How is it even possible/practical to obey traffic laws?

Ocelot@lemmies.world to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 88 points –

I'm talking specifically about obeying the speed limit, doing a full stop at stop signs, etc. After receiving a speeding ticket for doing 53 in a 50, As an experiment I went a full day obeying all traffic laws 100% and it caused so much road rage. For example, there is a 2 lane road near me with a speed limit of 50 (where I got the ticket), traffic usually moves at about 60/65. There was a huge line of cars behind me and nowhere to pull over. As soon as an opening came up on the shoulder I was about to pull over and one of the cars behind me blew past me on the on the right blaring their horn. Then another truck passed me at the next opportunity and brake checked me. Both of these cars proceeded to run a red light about 1/4 mile ahead of me endangering others. By far the worst part of driving on this 2 lane road was the 25 mph work zone which is completely ignored by everyone else. It effectively resulted in me doing 25 mph in a "60" which is very dangerous.

Having needed to spend the entire day pulling over at every opportunity to let people pass I inevitably picked up a drill bit and got a flat tire.

Even matters as simple as stopping completely at a stop sign for 1 second cause immediate anger and dangerous behavior from other drivers.

What on earth are we expected to do? All I want is to avoid speeding tickets and drive safely.

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In Germany, it's against the law to not do a full stop at traffic signs. You will fail your driving test doing this and you'll definitely get pulled over when you're seen doing it.

Op is full of shit. I've stopped at every stop sign the entire time I've been driving and there's never been any issue. This is a troll. Plain and simple.

American cops are a bit more lenient, but you will get penalized for it on the driving test.

It depends on the jurisdiction. Small towns will absolutely ticket you for a lack of a full stop.

In Argentina it's against the law too. I have never seen anyone, ever, stop at a stop sign. At most people slow down a little more than usual. Not even cops stop at stop signs. But if you don't stop in your driver test, they can theoretically deny your license. So this is definitely a regional thing.

Fwiw, I visited a lot of South American countries, and Argentina is one of the most respectful of traffic laws. But yeah, stop signs are merely a suggestion at best. People slow down way more in a "dangerous crossing" sign, than a stop sign.

Not even cops stop at stop signs.

You're talking like if cops respect the laws they're supposed to enforce.

In Brazil too, but we don't ever get pulled over for that, so nobody really stops, just slows down and if they see someone coming they stop. I've seen cops running red lights just because there was no one crossing.

It is very much against the law in the US too. The point is that any attempt to follow the law causes serious safety issues around road rage.

Same in the UK. But here most signs are 'give way' so there can be confusion when there's an actual stop sign.

I think the UK has completely eliminated the US style stop sign. I haven't seen one in years.

Well that sent me down a random Wikipedia dive.

In the United Kingdom, stop signs may only be placed at junctions with tramways or sites with severely restricted visibility.[30] Until 2016, each stop sign had to be individually approved by the Secretary of State for Transport.[31][32] This requirement was removed by the 2016 amendments to the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions;[33][34] the responsibility for approving stop signs now lies with local authorities

I remember Tom Scott did a video about a really dangerous junction with one a few years ago. The road layout there has now been fixed so it's not needed.

I've never seen one in the wild though.