The East Coast vs The West Coast – Part 1
I hope you had a Happy and fun filled Thanksgiving !!
Thanksgiving is usually a time for families to get together, have a good time, catch-up, and reminisce.
This year, we drove 7+ hours to see family, and 7+ hours back to get home. All the driving reminded me of one of the many differences between the east coast and the west coast.
Very simply put, here is the difference:
East Coast Driver
- You decide you want to make a lane change.
- You put on your blinker to indicate you want to make a lane change.
- Turn your head and make sure the coast is clear.
- Change lanes.
That sounds simple and straight forward enough. Doesn’t it?
But here is the west coast (California driver) version. The difference is subtle and it took me years to learn. I couldn’t understand why my passengers were yelling at me until I figured this out.
West Coast Driver
- You want to make a lane change.
- Turn your head and make sure the coast is clear.
- Initiate the lane change.
- Put on your blinker.
- Complete the lane change.
You see, the blinker has completely different meanings on each coast:
East drivers use the blinker to indicate they want to make a lane change. Please leave a space for me and let me in.
California drivers use the blinker to indicate the lane change you are making is intentional. If you put the blinker on too soon, it indicates that you want to make lane change, so the other drivers will speed up quickly to get in front of you.
The reason my passengers would get upset, was because they thought I was already in the process of making the lane change, not that I was still going to check that it was clear before proceeding.
Subtle changes can mean big meaning differences.