An Open Letter To Yakima Drivers: Don't Be This Person

Many people think that you were smart enough to get a driver’s license, that you’re smart enough to be on the road driving. Then you go and do something like what was pictured above (and below).

Please don’t. If you can’t tell exactly what is going on in the photo, I’ll break it down for you.

The Yakima Drive To Work Interrupted By A Left Turner

I’m heading south on North 40th Avenue, approaching Summitview. I start to get into the far right lane and notice that traffic has come to a crawl. Cars in the left lane were moving, but the right lanes were stopped, causing a backup.

At first, I thought it was someone using the crosswalk and cars stopping for them (as you should) or perhaps a Semi needing to turn right onto Summitview but needing both lanes to make the wide turn.

Then I see what is actually happening.

tsm/Timmy!

The Reason For The 40th & Summitview Congestion in Yakima

A car had pulled out of the Walgreens parking lot and was doing their best to creep from lane to lane in order to get into the far left turn lane.

Not only was this a nuisance to other drivers, but it was also dangerous for them. The left lanes were going relatively fast when it was green; being around 5 pm, you had rush-hour traffic. As they were inching into each lane, it was very possible someone could have clipped them.

But they didn’t care; they just HAD to go left onto Summitview and attempt to cross 3 lanes of traffic in order to get to that turn lane.

Giphy.com

What the Bad Yakima Driver Should Have Done

There are a handful of ways that driver could have handled this, and before you ask why I feel I’m an expert, I was a medical courier for 13 years driving all around Washington, 6 hours a day in a car, so I’ve been on the road much more than the average driver.

There are 4 different ways to leave that particular parking lot (map below). The driver could have left (green arrow) on the most western Summitview exit and only had to cross 2 lanes of traffic (getting into the turn lane, if needed, to wait, not recommended, but better than what they did) to get to the desired path. They could have taken a right (orange arrow), driven a little, and turned around in a different parking lot. Or, exited towards the back (blue arrow) behind and to the east of Walgreens on Snowmountain Rd), made their way to Lincoln, and then went on their merry way.

Google Maps

Long story short, if you need to turn left and you’re leaving a parking lot that is that close to an intersection, don’t, risk a wreck because you are in a rush, because everyone else is in a rush, there's always another way to go, it might be a little out of the way, but you'll save a lot of potential frustration for you and other drivers.