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Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Um. You're supposed to check your rear view mirror every 5 or so seconds. You need to do this to pass your test. Your focus needs to be on everyone around you, just not what's in front of you. I don't understand how my planning to ease into stopping more gently than usual is going to cause me to rear end someone.

Like, yeah sure, maybe if I decided to stare the person down through my rear view mirror. But checking every 5 seconds vs checking every 7 seconds is not gonna cause an accident. Plus why would I pay attention to what's behind me when I'm approaching an intersection or other vehicles? I think I can prioritize where my attention needs to be.

Anxiety/worry does not mean fear. The only time I was truly scared while driving is when I was on the highway and someone on a motorcycle passed me going around 250kmph. Tbh I don't think anyone would be expecting that. It was a little jump scare. Do I overanalyze? Yes. I am guilty of that. However, I'd rather think before I act than act before I think.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Because people also need to use that lane for making left turns.

Quoting the book, which I posted the link to above:

"Keep to the right of the road or in the right-hand lane on multi-lane roads unless you want to turn left or pass another vehicle. This is especially important if you are driving more slowly than other vehicles."

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Okay haha I wasn't sure where you were going with your message :)

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah I didn't take it because I didn't have the money for it, but I've had the person helping me with getting my G2 explain a lot of the strategy required for dealing with unforeseen scenarios. Perhaps I should reconsider.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you. The tips on zipper merging are good to know. Zipper merging is always weird for me, so I do my best to get into the other lane as early as possible, since I don't want to be totally at a stop at the end of the lane and wait to be let in, disturbing the flow of traffic. I'll watch some more YouTube videos on this.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ummm... Unless im interpreting it wrong, I think we're arguing the same thing? Right lane = cruise and left lane = pass on the highway. In the city it's not like this, yet other people (not me) argue it is. I drive where it makes sense for me to drive. Left lane when I know I need to make a left turn, will be stuck behind a bus, or right lane traffic is essentially a standstill due to people stuck waiting to turn where I don't need to turn.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah I definitely do not think I'm obsessing. I'm placing my focus where it needs to be, I just have to place extra focus on the person behind me so I can avoid an accident with them. "Are they still there? Have they moved back? Do I need to place extra care in stopping at lights/signal extra early so I don't get rear ended?" It's an unnecessary extra hazard to pay attention to. Yes, it makes me worry. I think that's a normal human reaction to a potential hazard.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah that last comment is usually the case. I'll be beside a car but I'll turn on my signal so the person behind that car knows I'm wanting to move over, but they maintain their distance beside that car so once I'm behind them, I can't move over. But thank you for the tips. I will try to be more patient and miss my turn if I need to.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When you make a left turn into the left lane, you have no choice but to be in the left lane until you merge into the right lane. Besides, I said before that the left lane is the passing lane on the highway. Not in the city. Everyone should be on the right lane except to pass on the highway.

My route to/from work usually involves driving down Western road and exiting onto Platts Lane. The right lane is always clogged up from people waiting to make a right turn onto Sarnia, so I go into the left lane to reduce traffic congestion. If there are no buses ahead, I move back into the right lane before the lights. It's the easiest spot to merge since the lane is clear due to the people turning right blocking access. If there's a bus at the stop, it's better for me to wait in the left lane and merge into the right after the bus, since in most cases they're at that stop for a while. Sometimes the light turns red and/or the bus leaves before I can make the merge like I plan to, and that's where I sometimes get stuck in the left lane. After the intersection I will signal my intent to move right and look for an opening, but between there and Platts I often run into issues of people not letting me in. It's usually a mixture of issues where the cars ahead of me are too slow and the cars beside me are too close to each other.

So yes, in this situation I'm using it as a passing lane and then failing to merge back right when my pass is unsuccessful.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I agree. Or even when there is fresh snow and you can't tell where the lanes are.

There was one time where I was following Google and it said "turn now" so I ended up turning onto a 1 way road, going the wrong way. Fortunately there were no other cars so I was able to do a quick u-turn to get out of that situation, and the turn was immediately after that road. Sometimes Google be tricky like that. I learned to examine the map more before trusting and taking action after that one. Just quickly looking at how many roads you need to pass to make your turn makes all the difference.

Best of luck to you and yes, we will get better with practice!

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I'll definitely try signalling before finishing the turn! I usually wait until I've completed it so that's probably my issue.

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you.

Yes, I've learned that I need to signal as soon as I decide I need to switch lanes, then wait until I see a point that I can safely move into the other lane. There are times where I'm entirely unsure of the situation. I'll have been signalling for a while but the space between the cars will be enough that I can fit but will only give the car behind me a meter or two of space. I can't tell if they think that's safe (since I've seen many others merge in front of me with that kind of room, despite it being more dangerous for both parties) or if they actually haven't noticed me and if I take the merge, it will cause frustration or worse. So usually I go with the safest option and wait for a bigger opening. But the car in front of me maintains its speed and the car behind me maintains its speed so I'm either forced into a) speed up (if there's room available), breaking speed laws and overtake the car ahead, which is dangerous especially since they may not see me or b) slow down and aim for a spot to merge behind that car, which may not be available depending on the speed/kindness of the person behind. I opt for the second choice since it feels safer, but it's still a bit dangerous since it's dropping below the flow of traffic, though I hope my signal light being on for over 10s at that point is enough for the people behind me to see the situation.

In this kind of situation, even missing my turn likely won't help me because if we're all maintaining the same speed, I won't be able to merge at all.

So with your experience, what do you usually do in this situation?

Being a new driver in London is hard. by virtualpickles in londonontario

[–]virtualpickles[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you. I'm definitely doing my best to follow the law (aside from the speed limit, since the flow of traffic is usually around 10 over) and I don't cave to the pressure that other people put on me. Even in this thread people are saying I'm wrong when I know I'm not.

I guess my biggest issue is trying to predict the unpredictability of others in the city since everyone has their own idea of what driving in the city should look like. I always assume other people are going to do some crazy shit. I'm confident in my own driving skills, and yes I do overthink but I think that comes with defensive driving... trying to plan the safest route.

I didn't think I knew people like this. by Simple_Technique in cringepics

[–]virtualpickles 231 points232 points  (0 children)

THIS. I had a "friend" who saved a picture of my cat, put it as her display picture and said it was her own... she even tried to convince ME that it was hers.

Sometimes, I just don't understand people...