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A sorry horn for cars
(lemmy.world)
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this post was submitted on 28 Aug 2026
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Driving involves a lot of soft decisions. Any action can be risky, even a regular lane change. But we still do lane changes all the time. Ultimately it's up to us to judge.
Point is, I think there are cases where making a last minute lane change can be totally safe, eg if the cars in the other lane are already stopped.
What causes accidents are not the cars and conditions you see, but the ones you don't.
Humans aren't machines, they make mistakes. And cars have a lot more blind spots than we realize.
That's why we have rules. If we are predictable and follow the rules, even when we don't see anything that could stop us from taking a shortcut, then we're being considerably safer.
Keep in mind that, on the road, it's not just your own safety you need to ensure. An accident can also harm other people, so the more reason to prevent them.
You hit on another driving quote I love:
“Don’t be courteous, be predictable.”
But driving rules are not precise. For example, when doing a lane change, how much space should you have in the lane you are entering? It's entirely up to us to judge.
So obviously don't drive on the wrong side of the road whenever you feel like it, but if you for example want to squeeze into a lane of stopped cars (while your lane is also stopped), I don't see the issue
in my state the driver manual specially states to change lanes with enough space that you can see in your rear view mirror both headlights of the car your getting in front of
You need 2 seconds between every vehicle, and to be able to fully see the vehicle in front of you. When changing lane, you need to fully see the vehicle in your side mirror, center mirror if it's a truck.
Come on people, that's all in the paper exam for your licence.
I believe OP is talking about cutting into a line of stopped vehicles, which is not against the law, but also considered rude (if you had a chance to cut in earlier but you didn't)
It is all prescribed in the rules, they are precise. Even if they aren't precise, the judiciary decides what the rules mean, law has no ambiguity, and if there is, the ambiguity is resolved by a judge.
Judges disagree all the time and then it gets decided by the highest appellate court, potentially with a split vote.
The laws are not perfect by any means.
Cutting in line is not against the law though. It's just considered rude, which is why OP wants a "sorry" honk
if it was totally safe then there's nothing to apologize for
There are many things in life that are inconvenient to others without harming them
Not inconvenient to have someone safely and legally change lanes in front of you. They can get mad anyway because they're an asshole, but you don't need to apologize for an unreasonable person getting mad at you. "Im sorry you feel that way" i suppose is also correct in this case.