Drew's Driving question #1

[drew70]

I've been driving in the Washington DC area for over 30 years. I know most of the ins and outs of driving laws and driving etiquette. But there are some places (usually intersections) that quite frankly have me stumped. I thought I'd share one now, and perhaps others in future threads.

Consider the diagram below. The blue line/arrow indicates my route to where I used to work. I exit the Dulles Toll Road paying my toll at the ($ $) booth. Notice that the entrance ramp to northbound Reston Parkway forms a brand new lane. Notice also that there is a YIELD sign as I'm entering Reston Parkway in my own lane.

<a href="http://www.putfile.com/pic.php?img=4330547" target="_blank"><img src="http://img1.putfile.com/thumb/12/35800555931.jpg" alt="Click to enlarge."></a>

This YIELD sign is the source of months of heated debate amongst me and my co-workers. Gary says that the YIELD sign means I need to yield to people like him, whose route is represented by the orange line/arrow, who need to cross two lanes in order to turn right on Sunset Hills Road.

I say the YIELD sign is a mistake....left over from an earlier configuration in which those like me entering Reston Parkway had to merge left because we didn't have our own lane at the time.

Gary says, mistake or not, the YIELD sign is there, so I gotta yield.

I say there's nobody to whom I CAN yield, because to enter my lane, Gary is already under obligation to yield to me, sign or no sign.

And so the debate raged on. I even wrote a letter to VDOT asking them for an answer. I never heard back from them. Now it's three years later, and the YIELD sign is still there.

So what do you guys think?

 

[kered]

In my near thirty years of professional driving I have come across these situations. The yield sign placed there, to me, resticts the flow of traffic and looks like a prime place to have an accident. It would be better to let people merge into the lane moving at the same speed instead of having to accelerate into the flow. That yield sign in that far right lane needs to go. If you are turning from far right lane east and west into the far right lane north and south, and anything happens, the Catch-22 would be that it was your fault. Around here we call it Purdue engineering.

 

[kilitiinko1]

I agree with Kered.The yield sign needs to go,but until then,you are obligated yield or risk a ticket in the case of an accident.

They don`t call it the Department of Turmoil for nothing!

 

[maniactickler]

noone observes yield signs anyway.

 

[drew70]

I agree with Kered.The yield sign needs to go,but until then,you are obligated yield or risk a ticket in the case of an accident.

They don`t call it the Department of Turmoil for nothing!

I hear what your saying, but how exactly does one yield in such a situation? Even outside of rush hour the northbound traffic on Reston Pkwy from the south is non stop at 45 mph or better. Am I supposed to stop at the yield sign, Turn my head around 180 degrees and make sure nobody is signaling to enter my lane? Or does it simply mean to yield if I'm considering a merge toward the left? I tend to favor the latter.

 

[kered]

According to your description the yield sign is designated to the far right hand lane. It is then up to you to decide if you can safely move forward and merge with the other traffic. (That is if everyone is awake and you don't get sideswiped or ass-ended in the process) The more I've thought about it today the less sense that yield sign makes with the new lane configuration. It is not needed if people adhere to common sense and basic rules of the road. You don't see this type of thing on an interstate on-ramp with less room to manuver into lanes than with what you have to work with. A yield sign in that situation would be an accident waiting to happen.

 

[Bugman]

According to your description the yield sign is designated to the far right hand lane. It is then up to you to decide if you can safely move forward and merge with the other traffic. (That is if everyone is awake and you don't get sideswiped or ass-ended in the process) The more I've thought about it today the less sense that yield sign makes with the new lane configuration. It is not needed if people adhere to common sense and basic rules of the road. You don't see this type of thing on an interstate on-ramp with less room to manuver into lanes than with what you have to work with. A yield sign in that situation would be an accident waiting to happen.

I agree with you kered,and i have earned my living behind the wheel almost as long as you have.I see two flaws in your last post however.Common sense and obeying the rules of the road seem to be beyond the power of two many people these days.

 

[kered]

Too True, Bugman. All we've got out there is our own experience and working turn signals. But sometimes that isn't enough against some of the tunnel visioned clods out there........and their cell phones....but I digress...

 

[Edge]

Yield sign???? What's that? Those signs that say yield? I thought they were there for decorations! People don't really use those! lol

 

[His Divine Shadow]

Or does it simply mean to yield if I'm considering a merge toward the left? I tend to favor the latter.

I always thought any leftward merge (Or any lane change, for that matter) required one to yield to to anyone currently in that lane if they were rapidly approaching or in the way. Which is why the sign makes no sense to me ... I'd have to agree with your assertion that the sign predates the road configuration. I've never heard of or seen a situation where one has to yield to traffic coming into your lane in order to cross it. Regardless of that sign, that intersection is hideous. In order to turn right, traffic on Reston Pkwy does have to cross a normal lane of through traffic (Albeit one formed by an onramp, but still a normal lane that continues). Another reason to not drive in the D.C. area (Drive around people with diplomatic immunity? No thank you. 😛 ).

