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Comment by Okkef | Hacker News Reader

Have you considered taking some driving lessons to become more assertive in traffic? You don't need to feel this way for a left-hand turn.

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You do, and you should feel that way for a left turn.

This is a behavior we normalize in a driving society. Being assertive as you turn left does nothing to reduce the impact of another car hitting you at 45 miles an hour (or even faster in more rural places).

>A study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NHTSA) shows that turning left is one of the primary causes of automobile collisions. 61 percent of crashes that occur while turning or crossing an intersection involve left turns, as opposed to just 3.1 percent that involve right turns.

>https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/innovations/wp/2014/04/0...

There's a line to be walked between his decently extreme opinion and your decently extreme opinion on left turns (yes, I know this is a potential middle ground fallacy). No you shouldn't barrel on into them but they're not as dangerous as your comment implies. As like most things driving as long as you have decent situational awareness they're fine.

Sadly no one is perfect, building roads that allow misstakes to safely be made is vital. See the road design vision of zero fatality. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vision_Zero

I just get some social anxiety when people back up behind me, or anytime I feel like my driving is "imposing" on others. I know it's somewhat irrational. But I doubt a driving lesson would help with my more general problem of social anxiety.

Anyway, I'd rather be this type of driver than an overly dense person who doesn't mind backing up traffic. The type of people that will go sideways blocking four lanes coming out of a gas station to get to the turn lane...

I learned to drive in a "defensive" manner. Yes, sometimes non-action can be more dangerous in a specific situation; but feeling bad about backing up traffic doesn't make me a bad driver. Just an socially anxious one.

I agree though, in the original comment, I probably made it sound worse than it actually is for me. I just wish google maps had this option. I would find driving more pleasant.

Edit: I made some edits, to clear up my response

How long have you been driving? That feeling should go away with some time.

almost 20 years... so yeah I dont think it's going away. Being anxious about backing up traffic or the other things I described isn't that abnormal I don't think?

When Ive been a passenger, Ive seen most other drivers feel this way--whether they say it or not, you can see on their face they are feeling anxious.

Yes, we do exist but for someone that does not have a special problem can't see the problem. Many also have a problem with empathy, just can't think how that ever would be a problem.

I definitely relate to the anxiety, but like I said, I've learned over time to control it. Much like stage fright (which I definitely have), I guess it's a situation where you can learn to operate. They are similar in that, other participants want you to succeed and are not judging you as much as you judge yourself. I think what I have learned is that, the less I judge others (on stage, or on the road) and the more empathetic and understanding I am, the less I am worried about others judging me.

I dont think it's necessarily a bad thing

Yeah, "don't inconvenience anyone else" is a pretty good as far as simple driving strategies go.

Agreed. It's a close cousin of my personal #1 driving safety strategy: "don't do anything surprising."

Everyone on the road is inconveniencing everyone else all the time. I prefer the strategy of accepting it, rather than letting it bother me. I also don't judge others for inconveniencing me. We're all just trying to get to point B at the end of the day.

I understand your point. I live right behind a three lane road that has left turn onto a street next to my house. You end up turning left across four lanes of traffic and you can’t always see the far lane. The far lane may not back up due to becoming a turn lane and cars are going faster thanks overall traffic. The city disallows left turns from 3-7pm, but I don’t make that turn if there is a modicum of traffic at any point in time. There is at least one accident a week there as people try to make that turn. Anytime traffic is red, it would be better for nav apps to reroute to safer turns.

http://theconversation.com/why-ups-drivers-dont-turn-left-an... (Why UPS drivers don’t turn left and you probably shouldn’t either)

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