I had an Explorer almost run me off the road this morning. This prompted me
to give Explorer drivers a little friendly advice - When using your turn
signal as a virtual bumper, please be sure that your intended victim can
actually see your turn signal.
Here is what happened -
I was driving towards Raleigh NC on I-40 at the I-540 Interchange. This is
one of those interchange where an off ramp from one interchange continues
on
to the next as a separate lane and the right two lanes can both exit.
However one can also continue on straight (one lane is exit only, the
other
is an exit and a thru lane). I am in the exit/thru lane, intending to
continue on I-40. A car coming from the first interchange pulls in front
of
me forcing me to slow. I could not move to the middle lane because there
is
an Explorer in the middle lane coming up from behind. Therefore I slow and
stay behind the slightly slower moving car at a safe distance (3 car
lengths
more or less). The Explorer pulls beside me so that his rear wheel panel
is
about even with my front wheel and then matches my speed. As we approach
the
exit, the Explorer starts drifting into my lane. Assuming he doesn't see
me,
I politely honk the horn. Instead of moving back into his lane, the driver
in the Explorer moves further into my lane and tries to force me into a
car
to my right in the exit only lane. I lay on the horn and manage to keep
from
hitting either car, but I am really pissed. I think (but I am not sure)
that
the Explorer had its turn signal on. I say I am not sure, because the
Explorer never pulled clearly in front of me. He was riding along in a
position where the rear corner of his uber station wagon was hidden behind
the A-pillar of my small sedan (a Mazda3). If the signal had been on, and
I
had seen it, I would have made room for him, even though there was
literally
no one behind me for at least 200 yards (i.e., plenty of room behind me to
change lanes). So the moral of the story for Explorer drivers (and
others),
if you want to bully your way into a slot between cars, at least make sure
your intended victim sees your turn signal. Don't assume that people in
smaller vehicles have seen the small, poorly located turn signals on the
rear of your vehicles. The rear turn signals of older Explorers,
particularly the ones with the yellow European style rear turn signals,
are
not as obvious as you might think. Fortunately there was no accident. The
Explorer owner did eventually move into my lane (but too late to exit) and
he/she slowed way down - probably out of embarrassment at almost causing a
2
or 3 car pileup. I don't know if they were on a cell phone, or if they
didn't see me in their rear view mirror, or if they assumed I saw their
turn
signal and that I would slow down to let them in, or if the driver was
just
an arrogant SOB trying to pass one more car before the exit. I am just
glad
no one was hurt - this time.
Ed
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