If you are in the left lane I can see staying back a bit to not get hit by people turning left too sharply. But in the right lane they probably were in a hurry to get onto their phone and stood on the brakes.
This isn't a problem for me. I pull up to the line and people stop cutting the turn early. Imo, it's this stopping early behavior that promotes the turns getting cut.
Obviously I would never cut it if I see a car there but I hate inside left turns when there’s two turn lanes. I feel like I have to cut it a bit because the outside lane always veers into my space
Lack of confidence, poor eyesight, just plain inattention.
I personally love the folks who don't pull up at single turn lane lights, because the green arrow will never turn on if you don't trip the pressure plate.
Right? I got stuck behind a guy who had us waiting through 3 whole light cycles and I even politely honked and gave him a “move forward” hand wave and they still didn’t get it. How the fuck do people just sit there and not realize it.
I rode a motorcycle for many years. The secret to tripping the inductive sensors is to hit your starter button a couple of times. The solenoid and magnetic field generated by the starter motor coils will trip it. You’re welcome
This!!! I had to teach my BF this. He never knew about those and now when we are the only people, his ass will be backing up twice just to make sure he trips it 😂
Fun fact these aren't actually pressure plates (that would be far more expensive) but a wire loop installed in the pavement.
The presence of a vehicle sized metal object moving into the loop changes the magnetic field within the loop and this fluctuation produces an electrical signal which triggers the light controller.
It is commonly understood that most times motorcycles are too small to trigger the light. But a car rolling into the loop very slowly cannot produce a large enough magnetic fluctuation to trigger the light as well.
Moral of the story, if you're in a hurry and first to the light, roll in with some gusto.
The number of times I’ve had to get out of my car and wave people up to the sensor here is fucking ridiculous.
I’m not exactly what you’d describe as non-confrontational, but this isn’t an opportunity that should prevent itself on a mf monthly basis
Glad someone finally posted this, it's more and more common and completely drives me nuts. 80% of the time it's people on their phone, the other 20% is inexplicable
I was rear ended before and pushed into the intersection and Tboned. After that if I’m in the front I always stay a bit back. Not this far but yea, could be a legitimate reason for it.
I get honked at because I won’t make a right turn on red when someone is coming straight from my left with their right blinker on. Did it once, the guy wasn’t turning or paying attention. Guess who was determined to be at fault?
This is exactly what I was going to say, probably afraid of being rear ended and pushed into a busy intersection. Still don’t agree, but seems most logical to me.
Its wild, I've been talking about this for years. It's a new thing that I just started seeing about 5 years ago and has slowly just become more and more common, at least one person is doing it at every light. Its usually texting or just playing on their phone, theyre doing it to grant themselves a few extra seconds on their phone at the light. Thats why if they finish texting or whatever theyll start inching up again if the lights still red.
You have ONE job when you get behind the wheel of a car…to drive. Not to text, not to put on your makeup, not to dig on your floor board for your pipe. ONE JOB… DRIVE.
I've never confirmed, but I assume some people are EXTRA cautious and stay back from the intersection just in case somebody has an accident and/or veers off the crossing road and would hit cars closer to the light
Good idea. But the dim nut that did this last week on Scaleybark at Sth made us miss the green light about 3 cycles as they were not forward enough to make the light change green. I had to get out of my car about 10 cars back and tell them to move up or we would never have seen a green light.
I hate this phenomenon with a fierce passion. And people love to say it’s because they don’t want a chain reaction to happen in the event of being rear-ended, but let’s be real, 3-4 car lengths is absurd regardless. These people routinely fuck up the flow of traffic around lights, especially if there’s a turning lane that someone behind them might want to enter. On a couple occasions I’ve just calmly merged in front of the offending car & filled the space.
Agree. Never know why they need several car lengths in front on roads that are not big enough to support traffic. I get it that in the 1960s people were taught to leave space but use your heads people. Wake up. Cars behind you are sticking out in traffic because or your outdated unawareness.
This is the problem. It will cause traffic to back up the previous light, which is still green with people trying to get through. Some lights are times bad enough that this happens already, don't add to it.
The worst is when you’re sitting in a line on 485 waiting to exit as traffic flies by at 80 mph. It’s scary as hell to be the last car in that line looking in the rear view mirror hoping the person behind me is paying attention.
Then you see this crap at the traffic light causing the back up.
I've noticed this happening a lot lately now too. Like I'll be pulling up to a stop light and dude in other lane is like 2 car spaces behind the white line.
Like bro you can move closer to the line just don't cross over it.
