If you start slowing down sooner, there’s a higher chance that the light will turn green before you’re fully stopped. Then you can blast past the people stopped in the other lane.
Even better: learn the pattern of the traffic lights in your commute, and don’t slow down if you see it will turn green in less than two seconds.
That’s how you t-bone the idiot who doesn’t stop at the red light
The only way to avoid that would be to stop at every green light.
You’re right, but I think the number of people that run a just-turned-red light far far outnumber the people that just ignore the light altogether.
True. If you’re smart enough to time the lights to avoid stopping, hopefully you’re also smart enough to watch the cross street and never assume other drivers are obeying the rules of the road.
unless some asshole decides to stop in your lane before you.
Treating green lights as safe = RIP
where’s the fun in that. my 300000hp engine can get to the stop light faster.
If you drive manual, the pro move is to engine brake all the way down. If the light turns green, you’re already in gear and possibly even higher up in revs meaning you can quickly swap right back to the gas pedal. Feels cool every time it happens.
Newer automatics have manual overrides that you can do this with. It saves brake pads wear too, which is nice.
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Just go close to the speed limit. Be safe.
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You could also argue that going fast means you have a chance to make a light before it goes red, so you increase your opportunity. If you dont catch the green you are only as bad as par.
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Sometimes the opposite happens, though. The aggressive driver hits the light just before it turns yellow, and everyone who didn’t drive like a hooligan had to stop. Depends on how well timed the lights are.
That said, people in general need to start coasting to a red light at least twice the distance away that they do. I’ve gotten passed by people where I’m coasting, there’s a red light ahead, and there’s no reason at all to hurry. Coming to a full stop is a waste of energy, and you should set yourself up to avoid needing to as much as possible.
This coasting trick works until there’s enough of those assholes in a hurry that they all rush ahead to stop in every lane. Now all the sane drivers have to stop too. If I’m feeling plucky, I might honk and flash my brights at those “gotta pass everybody to stop first at the light” types like they’re the slowpoke in the way, which they kind of are at that point. Usually I just keep quiet and imagine that they’re in such a hurry because they are either about to or have just shit their pants.
Beware though, coasting past stopped traffic just as the light changes is a good way to get T-boned by another careless ass hat that just ran the other light.
Do you drive a BMW by chance?
Nah, a lifted truck
You wanna truck you’re gonna have to pay for it kid
Don’t forget Lexus, all the Lexus drivers in my area drive this way as well.
Every time. I love watching them aggressively weave in and out of traffic, endangering everyone’s safety on the road, only to take the exact same amount of time to get where they’re going as the people driving the speed limit or slightly faster than the speed limit.
Entitlement is a disease.
Aggressive weaving is obviously wrong so I am not defending that, but sometimes I’m just driving +10 and have had folks go berserk. Cut me off, block a merge, etc. All I can do is give them space to perform their anger ritual.
If no one is in front of me, I’m going to go my preferred speed. My goal isn’t to get anywhere faster but to enjoy the trip. Remember to grant others the same grace you grant yourself.
Anger is a health consideration whose outcomes are often on par with a disease. So don’t let those dummies raise your blood pressure.
I wish we had different classes of drivers licenses in the US for commercial cars. Like a Class 3 license could only allow people to legally drive basic cars (sedans, station wagons, minis, etc.), and to drive things like coupes, muscle cars, sports cars, and those kind of cars you need a Class 2, and to drive light trucks, SUVs, Jeeps, and Hummers, you need a Class 1 license.
I sorta think it would actually help with road rage and aggressive driving since it would at least require those kinds of people to actually demonstrate they can safely drive those kinds of cars.
I used to wish that I could get some sort of racing license so that I could legally exceed the speed limit. The speed limits are ridiculously low, written for the worst possible drivers. I’ve been successfully exceeding the speed limit for 30 years without incident. Since we’ll definitely never have a special license that lets you legally speed, I just got a radar detector and now I’m happy.
At risk of making driving less predictable… how about licenses for more aggressive driving too?
No right turn on red (unless Rated ++ or higher)
How would that be managed
Man, guess same way as commercial vs. personal licenses, & car vs. motorcycle (Class C vs. Class M) licenses? So only applies to people who get pulled over for doing something dangerous I guess.
This answer is pretty much “honor system”.
Those stupid, non-privacy-respecting (dangerous), incredibly expensive digital plates recently approved in California - they could display the driver’s license class. Then a cop behind you could tell when you’re not allowed to be pulling that U Turn at the narrow intersection that’s restricted to a class above you.
I guess an advantage is if somebody hit you, you’d have a chance to go after them for a class-violating move. But you also might get frustrated not knowing whether somebody in front of you could be making a right on red or something.
