Flashes of Panic

Since moving to Medford from the western end of the state, I’ve noticed a particular driving annoyance that I can’t make any sense of.

If you’re making a left turn from a side street (stop sign) onto a main road (no stop sign), do you:

1. Wait patiently behind the stop sign for an opening.
2. Stop at the sign, then creep up a bit so you can see better, and zip out at the first hint of an opening.
3. Brake for the sign, then creep out into the main street until oncoming traffic from the left is unable to get by you. Once you’ve blocked them, either repeat the maneuver to get an opening from the right, or wait for an opening.

The driver’s manual, of course, calls for 1. Local traffic density combined with the tendency of parked cars to block the view to either side often means that 1 is impossible, and 2 must be employed. But a startlingly large number of drivers in Medford employ strategy 3, which seems to be only a half-step away from saying, “Traffic laws don’t apply to me.” (And, of course, many drivers around here have clearly taken that half step as well.)

What I can’t figure out is whether it’s just a Medford thing, or if it’s regional. Certainly if you did that where I learned to drive, you’d lose a fender or two, if you didn’t lose your license first.

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