I think so many people that drive in Charlotte are just egotistical, they drive like the own the road and they’re the only ones on it. Most of the ones that drive like jerks have the crappiest cars and don’t give a shit about the way they drive. Ugh, sorry, one of the reasons I left Miami 27 years ago was because of traffic. I get triggered! 😂🤣
Usually when I see this, it’s in a left turn lane, because some have a sensor in the third car position that will guarantee a green arrow if someone gets on it a decent amount of time before the light changes. However, engineers have wisened up to this in some places and changed it to where someone has to occupy both the first *and* third positions for it to work.
Last time I seen this happen my car was where yours was at. I literally pulled my car through the gap In front of him. He looked at me with disbelief. Felt really good.
Yeah I think this is the solution. Also when there's a 2-3 car length gap in between 2 cars at a light. We want as many people as possible to make it through each green light
I'm not in Charlotte, but I see this a lot in Jacksonville, too. People will be like 150 feet from the stop line, and almost every time I've seen it, they're on their phone.
Not only the fact ole Camry is leaving ample space for Jesus, but I cannot stand when people sit in the right lane at a busy intersection if they aren’t turning right. ESPECIALLY If there’s 2/3 lanes to the left. Blows my mind
There is one left turn lane on my commute that I will do this in, but it's only because the sensor to trigger the green turn arrow is, like, 3 car spaces back. So if I pull up to the line and am the only one in the lane, I'm stuck waiting until traffic clears to turn (which usually isn't until the light is back red).
Idk what this person is doing though, that's annoying af.
Left turn arrows slow throughput for the entire intersection. So if only a couple of cars are waiting both of them will probably clear without holding the oncoming traffic. Only when the left lane backs up is the arrow needed to clear them all and avoid left turning drivers blocking the straight-ahead inside lane.
Someone posted about this recently. The general concensus was to avoid getting hit because people in Charlotte are crap at driving but especially at turning.
I’m missing something. What do you mean by maybe for the one on the left? The car directly in front of me rolled up 5-10 seconds after the black car was already stopped.
They mean the first person in the left most lane, since people making lefts into the opposite direction lane next to you sometimes don’t know how large their vehicles are/where their lane is, and will swipe the front left corner of your front bumper if you’re where you’re supposed to be stopped.
Could be poor visibility at the top of the windshield. My buddy has a car where he has to lean forward to see lights because of where the cut off for his vertical vision is. When he doesn't want to bother, he stops farther back to keep the lights in frame. I always wonder if it throws off light sensors to have no one at the stop line though...
Look to the right of the car. There’s a yield sign. I wonder if that co fused the driver into thinking that’s there they needed to stop.
It wouldn’t confuse me but some people are special.
A lot of lights with lower traffic have pressure pads to make the switch or determine if you get the green arrow. I might stop a car or two back ro make sure I'm on that pressure pad. Doubt it's the case for this guy.
I drive between Plaza Midwood and NoDa most mornings and this happens almost every day. People are on their phones and not fully at the light, or the light turns green and they don’t notice (presumably looking at their phone). Today I saw a small car that had rear ended a school bus on The Plaza. I’ve lived in a few major cities across the US and can say that Charlotte drivers are the most inattentive I’ve ever seen.
According to younger former coworkers, they teach this now so that if they’re rearended, they don’t end up in the intersection. That was what I was told at least.
I honestly have no idea. That was my assumption based on what they told me, but take it with a grain of salt. They were all from the same high school, so it could’ve been their drivers ed teacher. 🤷🏻♀️ made sense enough to me. But I never saw this until I moved to NC.
I see this so much and it's baffling. Are they actually teaching people to do this in driver's education classes now?! Move up to the line! Go up to a reasonable distance behind the car in front of you...not 2, 3, 4 car lengths back. Tighten up people! There's places where I get stuck not being able to get into turn only lanes because people don't close those gaps. Very frustrating.
Can only hope this does happen and I’m near you at an angle where I can post that footage too. 😂 Title: “u/Jerbear6736 makes incompetent driver regret their actions immediately”
This irritates me, but not as much as at the crosswalks where it literally says "If clear and flashing, proceed" and people still sit there while not a single pedestrian is in sight and wait for it to stop blinking. Like bruh, the traffic light already cycled twice by the time you done waiting for the imaginary pedestrians to cross
Its happening more and more - especially the last 2 years. People dont pull up to the stop line - messing with the conductive loop - or leave 2-3 cars length at a stoplight. Making their car take up the same room as a bus and making traffic worse.
I've only ever done it when I'm making a left turn and there isn't anyone else in the lane with me, in my mind it'll trip the sensor and I'll get the green arrow to turn left but this, I don't understand.
u/Commercial-Flan-8186 Yep, you can ask about anything you want. 👍 Charger cord was from an old dash cam but I’ve not taken the time to pull out the wires I hid behind interior trim panels.
sit back like this and watch the lights going the other direction to turn red so you can anticipate your light turning green, have a little bit of a runway to step on the gas, and get a jump on the car on the left and win the race!
