Greater City ProvidenceSubmitted by a reader:
The classic move performed by many residents of the small state. Its a small state with a lot of ocean, but there is plenty of room for reckless merging.
Videos by Jon Clark & Christina Mealy.
5 comments
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Jef Nickerson
That crap makes me so crazy! Rhode Islanders a simultaneously the most selfish and generous drivers….it makes me crazy when a driver will stop to let a driver pull out of the side street, especially before they are going to turn on the side street. Drivers: if you’re in moving traffic, you have the right of way over those stopped on side streets.
Yes it’s annoying, but this behavior is by no means confined to Rhode Island. When I was in college, we called it the ‘Pittsburgh left’. When I lived in VA, we called it the ‘Herndon left’. Most people I’ve heard complain about it since we moved here call it the ‘Cranston left’, probably because Reservoir Ave is so hard to turn on to.
John, I wonder if it is a product of tighter, older cities. I’ve lived in Florida, North Carolina, and Western Mass…places that are all more “suburban” (or ex-urban) and less dense, and there wasn’t a Florida Left or a North Carolina Nosedive.
Frequently, visibility is a huge problem from side streets….there’s a reason why you’re not suppose to park within 12′ of the curb. Doesn’t anyone watch CITY LIFE with Judge Caprio?
Actually, I believe it’s more like 20-30′ from the corner, but they don’t enforce it equally around the city (take Federal Hill for example).
As for what I have heard referred to as the “Rhode Island Slide”, it’s often necessary because of lack of visibility. Heck, I have to pull that move when I walk across Smith Street and cars still drive around me even though I’m halfway into one of the driving lanes.
I don’t mind when cars turning onto a side street stop to let the guy turning out of it go. I do it myself. It’s called being polite. I have a right to make a stop before I turn. It’s not illegal. It’s not dangerous unless the guy behind me isn’t paying attention or is following too close. If more people drove politely, fewer people who have to do the “nose dive” or “slide” to get out of the side street.