PSA: it is 100% ok to miss your exit or turn when driving

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you in theory, of course. I do understand why people unfamiliar with driving in and around DC panic and do crazy maneuvers to make the exit, though. If you miss your exit on the GW Parkway near the Memorial Bridge, for example, you don't get a chance to turn around for quite some time. Driving on the Rock Creek Parkway can be similarly fraught. I don't know how you all navigated the tangled up roads by the Kennedy Center or the Memorial Drive/GW Parkway zig-zags without GPS.

+1000

The signage in this area is absolutely wretched and it is way too easy to not see the correct lane until the last minute, especially if the roads are unfamiliar.
As for KCen area--I'm not even sure GPS helps. You really just need to learn by doing or have a driving guru to show you. I used to choose to drive through Dupont Circle at off hours just so I could learn to navigate it.

I saw movie, The American President, before moving to DC. Had flashbacks to it the first time I drove through Dupont Circle.

The funny thing about that movie is that she says she was driving from the Hill to the White House, so why was she in Dupont Circle in the first place?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good reminder OP, agree! Sure there are exceptions, like PP pointed out, but really you are typically talking about 5-8 minutes of looping back around--not worth an accident or your safety (or that of others).

Nope, there really aren’t any exceptions. You missed the exit/turn, you take the next one. You don’t endanger everyone else.

+1

Jeez, folks... "Exceptions" to my estimate of only 5-8 minutes of "wasted time" for a missed exit, e.g. PP states there is greater distance between exits on GW Parkway. There is no exception the rule that you do not go backwards on the freeway!

Intelligent people with reasonable critical thinking skills knew what you meant, PP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you in theory, of course. I do understand why people unfamiliar with driving in and around DC panic and do crazy maneuvers to make the exit, though. If you miss your exit on the GW Parkway near the Memorial Bridge, for example, you don't get a chance to turn around for quite some time. Driving on the Rock Creek Parkway can be similarly fraught. I don't know how you all navigated the tangled up roads by the Kennedy Center or the Memorial Drive/GW Parkway zig-zags without GPS.

+1000

The signage in this area is absolutely wretched and it is way too easy to not see the correct lane until the last minute, especially if the roads are unfamiliar.
As for KCen area--I'm not even sure GPS helps. You really just need to learn by doing or have a driving guru to show you. I used to choose to drive through Dupont Circle at off hours just so I could learn to navigate it.

I saw movie, The American President, before moving to DC. Had flashbacks to it the first time I drove through Dupont Circle.

The funny thing about that movie is that she says she was driving from the Hill to the White House, so why was she in Dupont Circle in the first place?

NP. I have no problem with most traffic circles but avoided Dupont Circle for years. It's just insane and I will change my route to avoid having to drive through it.

One Sunday morning I was driving with my preschooler and we missed a turn, and I found myself having to drive through Dupont Circle. All I could think was "Oh God, it's happening! Here we go!" Fortunately, there was very little traffic that morning because I'm pretty sure I wasn't in the correct lane driving around the circle.

[Anonymous]

If you miss the turn, you take the next street or off ramp and correct it. You never back up on the off ramp, make an illegal U-turn against traffic or whatever other crazy things Maryland drivers tend to do.

[Anonymous]

I tell my new driver kids this all the time. It's one of the most dangerous driving mistakes I see on a regular basis.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good reminder OP, agree! Sure there are exceptions, like PP pointed out, but really you are typically talking about 5-8 minutes of looping back around--not worth an accident or your safety (or that of others).

Nope, there really aren’t any exceptions. You missed the exit/turn, you take the next one. You don’t endanger everyone else.

+1

+10000

There are no exceptions. Maybe if it were a zombie apocalypse and you were the only driver left alive anywhere, on all the roads everywhere.

Otherwise, you miss the exit/turn and take the next one, even if it's 15 miles down the road. Being late is MUCH better than getting into an awful accident that kills you or someone else.

I cannot understand how anyone believes otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A good reminder OP, agree! Sure there are exceptions, like PP pointed out, but really you are typically talking about 5-8 minutes of looping back around--not worth an accident or your safety (or that of others).

Nope, there really aren’t any exceptions. You missed the exit/turn, you take the next one. You don’t endanger everyone else.

+1

+10000

There are no exceptions. Maybe if it were a zombie apocalypse and you were the only driver left alive anywhere, on all the roads everywhere.

Otherwise, you miss the exit/turn and take the next one, even if it's 15 miles down the road. Being late is MUCH better than getting into an awful accident that kills you or someone else.

I cannot understand how anyone believes otherwise.

+10001
You NEVER go backwards on the freeway. No exceptions.

[Anonymous]

Yes!!!! I’m 38 and find myself saying “back when I learned how to drive, people were accountable for their own f-ups” Now every damn day I see someone who is unwilling to inconvenience themselves in the slightest due to their own error, and will back up 20 cars in the process. It’s maddening. I mess up all.the.time and just go make the next u turn and figure it out. I do not understand what is wrong with people.

That video where the semi rolls over is absolutely horrifying.

[Anonymous]

My teen driver accidentally wound up on the airport-only lanes on the Dulles Toll Road.

Yup, had to drive all the way to the airport, then turn around. She'll never make that mistake again, hahaha.

I think it was Rita Rudner who has the joke about the guy driver being mad about missing his turn: "Now we have to drive ALL THE WAY AROUND THE WORLD..."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:And this is my favorite 😬

Omg was this driver prosecuted?