A little 'up north' driving lesson

It's the start of another great summer weekend 'Up North'!  Based on my experience in the past week I thought it might be a good time for a beginner course on 'up north' driving.

#1 When the opposing lane of traffic is unoccupied and you are planning to make a left hand turn anyway just do everyone a favor, get out of our way by drifting your way over into that lane before making your turn.  It's pretty close to the law.

#2 Turn lanes are for {surprise!} TURNING!  These are not an extension of either the northbound or the southbound driving lanes.  You enter one when you are going to turn and you exit one when traffic in your destination lane has cleared.  Do not DRIVE all the way through town in the turn lane! And don't even act surprised or offended when you nearly collide with one of us, get mean looks AND learn new descriptive words.  It's your fault - not ours.  You are the dummy driving in a lane meant for turning - of course there will be obstacles!

#3 Garage sales are never a reason to a) slam on your brakes, b) flip a u turn in the middle of a busy highway or c) stop traffic.  I know, I know, I know, the people have the same exact stuff that you have hidden in your house out for display and they have cute little price tags that make you want to buy the same stuff over again.  Just don't.  Every sale - EVERY LAST ONE OF THEM - will have either a boat for sale or a wheelie suitcase.  Since you are visiting I will assume that 1) you already have a suitcase and 2) you don't live close enough to water to need a boat.  And how I pray that you are smart enough to remember all of the three wheeled boat trailers sitting along the side of I-75 to realize that hauling one up north every weekend IS NOT A GOOD IDEA.  For the safety of your passengers and those who do live here please, please, please! skip the road drama of the garage sale.  Here's a tip:  Come again next weekend, you can visit any of the resale shops and will find the leftovers of this weekend's garage sale.  They will even give you a bag!  Unless it's a suitcase to match the one already in your car that you need.  In that case pop into the Goodwill and you will have a choice of about fifty of them any day this weekend.

With the implementation of our laws along with most of the ones mandated by the state you will probably find your weekend 'up north' enjoyable.  If you fail to follow our laws please do not return home complaining about 'how rude' people are 'up north'.

It's kind of like immigration - you choose to come here, follow our rules!

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