Your thoughts about Atlanta drivers (zoning, law, floor)

[WestCobb]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

"Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! Ohmigawd you were like SO hard to find. I like, drove around like, for an How-errr looking but like, here you are! Ok, so, like, I need a mirrurrrr for my bathroom over the sink, but like, I want it to have some ornatish-like work engraved on it. Can you like, DO that?
And I kid you not.. her name? "Cookie".

And when she left - she drove the wrong way in our parking lot (single parking lane with arrows - she still went the opposite direction). She then proceeded to get out of the parking lot and immedately got on her cell phone and ran a stop sign, causing someone on the cross street to hit their brakes - as she continued her phone conversation without even noticing what she had just done.

Like, Ohmigawd, she's like, gonna fit in here really good.

LOL! Cookie moved here too!!! j/k Yep, you nailed it, greg. I don't talk like that, but my sisters sure do ..and if I were female, I'm sure I would too.. I do the like, like, like though.. and I guess here's something we share with Texans... I didn't find it at all inappropriate when Bush told the Pope "awesome speech" until it was pointed out..then I was, like, yeah, I guess that's a bit too casual to say to His Holiness.

Originally Posted by Trianrida

Or Hella when you get very excited.

Again, guilty as charged.. Hella good or Hella bad.. yep. Ok can we go back to slamming Atlanta drivers?

[NYLATINQT]

I'm still trying to figure out where everybody is rushing to. I've never seen people drive so fast (80+ seems to be the norm) for no apparent reason. I can't stand that drivers like to ride up on your bumper if you do go less than 80 on the highway or 50 on a side street where the speed limit is 30. WTF?! I'm so afraid that one day one of those massive SUVs is gonna hit me in the rear and i'll end up severely crippled or something. NO kidding. If they had real public transportation out here, i would opt not to drive.

[Scott Summers]

Originally Posted by NYLATINQT

I can't stand that drivers like to ride up on your bumper if you do go less than 80 on the highway or 50 on a side street where the speed limit is 30. WTF?! I'm so afraid that one day one of those massive SUVs is gonna hit me in the rear and i'll end up severely crippled or something. NO kidding. If they had real public transportation out here, i would opt not to drive.

My mother ride bumpers a lot when she's in a hurry, and my sister is bad about this. My sister would speed to where you think she'll crash but slow down at the last minute leaving what seems to be a foot of space between her car and the one in front. I never do this (to scared the brakes will fail) but the bumper riders do that to get the person to move out of the way (yes it's foolish and dangerous).

[Scott Summers]

I'm currently living in a small town where everyone drives slow, but I didn't realize that Atlanta drivers had a bad rep.

[atlantagreg30127]

Originally Posted by BravoFan

My mother ride bumpers a lot when she's in a hurry, and my sister is bad about this. My sister would speed to where you think she'll crash but slow down at the last minute leaving what seems to be a foot of space between her car and the one in front. I never do this (to scared the brakes will fail) but the bumper riders do that to get the person to move out of the way (yes it's foolish and dangerous).

All they do with me is to get me to take my foot OFF the gas and start coasting and slowing down.

Your mom and/or sister will wind up in an emergency room one day due to that practice, and they need to keep in mind that in Atlanta the rear driver is almost always legally to blame in the event of a rear end collision (unless it can be proven the driver in front literally slammed on their brakes on purpose).

That's one of the strangest gender-related things, too. Men tend to speed and run red lights a LOT more than women, but women tailgate 3-to-1 over men. 8 out of 10 times if I look in my rearview and see a car so close to my bumper it looks like I'm towing them, it'll have a woman driver in it. I find that strange, because generally, women are much more safety-conscious thinker types than men, so you'd THINK they'd not do that.

Originally Posted by BravoFan

I'm currently living in a small town where everyone drives slow, but I didn't realize that Atlanta drivers had a bad rep.

Let's put it this way - the last time my sister drove through Atlanta to visit me (her first time) - she cried.