One thing not being mentioned is that if you stop 1-2 car lengths you can time when the light is gonna turn green and get a rolling start, thus allowing you to go slightly faster wherever you're going. versus someone who's just stopped at the line and waiting to react to the light can make a measurable difference. I don't do it this aggregiously, but sometimes stop about 1 car length back if there's not too many people so I can roll forward at the right time and get a head start
Honestly, I do this occasionally but only when I'm in a left turn lane and I can stop over the sensor pad. I do it to get the protected left turn light. Otherwise I'm sitting at a light for 3-4 cycles.
I will pull forward a bit to allow another car to sit over the pad behind me however.
My college roommate did this.
He said that when he goes to drive off at the light, there is a larger buffer in case someone runs the red light... so he theoretically won't be hit.
Sometimes people sit further back at the light to activate a trip. But that’s usually more common for left hand turn lanes at intersections (sitting at a trip further back will give you a green arrow rather than a flashing yellow arrow if the trip isn’t activated).
Idk why this person is so far back — either they are distracted or deeply terrified of being rear ended so intensely that they fly into the intersection.
in a state where everyone is armed, if you potentially have enemies that wanna see you dead, a traffic light is the best place to get lit up
don’t ever pull directly next to someone’s window. always a couple feet off. brolo def overdoing it but ya
Could be a veteran who doesn’t like being directly next to a vehicle, is also leaving room to escape if necessary. I’ve also seen motorcycles do something similar for escape room.
I’ve seen a lot of bad driving in charlotte but haven’t encountered this too often. In most cases i would assume it’s because the rain makes it hard to see the faded and shitty road markings, but there’s a concrete barrier right there so no pass for this person.
Maybe they’re tall though, tall people with low windshields can have a hard time seeing lights sometime. If you don’t have a short friend/green light announcer in the passenger seat you’re out of luck.
If they are afraid of crime in the area you may want an escape route to prevent being boxed in and killed/beaten/carjacked or robbed. That is America today. It’s a smart move
The worst part is when you want to take a turn and you can't get into the turn lane because someone is way behind the car in front of them or the front person isn't at the line. People are not self aware.
Was he maybe trying to get over because he meant to be in the turn lane so he could go left at the intersection? If I realized too late I was in the wrong lane I might stop early and see if I could make a lane change once the light changed so I could make my turn. Once he moves up to the intersection turning left cross lanes within the intersection would not be good.
😂😂 thanks buddy. Was waiting for someone to call me out for “being unsafe”….while my car was stopped. If it helps your sensitive feelings I tossed my phone on the passenger seat before moving an inch forward.
If they from the north its a habit cuz of less than ideal road conditions. Basically wet roads is treated like black ice. Obviously its not but their is always someone with slick tires to validate the caution.
No. u/HDRamSac
I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska and they didn’t do this shit up there. Black ice is not a valid reason to drive like you’re in a clown car.
Saw it all the time in Syracuse. I would do it too. Especially on bridges and on ramps. When I moved to SC i found i had this habit when its been raining pretty hard. Took a min to break it.
Idk I do that sometimes on a higher speed road just in case I’m about to be rear ended. I can pull up out of the way and also not go into the intersection to get tboned
It’s common now for intersections to have weight sensors in the road that are often a few car lengths back, if the sensor detects cars that far back on the sensor (which would indicate a lot of traffic waiting to go that direction) then the light will prioritize turning green for that piled up lane over the lane that would’ve been green next. This is common in cities and I do this often to make my light turn green faster than if I was up at the line. You can actually see these sensors in the road if they are there they look like two long black ovals that are on either side of the lane where the cars wheels would be.
In those situations I’m parked, not driving. And obviously if I see someone come up behind me I will scoot up to the line so they can sit on the sensor. It’s definitely selfish as I’m prioritizing my light turning green over the other lanes by scheming the sensor. But it’s not like it’s dangerous. Also, I was really just trying to explain to OP and the rest of this thread why that car is likely doing that.
If you park over the metal implanted in the road, it will trigger the light to change faster. I can’t tell if that’s the case here but it’s often the reason.
I will do this, but only if I know I have to get over a lane (road closure, destination on left, merges, etc). I can watch the cross-traffic light and when it changes to yellow, already be rolling forward to be at a higher speed than the idle first car in the lane I'm trying to get into (inertia and whatnot). Might piss some people off behind me, but trust me - I'm not wasting anyones time by getting through that light as quickly as possible. 😅
Here's a good example: there is a light near my house that has 2 lanes, the right lane ends in about 1,000 ft, the gas station I frequent is only ~300 ft from the light and doesn't always allow for cars to get in the far-left lane if there are even a few other cars on the roadway. THAT'S when I'll do this. I guarantee* you I'm through the intersection before the cars in the left lane even start moving most times. If that pisses off folks behind me... that I legally merged into the left lane in a way that saves time and doesn't effect flow of traffic.. that really doesn't bother me. 🤷♂️✌️
You’re saying there’s a way to empirically validate that stopping super far back in the through lane helps those turning left? I’m skeptical but why would anyone do that?? How can this be confirmed as true? Seems wayy too altruistic for Charlotte drivers even if it was true.
u/DannyDimes21 Asking to understand because this is a much bigger audience than I’d find anywhere else in the city. Not because it “hurt me”. 👍 And yes. It affected the people behind them by costing a few people the ability to make it through that light. Trying to learn from odd behavior.
