Chacham's Journal: Chronicle: Slow pickup / left turn lane

Well, the pickup on the car is not so good, as reported here. This morning, i was by a red light when a truck pulled up behind me. The light turned green and i started to accelerate. I think i had to get past the intersection before i picked up a decent speed, and then i needed say 20 feet to hit the 25 MPH.

Well, iirc, in middle of the intersection, the driver threw up his arms in theatrical desperation, and after the intersection, he switched lanes and sped up some ahead of me. When i looked he was pulling his hand in from the window. I assume he made some obscene guesture.

He probably beat his wife when he got home.

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On another note, i've alway's wondered when is the appropriate time to get into left-turn lane. In the middle of the street, the two different directions require the lane for different turns. So, getting in early may force another driver to wait.

...(N)...
AAABBBCCC
xxxyyyzzz
DDDEEEFFF
...(S)...

If northbound driver wants to enter driveway CCC, and southbound driver wants to enter driveway DDD, obviously getting in the lane at xxx or zzz is a bad idea. Even getting in at yyy should only be done when no other cars are coming. Yet, people often get in early. Do they even think?

Then again, i'm guilty of skipping a turn-right-to-go-left turn by going through a corner. When i come out, i sometimes instead of merging into traffic, i drive in the left turn lane until the apartment complex's road, which is pretty close. So, i've blocked cars in the other direction, and make the cars going in the same direction slow down for fear of me actually trying to merge. I guess i should stop doing that.

Though, left-turn-lane driving to at least get half-way accross a busy street is seems okay.