How come Dallas people don't know how to drive? (Houston: construction, college)

[xS☺B☺s]

OP: Clearly you've never been to Boston.

There are three classes of Dallas drivers.

Group A: about 80% of Dallasites are good courteous drivers.

Group B: 10% are arsehowes of the Fratguy Beamer or used ghettostyle Beamer variety zigzagging, tailgating, just utterly reckless - and ultimately wreckful.

Group C: 10% are true incompetents who your description fits perfectly.

Whenever I see accidents - usually everyday - I look at the victims and almost every time I note they either belong to Group B or C.

The biggest problem with driving in Texas is there is a far higher percentage of high speed driving going on which results in far more terrible consequences when an accident occurs. In Boston and NY it's so crowded no one's ever getting up enough speed for the epic wrecks I see in Dallas all the time. But they have more fender benders and obviously more pedestrian incidents.

Besides Boston's impossible grid and no signage, the biggest difference between Boston drivers and Dallas drivers is when confronted with a risky traffic decision, in Dallas they probably won't and in Boston they probably will.

If you wanna talk about psycho, let's talk about Paris.


Driving a lap of the Arc de Triomphe roundabout in Paris! - YouTube


Arc de Triomphe roundabout traffic - YouTube

All that said I hate driving in Dallas. I stay off the highways as much as possible. I've saw more collisions in Dallas in my first year here than all 15 years in Boston.

[gymrat]

I go with several of the opinions already stated.
1. Most are NOT from here.
2. People say that about everywhere on the planet.
3. Lead, follow, or get out of the way.


As for the scenario above, it is not typically the "beamer crowd" that I see doing that. Most "beamer" owners don't want to jack up their car, me included. I use my signals every single time, make turns from the proper lanes, etc. I typically notice it is more the Honda and Toyota drivers that tend to be in their own little world and clueless that there are other drivers on the road. Then the aggresive certain brand pickup truck drivers that are a-holes. I have a Chevy truck and Suburban and don't ride peoples tails. I do NOT want to be in a wreck!!!! No matter what vehicle I am driving that day.

Worst state as far as driving is concerned, imho, Florida. Good grief!!!

[TXNGL]

Dallas drivers scare me, but I found Boston drivers absolutely horrifying. I got rid of my car when I lived up there.

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by Nairobi

Atlanta is among those cities with the most aggressive drivers, but the worst I've ever experienced was San Antonio.

In my limited experience, SA is way worse than Dallas!

[sossie]

Having moved from Boston -Dallas drivers aren't that bad....Maybe it's you that is the bad driver-aggressive-speeds and impatient..... Perhaps if you can't drive with the big boys then you'd better get off the road...lord knows what you'd think of New jersey drivers! FYI I have driven all around the world....including Paris and Rome-now that is some crazy ass driving.....

[TXNGL]

Originally Posted by sossie

Having moved from Boston -Dallas drivers aren't that bad....Maybe it's you that is the bad driver-aggressive-speeds and impatient..... Perhaps if you can't drive with the big boys then you'd better get off the road...lord knows what you'd think of New jersey drivers! FYI I have driven all around the world....including Paris and Rome-now that is some crazy ass driving.....

I have not driven in Europe, but in Greece and Italy I close my eyes when riding in cabs!

[sossie]

Originally Posted by TXNGL

I have not driven in Europe, but in Greece and Italy I close my eyes when riding in cabs!

Well Rome was definitely THE CRAZIEST I have ever been in...I rode a motorbike in Corfu ...we had to sign release that if we injured or killed there would be no liability assessed on anyone-we survived-we also cycled through a very busy city in Bali about two decades ago-that was scary too-nobody stops at red lights! Although it was more scary for the cars slowing down to "offer" us a ride!!! Before there was a toll scheme in inner London I used to work for a socialite who constantly needed rides into the city-that was pretty crazy at 5 in the afternoon! I find Dallas congested -not crazy....

[seat21d]

Originally Posted by sossie

Having moved from Boston -Dallas drivers aren't that bad....Maybe it's you that is the bad driver-aggressive-speeds and impatient..... Perhaps if you can't drive with the big boys then you'd better get off the road...lord knows what you'd think of New jersey drivers! FYI I have driven all around the world....including Paris and Rome-now that is some crazy ass driving.....

You should go to Mumbai, India...now that is some crazy ass driving!

[VZilyV]

Having lived all over the west coast, I much prefer the Dallas drivers to pretty much everywhere else. Drivers here are generally far more considerate than drivers in CA/Seattle, etc. Obviously there will be jerks wherever you go, but on AVERAGE there is far less honking and cutting off going on.

My peeves that are much more prevalent here than I've experienced:
If you miss your exit or entrance on the freeway...don't make a dangerous maneuver trying to get to it! 75 and 121 and most of the freeways are the most forgiving anywhere! You can just get the next one and do a free signal-less u-turn at no penalty and barely seconds of time lost! Why people insist on risking theirs and others lives because they weren't paying attention and just HAVE to illegally cross multiple sets of double lines to get somewhere is beyond me. The access roads are so convenient and make it all dummyproof.

Left turn pocket with green light but no green arrow. Move into the intersection and get ready to turn folks! If the light turns yellow and then red, you have the right of way to exit the intersection safely. One car is guaranteed to get through per cycle, even if there wasn't a green arrow. Don't just sit there!

Double lines of any color cannot be crossed....especially when accompanied by an additional set of double lines with some diagonal ones in between them. That may as well be a wall folks...quit crossing the medians.

Constant abuse of the HOV lane. Easily less than 1/3 of the cars in the HOV lane during rush hour are validly in there.

[Siggy20]

Finding driving here in Dallas pretty tame compared to driving on the east coast. Frankly, as a NJ driver trying to find my way around, I've made some embarrassing blunders including leaving my gas cap flapping on my car (sorry still getting used to pumping my own gas again), driving down a one way street going the wrong way and cutting off multiple drivers being a bit confused about lane designations. Meanwhile my stupid GPS is trying to put me constantly on the stupid George Bush tollway even though I've specified no tollways for now. Last week I was getting quite flustered trying to find my way around although now getting the hang of it. Very few cars have honked at me in spite of my embarrassing blunders. Oh, and love the convenience of the roads. Easy to get around and I can make easy left turns!!!!

If I've been one of those bad drivers, I do apologize. And I agree with other posters..Rome was absolutely scary.