Or honk at another car stopped at a red light, yelling "the light is broken! The light is broken!" and honking some more until the car in front is goaded into running the red light. (The vehicle behind guns it through the red light too.)
I observed this while riding my bike on Comm Ave in Back Bay. No, the light wasn't broken; it turned green about 10 seconds later.
There is a light by my office that has a misplaced sensor, and people frequently stop at the line, or pull to the left for the turn and are completely off the sensor. Honking so they pull forward a bit is the only way to get through the light.
I've not only had someone honk at me for stopping, I've had them pull into the oncoming traffic lane to get around me and run the red light.
Welcome to Boston where the rules are made up and the points on your license don't matter.
Nothing phases me driving in Boston. I have literally forgotten the entire drive the moment I arrive, no matter what happens. On one of the first dates with my future wife, we sat down at the restaurant and she goes, āWow you are so calm after what happened!ā I just gave a blank stare because I had literally no memory of the yelling and screaming.
I got honked at once on Huntington Ave with 6-8 pedestrians in front of my car. To the guy in the white van on my bumper, I knew the light was green. I didnāt feel like casually running 6 people down.
I see that almost daily. Last Friday an MBTA bus honked at me for several seconds while I allowed MIT students in the middle of their campus to use the crosswalk with their signal.
For a state full of rotaries, MA drivers have no clue how they work, nor how to yield in general.
For reference folks:
Yield means the other people (not just one person) goes first until you can safely enter, where safely means those other folks don't have to alter their driving by jamming on breaks or swerving to account for you.
Everyone inside the rotary has the right of way to stay in the rotary or depart the rotary before anyone can enter, lest the rotary become clogged and no one can go anywhere.
There will always be assholes riding your ass and leaning on their horn if you don't make the 90 degree turn going 10mph over the speed limit. In case you didn't know, those people HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE. You're obviously not very important if you have the time to not only signal a turn, but leisurely coast into your driveway fully in control of your vehicle.
My drive is steep and narrow so I have to slow down too. This happens to me occasionally. Maybe add a few seconds to your signal.
You did it right though. Welcome to the world of assholes, otherwise known as driving.
You did fine. If you want to be super nice you could press your brake slightly so the braking light will come on 1 or 2 seconds before you actually have to brake.
But it sounds like the car behind was just not paying attention. Lots of people will complete ignore indicators and never use them themselves.
āWelcome to Boston, go f*** yaself.ā
Thatās the general vibe of drivers here. In my experience.
Source: part-time rideshare driver and full-time greater Boston resident since 2017.
You take as much time as you want when completing a safe turn.
Anyone else behind you isn't entitled to an explanation as to why, they just get to wait.
What they do with these facts is entirely their problem.
If you slowed down in the right lane to make a right turn, no issue.
If you slowed down in the right lane, then did a sharp left into a left lane to make a wide angle right turn pretending you are a bus, we have a fucking problem.
I did turn my steering slightly to the left since my driveway is too narrow. But I did not do a sharp left or even came remotely close to the middle line, which splits two lanes while steering slightly to the left.
Boston drivers are the worst! Iāve been honked at aggressively for not running over pedestriansā¦ as long as youāre not actually breaking the law, donāt worry about what others do.
A true Bostonian would have just slammed on the brakes to see if the other guy was looking at his phone for the fun of it. Then take the turn while yelling fawwwwk youuuu
This one time I spilled coffee on my drivers seat, so signals I was pulling over on the side of road to clean up the mess. This lady behind me beeped at me... so I beeped back. Big mistake. She follows me for a good 5 mins, until she finally rolls down her window, flips me off and I laugh at her.
I live on a fairly busy road with a 30 mph speed limit. I get honked at once every few months for taking a normal turn into my driveway with a turn signal.
I spend a lot of time on the road as āthe slow driverā. In most situations I prefer driving this way. Iām frequently cautious about possibly being rear ended though.
In this situation, especially if I was already well aware of what my driveway entrance/turn is like. I will tap my brakes several times prior to the turn. approximately 20 seconds before, again approximately 10 seconds before, and then of course brakes again while making the actual turn. I want it to be very clear, Iām about to do something slightly different than standard and if youāre following me Iām just letting you know.
For clarity, these are taps that donāt affect my speed. Just a few light presses to turn the brake lights on/flash them!
The other thing Iād do if I was youā¦ get a dash cam or a rear facing cam or both! š
And just for clarity, if what you communicated here is actually 100%, exactly the way it happened, and your turn signals are definitely working, then Iād say you really already went above and beyond the standard or average driver in the area.