I think if you’re caught driving like a jackass (not simply speeding, but weaving in and out of traffic, tailgating, blocking the passing lane, that kind of assholish behavior) in addition to a ticket, you should have to keep a vehicular “dunce cap” on your car. Like a pizza hut driver sign but it identifies you as a moron to everyone. This would have to be on there until you take an extensive driving course to learn to be better.
As an european light truck driver I find it interesting that truck drivers have such a bad reputation in the US. Here the biggest assholes drive sedans and wagons. BMW, Audi, Mercedes, Volvos etc. Trucks are big, slow and clumsy. We’re the people others fly by in the traffic. The only assholines I’m guilty of is drifting in the snow but I’m not doing it because I drive a truck but because it’s rear wheel drive and without traction control of any kind.
It might have to do with car culture and even urban infrastructure in the US. US is very much a “cars first” nation where a lot of areas do require a car to even get to the closest grocery store, and a lot of people who live in the suburbs like that tend to have bigger cars since it’s perceived as one-part functionality (more space for stuff = less trips to go drive 30+ minutes each way for necessities), one-part status symbol, and one-part fear and/or overcompensating, since a good whack of people here do follow the line of thinking of “if I get into an accident, I’d rather be in the bigger car” despite the fact the chance of killing the other person is greatly increased due to the bad crash collision light trucks have with other cars.
Companies also found a loophole to bypass CAFE laws and can make light trucks cheaper without worrying about safety and emissions too much, so in the US there’s a ton of marketing for comically oversized trucks and SUVs (as a 2m tall person, you can barely see me in some of those cars), with nary a station wagon in sight. Since they have to follow CAFE laws in other countries, I would assume your guys’ trucks are more “normal” and comparable to station wagons and sedans, which also might help with safety.
I would assume your guys’ trucks are more “normal” and comparable to station wagons and sedans
Yeah I guess you could say that. Here’s me parked next to an American truck. Don’t get me wrong, mine is still a big and heavy vehicle and it would absolutely suck to get hit by one, but people don’t generally buy trucks for everyday use here. They’re work vehicles like vans and intented for transporting cargo. Mine only has two seats because I need the longer bed (and lower taxes) Our infrastructure is also more designed with pedestrians in mind and I feel like drivers are much more considerate towards them. Especially when it comes to kids.
I fucking hate these things. These “American” utes have invaded my country too. As I explained to someone else most of em you can tell are driven by cashed up fuckwits who don’t actually use utes for a job.
Know how you can tell? Snap ons/tool boxes. Rarely do any of these massively oversized public masturbation devices have tool/gear on them used by people that the owners of these vehicles pretend to be.
I’ve heard roads over there are in average smaller than over here, which if true, might help with that since you would need to be more careful in bugger cars.
I have had a coupe for the last 10+ years. Because I have no use for a full size sedan, and it weighs less so better mileage and handling. Plus I don’t want people asking me for a ride unless they need it enough to be uncomfortable in a tiny car (“sure, but I have a coupe” is a powerful line when people want a ride). It’s a Honda civic, which you’d struggle mightily to class with sports cars and muscle cars… so I’m pretty confused by your blanket classification - my civic coupe is nothing like the eclipse I used to have.
I’m a super cautious driver (no tickets no accidents 20 years driving) but I also basically never see sporty coupes around here (rural), so I don’t have any reason to assume coupe drivers are worse than sedan drivers as a general rule. As such, I’d be pretty pissed if I had to take a special driving test just because I don’t want a full back seat adding weight to my commute.
I’m with you on the rest of it, though I’d say to just ban large vehicles entirely unless you get special accommodation to have one for work purposes only. They are entirely unnecessary in 99% of cases and seem (anecdotally) to make people more aggressive drivers (I think because the height makes them feel slower), rather than just attracting aggressive drivers.
i just like driving fast
Me too, I love driving, I love acceleration. I will let it eat from just about every light. I don’t care. If you’re going under the speed limit or take half a mile to get to speed, yeah, I’m the asshole passing you for it.
as an expat in the US why do Americans think like this except the only time it really matters: merging on the on-ramp on a freeway?
In Europe we’re taught to get up to speed (in the US this would be 65mph most often) by the time you’re at the end of the on ramp, but most people I see merge at 40-50mph into a 65
why?!?!!
because some onramps have a speed limit of 15 mph because they curve tightly in a cloverleaf interchange. It takes a while to get up to 65 after you’ve been going 15 in a tight curve.
