Driving Etiquette: Waving After Pulling Out

[DaveC426913]

The person let's the other person out and the person coming in the other lane hits them.
I've seen that happen twice and I've almost hit countless people who were coming out like that. The person letting them out is blocking the view of cars coming in the other lane.

Yep. Very common. Happened to my sister last year. She got clipped when someone made a left turn in front of her.

While other driver was charged, I feel my sister was partially responsible. It was a completely avoidable accident if she had been driving intelligently.

Anytime traffic adjacent to you is moving substantially slower than your lane there is cause for hyper-vigilance. If I'm on a 4-lane road, and the lane next to me is stopped, I get extremely paranoid and dramatically reduce my speed. I would never have been in that accident.

 

[Lateralus.]

For me, it would depend on the situation. They definitely receive a wave (and a friendly smile) at A, then again at B - traffic permitting.

 

[turbo]

There is a rather nasty spot near a busy intersection in the town just south of here, where there are two lanes of westbound (1/2 will turn north at the intersection) and one lane of eastbound and people often wish to come out the strip-mall parking lot at that location. They nose up to the road looking at the oncoming drivers hoping for cooperation. What I do in this case (if I won't be holding up much traffic in back of me) is to stop well back from the lot's exit so I won't be blocking the exiting driver's view), and then I point to them. I do NOT wave them out. Checking for clear space to exit and merge is their responsibility, not mine.

For my own part, if someone gives me space to cross in front of them, I will wave conspicuously and briefly once, and spend the rest of my time and attention safely negotiating the turn and/or entering the flow of traffic.

 

[leroyjenkens]

What I do in this case (if I won't be holding up much traffic in back of me) is to stop well back from the lot's exit so I won't be blocking the exiting driver's view), and then I point to them. I do NOT wave them out. Checking for clear space to exit and merge is their responsibility, not mine.

A wave means "I'm letting you go", not "I've checked all possible directions and I know for a fact that it's clear for you to proceed". The idea that a difference in hand gestures makes the difference between you being partly responsible for an accident and not responsible at all is completely ridiculous to me.
You could stick your head out of the window and shout at the person to go right now and it's not your fault at all if that person hits another car. You may be a jerk, but it's completely their responsibility to watch where they're going.

 

[turbo]

A wave means "I'm letting you go", not "I've checked all possible directions and I know for a fact that it's clear for you to proceed". The idea that a difference in hand gestures makes the difference between you being partly responsible for an accident and not responsible at all is completely ridiculous to me.
You could stick your head out of the window and shout at the person to go right now and it's not your fault at all if that person hits another car. You may be a jerk, but it's completely their responsibility to watch where they're going.

Read this.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/truck_driver_must_pay_for_waiv.html

 

[physics girl phd]

Except in some places, a man blowing kisses at another man might end up in a shooting.

This is where it is a good advantage to be female. A female blowing kisses at another female is certainly less likely to result in a shooting.

 

[DaveC426913]

This is where it is a good advantage to be female. A female blowing kisses at another female is certainly less likely to result in a shooting.

But still enough to cause half the men in eyeshot to crash into a lamppost.

 

[turbo]

But still enough to cause half the men in eyeshot to crash into a lamppost.

When Bullock planted a wet one on Streep, that might have caused some serious whiplash even if nobody in the audience was driving.

 

[DaveC426913]

When Bullock planted a wet one on Streep...

Wait. Wait...

...

...

...

Wait...

...

Aaaaaand go ahead.

, that might have caused some serious whiplash even if nobody in the audience was driving.

 

[GeorginaS]

When Bullock planted a wet one on Streep, that might have caused some serious whiplash even if nobody in the audience was driving.

When?

Edit: Never mind. These are the Internets. Found it. How did I ever live without Google?

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

A wave means "I'm letting you go", not "I've checked all possible directions and I know for a fact that it's clear for you to proceed". The idea that a difference in hand gestures makes the difference between you being partly responsible for an accident and not responsible at all is completely ridiculous to me.
You could stick your head out of the window and shout at the person to go right now and it's not your fault at all if that person hits another car. You may be a jerk, but it's completely their responsibility to watch where they're going.

I guess it makes some sense. You really are not supposed to do anything like that. Technically you are supposed to just drive your own vehicle as prescribed by law so everyone is on the same page and no one gets confused as to what is going on. You are not supposed to stop in the middle of the road to let a pedestrian cross the street where there is no cross walk. If you have the right of way you go so you are not holding up traffic or upsetting the normal pattern and flow of traffic which any other driver should reasonably be able to expect. Obviously when people break from the routine that everyone else on the road is used to accidents happen.

 

[BobG]

You should wave right when you confirm he's letting you out. The rest of the time you should be watching the road. Even when you pull out and you're in front of him, you should be looking right and checking if any cars are coming before you pull into the lane.
Just one courtesy wave is good enough. You don't need to get out and give them a hug.

But, sometimes those people need something besides a wave; they need a punch in the face.
I'll use your picture as an example.

The person let's the other person out and the person coming in the other lane hits them.
I've seen that happen twice and I've almost hit countless people who were coming out like that. The person letting them out is blocking the view of cars coming in the other lane.

On one of our streets, the right most lane is a turn only lane (which I was coming down) and the second lane is for people going straight (there's 4 lanes each direction at the intersection). A person in the second lane waved a person out so the person exiting the parking lot could get into the second lane. Even with no obstructions, it didn't dawn on him to check the rightmost lane until he was out in the lane.

In my case, I could see what was happening and "just knew" he'd pull out as soon as saw the car in the second most lane leave a gap. I still had to put on the brakes hard, but I was able to stop. The look on the driver's face was priceless, though. And naturally, he slams on his brakes so if I did T-bone him, I'd smash right into his door. He was very flustered afterward and actually backed up back into the parking lot - I'm not sure what good that did, but, whatever ... I thought it was kind of humorous, but only because I managed to stop in time.