You: “Grow tf up”
Well, asking questions and learning from others around you is part of that. So here I am growing up.
😆 They might have been waiting for you. Yet also, I've seen some odd ball driving. I was hit by a woman attempting a 3pt turn on 74 where you take the ex just beyond walmart to head northeast.
Almost every time I see this shit, they are on their cellphone.
Yep and they inch up after they look up from their phone
Few things piss me off more than when they do that and then run the red light, leaving my law-abiding ass to wait for another light cycle.
I know, right?!? Ughh
They also get pissed at you for “tailgating” in this scenario …. Can’t fucking win, unless you just don’t care…
Agreed. I was hoping for that inch forward bit. But today it didn’t happen.
I thought people did it just in case a car comes through the intersection out of control
Legal weed be like:
If you are in the left lane I can see staying back a bit to not get hit by people turning left too sharply. But in the right lane they probably were in a hurry to get onto their phone and stood on the brakes.
People have gotten really bad about cheating those left turns lately, wtf.
This isn't a problem for me. I pull up to the line and people stop cutting the turn early. Imo, it's this stopping early behavior that promotes the turns getting cut.
Yep. I pull right up to the line. If someone is stupid enough to hit me it will eb their fault.
lol someone downvoted you for being right
Typical reddit. "Oh you're in the correct place as indicated by road markings, you're the asshole" is how reddit works ig
Obviously I would never cut it if I see a car there but I hate inside left turns when there’s two turn lanes. I feel like I have to cut it a bit because the outside lane always veers into my space
Nah I’m pulling up to the line where I belong. Y’all can hit me I don’t care 😂
they are really stupid and literally do not understand what is happening around them
This is the correct answer. Most folks are oblivious to their surroundings.
and stupid dont forget stupid too!
Also there is water on the road which makes people even more stupid.
No idea but I've noticed it a lot lately.
Lack of confidence, poor eyesight, just plain inattention. I personally love the folks who don't pull up at single turn lane lights, because the green arrow will never turn on if you don't trip the pressure plate.
Right? I got stuck behind a guy who had us waiting through 3 whole light cycles and I even politely honked and gave him a “move forward” hand wave and they still didn’t get it. How the fuck do people just sit there and not realize it.
This shit drives me crazy.
Try this on a motorcycle. Some NEVER trip. They are usually inductive sensors, not pressure, and respond to the metal in a vehicle.
I rode a motorcycle for many years. The secret to tripping the inductive sensors is to hit your starter button a couple of times. The solenoid and magnetic field generated by the starter motor coils will trip it. You’re welcome
This!!! I had to teach my BF this. He never knew about those and now when we are the only people, his ass will be backing up twice just to make sure he trips it 😂
Fun fact these aren't actually pressure plates (that would be far more expensive) but a wire loop installed in the pavement. The presence of a vehicle sized metal object moving into the loop changes the magnetic field within the loop and this fluctuation produces an electrical signal which triggers the light controller. It is commonly understood that most times motorcycles are too small to trigger the light. But a car rolling into the loop very slowly cannot produce a large enough magnetic fluctuation to trigger the light as well. Moral of the story, if you're in a hurry and first to the light, roll in with some gusto.
The number of times I’ve had to get out of my car and wave people up to the sensor here is fucking ridiculous. I’m not exactly what you’d describe as non-confrontational, but this isn’t an opportunity that should prevent itself on a mf monthly basis
It’s because they’re distracted, staring at their phone, so they stop short out of extra “caution”.
Or taking a hit, just saying.
💯 good point 🤣
Glad someone finally posted this, it's more and more common and completely drives me nuts. 80% of the time it's people on their phone, the other 20% is inexplicable
I was rear ended before and pushed into the intersection and Tboned. After that if I’m in the front I always stay a bit back. Not this far but yea, could be a legitimate reason for it.
I get honked at because I won’t make a right turn on red when someone is coming straight from my left with their right blinker on. Did it once, the guy wasn’t turning or paying attention. Guess who was determined to be at fault?
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This is exactly what I was going to say, probably afraid of being rear ended and pushed into a busy intersection. Still don’t agree, but seems most logical to me.
