Driving question for real Americans

[stokz treeface]

Been curious about this for a while.. but in Aus, we dont have right on red (left)...

Because the right lane is effectively a turning lane, should you ever drive in the right lane in suburban areas if you're not turning yourself? I'm guessing no.. but just wanted to be sure. This is conflicting with the usual convention that the left land (right in aus) is the faster or overtaking lane, so if you're driving a slower vehicle, to allow other vehicles to pass in traffic you should take the slow lane. Which issue takes priority in surburban areas?

Question 2: sometimes when joining a highway, the lane ends really quickly and basically there's a little bay section where you may have to stop and wait. Just wondering in real life, how common is it to actually see vehicles stopped there waiting to join the highway because of traffic? In the game, as a bad driver i just want to bustle my way in (especially because the ai gives you right of way), but how does that work for cars and trucks in real life? Im guessing if you just pull infront of a car and they have to slow down they're going to be mad at you (as it is here).

Thanks for any insight. I want to get this right as part of the roleplay.

[radium]

because you can't turn right in an intersection if you drive on the left side unlike the us.. you would be crossing over 2 oncoming lanes.

[TwinShadow]

First one:

Right on red is legal throughout the US unless otherwise posted by a sign stating "NO RIGHT ON RED" or similar. There are a few of those here and there, but typically you'll find them in the downtown areas of cities. The only thing I'm not sure of is when there are two right turn lanes and whether or not it's legal to make a right in the left right turn lane as opposed to the right one. Just never had a chance to ask an officer about it. Or look it up for that matter. lol Most other countries don't allow right on red, or left on red in the case of RHD nations.

That being said, most laws state that one must come to a complete stop before proceeding into the turn as you must yield to oncoming traffic. Most people don't really do this, and it's dangerous.

Second:

For slow lanes, the highway is where the right lanes are more the slow lanes and the left ones are the fast lanes. But this is not typically enforced. In city driving, this "rule" is non-existent.

Third:

We typically have on-ramps for highways and interstates, but if traffic does build up, sometimes there will be a line of traffic on the on-ramp itself. Some of the merge lanes end a few hundred feet from the on ramp, but there is typically sufficient space to get up to speed and merge safely.

Drivers aren't really required to give way for traffic from a merge lane, but it is a nice gesture to do so to move over for those people. Sometimes I do, sometimes not, depends if I need an exit that's coming up ahead and I feel I'll never get back over if I do move. If someone is getting up to sufficient speed, I'll lay off the accelerator a bit and let someone get in front of me. But if I see a noticeable difference between my and their speed, I may just keep on going.


Each driver is unique, sometimes I'm nice on the road, sometimes I'm not. There are cases where I simply am never nice and that mostly has to do with double turn lanes.

For example, for a double left turn lane, I'm in the right lane for a reason, someone is in the left. I'm not nice because if one wants that first right turn into somewhere, you should of been in the proper lane and not cutting me off. I do not slow down for those people who are in the wrong lane.


That's about the gist of it from my experiences on the road here in DFW for the last 12 years.

[J4CKI3]

For question 2, I have never encountered that IRL. Every on-ramp will have adequate space to get up to speed in most vehicles. Additionally, real people have more foresight than the NPC traffic in game, and will often move out of the far-right lane (if possible) when approaching merging vehicles, and in general can cooperate in a way that isn't possible in the game

[stokz treeface]

Originally posted by TwinShadow 【天狐】:

First one:

Second:

For slow lanes, the highway is where the right lanes are more the slow lanes and the left ones are the fast lanes. But this is not typically enforced. In city driving, this "rule" is non-existent.

Okay, so basically in a city area, you always drive in the left lane (closest to the center) unless you're turning then?

Good point about real life and highways. Yeah if i knew there was a lane merging id stay out of the far right lane (unless you're turning soon) too. That makes sense.

Originally posted by J4CKI3:

For question 2, I have never encountered that IRL. Every on-ramp will have adequate space to get up to speed in most vehicles. Additionally, real people have more foresight than the NPC traffic in game, and will often move out of the far-right lane (if possible) when approaching merging vehicles, and in general can cooperate in a way that isn't possible in the game

So those little stubby features, they're about 30-40 meters long in game are unrealistic? Yeah it would be nice to be given enough room. They're really noticable because in game they're often right at the top of a hill.. which would give a game truck no chance to get close to the highway speed.

[Reese]

I'll put my input, even though it seems like you got the answers you were looking for.

1. Keep Right except to Pass usually doesn't apply within cities, unless the road is really long. Different places may have different variations on that, but most of the time as long as you're not obstructing traffic, any lane is fine if you need that lane within the city. Typically safer on American roads for you as a driver to stay in the middle/left lane. The right lane usually turns off or ends. Typically you wouldn't use the right lane as a lane of travel if it does turn right.

2. Game scale makes slip roads very short. In reality, they're a lot longer, but there are on/off ramps that are very short, just like in Aussieland, where space was limited and you have the same on/off ramp for both people getting on and getting off. It's never a good idea to stop in the onramp/slip road, but highway traffic has priority. Can't merge safely, then you're out of luck and may have to stop. You usually won't see that situation unless in a big congested city like LA or NYC.