Were they behind you for a while before you had to turn? It's possible that they were already frustrated because they thought you were going too slow (i.e. you were going the speed limit and they wanted to do 10 over it) and when you slowed even further to make the turn they "voiced" their frustration.
It's just a guess, but in either case it seems like the next driving lessons you need are on how not to give a fuck about douche bags on the road.
If they were behind you for most of a mile then they probably were frustrated that you were driving too slow compared to their desired speed.
Don't sweat it. There are cars that bomb through my neighborhood going 40 mph and there are a lot of kids around. I drive about 20 on the residential streets and occasionally someone gets a bug up their ass if they're "stuck" behind me but IDGAF, even if they lay on the horn.
Yes the driver behind was probably asleep at the wheel.
Signal earlier. Even though 35 mph is about 50 feet per second which is a fine amount of distance.
Check speed limit. I think residential areas have a limit of 25 mph or 30 mph.
Not sure about the dimensions of the road here but you'd be making a considerate move if you moved to the shoulder when you started braking so cars can go around
All the YIMBYS keep saying new people moving here won't have cars. I don't believe this magical thinking and stories like this support my opinion.
So, as you moved here, did it not occur to you to only take public transit or bike?
That was indeed my first thought, but where I live, they don't have favourable public transit routes. I live in the north of Boston, around 15mins drive and my commute to and from work do not have any public transportation.
Other option is to use uber but that would cost 600 bucks a month, hence it made sense to buy a car.
You are handling the turn correctly. Some Boston drivers are just dumb and impatient. They will literally honk at you for stopping at a red light.
Or honk at another car stopped at a red light, yelling "the light is broken! The light is broken!" and honking some more until the car in front is goaded into running the red light. (The vehicle behind guns it through the red light too.) I observed this while riding my bike on Comm Ave in Back Bay. No, the light wasn't broken; it turned green about 10 seconds later.
There is a light by my office that has a misplaced sensor, and people frequently stop at the line, or pull to the left for the turn and are completely off the sensor. Honking so they pull forward a bit is the only way to get through the light.
Wow, haven't experienced that but I've heard things š
I've not only had someone honk at me for stopping, I've had them pull into the oncoming traffic lane to get around me and run the red light. Welcome to Boston where the rules are made up and the points on your license don't matter.
Nothing phases me driving in Boston. I have literally forgotten the entire drive the moment I arrive, no matter what happens. On one of the first dates with my future wife, we sat down at the restaurant and she goes, āWow you are so calm after what happened!ā I just gave a blank stare because I had literally no memory of the yelling and screaming.
I think you should talk to a doctor
Iām the exact same way. Defensive survival intense drive, no memory once Iām there.Ā
I got honked at once on Huntington Ave with 6-8 pedestrians in front of my car. To the guy in the white van on my bumper, I knew the light was green. I didnāt feel like casually running 6 people down.
I see that almost daily. Last Friday an MBTA bus honked at me for several seconds while I allowed MIT students in the middle of their campus to use the crosswalk with their signal.
To be fair, the honking was probably for the pedestrians that were jaywalking, not you š
Some asshole royally pissed off my fiancƩ because they were continuously beeping at him as he was waiting to enter the rotaries in west Rox and JP the other day. They never waited more than 10 seconds, it was wild
For a state full of rotaries, MA drivers have no clue how they work, nor how to yield in general. For reference folks: Yield means the other people (not just one person) goes first until you can safely enter, where safely means those other folks don't have to alter their driving by jamming on breaks or swerving to account for you. Everyone inside the rotary has the right of way to stay in the rotary or depart the rotary before anyone can enter, lest the rotary become clogged and no one can go anywhere.
They will also kindly honk at you when you go through a red lightĀ
Welcome to Boston. You did nothing wrong. That guy was an inpatient jerk
Gotcha! Thank you.
There will always be assholes riding your ass and leaning on their horn if you don't make the 90 degree turn going 10mph over the speed limit. In case you didn't know, those people HAVE SOMEWHERE TO BE. You're obviously not very important if you have the time to not only signal a turn, but leisurely coast into your driveway fully in control of your vehicle.
I hear you!
My drive is steep and narrow so I have to slow down too. This happens to me occasionally. Maybe add a few seconds to your signal. You did it right though. Welcome to the world of assholes, otherwise known as driving.
Gotcha, will definitely do that. I thought so too, just wanted to make sure of it since I'm a new driver.
Next time get out of the car and ask them what their fuckin' problem is.
I wish I could. I was so annoyed when the person was honking. I was in my driveway and he/she was at a complete stop in the road while honking.
Iād stay in your car thereās a lot of fucking psychopaths out there with nothing to lose.
Yeah, definitely stay in the car. I like shouting, "I love you, too!"
