I notice this more when riding my bike then when driving. Probably because I am more aware of motor vehicles while riding as I'm more exposed to the danger of being hurt worse while riding then when in my motor vehicle. But either way, riding my bike or driving my Jeep, it happens way to often.

I'm speaking from the standpoint of the traffic laws in the U.S.A. & other countries where road users operate their vehicle on the right of the road with the drivers side on the left side of the motor vehicle.

When some drivers pull up to a stop sign at an intersection, regardless of if they are going through, or turning right or left, they look right first intead of looking left, then right, then left again.

Anyone remember when we were taught this when we were kids wanting to walk across the street?

Well the same is also applied when driving. I know I was taught this in drivers ed, how about you?

For some reason some motorists are not applying this while driving. Now far be it for me or anyone else to judge another persons driving habits but some of these drivers are risking themselves & others by not following good driving habits & adopting bad ones. Isn't it prudent for a motorist to look in the direction that another vehicle of the road, be it a car or a bicycle, is likely to make contact with them first? That side is from the left, or drivers side.

What often happens when motorists do this is they pull up to the stop, look to the right first, then as they are pulling out into the intersection they then look left. If they see a vehicle approaching from the left they sometimes stop, other times they don't. Haven't witnessed any accidents but I wouldn't doubt or be surprised if they've happened.

When motorists do this & it is another motor vehicle approaching from the left, depending on certain variables, more then one come can occur. Sometimes both vehicles are of equal size so both parties have an equal chance of being hurt or not. Other times one vehicle is larger & well you can guess the outcome of that accident. Of course another factor is who hits whom first. But as both motorists are in a steel & glass cage their chances of survival are greatly increased.

However if one of the road users is a cyclist & the motor vehicle stopped at the intersection does this the outcome is always bad for the cyclists, regardless of who hits whom first. And some motorists would probably use the excuse he or she could not see the cyclist until it was to late even though the cyclist is riding in a safe & legal manner.

The largest age group of the motorists I have seen this bad habit happen with is between 16 & 25. At least they appear to be really young people. There are other older adults I have seen do this but mostly the younger drivers. And it does not matter what area of my community people are in. I have seen it all over the place.

I never drive like this. Of course it was drilled into my head when I was a younger lad that always look left first, then right, then left again before crossing the street. Whether or not I was walking or riding my bike. Then when I took drivers ed. in school it was brought up again when pulling up to a stop & before proceeding through the intersection. It just goes to show that the good habits you are taught as a child do have an impact on you as an adult & can be good for you later in life.

At what point did parents stop teaching their kids this & at what point did drivers ed. instructors stop teaching this?

Anyone ever pay attention to a problem like this in your area?

This point is completely moot since you are not supposed to pass cars on the right => situation does not happen (i.e right hook for a cyclist). So technically you are supposed to look right, left then right again.

You're post is confusing, you say that the motorists do this

But this is equivalent to looking right, looking right, looking left, which makes no sense at all.

Then you say that they don't do this.... huh.

Right, left, right makes more sense than the reverse for the following reasons, assuming you are in a country that drives on the right. First, if you are turning to the right your head will now be facing the direction that you are turning toward. Second, the oncoming cars are moving at a roughly predictable speed, this goes for bicycles as well, so gauging a safe entry distance is easier. However, a pedestrian may be about to step off the curb in front of you on the right. The last thing you should do before proceeding is to check for that. Pedestrians may take advantage of the fact that you are stopped to move in front of you from the right side at that point.

The same holds true for a left turn but the importance is even greater because you now have to move across two lanes of traffic and watch for pedestrians.

Pedestrians perform the operation in reverse because the most immediate danger is coming from the left. In fact I nearly got hit in Nassau in the Bahamas because I did the left, right, left routine, only to find a truck had suddenly appeared between the look to the right and the final look to the left. Since I was now looking away from oncoming traffic I had to get pulled back by my wife. If I had done the reverse the truck would have been seen just prior to my committing to walk across the intersection.

Operator, in the United States we drive on the right hand side of the road. The motor vehicles that people drive here are manufactured with the driver side on the left side of the vehicle, this is if you are sitting in the car & looking out the windshield. Which means the driver side is closest to the center of the roadway when the vehicle is being driven. Isn't it the same in Canada?

