Handy Traffic Abbreviations

Geary’s Handy Traffic Abbreviations

For Commonly Encountered Traffic Conditions

CKU                Can’t Keep Up                       In heavy traffic, drives in left lane much slower than the car ahead, inviting cars to pull in ahead of him and frustrating those behind him.

CMALT            Can’t Make A Left Turn        Doesn’t seem to know how gauge the traffic in order to turn left.

CMART           Can’t Make A Right Turn      Sits at a red light until it turns green before making a right turn, even though ample opportunities are available to make such a turn.

CPAB               Can’t Pass A Bus        This person, driving at or near the speed limit in the left lane, comes up behind a bus traveling in the lane to his right.  As he reaches the bus, he slows down to match the speed of the bus so that his front bumper matches the position of the back bumper of the bus, causing the drivers behind him to have to brake.  Slightly increasing his speed (by 1-2 MPH) he takes a long time to creep past; and then accelerates again once past the bus, often increasing his speed by 15 mph or more.

CPAC               Can’t Pass A Car        This person slows down to follow a slower car, never passing, but always blocking anyone else from being able to get around either one.

CPAT               Can’t Pass A Truck    Same as CPAB, only with a truck.  CPAT is more often encountered than is CPAB because there are more trucks on the road than there are buses.

ITWGTWS      If They Won’t Go, They Won’t Stop             Encountered most often in city driving.  This person drives well below the speed limit, seemingly unaware that the approaching light won’t stay green forever.  As the light turns yellow, he suddenly discovers that the light is no longer green, but he doesn’t stop, but continues through the light even though there is ample time to stop.

ITWSTWG      If They Won’t Stop, They Won’t Go             Same as ITWGTWS, only in reverse – often the same driver suffers from both habits.

LCWL              Lane Change Without Looking        See TUA.

LCWS              Lane Change Without Signaling

LCWLOS         Lane Change Without Looking Or Signaling

LG                    Lollygagger                Drives well below the speed limit, as if sightseeing.

LLL                  Left Lane Lover         Drives in the left lane only, often slowly, regardless of traffic.  Same as PILL and WGOOLL

LTFRL             Left Turn From Right Lane              A hazardous maneuver.

OTP                 On The Phone                       Pays attention to his phone instead of to his driving.

PILL                Parks in left lane (lays claim to the left lane and never leaves it); same as LLL and WGOOLL

POACAL          Pull Out And Cross All Lanes           Pulls out into the road, and immediately drives across all lanes to get into the left-most lane.

POAGS                        Pull Out And Go Slow            Pulls out into traffic, but never quite gets up to speed.

RARL               Run A Red Light        Ignores yellow lights and continues through an intersection even after the light has turned red.

RORWS           Right On Red Without Stopping      Ignores the law about stopping before turning right on red – often doesn’t even slow down before turning.

RTFLL             Right Turn From Left Lane              A hazardous maneuver.

SILL                 Slow In Left Lane      Driving in the left lane, but slower than the flow of traffic.  See CKU.

STD                 Slow To Decide          Takes a long time to decide what to do.

STTA               Slow To Take Action              Even after deciding what to do, takes a long time to actually do it.

TLACAL           Turn Left And Cross All Lanes         While making a left turn, drifts across all traffic lanes to end up in the right lane, creating a hazard for oncoming drivers who might want to turn right.

TRACAL          Turn Right And Cross All Lanes       While making a right turn, drifts across all traffic lanes to end up in the left lane, creating a hazard for oncoming drivers who might want to turn left.

TWD               Texting While Driving          A very dangerous habit.

TUA                 Totally Unaware        Pays no attention to events outside of own car.

TPOH              Trucks Passing On Hills        The often observed phenomenon that although big rigs slow down while climbing hills, this is where their contests of trying to pass each other are most likely to take place.  Truck speeds may be only 20-30 MPH, with delta speeds in the 0-2 MPH range for very long distances, and may clog other traffic for long periods.

WGOOTLL      Won’t Get Out Of The Left Lane      Same as LLL and PILL, but PILL is easier to pronounce.

To Be Corolla’d:  To be stuck behind a car that is in a CMALT, CPAT, ITWGTWS, ITWSTYG, LG, LLL, PILL, POAGS, STD, STTA, or TUA mode.  Named after the Toyota Corolla because so often the offender is driving a Corolla.  Not restricted to Corolla drivers, though.