I thought I had the ‘rules of the road’ down pretty well as I coasted into my 60’s. Then I began to notice that perhaps I didn’t understand everything quite as well as I thought I did. So I began paying more attention to driving these days and have learned quite a bit from my observations, that I now want to pass on to my grand kids. No intent to make anyone “wrong” here, just my observations.
Yogi Berra once said, “You can observe a lot by watching.” So, about 4-5 years ago, I began watching…
For my first installment here, let me share with you what I’ve learned about Yield signs.
Yep, these pesky, annoying Yield signs…
I used to always wonder, when I had the ‘right-of-way’ by the law, whether someone coming the other way was going to actually yield or not. Now keep in mind, I began driving back in the ’60’s; you know, when folks actually followed the ‘rules of the road.’ Until I ‘broke the code,’ coming to a ‘yield’ these days always seems to be a ‘crap shoot.’ Then (by watching), I noticed that it is all a function of the age of the driver coming to the yield sign! It’s just this simple.
If the oncoming driver is over 60, there is a 97% chance that he or she will yield. Of course there’s always the driver coming at you who shouldn’t be driving anyway. Ya can’t get around this one – but more than likely, he or she is over 60, they will yield. (Unless you are in Florida.)
For folks between 30 and 60: Chance of yielding – 47%. These folks are more often than not, still working. And they tend to wait until the very last minute to leave anyway. In addition a lot of these people think the ‘world revolves around them,’ so why shouldn’t you yield? And they have figured out, if they don’t look, you probably will – and you’ll let them in…
Drivers less than 30: Watch out! These people either don’t care about the damn Yield sign, or are too stupid to know what it means! I yield for these folks, even though I have the “right of way.” It’s just easier…
And that, my friends, is all there is to it!
Morning Bob:
Let us not forget if one must stop at a Yield sign to give the right-of-way, one must be prepared to learn that the car in the mirror has a horn, the car’s driver has a middle finger and the same car probably has no brakes. Yield signs are designed for drivers who have common sense — a serious misconception.