You are most considerate, O.J. Unfortunately, most drivers do not think about other people on the road, just themselves.
Another thing that bugs me is when a red light turns green and the first car sits there and takes a long time to go or goes thru the light ever so slowly so only one or two cars get through. They simple aren't thinking about fellow drivers.

I think your motive is good but you'd probably provide a safer situation by just staying in your lane. Another driver in any of the three lanes, including one you don't necessarily notice, may see the open spot as an opportunity to make the yellow light or be first in that lane. Such an erratic lane change on your part might cut them off and cause an accident.

Better that you stay where you are, no one should be in such a hurry that you need to make such a potentially dangerous maneuver.

I wouldn't move from one lane to the other as O.J., once I had stopped, but as I'm approaching if the person behind me is signaling right turn, I'll select the middle lane. If I'm stopped at the front of the right lane, and if there is room, I will pull far to the left of the lane and pull forward enough so that a driver can pass and turn right on red it they have an opportunity.

There is one intersection I use all the time where there is no straight, just left or right. The road widens out from one lane to two about 500 feet before the intersection. I usually want to go right, but since most of the traffic turns left, both lanes are marked as left turn lanes. What infuriates me is almost every single time the drivers in front of me will change lanes to the right one as they approach the intersection, even though they are planning to turn left, even if when there is no one in the left lane.

I think it can be dangerous to switch lanes right before or after an intersection. I know I personally am focusing more on what the cars in front or behind me are doing when a light turns yellow then what someone next to me is doing. When I hit the threshold where I can either go through the yellow or stop, my decision depends on what the person in front of me is doing, and how fast/close the person behind me is. You only have a split second to decide, so if someone in the next lane decided they were stopping, while I had decided I was going, and they suddenly came into my lane at a stop, I would probably hit them at a fairly high speed and be at fault.

I'm also one of those people who will sit at a green light for a few seconds to make sure everyone stops. I'm still haunted by a video I accidentally watched a few weeks ago where a semi ran a red light in South Africa and killed 22 people who had done nothing wrong except go immediately when it was green. Those in the second row or who hesitated a few seconds were spared.

I can't tell you how many times I've seen people fly through the intersection, running the red while I have the green. Maybe it's selfish to wait a few seconds but I'm okay with that considering how many people think red lights are just suggestions!

I'm really not talking about seconds, chi 83. I agree with you. I don't trust anyone. Even if they have a turn signal on, if they are barreling down the street, I make sure they are going to slow down and really make that turn. I'm talking about the driver who sits there long after traffic has stopped in all directions and when they finally make their turn, go through so slowly that barely anyone else can get through the light, and like O.J. if there is no right hand turn lane, I anticipate ahead of time and if coast is clear and it is possible, I move to the left hand land so as not to block the right hand lane. The same as driving on a major interstate and people are trying to feed into it. If traffic is clear and you can move to the left hand lane allowing a car to feed in more comfortable, I move over. We are both talking about making decisions ahead of time anticipating the flow of traffic, not doing something dangerous.

Maybe things are different in Canada...
but there are solid white lines at my intersections - not dotted lines - which indicate that you are to stay in your lane.

Switching that close to an intersection and where those lines are would be wrong.

I think it might confuse the drivers behind you.

It's very situational. I try to drive considerately, which includes being aware of other drivers around me, the surrounding roadways, and not blocking someone's 'right turn on red' *if* I can do so safely. Alot depends upon the amount of traffic on the road at the time. Sometimes it's just not practical, so we all sit and wait our turn. But if I can move over and help a fellow-driver, that's good.

I think that seldom if ever does one find solid white lines near intersections, in this area.

I usually make the shift a way back from the intersection, and watch traffic carefully, don't do it if there's much traffic.

Like in an easy chair ... a cushion helps with the relaxation, and I like a cushion of air around my car on the highway/streets.

ole joyful ... had a longer reply ready to go ... and missed a warning for an extension of time ... so got kicked off and the message disappeared into thin air

"I think that seldom if ever does one find solid white lines near intersections, in this area."

If I understand correctly, what you describe as "in this area" is in fact in Canada, while the majority of readers of this forum seem to live in the US. The solid white lines (no lane changing) before an intersection are common in my US area too. Maybe that's why others identified this as another reason why your suggestion was perhaps not a good one. Good to see that egocentrism isn't restricted to Americans.

Ed, I do similar all the time. When I am on my bicycle, and see, several cars behind me, I pull over and let them pass. :)

Moni

I've never heard of switching lanes before an intersection. I guess I'm in the camp that thinks it would be less safe to do that.