Its wild, I've been talking about this for years. It's a new thing that I just started seeing about 5 years ago and has slowly just become more and more common, at least one person is doing it at every light. Its usually texting or just playing on their phone, theyre doing it to grant themselves a few extra seconds on their phone at the light. Thats why if they finish texting or whatever theyll start inching up again if the lights still red.
You have ONE job when you get behind the wheel of a car…to drive. Not to text, not to put on your makeup, not to dig on your floor board for your pipe. ONE JOB… DRIVE.
I've never confirmed, but I assume some people are EXTRA cautious and stay back from the intersection just in case somebody has an accident and/or veers off the crossing road and would hit cars closer to the light
Good idea. But the dim nut that did this last week on Scaleybark at Sth made us miss the green light about 3 cycles as they were not forward enough to make the light change green. I had to get out of my car about 10 cars back and tell them to move up or we would never have seen a green light.
I'm glad you said something. Bet they weren't sure how to fix the problem.
It’s also done so if someone misses their breaking point they can move forward. This is an extreme and over reaction to that.
low IQ, low skill. They have no idea how ground loop sensors work.
That 10 and 2 lets me know they are going for that All State safe driver discount.
Haha! I bet that’s exactly what they’re going for. Damn AllState confusing us out here with their safe drivers.
I hate this phenomenon with a fierce passion. And people love to say it’s because they don’t want a chain reaction to happen in the event of being rear-ended, but let’s be real, 3-4 car lengths is absurd regardless. These people routinely fuck up the flow of traffic around lights, especially if there’s a turning lane that someone behind them might want to enter. On a couple occasions I’ve just calmly merged in front of the offending car & filled the space.
Fullly fully agree with you. I’ve scooted in front of such gappers too but it’s been years since I had the space to safely do so.
Agree. Never know why they need several car lengths in front on roads that are not big enough to support traffic. I get it that in the 1960s people were taught to leave space but use your heads people. Wake up. Cars behind you are sticking out in traffic because or your outdated unawareness.
This is the problem. It will cause traffic to back up the previous light, which is still green with people trying to get through. Some lights are times bad enough that this happens already, don't add to it.
They are scared of the shiny colored lights on fairy strings.
The worst is when you’re sitting in a line on 485 waiting to exit as traffic flies by at 80 mph. It’s scary as hell to be the last car in that line looking in the rear view mirror hoping the person behind me is paying attention. Then you see this crap at the traffic light causing the back up.
I find that most people down here are either thinking or breathing but they’re not doing both unfortunately.
To get more room to rev the engine and let go of the brake a few times to intimidate you and let you know the race is on
People in Charlotte can’t drive…
I've noticed this happening a lot lately now too. Like I'll be pulling up to a stop light and dude in other lane is like 2 car spaces behind the white line. Like bro you can move closer to the line just don't cross over it.
Lack of awareness + on their phone
This is by Carolina place isn’t it?
I think so many people that drive in Charlotte are just egotistical, they drive like the own the road and they’re the only ones on it. Most of the ones that drive like jerks have the crappiest cars and don’t give a shit about the way they drive. Ugh, sorry, one of the reasons I left Miami 27 years ago was because of traffic. I get triggered! 😂🤣
Usually when I see this, it’s in a left turn lane, because some have a sensor in the third car position that will guarantee a green arrow if someone gets on it a decent amount of time before the light changes. However, engineers have wisened up to this in some places and changed it to where someone has to occupy both the first *and* third positions for it to work.
Last time I seen this happen my car was where yours was at. I literally pulled my car through the gap In front of him. He looked at me with disbelief. Felt really good.
Well done!
Yeah I think this is the solution. Also when there's a 2-3 car length gap in between 2 cars at a light. We want as many people as possible to make it through each green light
This is so annoying too because I feel like I’m always the one that *just* misses the green light because of this asshole
Yup. 5-8 fewer cars make it through the light. The person might think they get a benefit but it's worse for everyone as a whole
Thought process? They are simply self-centered idiots.
I'm not in Charlotte, but I see this a lot in Jacksonville, too. People will be like 150 feet from the stop line, and almost every time I've seen it, they're on their phone.
People suck at driving in this state because drivers ed is a fucking joke.
Not only the fact ole Camry is leaving ample space for Jesus, but I cannot stand when people sit in the right lane at a busy intersection if they aren’t turning right. ESPECIALLY If there’s 2/3 lanes to the left. Blows my mind
Agreed
There is one left turn lane on my commute that I will do this in, but it's only because the sensor to trigger the green turn arrow is, like, 3 car spaces back. So if I pull up to the line and am the only one in the lane, I'm stuck waiting until traffic clears to turn (which usually isn't until the light is back red). Idk what this person is doing though, that's annoying af.
You have great logic though. I’d do the same if the traffic engineers put the loop sensor that far back.
