The Grand Tour

Unwritten Rules of the Road by Grand Tour Nation Readers

Last week on our Facebook page, we turned to you, our wonderful readers, and asked what you all felt were the unwritten rules of the road/parking. The question came about from a piece we published regarding the “Clarkson Parking” phenomenon (for the record, of COURSE we’re aware that this has been around longer than TG/TGT….duh).

We went over your responses and listed some of our favorites here. If anything was accomplished from this list, it’s that no one knows how to friggin drive. Except us. Here’s what you all said:

Robert Bascombe: “1. Stay out of the left lane if you aren’t passing traffic. Do not sit in this lane and dilly dally along.

2. If you don’t plan on driving at highway speed then don’t get on the highway. There are local routes that you can take where traffic moves slower and you may feel more comfortable.

3. You do not use your brake to merge into traffic on the highway. You use the accelerator to gain speed…highway speed…allowing you to then safely merge with traffic moving at highway speed.”

Agreed, agreed, agreed, Mr. Bascombe. As someone who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, I can assure you no one follows 1, 2, or 3. Drives me nuts. What are they teaching during driving tests these days?

Christina Byman: “Acknowledge with a quick wave or nod when someone let’s you merge in heavy traffic. Small gestures of thanks make a world of difference when we are all stuck in some traffic snarl.”

Agreed, Ms. Byman. Common courtesy goes a long way and is something we need more of. Unfortunately, I think this one is a lost cause. We live in a nation of asses, and more importantly, we live in a nation of people PROUD to be asses. Like it’s something to strive for.

Mike Fletcher: “Reverse into every parking spot. It is a ton easier to pull out when you are leaving and almost a 100% chance to hit nothing. Also much easier on your neck ;-)”

You almost got me there, Mr. Fletcher. Unfortunately, I personally know way too many people that think this is true, which is no problem, IF THEY KNEW HOW TO BACK INTO SPOTS correctly. Here’s a spoiler: they don’t.

Zoe Cole: “…use your indicators they are there for a reason.”

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Holy moly, you hit my biggest pet peeve. There is nothing more annoying than sitting at a red light or driveway waiting to turn right, and a car is lumbering down the way, and they suddenly turn before they get to you. WHY DIDN’T YOU INDICATE? I could have been 50 feet down the street already. Also annoying when someone just lurches in front of you on the freeway with no prior warning. Or worse, when they just slowly drift into you, proving that not only did they not indicate, they didn’t bother to check their blind spot either. Good thing one of us pays attention on the road.

Andrew Ingersoll: “Observe the speed of cars you intend to merge or change lanes in front of. It they’re going 80 don’t change lanes at 70 and force them to slow down when you could have waited for them to pass.”

Totally. Merge with the flow of traffic. Don’t be that one person merging at 45 MPH into freeway speeds. You’re being a danger to everyone else around you.

Sameer Gupta: “You cannot be parallel to a car and expect them to see your turn signal (indicator) whilst you want to get ahead of that parallel car in question”

On a similar note, if you start indicating when you’re already halfway into my lane, you may just be a jerk.

Adam Cybulski: “Everyone slower than me is an idiot who needs to hurry up. Everyone faster than me is a maniac.”

Jeremy? Is that you?

Steve Burgie: “If you make eye contact with someone next to you at a stoplight, you have to race them”

“You almost had…ME? You never had me; you never had your car… granny shiftin’ not double clutchin’ like you should.”

Audie Brown: “Don’t tailgate me on a one lane road when there’s a car in front of me and I’m already speeding ! Dick!”

Such a dick move.

And finally, the voice of reason:

Kelly Stilson: “I thought it said unwritten rules? Many of these are actually laws….”

*sigh* If only people knew that, Ms. Stilson. If only.

If you enjoyed this, please check out our Facebook page for the original thread. Feel free to keep adding to it! And check back often for more polls like this; you never know when you might get featured!

Tony Hsieh

Cars, the Buffalo Bills, video games, comics, sandwiches, jelly beans, and the shooting star press; these are the things that Tony loves (in addition to his family, of course). When he's not spending his time writing tech reviews for theslanted.com, Tony puts his lifetime love of muscle cars to use on his 2015 Mustang GT. Tony's top three favorite cars are the 1973 Mustang Mach 1, Ferrari 458, and Aston Martin DBS.

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