To yield or not to yield?
(One in a series of editorials about America's car culture.)
THE AUTHOR Tracy Kidder once called Boston's drivers ''famously deranged." But we like to think they're just misinformed. Common roadside confusions probably are responsible for a good percentage of the average 140,000 car crashes in Massachusetts every year.
It's been a long time since driver's ed. Most of us could use a refresher course. In that spirit, we offer this primer on road rectitude, courtesy of the Governor's Highway Safety Bureau and the Registry of Motor Vehicles. It isn't an exhaustive look; we have just highlighted the most frequent flummoxers. And we won't ask you to parallel park.
Yield to drivers already in the rotary. Yes, New England's traffic circles were designed by vengeful engineers who didn't get enough turns on the carousel as kids. But all the fancy advice you've heard about who has the right of way -- the driver on the right (no) or anyone on the early side of 6 o' clock (ditto) -- should be jettisoned in favor of this simple rule. As you approach a rotary, let whoever is already in it go ahead of you and wait for an opening.
Stay right except to pass. It's dangerous to pass on the right, where slow-moving trucks and blind spots can be found. If you are in the left lane and someone wants to pass you, move over. If you find yourself being passed on the left, don't speed up; the person passing should be able to move back over to the travel lane. Lane violations accounted for 33,470 traffic citations in 2004.
Yield to anyone already stopped at a four-way stop. The four-way stop sign is often cause for paralysis. Drivers sit in suspended animation, silently saying ''After you, Alfonse," or something ruder. The rule is: Yield to the driver who arrives at the intersection first. If two cars arrive at the same moment, yield to the driver on the right.
Stop for school buses. Many drivers think this rule doesn't apply if approaching the bus from the opposite direction, but it does. Stop for a school bus disembarking passengers even if you are facing it.
Remove the snow from the roof your car. This is less a matter of law than courtesy. Hurtling along at 60 miles per hour is not the best way to save yourself the trouble of brushing off the snow; it could land on a fellow driver's windshield or in his path, an obvious hazard.
A note for bipeds: Walkers should stick to the shoulder and walk facing traffic. Bikers should ride with the traffic.
A little eye contact. This is actually in the official state driver's manual: ''Confusion can develop [at intersections]. You should try to make eye contact with the drivers of other vehicles to better judge their intentions and avoid accidents."
For Boston's notoriously oblivious drivers, this could be the most useful advice of all. 