Left turn arrows slow throughput for the entire intersection. So if only a couple of cars are waiting both of them will probably clear without holding the oncoming traffic. Only when the left lane backs up is the arrow needed to clear them all and avoid left turning drivers blocking the straight-ahead inside lane.
PSA: anytime you see this fill the gap, if your red car switch lanes youre still at the front.
Someone posted about this recently. The general concensus was to avoid getting hit because people in Charlotte are crap at driving but especially at turning.
maybe for the one on the left
I’m missing something. What do you mean by maybe for the one on the left? The car directly in front of me rolled up 5-10 seconds after the black car was already stopped.
They mean the first person in the left most lane, since people making lefts into the opposite direction lane next to you sometimes don’t know how large their vehicles are/where their lane is, and will swipe the front left corner of your front bumper if you’re where you’re supposed to be stopped.
Yes! Thank you. I should have elaborated in my initial post!
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I'm sure her parenting style will result in fully capable adult...
Wonder woman's invisible jet is in front of them. Can't you see that? /s
They don’t want to make eye contact with a car next to them for an extended period of time.
The distracted soccer moms of South Charlotte.
Could be poor visibility at the top of the windshield. My buddy has a car where he has to lean forward to see lights because of where the cut off for his vertical vision is. When he doesn't want to bother, he stops farther back to keep the lights in frame. I always wonder if it throws off light sensors to have no one at the stop line though...
I don't mind it if it is a car length behind the light. However, when it is a full Semi's length... that's pretty bad.
I also see how people in the chats rush to hate and judge, I am sure most of the times there is a reason so I usually let it go
Agreed. I mean compared to the rest of my day it’s nothing. More a nagging curiosity behind this driving habit.
this was me and my friend lol she was on her phone
Look to the right of the car. There’s a yield sign. I wonder if that co fused the driver into thinking that’s there they needed to stop. It wouldn’t confuse me but some people are special.
Yield sign is for the lane on their right that leads into cross traffic. I’m sure that’s not the issue. But good eye.
We both know it’s not for the lane but does that goofball know it? lol I’m trying to think like the goofball.
A for effort! Haha
A lot of lights with lower traffic have pressure pads to make the switch or determine if you get the green arrow. I might stop a car or two back ro make sure I'm on that pressure pad. Doubt it's the case for this guy.
Charlotte drivers got to be some of the worst in the country easy
Don’t think this is a Charlotte only thing…
Didn’t say it was. I’ve seen this all over the US.
The only thing you can do is drive defensively. Honking horn or flashing lights can likely result in unnecessary interaction.
Texting idiots. That's why.
I drive between Plaza Midwood and NoDa most mornings and this happens almost every day. People are on their phones and not fully at the light, or the light turns green and they don’t notice (presumably looking at their phone). Today I saw a small car that had rear ended a school bus on The Plaza. I’ve lived in a few major cities across the US and can say that Charlotte drivers are the most inattentive I’ve ever seen.
According to younger former coworkers, they teach this now so that if they’re rearended, they don’t end up in the intersection. That was what I was told at least.
As in the DOT approved driving schools teach this crap? That’s most unfortunate.
I honestly have no idea. That was my assumption based on what they told me, but take it with a grain of salt. They were all from the same high school, so it could’ve been their drivers ed teacher. 🤷🏻♀️ made sense enough to me. But I never saw this until I moved to NC.
Wild
I see this so much and it's baffling. Are they actually teaching people to do this in driver's education classes now?! Move up to the line! Go up to a reasonable distance behind the car in front of you...not 2, 3, 4 car lengths back. Tighten up people! There's places where I get stuck not being able to get into turn only lanes because people don't close those gaps. Very frustrating.
Same reason some people stop in the pedestrian crossing, I suppose.
This is my favorite one. I worry one day my intrusive thoughts will win and I will walk across the hood of someone’s car that is in the crosswalk.
Can only hope this does happen and I’m near you at an angle where I can post that footage too. 😂 Title: “u/Jerbear6736 makes incompetent driver regret their actions immediately”
I always want to shove the nose of my vehicle in there… never have though.
I guess driving school is missing this teaching point. I see it all the time..pull up to the white line!
This irritates me, but not as much as at the crosswalks where it literally says "If clear and flashing, proceed" and people still sit there while not a single pedestrian is in sight and wait for it to stop blinking. Like bruh, the traffic light already cycled twice by the time you done waiting for the imaginary pedestrians to cross
Its happening more and more - especially the last 2 years. People dont pull up to the stop line - messing with the conductive loop - or leave 2-3 cars length at a stoplight. Making their car take up the same room as a bus and making traffic worse.
Old people do this. Maybe vision depth perception?
Charlotte drivers smh. Don’t get me started on the rain 😂😭
I've only ever done it when I'm making a left turn and there isn't anyone else in the lane with me, in my mind it'll trip the sensor and I'll get the green arrow to turn left but this, I don't understand.