Lets say there are 2 streets that intersect with one another. Street A which runs north & south & has a legal speed of 35 mph. Then there is Street 1 which runs east & west & has a legal speed of 25 mph with a 2 way stop where it intersects with Street A. This means that street A has the legal right of way where the 2 intersect & traffic on street 1 has to stop. When a vehicle pulls up to the stop sign on street 1 & stops the drive should be looking to the left first to see if it is safe, then to the right & to the left again before he or she pulls into the intersection. This is regardless if the vehicle on street 1 is going straight through the intersection, or turning north or south onto street A.

My point of this is a lot of motorists in my community do not do this. In fact they usually look right first as they are pulling out into the intersection. I have lost count of how many near misses I have had, how many times I have either yelled at, while riding my bike, or sounded my horn at while driving.

People are in to much of a damn hurry these days. How much of a differance can saving a few seconds, even though saving that little amount of time puts everyone at risk, make? Isn't it better to arrive to a destination maybe a little late, rather then really late or not at all?

Many times as a pedestrian, I've had to shout, scream, blow a whistle, clap my hands or even jump on the front-end of a vehicle that didn't look for me in the crosswalk when turning.

Carcentricity.

Why are you wasting server space with this crap?

Why do you care? Don't like my posts or me, don't open them, read or respond to them. No one made you do so. So what do you care?

I live in a rural area but when I have to stop for a red light, I don't ride along the right side of cars stopped at the light, I take my place in line with the cars taking the lane. Sneaking up those few spots to get at the light will save you almost zero time and will prevent motorist from having to pass you a second time, third time etc. It is safer for both us bicyclist and for the cars.

That also prevents 100% of a car turning into you when they turn right.

Rofl, ok I see now. Never encountered that here yet. That or I haven't noticed what the driver is doing in his car.

The reason you look left first is because when you pull into the intersection you will be crossing the path of traffic coming from the left first. In other words you might be drilled from that direction first. Then you look to the right to make sure that is clear then you look to the left again just to make sure some a-hole driving too fast doesn't come barreling through while you were looking right.

That is why you look left then right and left again.

You're only as fast as your slowest rider.

I've been riding a bike in a funny locale (US Virgin Islands) where the traffic is on the left ride of the road, like the U.K., etc. I've discovered entirely by accident that I'm a left-right-left type guy on the bike and I'm sure in the car too since I drive both essentially the same way. Having had a few funny moments from left-right-left down here, my experience is that it is indeed correct (meaning safer) to look left-right-left when you drive on the right, and to look right-left-right when you drive on the left. A note to all the vehicle operators out there: do your left-right-left or right-left-right depending on locale, then look where you're about to go, then go. DO NOT look left, look right, look left and then turn to the right, look left, then right, then left, then right, then go right---look in the direction you're about to go immediately before going. This does mean you have to turn your head twice while turning right. Deal with it.

Around here drivers don't look left, right, left as they should. They just see the intersection and plow through. If they're turning they don't signal ~95% of the time. I hate that. Even when I have the right of way, I have to wait for them to go just so I'm not in an accident with one of these jerks. :fight:

In which hand are they holding their cell phone? :rolleyes:

I don't see how it matters as long as you look all ways before proceeding.

The important thing is that they do look and register what they see.
The LRL or RLR order doesn't really matter at all! If anything, people should use both, depending on the circumstances.
If you have a clear view to your right for half a mile, but a tall hedge obstructing your view to the left, then just RL would do, with 90% of the mental focus to the left.
A good driver doesn't rely on habits, good or bad. A good driver adapts his behaviour to every single situation.

From Florida State Uniform Traffic Control Laws (Chapter 316) (so may be moot where you're at).
BTW this same law considers a cyclist operating a bike on a road(way) as a driver of
a vehicle (just like a motor vehicle driver) with additional "special" rules:

316.084 When overtaking on the right is permitted.--

(1) The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass on the right of another vehicle only under the following conditions:
(a) When the vehicle overtaken is making or about to make a left turn;
(b) Upon a street or highway with unobstructed pavement not occupied by parked vehicles of sufficient width for two or more lines of moving traffic in each direction;
(c) Upon a one-way street, or upon any roadway on which traffic is restricted to one direction of movement, where the roadway is free from obstructions and of sufficient width for two or more lines of moving vehicles.
(2) The driver of a vehicle may overtake and pass another vehicle on the right only under conditions permitting such movement in safety. In no event shall such movement be made by driving off the pavement or main-traveled portion of the roadway.
(3) A violation of this section is a noncriminal traffic infraction, punishable as a moving violation as provided in chapter 318.

History.--s. 1, ch. 71-135; s. 108, ch. 99-248.