Left turn yield on green
Virginia drivers are not particularly bad, but there is one thing I've noticed that drives me just nuts: they seem to refuse to make a left turn on a green light (no green arrow), even when there is no opposing traffic; even when there is a sign above the light that says "Left turn yield on green." What's with that?
I learned to drive in L.A. In L.A. you creep out into the intersection in the left hand turn lane, until your car is completely in the intersection. If there is no opposing traffic, you make your turn. If there is traffic, you wait until the light changes and the traffic stops and then make your turn. In parts of New York, some people will make the left turn as soon as the light turns green, jumping ahead of the opposing traffic. (In New Jersey, there's no such thing as a left turn.)
But in Virginia, the cars don't creep into the intersection, they make no effort at turning when the traffic is clear. They just sit there until they have a green arrow. I suppose there is a certain safety in this, but it is almost like they don't understand the sign that's sitting right in front of them. It's not really a big deal one way or the other, but it's one thing about Virginia drivers that I've found to be generally consistent and generally annoying.