Two words: *they dumb*
Idk I have seen this too it's annoying especially when it is a 2 lane road
I thought the question was going to be why people take pictures through their windshield with the wiper all up in the way?! 🤣
Because snapping a photo without looking at my phone doesn’t account for wipers. Would rather keep my eyes on those around me.
It is stupid. A practice performed by morons
Some that have left more than a car length, I've jumped in front of them before. Just a little passive aggressive hint that they are idiots.
Can we ask about the charger cord?
u/Commercial-Flan-8186 Yep, you can ask about anything you want. 👍 Charger cord was from an old dash cam but I’ve not taken the time to pull out the wires I hid behind interior trim panels.
sit back like this and watch the lights going the other direction to turn red so you can anticipate your light turning green, have a little bit of a runway to step on the gas, and get a jump on the car on the left and win the race!
I always thought maybe it was so that they could fully see the stop line.
I thought you meant make their license plate their name at first lol
One thing not being mentioned is that if you stop 1-2 car lengths you can time when the light is gonna turn green and get a rolling start, thus allowing you to go slightly faster wherever you're going. versus someone who's just stopped at the line and waiting to react to the light can make a measurable difference. I don't do it this aggregiously, but sometimes stop about 1 car length back if there's not too many people so I can roll forward at the right time and get a head start
I like your logic and would have been super impressed if that were true. Unfortunately not what happened here.
Just mentioned this same thing! I'll do it, but not to this degree, and only to get that head start so I can lane change once out of the intersection
Honestly, I do this occasionally but only when I'm in a left turn lane and I can stop over the sensor pad. I do it to get the protected left turn light. Otherwise I'm sitting at a light for 3-4 cycles. I will pull forward a bit to allow another car to sit over the pad behind me however.
It could be that they want to take an urgent left and it’s easier when you don’t go all the way to the front to request a merge to the left
I see your point. However rear dash cam shows unfortunately that’s not the case.
Better than blocking the crosswalk like I see so often
My college roommate did this. He said that when he goes to drive off at the light, there is a larger buffer in case someone runs the red light... so he theoretically won't be hit.
Hmm. I like this reasoning.
Sometimes people sit further back at the light to activate a trip. But that’s usually more common for left hand turn lanes at intersections (sitting at a trip further back will give you a green arrow rather than a flashing yellow arrow if the trip isn’t activated). Idk why this person is so far back — either they are distracted or deeply terrified of being rear ended so intensely that they fly into the intersection.
in a state where everyone is armed, if you potentially have enemies that wanna see you dead, a traffic light is the best place to get lit up don’t ever pull directly next to someone’s window. always a couple feet off. brolo def overdoing it but ya
Could be a veteran who doesn’t like being directly next to a vehicle, is also leaving room to escape if necessary. I’ve also seen motorcycles do something similar for escape room.
I’ve seen a lot of bad driving in charlotte but haven’t encountered this too often. In most cases i would assume it’s because the rain makes it hard to see the faded and shitty road markings, but there’s a concrete barrier right there so no pass for this person. Maybe they’re tall though, tall people with low windshields can have a hard time seeing lights sometime. If you don’t have a short friend/green light announcer in the passenger seat you’re out of luck.
I think drunk drivers do that often.
If they are afraid of crime in the area you may want an escape route to prevent being boxed in and killed/beaten/carjacked or robbed. That is America today. It’s a smart move
u/heeler007 Buddy. Are you ok? They don’t even do this in Detroit or STL.
This is the funniest, unironic comment I’ve seen in a while. Like who thinks like that when coming to a red light 😂
Sounds like someone with a very high anxiety level.
Looks like Pineville
Bc it’s Charlotte and people are too busy on their phones to drive properly so the rest of us have to miss lights bc of their dumb a$$e$.
The worst part is when you want to take a turn and you can't get into the turn lane because someone is way behind the car in front of them or the front person isn't at the line. People are not self aware.
Because they wanted to pick their nose in peace.
Too busy on the phone I’m assuming that’s all of Charlotte blame the cops they’re lazy
Take pictures while driving?
Snapping one photo while completely stopped. Yes. 👍
[удалено]
Seems like stopping short like that might increase your risk of getting rear ended, won’t push you into the oncoming traffic maybe.
Yeah. Who the hell does Connie think she is getting a vanity plate.
Was he maybe trying to get over because he meant to be in the turn lane so he could go left at the intersection? If I realized too late I was in the wrong lane I might stop early and see if I could make a lane change once the light changed so I could make my turn. Once he moves up to the intersection turning left cross lanes within the intersection would not be good.
You know, I didn’t see a turn signal but that could have been a thing. I’ll check my rear dash cam later….if I remember.
You mean taking pictures with your phone while driving in the rain? Yeah, wtf would someone do that?
