(not my image. I just find these comical and incredibly dangerous)

  • blackbrook@lemmy.ml
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    17 hours ago

    It’s not illegal or unreasonable to use a bit of someone else’s lane when you can do so without getting unsafely close to them. For example, if you are in the right lane and there is someone changing a tire on the shoulder and you want to give them some space. These are not going to be easy to see from certain perspectives, and are kind of asking for someone to misjudge their car width.

    • Bane_Killgrind@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 minutes ago

      illegal or unreasonable to use a bit of someone else’s lane

      Yes it is? There are specific rules for passing cyclists and who has the right of way? If you are drifting out of your lane and/or without specific markings for a wide vehicle you are liable for collisions?

    • rumba@lemmy.zip
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      6 hours ago

      The big trucks have 2 ft to play with. They max out at 9 ft wide in an 11ft lane. and if they wander into the next lane incorrectly, they’re responsible for 53 ft and are far more likely to kill someone.

      Ode to local statutes, in most states (all the ones I checked) it is absolutely illegal to operate in other people’s lanes.

      Statute: California Vehicle Code (CVC) § 21658(a)

      Statute: Virginia Code § 46.2-804

      Maryland Transportation Article § 21-309

      Look, I don’t love the wheel grinders, but what you wrote is not factual

      • blackbrook@lemmy.ml
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        2 hours ago

        Ok you got me, I don’t know the vehicle codes of every state, nor am I an expert on them in any state. But I can tell you that people drifting into other lanes on occasion is a thing that happens, usually without it being a big deal. Sometimes by mistake though I gave you a scenario where it is arguably reasonable. I don’t dispute that it can also be dangerous, especially with big trucks.

        While of course the lanes are there for a reason and should not be ignored, the relative positions of cars is the more important thing and our visual sense of where other vehicles is a thing we generally take in from the vehicle body and the expected consistent shape of them. And it is what we intuitively use when having to make sudden maneuver. Making your car have an unexpected shape and width below the body is asking for trouble.