These both apply to ETS2 as well. The scale of the game makes it difficult to do right. If they were realistic, the slip roads would almost stretch from city to city, which would be pointless.

[Hypertext Eye]

Originally posted by stokz treeface:

Okay, so basically in a city area, you always drive in the left lane (closest to the center) unless you're turning then?

No, you drive in whichever lane will get you to your destination faster. In cities, there is no overtaking lane. Sometimes left lane is faster, sometimes right lane is faster. I just sit in whichever lane I need to be in for an upcoming turn, unless the traffic in that lane is particularly slow. Most often it's the left lane that gets backed up, because someone is trying to turn left into a business lot across a busy road between intersections, or at an intersection without a protected left turn, so you'll often find yourself in the right lane even if you want to turn left soon.

[TwinShadow]

Originally posted by stokz treeface:

Okay, so basically in a city area, you always drive in the left lane (closest to the center) unless you're turning then?

No, in cities, you can essentially drive in any lane. Sometimes when traffic gets backed up, you'll want to be in the lane you'll need later as soon as possible. If you need to make a left turn somewhere up the road, you'll want that left lane as soon as possible if it's a very busy day. Same applies to the right lane.

On streets with 6 lanes of traffic (3 one direction, 3 the other), then things get a little weird at times. I sometimes use the center lane to not have to slow down as much for people making right turns in the right lane or something. But there's also the times when, say I'm going over one of the highway bridges. There's a point where the right lane actually becomes a right-turn only lane for the frontage road along the highway.

Lot's of things to consider in this area for sure..

[Sandhill]

As a matter of courtesy if I am in a multi lane situation I always leave the right lane free for right turners if I am going straight. Sitting through a long light while waiting to make a right because a jerk going straight has blocked the right lane never engenders good thoughts in the blocked driver.

[Hypertext Eye]

If you can't wait for one signal cycle before you turn, you have bigger problems than the "jerk" in front of you.

[Ryu]

Originally posted by TwinShadow 【天狐】:

The only thing I'm not sure of is when there are two right turn lanes and whether or not it's legal to make a right in the left right turn lane as opposed to the right one.

Perfectly legal to make a right turn from either of the two designated turning lanes. ;)

[Sandhill]

Originally posted by ハイパーテクスト・アイ:

If you can't wait for one signal cycle before you turn, you have bigger problems than the "jerk" in front of you.

Just a matter of driver courtesy, not that I can't wait. Considerate drivers just don't do that. Self centered drivers do.

[TwinShadow]

Originally posted by ~{DCMT}~ Ryu:

Perfectly legal to make a right turn from either of the two designated turning lanes. ;)

I'm talking in the sense of a red light right turn. There's only one street here that was recently re-painted to have a double right turn lane, and I never really tried my luck or anything on it.

Originally posted by Sandhill:

Just a matter of driver courtesy, not that I can't wait. Considerate drivers just don't do that. Self centered drivers do.

In defense of the people in front, and depending on location, one doesn't know whether or not said driver may actually need a right turn after the light. There's a Chevron near where I live that's located on a corner (most gas stations tend to be located on corners anyway) where the entrance is after the light, so one doesn't know whether or not the driver(s) ahead will want to turn into the gas station or not; and it's not a guarantee they'd be able to get back into the proper lane to turn without cutting someone off. So, it'd be safer to just stay in that right lane.

It would be nice if cities planned more for dedicated turn lanes, but some don't think ahead or anything. (like the one I live in >.>)

[Eddie Yantz]

I've driven in the USA since 1971, mostly Midwest, but also some in the mid Atlantic and mid and upper California. Drivers come in all courtesy levels wherever you go. A few are real jerks, some have no clue, most are okay, and a few are extra nice. I think SCS has modeled AI traffic courtesy range pretty well (but a bit toward the nicer side)

The most clueless (and dangerous) are four-wheel-drive pickups in the snow; they can go well, but they forget they can stop no better than anyone else.

Interstate highways are great to drive except in some cities where stop lights exist on entrance ramps (e.g., downtown Winston-Salem, NC).

IRL I drive a bit aggressively (watching out for #1) in crowded traffic, otherwise you never get anywhere. In 'normal' traffic, I'm courteous.

IOW how I drive depends on what the traffic around me is doing. Having been a sailor (maritime law always holds ships both at fault in accidents), I drive very defensively.

[Hypertext Eye]

Originally posted by Sandhill:

Originally posted by ハイパーテクスト・アイ:

If you can't wait for one signal cycle before you turn, you have bigger problems than the "jerk" in front of you.

Just a matter of driver courtesy, not that I can't wait. Considerate drivers just don't do that. Self centered drivers do.

No, considerate drivers understand that the world doesn't revolve around them, and they don't expect every other driver on the road to cater to their needs. There are any number of reasons a driver might be in the right lane without needing to immediately turn right. Being "self centered" is an extremely small portion of that. The real self centered one is the one who expects everyone in front of them to move out of their way.

[KingVon]

In response to question 2, there are indeed highways with short ramps (parkways on long island for example) and it gets pretty scary at times with cars stopped on the ramp. Highway traffic does not give way. I usually try to avoid those ramps especially during peak hours. These are pretty old highways and anything new has more than enough room to get up to speed.