Unfortunately in Billings and Bozeman.........The two cities where I occasionally drive, a turn signal is taken as a signal to move forward and block you from changing lanes...... I never have understood this, but now signal a lane change milliseconds before actually making it, so the guy behind will not try to cut me off. I believe in signals, and have always used them religiously, but I can understand why people don't.
Interestingly, on the very few trips I've taken into Southern California, I found that people there respected turn signals on the interstate.......... A signal is not "asking permission" to change lanes, it's a statement that you ARE going to change lanes, and people make space........ That and people making space automatically when you hit the bottom of an on ramp at highway speed were the ONLY two driving behaviors I found down there that I liked.
I drive lightly traveled two lane highways mostly....that's what we have here. The big problems are idiots who pass when you are slowing down signaling a left turn. People get killed doing that all the time. We've had two fatalities within a mile of where I live as a result of this........ asleep at the wheel??..... I've had a number of close calls at the marked highway intersection near where I live...........To the extent of putting amber signals on the headache rack of my pickup to get people's attention. The other problem is passing on blind hills and corners....... I no longer tolerate people passing me where there is no visibility, especially trucks and towing vehicles........... You try to pass me where you cannot possibly see oncoming traffic, and I'll move over the center line and block you. It's a matter of survival! Three vehicles meet on a narrow two lane, and someone is likely to wreck. I've been forced off the road by the passing vehicle when he meets an oncoming vehicle........... in those several cases, my vehicle was unharmed, but both other vehicles were GONE. If damage or injury were to result, it would be a single vehicle accident as far as the highway patrol was concerned.
One case that really got me thinking was a wreck where 5 people were killed, that happened about 80 miles from here on a two lane highway. 3 drunken kids coming home from Northwest College in Powell, Wy. passed a truck on the two lane and met an oncoming car. Both the drunken kids and the oncoming car went for the ditch to avoid a head on............ and they hit head on in the ditch. A man and is wife, and three drunken kids died that day........
When you are both alongside a truck, traveling toward each other in opposite directions, it's a game of chicken.........If you both chicken out, you are going to die, and if neither chickens out you are going to die...... What do you do? What you do in that situation is take the LEFT ditch as you approach the truck. The kids are alongside the truck and have only one way to go.......... You have three options before you actually are alongside the truck....... left, right, and straight. The truck is NOT going to take the ditch.
One thing that is incredibly irritating here is big city drivers who insist on tailgating on wide open highway with literally miles of space. There is room for miles of space between cars here, yet people will get behind you and try to "push" you........Ironically when they do pass, I usually find myself right behind them at the stop sign in town. They'll often risk their lives passing in a blind spot to gain a fraction of a second. When there is traffic.... say half a dozen cars, they will tailgate, and when I leave a few hundred yards ahead of me, finally pass because it apparently irritates them to have driving room...... Again at the stop sign at the junction, they will be right ahead of me......... I'd far rather have them a few hundred yards ahead of me than on my ass!
The 20 miles to town takes 17 minutes at 70 mph ( Montana's speed limit on two lane highways) It takes 16 minutes at 75, and 15 minutes at 80. That difference of one or two minutes amounts to nothing, especially if you end up behind a string of cars anyway..... What's the rush? Is your life worth two minutes? Hills, narrow road and bridges, livestock, deer, farmers, etc.............. 70 is more than fast enough.
H.W.
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