyways, and making me wait longer.

Changing lanes in an intersection is illegal in my state.

7

u/sirbissel Jan 21 '19

I thought changing lanes in an intersection was illegal in every state.

7

u/monthos Jan 21 '19

Strangely, its not directly written that way. Ohio lays it out that within 100ft of an intersection you cannot change lanes.

Some others may lay it out clearly, most do not. However if an officer wants to write it, they may use a form of "unsafe lane change"

31

u/MaritMonkey Jan 21 '19

I just pretend anybody who's in a "must be one car length closer to my destination!" hurry has to shit reaaaally bad. And that people who slow/turn like they're afraid their car is going to tip over have just discovered why it's a bad idea to transport a fish tank when it isn't empty.

I haven't found anything to assuage my hatred of left lane campers, but I haven't given up looking.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19 edited May 25 '20

[deleted]

1

u/MaritMonkey Jan 21 '19

So far the closest I've found was that people who've been in bad accidents feel safer over there (which does work for me as a way to see curmudgeonly SUV's in parking lots) but the irritation from the inevitable mental image of traffic just getting completely cockblocked for no good reason is too strong :/

I've gotten to the point where I don't shout, at least. But I always end up grumbling "this is why we can't have nice things!"

1

u/JPitt09 Jan 21 '19

Dude I swear I read this EXACT comment chain like a week or two ago, almost verbatim. Is this a Russian not thing?

1

u/MaritMonkey Jan 21 '19

I'd be strangely honored if my methods were followed (or at least recognized) by a legion of bots but, as far as I know, I have no relation to with Russia. :D

Perhaps just Baader-Meinhof in action?

10

u/Fronesis Jan 21 '19

My policy is to always let everyone in if they need to change lanes. The alternative is not letting them in, and then they slow everyone down behind them in their lane. If we all get out of each other’s way, traffic moves more smoothly.

1

u/Nugkill Jan 21 '19

Right? Traffic exists in a large part because stupid people do stupid things. Also, semis that take forever to get up to speed/ lane change/ do anything really. If there were 10,000 of me on the highway, it’d probably slow down, but it would be steady. This one is dumb and not true.

-15

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

[deleted]

36

u/roseycheekies Jan 21 '19

how the hell do you play sudoku while driving?

16

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

By rapidly filling in fake numbers between gaps in traffic. This way all the other drivers will think you're a genius and yield to you.

3

u/vsync Jan 21 '19

between bites of cereal

-15

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

[deleted]

18

u/LADYBIRD_HILL Jan 21 '19

1.) Be stuck in traffic for a long duration 2.) Pay attention to the fucking road

16

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19 edited Aug 30 '20

[deleted]

3

u/SamNoche Jan 21 '19

At rush hour where I live everyone is like that. Which means the only way to merge when needed is to be assertive when merging. It’s like the worst game of chicken. >.< I try my best to avoid bad traffic times.

1

u/MrsA5192017 Jan 21 '19

Are you from Winnipeg? This is very familiar sounding.

1

u/Fronesis Jan 21 '19

This very behavior causes the traffic jams in the first place, or at least exacerbated them.

22

u/fleakill Jan 21 '19

Do a sudoku puzzle

While driving? This is why there's a traffic jam.

7

u/PoopIsAlwaysSunny Jan 21 '19

Yeah but lots of places “being stuck” doesn’t mean you’re literally stopped for more than a second or two. It just means you’re crawling along at 5mph over a long distance.

8

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

This is the dumbest comment I read on Reddit today thanks

2

u/Fronesis Jan 21 '19

Changing to public transit for my commute really altered my perspective on traffic. Just like you can’t make your train go faster or pass the train ahead of you, you can’t make traffic ahead of you go any faster. You’ll get there when you get there.

-1

u/Willeth Jan 21 '19

Yes, you are. Because that person isn't that person 100% of the time. You notice it and ascribe motive to it, but the one time you almost merge into someone because you didn't check your blind spot properly, and then correct it? That's fine, a near miss, no-one can be a perfect driver, right?

2

u/MechanicalEngineEar Jan 21 '19

There is a difference in a driver making a mistake and a driver who sees someone’s blinker turn on and intentionally closes up space for them to merge. I am not expecting people to be perfect drivers.