There were many days where I was stuck behind someone going 30mph in the on ramp and thought I was going to die. The on ramps I drove were always a straight shot and half the time people were taking their sweet fucking time
you say this and then tonight I leave my house, take the on ramp to the free way just before 7pm - open road, little traffic, guy in front of me, I shit you not, from the on ramp with no obstruction not even a light, continues driving at 40mph from the 40mph road until he is fully merged, still at 40. didn’t change speed at all.
aaaagh agony to be stuck behind him.
Even worse agony, imagine what it feels like to BE him
These people need to lose their licenses. Like going 25 under the limit is more dangerous than going 25 over…
I never know which lights I’ll beat by driving faster and which ones I won’t, but I know I’ll beat a few.
Remaining consistent, keeping up with traffic, and not being an asshole who blocks lanes is the bigger key.
People want to drive faster? Go ahead. In the end they aren’t wasting that much energy and might just be saving some by not having to idle in traffic an extra 5-10 minutes on their daily commute if lucky. Worse for others.
There’s some lights on the way to work that are timed to occasionally let you get through if you go 12 above instead of under 10. Almost everyone on their commute hits that 12. You get some regulars who don’t, not too big a deal, get in the right lane or more simply, let people have room around you to pass.
I like timing it if possible to still be rolling when the light goes to green. Then you accelerate past the IHTBF still stopped for the light. Doesn’t happen often at all, gotta be nobody in front of you at the light and have the person who was shouldering their way through traffic stopped there. But satisfying when it does happen.
I mean, the point is usually not to get somewhere faster. But to not drive behind someone that infuriates you in some way.
And since they are still in front of you, it doesn’t matter. They will still start moving before you.
Just gonna say that no one into cars that I know guns it from a red light because they think it’ll get them anywhere faster. It’s just because it makes us happy to do that. You’re laughing at something we don’t care about at all.
Even if you do care about that, it’s not like gunning it never succeeds in getting you just past the next light before the red either.
Also, personally, it’s much more comfortable to be at the front of the pack where I’m free to move, rather than being blocked in on all sides where my options to avoid an accident are constrained. This is honestly what I don’t get the most about people who are part of rolling roadblocks. If an animal or person runs into the road ahead of you, you have literally nowhere to dodge besides braking and hoping.
ok i admit i have gone through an orange light to escape this specific scenario
Orange?
Ah just a little joke meaning the moment a yellow light turns red. My dad used to crack that joke, but i don’t think he made it up either.
Yes sadly they don’t know that a yellow light is part of a traffic system and isn’t orange.
They’ve just been driving fast when they see these, and end up going through a lot of construction sites
The yellow light gets redshifted for driving near the speed of light.
While I’m sure it feels good to cautious drivers when this happens, IME it doesn’t happen enough for the amount of snarky memes posted about it. If it happens even 50% of the time, the other 50% aggressive drivers do get ahead.
I’m not an aggressive driver, and I see plenty of aggressive drivers I never catch up with.
This. I’m happy for you that this red light gave you the satisfaction of one last look at me but once it turns green I most likely won’t be seeing you again lmao.
I take a different tact. I learn optimum routes so I can get around faster at normal speeds. Favorable right of way, favorable light timing, more direct angled roads. Traffic patterns and hence route selection change by time of day. It takes time, trial, and error to figure out but it pays off. I can get to the grocery store 3 minutes faster than my wife (5 vs 8 minutes) by picking a better route.
There’s an unavoidable overpass between me and where we get groceries with 3 lights on it. They’re timed such that, heading in either direction, you’ll hit one red if you follow the speed limit. They may have sensors, but they change with no cross-traffic as well. However, if you catch the first light in green, and speed by between 7-10 over the speed limit (35), you can get through all 3 without stopping. It’s an overpass with no residential nearby; this is the only place I regularly blow through.
I have no idea what the civic engineers were thinking when they progammed those lights. I assume incompetence; what I think really happened is that at one time that stretch was 45, like both sides of the overpass, and they were programmed for 45, which would normally get you through with no stops. Then some asshat changed the speed limit of that stretch to 35 without reprogramming the lights.
Anyway, the point of my long story is that sometimes going around isn’t feasible. When it is, it’s a great tactic, though!
it’s the framerule in Mario Bros
Obligatory
Did this with a Subaru WRX driver yesterday. He still had temp tags. Probably was a good driver before he got that thing.
I drive a Subaru WRX and I take off from stop lights a little fast. I’m not going crazy fast, but I am usually faster than everyone else 99% of the time without putting too much effort in, and I usually go 5 or 10 over depending on how high the speed limit is. But eventually, I always come across some psychopath driving a minivan, or a base model Nissan Whatever that must just start flooring it as soon as the light turns. Impossible to keep up with them without really giving it the beans, which I’m not up for.
There’s always someone willing to drive their car more ridiculously lol
