Quote:
Originally Posted by coffeebean
The double yellow lines in the roadways are there for a reason. They define the space you have to keep your vehicle in the road.
I have seen, time and time again, folks crossing over the double yellow lines to give themselves more clearance from a golf cart which is well within their space in the golf cart lane. The roadway I travel most often within The Villages which has the double yellow lines is Odell Circle.
It surely isn't "snowbirds" who are guilty of this at this time of year. It is the full time residents who seem to have a big problem keeping in their space in the roadway. Is it a problem with spacial orientation? Is it a problem with depth perception? What exactly is the reason a driver seems to feel they must try to avoid a golf cart which is perfectly in their golf cart lane by crossing over the double yellow lines?
Do you recognize yourself or do you do this and not even realize you are doing this? One of these days, a car will enter the roadway in the opposite direction from a side street and a head on collision will occur. There is no reason to cross over the double yellow lines. There is plenty of room for four vehicles in these roads........one car and one golf cart in one direction and one car and one golf cart in the opposite direction. All four vehicles can be along side each other in the road and there is plenty of room for all four vehicles. I would, however, yield to a large service vehicle such as a fire truck. In that case, maybe four vehicles would not fit all in one line across the road.
Bottom line......please refrain from crossing the double yellow lines when driving alongside a golf cart which is well withing the golf cart lane. You will fit......I promise.
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A rare instance where I get to use my Harvard Medical School education. The reason I rarely use it might be because I didn’t finish.
Anyway, I can appreciate the OPs frustration. You know there is enough room to pass yet you pass wide. The problem might also be age related. As we age, our vision starts to experience problems. A person’s visual acuity can be normal (e.g. 20/20) but other visual factors can present, light sensitivity, glare, poor depth perception, poor side vision, and diminished color perception.
When you pass that GC you (OP) can see there is plenty of room. To a person with “aging eyes” the GC might appear closer than it really is. I say err on the side of safety. If you think you’re too close, pass wide. If it looks like crossing the double yellow will conflict with oncoming traffic, slow till you see a gap in oncoming traffic and pass. Do not pass a vehicle so close as to make you uncomfortable. The last thing we want is you looking down on a bleeding GC occupant saying, I thought I had enough room. As we say in the airlines, when in doubt, take a safety pause.