Is this a fuckin Calgary thing?

[jay42w8]

So yesterday I got honked at again by someone that I apparently did not stop and let in because they had their turn signal on....this is just a normal 50km/hr street wtf?!?!? and I'm just driving fuckin along minding my own business...I have NEVER encountered this in Vancouver so I'm wondering if this is a small town/small city thing where drivers actually keep an eye out on the car beside them and if they see the blinker go on stop/slow down and let them in?!??! wtf is this? I mean I know Calgarians are friendly and everything but come on....seriously?

Where I come from, if you want to get into a damn lane, u put ur blinker on, adjust ur fucking speed, and go in when there's an opportunity....apparently here its the other way around?

[e36bmw///]

nm

[lianli]

That has yet to happen to me... Were there other cars around or was it just you and the other car?

[max_boost]

Went driving in L/A and quickly learned that you have to be very aggressive to drive there. Signal, small space, quickly go. If you hesitate, the gap is gone. I do that here, people get pretty upset about it (even though it's normal big City driving). I can tell so I give them a wave as a kind gesture and they are still pissed! haha

Some drivers are complete idiots. I see their signal so I let them in but they don't move over! I think here they expect you to open a space wide enough that you can fit 3-4 cars in and they then proceed to take their sweet time in changing lanes.

[Rocky]

haha Well if all else fails, just give a wave. It placates most. I think people should do it more often, it would lead to a lot less road rage :P

[jay42w8]

Oh I am by no means a road rager type of person, I just ignored the honks...but I'm just wondering that's all, should I adjust my driving?..since I moved here, I have learned to be more courteous and friendly than back in Vancouver cuz that's the way things are here...I'm just wondering, am I doing something wrong here?

Actually the first time it happened, I knew this lady in the minivan was gonna change lanes so she could make the left hand turn at the next street, I slowed down for her! but apparently not enough, as she didn't go, so what do I do, I speed up to get out of her way and pass so she can make her lane changed, what does she do? she fuckin honks at me???

Btw, both incidents were in SW, 17th ave, MRC area.

I guess I should be greatful I never have to go the NE and deal with the crazy FOB drivers.

[randedge]

I've had that happen to me yes.

Some white lady in a older boxy mid 80's American Sedan, probably a Pontiac 6000 was merging onto my lane.

It was in Glenmore, heading eastbound. She was coming out of the Glendeer plaza - the one by A&W - and merging in.

We were side by side for a while and it was clear that one of us would either have to brake or accelerate, otherwise she'd run out of merge lane.

Well, it wasn't going to be fucking me! For starters, I'm the one on the main route and there wasn't any traffic. She could slow down or accelerate and there'd be room.

Number Two: I was driving a fully laden 12 ton Dump Truck. Whichever one of us could change speed (by either accelerating or decelerating) much more easily it definitely wouldn't have been myself in the dump truck.

[Jlude]

Originally posted by max_boost
Went driving in L/A and quickly learned that you have to be very aggressive to drive there. Signal, small space, quickly go. If you hesitate, the gap is gone. I do that here, people get pretty upset about it (even though it's normal big City driving). I can tell so I give them a wave as a kind gesture and they are still pissed! haha

Happens to me every single day...

[lianli]

Originally posted by randedge
...We were side by side for a while and it was clear that one of us would either have to brake or accelerate, otherwise she'd run out of merge lane...

Hey, at least from the sounds of it, she was merging at a proper speed. I hate following drivers going 60 onto deerfoot or wherever and running out of merge lane.

[pf0sh0]

Whenever people honk at me for stupid shit, I honk back.

[jahobo]

i think its more with perception, here everything is a bit bigger like the lanes on the road, so ppl get all messed around. so when changing lanes they need more space to do it as, if it was just a small space or even an average space they think the vehicles are too close to one another.

i have a friend he just has bad depth perception, hell any perception. he will not turn left when cars are far away cause he thinks their too close.

guess drivers here expect everything bigger, even room to change lanes, and doesnt help that most plenty of drivers have their license cause of payoffs and bribes.