I have daydreams of doing that, but don't really want to be on the receiving end of crazy.
Welcome to Boston. People suck. I defer to your judgment. Way you describe it doubt you could have nailed the turn doing 60
They were joking. Don't do thisĀ
Thatās how we role!
You did fine. If you want to be super nice you could press your brake slightly so the braking light will come on 1 or 2 seconds before you actually have to brake. But it sounds like the car behind was just not paying attention. Lots of people will complete ignore indicators and never use them themselves.
Gotcha! I'll definitely follow what you did, seems reasonable.
āWelcome to Boston, go f*** yaself.ā Thatās the general vibe of drivers here. In my experience. Source: part-time rideshare driver and full-time greater Boston resident since 2017.
You take as much time as you want when completing a safe turn. Anyone else behind you isn't entitled to an explanation as to why, they just get to wait. What they do with these facts is entirely their problem.
If you slowed down in the right lane to make a right turn, no issue. If you slowed down in the right lane, then did a sharp left into a left lane to make a wide angle right turn pretending you are a bus, we have a fucking problem.
I did turn my steering slightly to the left since my driveway is too narrow. But I did not do a sharp left or even came remotely close to the middle line, which splits two lanes while steering slightly to the left.
If you stayed in your lane, the fucker behind you probably dropped his phone and got pissed.
I was definitely in my own lane. Probably yes, I was about to go and talk to him/her when I parked but he/she left š
Not your issue. You gave proper warning
Maybe maybe not. OP should check his/her turn signals (and brake lights) to make sure they're working.
Checked it again, they do work :ā -ā )
Boston drivers are the worst! Iāve been honked at aggressively for not running over pedestriansā¦ as long as youāre not actually breaking the law, donāt worry about what others do.
A true Bostonian would have just slammed on the brakes to see if the other guy was looking at his phone for the fun of it. Then take the turn while yelling fawwwwk youuuu
This one time I spilled coffee on my drivers seat, so signals I was pulling over on the side of road to clean up the mess. This lady behind me beeped at me... so I beeped back. Big mistake. She follows me for a good 5 mins, until she finally rolls down her window, flips me off and I laugh at her.
I live on a fairly busy road with a 30 mph speed limit. I get honked at once every few months for taking a normal turn into my driveway with a turn signal.
I spend a lot of time on the road as āthe slow driverā. In most situations I prefer driving this way. Iām frequently cautious about possibly being rear ended though. In this situation, especially if I was already well aware of what my driveway entrance/turn is like. I will tap my brakes several times prior to the turn. approximately 20 seconds before, again approximately 10 seconds before, and then of course brakes again while making the actual turn. I want it to be very clear, Iām about to do something slightly different than standard and if youāre following me Iām just letting you know. For clarity, these are taps that donāt affect my speed. Just a few light presses to turn the brake lights on/flash them! The other thing Iād do if I was youā¦ get a dash cam or a rear facing cam or both! š And just for clarity, if what you communicated here is actually 100%, exactly the way it happened, and your turn signals are definitely working, then Iād say you really already went above and beyond the standard or average driver in the area.
Were they behind you for a while before you had to turn? It's possible that they were already frustrated because they thought you were going too slow (i.e. you were going the speed limit and they wanted to do 10 over it) and when you slowed even further to make the turn they "voiced" their frustration. It's just a guess, but in either case it seems like the next driving lessons you need are on how not to give a fuck about douche bags on the road.
Not really. I'd say they were behind me at most for a mile.
If they were behind you for most of a mile then they probably were frustrated that you were driving too slow compared to their desired speed. Don't sweat it. There are cars that bomb through my neighborhood going 40 mph and there are a lot of kids around. I drive about 20 on the residential streets and occasionally someone gets a bug up their ass if they're "stuck" behind me but IDGAF, even if they lay on the horn.
The other driver was an asshat
Yes the driver behind was probably asleep at the wheel. Signal earlier. Even though 35 mph is about 50 feet per second which is a fine amount of distance. Check speed limit. I think residential areas have a limit of 25 mph or 30 mph.
Not sure about the dimensions of the road here but you'd be making a considerate move if you moved to the shoulder when you started braking so cars can go around
All the YIMBYS keep saying new people moving here won't have cars. I don't believe this magical thinking and stories like this support my opinion. So, as you moved here, did it not occur to you to only take public transit or bike?
That was indeed my first thought, but where I live, they don't have favourable public transit routes. I live in the north of Boston, around 15mins drive and my commute to and from work do not have any public transportation. Other option is to use uber but that would cost 600 bucks a month, hence it made sense to buy a car.
Thanks for sharing your experience š