having had the displeasure of living up in MA this does not surprise me at all.
Most drivers there are impatient , rude and certainly can’t drive.
They use the breakdown lane to take over other drivers, even when an exit is coming up,.
They cannot for the life of them use their roundabouts, and have no clue who is supposed to yield .
They pull into the middle of an intersection waiting to take their left turn because they fear they might get stopped at the red light, or even worse they see the green light and take their left turn trying to beat the oncoming traffic which also has a green at the same time.
When they merge into the highway they just pull right in front of drivers who are already on the highway.
Last but not least if you are at a redlight then you half a second to press the gas once it turns green because otherwise the people behind you are already honking their horns
“Last but not least if you are at a redlight then you half a second to press the gas once it turns green because otherwise the people behind you are already honking their horns”
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I live in MA- About 2 months ago I was at a red light—it turned green,but there was a fire engine coming. The guy behind me went NUTS,pulled around me and almost caused the fire engine to lose control and just missed a collision.
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A great place to visit but never to drive.
Sorry Boston Freepers. (if there are any)
“and have no clue who is supposed to yield . They pull into the middle of an intersection waiting to take their left turn because they fear they might get stopped at the red light, “
You have no idea what the word yield means. In the US, vehicles waiting to enter an intersection must yield to any vehicle that has already legally entered the intersection. Green doesn’t mean go. It means proceed when the intersection is clear, otherwise yield to the driver legally occupying the intersection. You can’t fault drivers for a light change when they have already entered an intersection under green. The only exception is when the left turn lanes are controlled by an independent signal. If people actually drove the way you suggest, they would never be able to make a left turn in heavy traffic.
You might be surprised, but that's the standard protocol for making a left turn in California. It's actually taught in the driving schools out there. Done correctly, that method of making a left turn keeps the traffic moving much better than waiting at the line for clearance to turn.
If you stop and think about it for a moment, it actually makes sense, because in dense urban areas with heavy traffic, cars really will get stuck at red lights unless (at least) a few cars advance at each turn of the traffic light.
That's not so much a problem where there are signals with a left turn arrow, but lots of intersections don't have them.
I was taught by one of those "official" driving schools (in Indiana), back in the early 70's, that pulling into an intersection was proper. Keep wheels pointed straight, in case you are rear ended, but pull right into the middle of the intersection if the light is green. Rationale is that your turn is shorter/safer that way, and the flow of traffic you are in will move along better.
Kids took driver's ed in the past few years (in Maine), they were taught the same (to pull into the intersection).
Q: Should I Pull Into the Intersection When I'm Turning Left?
Intersections and Turns | New York State DMV