 

[unit5610]

To most people Yield means Go Without Looking, I agree, but technically the people already on the highway you're moving onto (in this case Reston Parkway) have the right of way. These cross-over places create an added challenge and encourage people to drive like they're in a video game 🙁 . We have one like this nearby and I find when I'm on the on-ramp I have to look left at the highway, plan which two cars I'm gonna slip in between, and gun it. So that's sort of a yield, I guess.

 

[kilitiinko1]

I always thought any leftward merge (Or any lane change, for that matter) required one to yield to to anyone currently in that lane if they were rapidly approaching or in the way. Which is why the sign makes no sense to me ... I'd have to agree with your assertion that the sign predates the road configuration. I've never heard of or seen a situation where one has to yield to traffic coming into your lane in order to cross it. Regardless of that sign, that intersection is hideous. In order to turn right, traffic on Reston Pkwy does have to cross a normal lane of through traffic (Albeit one formed by an onramp, but still a normal lane that continues). Another reason to not drive in the D.C. area (Drive around people with diplomatic immunity? No thank you. 😛 ).

Concur!

 

[DannyMc]

Drew , it seems a yield sign to watch for oncoming traffic , the sign I take it is put very early into the new added lane to watch for oncoming cars that would be switching lanes to turn right on Sunset .

 

[drew70]

I just now realized I failed to mention something important, or demonstrate it in the diagram. My route to work, represented by the blue line, also turns right on Sunset Hills Rd. The office where Gary and I worked together is down that way a block or two. According to Gary, he should be able to just sail across two lanes like that, while we who come off of the Toll Rd make sure not to get in his way.

I told him, "Gary, I'll be honest. I don't even LOOK in your direction. And I'm pretty sure nobody else does, either. Why would I? I'm thinking about turning right. That's where my attention is likely to be focused. Anybody coming from your way is going to automatically yield to me because they are entering my lane."

"Sorry, Drew," Gary smirked, smugly triumphant. "This argument is over. I've won. I have proof I'm right. I talked to Dean Dennings over in the NOC and his brother-inlaw's cousin Jason is a Fairfax County cop." Gary's obnoxious wide-eyed grin widened, as he leaned forward. "And Jason says, 'you gotta yield, and if you're caught not yielding there, you WILL get a ticket.'"

I leaned forward myself with a grin that didn't touch my eyes, doing my best Jack Nicholson. "Gary," I said evenly. "Dean couldn't find his ass with both hands in his back pockets, and we both know it. Do you honestly believe he presented a true representation of this intersection to his brother inlaw? Are you confident that Dean's brother-inlaw also got it exactly right when he passed it along to his cop cousin, Jason? Hell, Jason probably thinks we're talking about freakin DuPont Circle!

Gary was laughing so hard he could barely answer. "Okay okay. I knew it was stupid, but I just wanted to get a reaction out of you."

"Why, I oughtta..." I shook my head ruefully. Gary is one of those people who love to stir up conflict between other people. You probably know people like that. Instigators. (..."Well I asked Drew about it and HE says YOU are fulla shit...") Fortunately, Gary isn't a good BS'er and doesn't know how to do it in any other way than completely transparent and obvious, so it's a little difficult to get mad at him for it.

Unfortunately it left us no closer to an answer we could agree on.

 

[Mastertank1]

If a government agency did it.....

A) Do NOT expect it to be rational

B) Assume it's a mistake

C) Realize that those responsible will NEVER admit to a mistake, because the prime job function of any government employee, elected or appointed, is ensuring that regardless of what does or does not happen, THEY do NOT get the BLAME.

My advice? Trade in your car and drive to work in a tank like mine. Then they have to yield to you, no matter what the damn sign says!

Remember; driving a tank means never having to say you're sorry!

P.S. Seriously, I'm giving you a joke answer because I ain't got a clue. Could be either way.

 

[kered]

A) Do NOT expect it to be rational

B) Assume it's a mistake

C) Realize that those responsible will NEVER admit to a mistake, because the prime job function of any government employee, elected or appointed, is ensuring that regardless of what does or does not happen, THEY do NOT get the BLAME.

My advice? Trade in your car and drive to work in a tank like mine. Then they have to yield to you, no matter what the damn sign says!

Remember; driving a tank means never having to say you're sorry!

P.S. Seriously, I'm giving you a joke answer because I ain't got a clue. Could be either way.

Joke answer or not, Tank speaks the truth. I don't drive a tank but I occasionally pilot a loaded tri-axle dump truck weighing about 33 tons which works just as well.