The 10 Unspoken Rules Of Driving In Illinois Everyone Should Know
By Elizabeth Crozier|Published January 22, 2018
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Elizabeth Crozier
Author
An Illinois transplant who grew up and went to school in Indiana for 22 years, Elizabeth holds a BFA in creative writing and has enjoyed traveling across the country and parts of Europe. She has visited half of the states, as well as parts of Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean, and regularly travels home to the Hoosier State to see friends and family. With more than five years of writing experience, Elizabeth’s articles have been featured on several websites, and her poetry and short stories have been published in multiple literary journals.
Whether you’re new to Illinois or have lived here all your life, you’ve probably noticed that we live by some unique road rules. There’s the law, and then there’s the odd things you see Illinoisans doing almost every time you go out.
These 10 rules are best to keep in mind and not follow, though if you do them, no one will be surprised. Scroll on for more details.
Somehow this can be tricky for people. There are drivers who wait to turn on their turn signal until they've already got a tire in the next lane or are already making the turn.
Technically, bikes are supposed to follow the same road rules as drivers, but that hardly ever happens. Most don't stop at intersections and some even use their phones while riding.
Though not exclusive to Illinois, summer is especially a time when bikers think they can do whatever they want on the road. They weave between cars and even drive on shoulders to get ahead.
You're not going the speed limit in Illinois unless you're going at least five miles faster than listed. It's one of our many road rules to go as fast as possible before another red light or slow down in traffic.
Yellow is technically the sign for "slow down," but Illinoisans take it as a sign to speed through intersections in order to beat the red light. No one will judge you, though, because we've all been there.
No one in Illinois is going to let rain or snow stop them from driving where they need to drive. Be it the store, work, or to a friend's house, we'll go slow through poor conditions to get there.
Though this is technically illegal, road rules are different in Illinois. When it comes to this situation, you just have to hope the tractor turns soon or otherwise try to pass it without getting hit by oncoming traffic.
When stopped at a light, some cars creep forward, almost dangerously at times. You might assume they are trying to get ahead and will take off quickly once the light finally changes, but this doesn't always happen.
Part of the reason this happens is last-minute decisions. All of a sudden, someone realizes they need to turn, and so they do so with no regard to who might be around them.
