Rules of the Road (or Lack Thereof)

During my commute home from work today, I decided my blog about driving in Boston was long overdue. I seems that, by tagging your car with a Massachusetts license plate, you also become a part of an elite club of people who think they own the road. You come to notice after driving here three things: #1- Bostonians love to honk their horns; #2-No one (and everyone) has the right of way; and #3-Avoiding pedestrians is like a really dangerous game of Frogger. All I can say is thank goodness for brakes (and insurance!). Let me paint a little picture of my aforementioned points. A courtesy honk from the guy behind you letting you know the light is green is one thing. A completely acceptable use of the car horn, in my opinion. Up here it's a little different. In order to not get honked at you must go before the light even turns green. Or, for instance, if making a left turn without a green arrow, you probably will get honked at. If you're turning left (a completely legal and common driving procedure) and waiting for a break in the oncoming traffic in order to make your move safely, you have now become an hindrance and a bother to the driver behind you. They will express their frustration at you with a honk, and then they will promptly demonstrate how completely unnecessary the said honk was as they easily go around you and continue on their way. This leads me into driving lesson #2; no one, and consequently everyone, has the right of way. For example, if I did have a Massachusetts license plate, I would know that, in the aforementioned situation, I could have in fact turned left into the oncoming traffic. Yes, going straight on green technically has the right-of-way over turning left on green coming from the opposite direction, but if I somehow snuck in there they would have no choice but to stop for me. Example two- I was always taught that you don't have to stop when turning right on green. Here, you do. Because if you don't, the driver coming from the opposite way turning left on green will likely run right into you. There are no rules of alternation for merging on the highway, either. Whoever can go the fastest, wins! If you can nudge the nose of your car there, the spot is yours. Also, I don't think the memo about the illegality of blocking intersections ever made it this far east. Basically if you need to make a move in your vehicle, you make it. Do not fear other drivers. The are inferior to you. They will yield to you. As long as you are in your car, you are the rules are yours to make. However, if you are not encased by a 15,000 pound mass of steel-and-wheels you are now a very vulnerable subject in the driving through Boston equation, which brings me to my third and final (for today) driving lesson. There are many "Yield to Pedestrian" street signs and adjoining crosswalks throughout the city, but as you can probably guess by this point, these are just another thing for Boston drivers to not stop at. And if a pedestrian (heaven forbid) tries to cross in one of these crosswalks while a driver is anywhere near, they will get honked at and practically ran over. And, needless to say, they will still remain on the initial side of the cross walk. The said pedestrian must wait until a break in traffic and sprint across the street faster than Usain Bolt running for the Gold. In fact the only time a pedestrian can cross the street is when they take on the mind of a driver. The pedestrian must only cross in do not cross zones. They must cross at the solid red hand instead of the white walking man. They must find the most treacherous, crowded part of the road they want to cross and jaywalk across it. The car will yield to them. If my rant on Boston driving has gotten you lost, just imagine the most nerve-racking, dangerous, chaotic mess of automobiles and honking horns and you'll be in my shoes. But, lucky for me, my nanny job (for an adorable four-month old) ended up being too far to commute each day, so my driving days are almost behind me. Hopefully, I'll find a new job closer to the city, so I'll have a whole new slew of adventures in taking the public transit. But until then, happy driving and think before you honk. CIAO