[ZZT23]

Originally posted by max_boost
Went driving in L/A and quickly learned that you have to be very aggressive to drive there. Signal, small space, quickly go. If you hesitate, the gap is gone. I do that here, people get pretty upset about it (even though it's normal big City driving). I can tell so I give them a wave as a kind gesture and they are still pissed! haha

Some drivers are complete idiots. I see their signal so I let them in but they don't move over! I think here they expect you to open a space wide enough that you can fit 3-4 cars in and they then proceed to take their sweet time in changing lanes.

If I don't leave them 5+ car lengths before cutting in ahead they get all ape shit and start to tailgate me. Happens 80% of the time. Over time I learned to leave a lot of space behind me before switching lanes but this is just putting me in a bad spot since then I would be too close to the cars ahead.

People just need to hold off their road rage whenever someone changes lane in front of them.

[phrozen]

Originally posted by jay42w8
so I'm wondering if this is a small town/small city thing

last i checked, Calgary was pretty damn big and one of the
fastest growing cities in Canada.

[Sharpie]

Originally posted by randedge
I've had that happen to me yes.

Some white lady in a older boxy mid 80's American Sedan, probably a Pontiac 6000 was merging onto my lane.

It was in Glenmore, heading eastbound. She was coming out of the Glendeer plaza - the one by A&W - and merging in.

We were side by side for a while and it was clear that one of us would either have to brake or accelerate, otherwise she'd run out of merge lane.

Well, it wasn't going to be fucking me! For starters, I'm the one on the main route and there wasn't any traffic. She could slow down or accelerate and there'd be room.

Number Two: I was driving a fully laden 12 ton Dump Truck. Whichever one of us could change speed (by either accelerating or decelerating) much more easily it definitely wouldn't have been myself in the dump truck.

If I read that correctly then you are in the wrong, you are supposed to move over when coming up to a merge lane so people can get in..

[TegLover]

if people changed lanes less often, meaning be in the right lane to begin with then traffic would move much more smoothly but apparently that concept isn't familiar with most. Stop fucking changing lanes for no reason r towards little importance!

[bennyhanna]

Happens all the time

People in Calgary have No fucking clue what a

"merge" lane is....

They also have no concept of what a

"Yield" sign is..

I'm from Vancouver, and have been in Calgary for 4 years, it still amazes me that 90 % of the people driving are worse than drivers in Richmond

[ExtraSlow]

It's all about what you are used to. Trust me, when a Calgary driver goes to Vancouver, we bitch and complain about how "bad" the driver are there.

Every city has a slightly different driving culture, and that takes some time getting used to.

Calgary does have a bit of a small town driving attitude. Probably relating to our Urban Sprawl and junky transit. Senior citizens and timid housewives who would never dream of driving in LA or Vancouver drive every day here because they have little choice. I'm convinced they are the cause of most of the Merge/Yield problems.

[Chris Ng]

It's actually not the "True" calgarians at fault (by true, I mean people who have lived here all their lives or people who have been here for more than the past 15 years) ... It's all the people who have moved here from other parts of the country and brought along their asinine driving habits with them that has caused the problems on the streets..
If you are driving in a lane that another lane is going to merge into.. such as the example about glenmore... and you spot a car going to merge.. do yourself and the other driver alot of aggrivation. make room for them to merge, or switch into the other lane to allow them in... it's common courtesy...

[mugen6]

Ever since ppl started moving in to calgary, the way of driving has changed. ppl used to wave when you give them way to your lane, ppl used to signal. ppl actually knew how to drive, not by just buying there license off.

[Mr_ET]

Originally posted by jay42w8
So yesterday I got honked at again by someone that I apparently did not stop and let in because they had their turn signal on....this is just a normal 50km/hr street wtf?!?!? and I'm just driving fuckin along minding my own business...I have NEVER encountered this in Vancouver so I'm wondering if this is a small town/small city thing where drivers actually keep an eye out on the car beside them and if they see the blinker go on stop/slow down and let them in?!??! wtf is this? I mean I know Calgarians are friendly and everything but come on....seriously?

Where I come from, if you want to get into a damn lane, u put ur blinker on, adjust ur fucking speed, and go in when there's an opportunity....apparently here its the other way around?

I usually never agree with anything you say but I feel your pain here.

I'm from Montreal so this nonsense waving and people taking forever to change lanes or merge makes no sense to me.

In Montreal they would all get killed...

No matter what you do or how you try to change, people here will still suck at merging so I have decided to not change my driving style and wait for them to hopefully "get it" someday.