Today, I was eastbound on a 4 lane road in Seattle, stopped at a traffic
light in the right hand lane. As I was waiting, a southbound pickup
truck (rusty old beater) in the process of making a left turn to go east
stalled in mid intersection. After a few seconds of cranking (smoke
billowing out the exhaust) the truck lurched forward about 20 feet and
stalled again. As I waited, this was repeated, in 20 or 30 foot
increments as the driver moved into the right lane.

I figured this wouldn't be a problem for me, as the light is rather long
and the truck was lurching toward the entrance to a large parking lot.
He should be clear by the time my light turns green.

Nope. This guy kept on lurching and shuddering past the parking lot,
apparently attempting to make it all the way home(?) 20 feet at a time.
Regardless of how many people were going to have to wait. People, can't
we keep derelicts of the road? At least pull over and get the thing
running to a point where it won't present a hazard to traffic (this guy
didn't even switch on the flashers).