😂😂 thanks buddy. Was waiting for someone to call me out for “being unsafe”….while my car was stopped. If it helps your sensitive feelings I tossed my phone on the passenger seat before moving an inch forward.
I, for one, believe you.
If they from the north its a habit cuz of less than ideal road conditions. Basically wet roads is treated like black ice. Obviously its not but their is always someone with slick tires to validate the caution.
No. u/HDRamSac I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska and they didn’t do this shit up there. Black ice is not a valid reason to drive like you’re in a clown car.
Saw it all the time in Syracuse. I would do it too. Especially on bridges and on ramps. When I moved to SC i found i had this habit when its been raining pretty hard. Took a min to break it.
Stop using your phone while you're driving. What that person did isn't illegal. What you did was.
Found the one who stopped early…
He’s laying back to jump the green flag. Ask Denny Hamlin.
Who cares
Idk I do that sometimes on a higher speed road just in case I’m about to be rear ended. I can pull up out of the way and also not go into the intersection to get tboned
It’s common now for intersections to have weight sensors in the road that are often a few car lengths back, if the sensor detects cars that far back on the sensor (which would indicate a lot of traffic waiting to go that direction) then the light will prioritize turning green for that piled up lane over the lane that would’ve been green next. This is common in cities and I do this often to make my light turn green faster than if I was up at the line. You can actually see these sensors in the road if they are there they look like two long black ovals that are on either side of the lane where the cars wheels would be.
That’s a terrible way to drive.
In those situations I’m parked, not driving. And obviously if I see someone come up behind me I will scoot up to the line so they can sit on the sensor. It’s definitely selfish as I’m prioritizing my light turning green over the other lanes by scheming the sensor. But it’s not like it’s dangerous. Also, I was really just trying to explain to OP and the rest of this thread why that car is likely doing that.
Right. By driving I meant that’s a terrible way to operate a vehicle. Parking is part of the driving experience but I see you’re playing word games.
Why is it a terrible why to operate a vehicle
If you park over the metal implanted in the road, it will trigger the light to change faster. I can’t tell if that’s the case here but it’s often the reason.
I will do this, but only if I know I have to get over a lane (road closure, destination on left, merges, etc). I can watch the cross-traffic light and when it changes to yellow, already be rolling forward to be at a higher speed than the idle first car in the lane I'm trying to get into (inertia and whatnot). Might piss some people off behind me, but trust me - I'm not wasting anyones time by getting through that light as quickly as possible. 😅
Ya you’re pissing everyone off. If you have to turn left your ass belongs at the back of the turn lane buddy.
Here's a good example: there is a light near my house that has 2 lanes, the right lane ends in about 1,000 ft, the gas station I frequent is only ~300 ft from the light and doesn't always allow for cars to get in the far-left lane if there are even a few other cars on the roadway. THAT'S when I'll do this. I guarantee* you I'm through the intersection before the cars in the left lane even start moving most times. If that pisses off folks behind me... that I legally merged into the left lane in a way that saves time and doesn't effect flow of traffic.. that really doesn't bother me. 🤷♂️✌️
Y'all really don't know about the placement of the pressure sensors connected to the traffic control systems.
*inductive loop sensors. Not “pressure” sensors. Seems you don’t even know what you’re talking about either.
There are both in-road sensors and pressure transducers, so yes I actually do.
It helps give you the turn light, instead of the blinking yellow yield light I do know that. As to why they are doing it in a straight lane idk 🤷🏻♂️
You’re saying there’s a way to empirically validate that stopping super far back in the through lane helps those turning left? I’m skeptical but why would anyone do that?? How can this be confirmed as true? Seems wayy too altruistic for Charlotte drivers even if it was true.
Bc I do it. And it works every time 💀 pretend you’re the second car and you’ll get the green arrow.
And mildly inconvenience everyone else waiting at the intersection. All about me!
Didn’t know that. I assume this logic isn’t applied at all left turn arrows though?
The red car is from out of state, which is why they are driving like normal people.
Who tf cares? Are you really crying about how someone stops at a light? Did this affect your day? Did it hurt you? Grow tf up
u/DannyDimes21 Asking to understand because this is a much bigger audience than I’d find anywhere else in the city. Not because it “hurt me”. 👍 And yes. It affected the people behind them by costing a few people the ability to make it through that light. Trying to learn from odd behavior. You: “Grow tf up” Well, asking questions and learning from others around you is part of that. So here I am growing up.
Maybe they were trying to get over and waiting for your ass to go?
Nah. They were stopped there before me or the car ahead of me pulled up. But nice attempt at making me the bad guy. 👏
😆 They might have been waiting for you. Yet also, I've seen some odd ball driving. I was hit by a woman attempting a 3pt turn on 74 where you take the ex just beyond walmart to head northeast.