Driving Rule Question

hkrause wrote:Thanks, everybody for providing some clarification. Apparently at one time (at least) there was no going straight in the left lane if there was an arrow painted on the street. I don't remember seeing an arrow painted on the road... I might have missed it, it might have faded, or maybe been removed. Will check again next time I'm there.

Yeah, lots of people go straight there, but then again I frequently see people turn left on a red light in various places, which I'm pretty sure is wrong (and I don't plan to follow their lead). Honestly, I'm not trying to justify what I did if it's incorrect... it just seemed logical since the lane continues straight and I didn't see an indication not to.

CheenaGringo, thanks for the comments about this fellow's behavior. I'm a pretty reasonable sort and wouldn't have minded an explanation from him in a civil manner. In fact, I'm interested to learn about proper driving (insert laugh) and behavior here. But yeah, his attitude and approach was out of line.

Bob, he was gray (!) with a beard, medium build, dark SUV of some sort. I don't really care too much, don't want to start anything with him, and hope to never meet him again. I don't know if he was just having a bad day and decided to dump it on me, but hopefully he got it out of his system. Still a little shakey from having somebody come at me like that, though.

Heather

brigitte wrote:Sometimes people make mistakes, are not familiar with the rules or the customs so big deal you give them a break..Following someone screaming and ranting about something like that shows to me the other driver has a personal problem.

hound dog wrote:

brigitte wrote:A man did that to us one day but because we turned right at the light towards la Floresta. He hollowed us to our house about 2 km down the road and was threatening to beat up my husband..he was a Canadian ex cop from Toronto. I got rid off him by getting my huge mastino out of the house and threatening to let the go on him...Got to fight fire with fire.
You see all kinds of stuff going on on the road and it seems that some foreigners go nuts when they see other foreigners do what Mexicans do routinely.
Sometimes people are not sure of the rules and break them it is not a reason to go nuts. SOme people really need to relax..Road rage seems to bea NOB problem.

Just to eleborate on what my wife said above, this incident happened some ten years ago as we approached the traffic light at the libramiento and the carretera just east of La Floresta. On the carretrera at that intersection there is a right hand merge lane so traffic approaching the interesection can stop briefly on the libramiento before turning right on red and merging into the left lane as one approches La Floresta. We have been doing this for some 12 years now, have observed others doing this countless times and traffic coming from the east on the carratera has always allowed a civilized merger of traffic turning right on a red light from the llibramiento. This has never been a problem even though we have been doing this all that time except that one occasion with that ex Toronto cop in front of whose car we merged one day who then followed us home and threatened to give me a good thrashing as I had not only committed an illegal act but had had the temerity to merge in front of him thereby deeply affronting him. I retorted that he was retired, no longer in Toronto and that I had not solicited his opinion. He made some threatening gesture at which time my wife opened the gate to our garden and introduced him to Puppy, our somewhat edgy 150 pound Neopolitan Mastiff who rushed out to greet his daddy and that was one scary assed dog. Our new acquaintance from Toronto then had to hastily enter his vehicle and drive off, probably to his home to change his underwear. I, of course, nave never been in nor ever will go to Toronto so I learned nothing from the episode and have been turning right at the intersection and merging ever since for maybe ten years without so much as a hint of trouble from courteous drivers who have invariably let me in in a civillized manner. Perhaps driving in a big city such as Toronto over the years breeds incivility in drivers, I do not know but I drove in L.A. and San Francisco for years and stayed mellow. Maybe it is the lack of snow in those places or just the locations of those cities in California.

As for that incident that started thise thread, I think some drivers from the U.S. are fooled by the fact that the green light at the intersection is a general green light and not a green arrow pointing straight ahead as would be thw case normally in the U.S. where a general green light at an intersection like that would mean that one could go straight ahead or turn left in the absence of oncoming traffic. There should also be a large left turn arrow painted in that left lane indicating that that lane is for left turns only and then only on the left turn arrow, Once you get used to it, the intersection functions well. As for drivers driving straight ahead in the left lane at that intersection, it has been my experience that drivers driving straight ahead in the left lane at that intersection are almost always a local aggressive scofflaws such as those racing down the right lane heading east through La Floresta in that lane not intended as a driving lane passing other cars on the right in a mad race to get to Chapala as if that were a goal worthy of committing an illegal act and endangering everybody around the miscreant. Over the years I have become accustomed to this as should we all.

Those of you upset about the way people drive at Lakeside should drive around Chiapas or Oaxaca State a while where there are special rules for accomplishing your misssion and wild assed driving is the rule rather than the exception. Just remember when driving down here that any two lane highway with a paved shoulder is a four lane highway and you had better get your butt out of the way of drivers driving faster than you as they may very well run over you if you do not hug that shoulder.