Which cities have polite drivers? Impolite drivers? (lane, toll, Texas)

[EclecticEars]

Here's my list, based on my experiences:

Polite:
1. Atlanta, Georgia: surprisingly polite, even on the Perimeter during rush hour. Drivers in the right lane at least slow down enough or just get over to accomodate entering traffic. In gridlock, it's not unusual for a driver on the main road to let a driver from a side road enter. I was actually quite impressed, even though so many drive well over the speed limit!
2. Louisville, Kentucky: those of you who have seen some of my Louisville posts know I have extremely mixed feelings (leaning toward negative) about the city and are probably surprised to see this. But, I will admit, Louisville drivers know how to be courteous and polite when push comes to shove.
3. Cincinnati, Ohio: I'm a white bread guy that was driving around in the ghetto. Even on secondary streets with no traffic on a Sunday, it was amazing to see the common courtesy displayed by drivers by signaling me to pull in front of them. Thanks Cincinnati!

I've heard that Portland, Seattle, Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Oklahoma cities have really courteous drivers.

Impolite:
1. New York City/North Jersey metro area: well, this is afterall to be expected. I don't really hold it against them, try cramming 16 lanes of toll booth traffic into two in each direction during rush hour (or any hour) at the Lincoln Tunnel.
2. Dallas, Texas: those of you who have seen some of my Texas-related postings know I love Texas. Dallasites, in my limited experience, need to learn to exhibit some courtesy while driving, though.
3. Washington, DC/NoVa/Western Maryland: once again, to be expected, and it's a fast-paced, rush-rush culture with a lot of people crammed into a six-county plus district region, so I don't really hold it against them.
4. Lexington, KY: this one never ceases to surprise me and I'm a Kentucky native. I'm always amazed at the lack of common courtesy and manners Lexington drivers exhibit, whether at Midnight on Sunday or 5pm on Friday. It makes no difference. This drivers will cut you off, tailgate you with 6-12" (yes, inches!) to spare, and I've had only ONE driver there ever thank me for letting them pull in front of me in traffic.

I've heard Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, Detroit, and San Francisco have uptight, impatient drivers, also.

[Drover]

Pittsburgh: polite to a fault -- to the point that they'll stop a line of traffic clipping along at 35mph to let someone pull out of a parking lot in front of them.

Don't even think of doing more than 60mph on the expressways through town. They'll stare at you in horror as if you're deliberately endangering the life of every child and elderly citizen within a 3-mile radius.

They honk a lot in Pittsburgh too -- not at other drivers, but rather at friends and neighbors walking down the street as a way of saying "hi!"

[ESFP]

Other than the obvious, DC & NY, I'd say the cities I avoid if possible are Philadelphia and Boston. Miami, Vegas, and LA are awful, too. The most polite drivers are found in Corpus Christi, TX. Get behind them on the highway and they'll pull to the shoulder to let you go by. Generally, any town in Maine is pleasant. They're at the end of the Earth and are in absolutely no hurry for anything.

[Daddys///M3]

Originally Posted by ESFP

Other than the obvious, DC & NY, I'd say the cities I avoid if possible are Philadelphia and Boston. Miami, Vegas, and LA are awful, too. The most polite drivers are found in Corpus Christi, TX. Get behind them on the highway and they'll pull to the shoulder to let you go by. Generally, any town in Maine is pleasant. They're at the end of the Earth and are in absolutely no hurry for anything.

We are absolutely some of the most impolite, impatient, discourteous drivers on the face of the planet.

[tscrilla]

No one has mentioned Phoenix. Lived there for 5 years and have never come across a worse group of impolite, speed demon, road rage fanatics. People think that because most of the roads are completely straight they can go 20 mph over the posted limit. The police caught a guy going 127 north bound on the 101 in Scottsdale and it wasn't a high speed chase or anything like that.

Speed is not the only factor, people are EXTREMELY aggressive putting you and others in danger. Glad I don't live there any more. It really is scary driving there.

As for polite drivers, I'd say Columbus OH is a little TOO polite. They have to have at least a 1/2 mile of open space before they dare pull out into traffic. If the speed limit is 45 mph you can bet everyone will be driving 35 mph. It can be very frustrating when going some place should take you 10 minutes but ends up being at least double that all because people drive below the posted limit ALL the time. You'd think everyone on the road is retired and has all the time in the world. Wake up Columbus!!!

[Kemba]

Nobody mentioned the Tampa Bay area. People drive crazy around here. Roads are pretty crowded most parts of the day, people are in a rush, and there's a good amount of construction in the area. Add all this and 3-4 million people trying to get around. A college teacher of mine once joked that the middle finger is the state bird. The funny thing is that when people park their cars, attitudes change for the better quickly.

[Tom Tom]

Try driving in Charlotte, N.C. and you will think everyone is on the race track, thanks to Nascar being here. Impolite, tailgating, speeding, cuting off, horn blowing...you name it and you will have it. The funny thing is some of the nicest, friendly and wonderful people live here...JUST DON'T MEET THEM ON THE ROAD!!

[GracieJJ]

LA and Vegas drivers have got to be up there amongst the worst, Vegas roads and deviations are rather confusing, making the bad drivers look like uttor morons

[FightinPhils]

I would say that most northeastern big cities have rude drivers: New York City/North Jersey, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington.

[jguillot]

Sacramento, CA drivers will not let you in if you need to change lanes. If you signal, they will speed up to prevent you from getting in front of them.