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Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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Revision as of 12:24, 18 December 2013

Welcome to the explain xkcd wiki!
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Driving PSA
This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.
Title text: This PSA brought to you by several would-be assassins who tried to wave me in front of speeding cars in the last month and who will have to try harder next time.

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a CLUELESS BOT DRIVING AT 72.42048 km/h (20.1168 m/s) (outpaced by raptor) - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.

A PSA is a Public Service Announcement. Some drivers, when having priority (often informally called "right of way") by the rules of the road, will let others take it before them. This comic is saying that people who exhibit this behavior are actually Terminator-style assassins, sent to kill people by sending them into oncoming traffic and making it look like an accident.

The title text explains that Randall made this PSA because he has experienced this multiple times in the last month. Since he believes this behavior to be the action of time-travel assassins, he has not accepted the right of way, and thus believes himself to have evaded death. He then says that, since he already knows this trick, the assassins should try harder. Such a claim that assassins are actively trying to murder him using "right of way" would be treated as a conspiracy theory by most people.

Despite the PSA's conspiratorial presentation, this is good advice. This habit is sometimes called "the wave of death", because it is common for such "generous" drivers to forget about other lanes that also have right-of-way over the crossing driver or pedestrian, and cluelessly wave them through right into the path of another car which is traveling at full speed. Always check for yourself that your way is clear, and if your view is blocked, sit tight. While Randall likely exaggerated this for comical effect, it could actually be helpful in making the advice more memorable and therefore more likely to save lives.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
Driving PSA:
Random drivers can’t grant you the right of way as a gift.
[A T-intersection with a major road separated by a concrete median going from top to bottom, and a minor road coming from the left]
[A car is parked to the right of the minor road]
First car: You, waiting to turn left
[A second car is parked in the left turning lane of the right major road, with a third car, a truck hauling cargo, and a fourth car lined up behind it]
Second car [in a speech bubble]: You go ahead! I’m feeling generous.
Second car: Time traveler pretending to be polite
[In the second lane is a black arrow pointing upwards, with text below it reading 45 MPH, and a fifth car below the text]
Fifth car: Car that they are waving you into the path of
If someone waves you out, assume that they are an assassin sent from the future to kill you and make it look like an accident.


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