[darkone]

Originally Posted by atlantagreg30127

That's one of the strangest gender-related things, too. Men tend to speed and run red lights a LOT more than women, but women tailgate 3-to-1 over men. 8 out of 10 times if I look in my rearview and see a car so close to my bumper it looks like I'm towing them, it'll have a woman driver in it. I find that strange, because generally, women are much more safety-conscious thinker types than men, so you'd THINK they'd not do that.

I'm not a PC-type of guy (in more ways than one) and I will tell it like it is:

I have observed many women tailgating me in their big SUVs and I have observed men too. I'm not sure about the ratio of female-to-male tailgaters, but you might be correct.

A reason for your observation is that many women who are aggressive tend to be passive-aggressive while men will be outright. Translate this to driving - men will not just ride your tail - they will have the balls to shift to the left, overtake and head onwards, while women take the passive approach. I never understand riding anyone's tail unless they are well under the speed limit for some reason.

I may be a yankee, but if some liitle guy (or female) wants to feel all empowered in the safe confines of his/her vehicle, I would, in a gun-free world, signal them to pull-over and settle their issues the old-fashioned
way ..... outsides of their safety cages. I'm a big guy and I don't need to drive around a big monster to feel empowered or take out my frustrations before or after work.

[PecanPie]

Maybe I stayed more on the outside of Atlanta, but generally I thought drivers in that part of GA were pretty decent. Guess maybe I didn't spend long enough there. I mainly drove on the two-lane highways, where people seemed pretty good about using the left lane for passing and moving over to the right to let people pass. I actually felt kind of relaxed for the most part driving in GA.

Try driving downtown and metro Los Angeles freeways and major roads, hmmm, now those are some rude, clueless, hard-arsed drivers. Fast-driving, tail-gating, lane-changing, head-up-the-butt driving out here in Southern CA. Believe me, people out here don't even KNOW the meaning of pass on the left, slow traffic stay right. Tailgating is terrible here.

I really can't imagine anywhere worse.

[oogoi]

I must say Atlanta drivers are terrible, but they seem pretty nice to me. I found it to be so strange that whenever I put my blinker on, 80% of the time the other driver would let me in. How nice!

I do absolutely hate that Atlanta drivers are slow to go when the light turns green. What is the point in waiting 3 seconds AFTER the light turns green? I also hate that no one uses their horn here. I have seen too many times, people waiting behind an idiot who is stopped at a red light and does not go after it turns green. I have seen the green light turn back to red and not a single car has gone through! For some reason, some people don't like to use their horn! Now, I'm not a mean driver at all...I don't have road rage..but I believe in using the horn and being an efficient driver!

I also noticed that Atlantans are terrible drivers when it comes to curves in the road. They feel the need to slow down at the slightest curve. They're not as bad as LA drivers in the rain but still pretty bad.

Oh and I hate SUV/truck drivers. First of all, what is the point of owning a pickup truck? Why does everyone here have one? Totally inefficient and detrimental to our air. Not only are these huge vehicle drivers awful drivers, but they like to swerve into your lanes and don't really care about traffic rules because they tend to think they can just run you over like it's no big deal.

[plessthanpointohfive]

People wait when traffic lights turn green out of a sense of self-preservation. Red-light running is rampant (lol!) so people have learned to wait a sec so they don't get plowed...

[RainyRainyDay]

Originally Posted by oogoi

I also hate that no one uses their horn here. I have seen too many times, people waiting behind an idiot who is stopped at a red light and does not go after it turns green. I have seen the green light turn back to red and not a single car has gone through! For some reason, some people don't like to use their horn! Now, I'm not a mean driver at all...I don't have road rage..but I believe in using the horn and being an efficient driver!

Oogoi, is it by any chance possible that you learned to drive in China? I recently read an article about driving in China, in The New Yorker magazine. The writer, a US journalist who was stationed in China for several years, wrote that in China, the horn is considered an essential piece of equipment for every day driving, and is used very much more than in the US. Personally, I probably use the horn maybe once every couple of years while driving. It's a different style.