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Being a small state with little traffic outside of the Boise and Twin Falls area probably played a factor. Majority of people allowed me to pass them on the I-84 without much fuss. City traffic seemed reasonable. Not many boneheaded decisions from what I saw in my drive through the state.
Worst: California
People constantly hogging the left lane, end up passing on the right or tailgate or whatever needed to get by. In the cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles for example, more instances of drivers not knowing where they are going or forcing their way into the exit lane causing near collisions. Common sense is to take the next exit and turn around or whatever or simply make an aggressive maneuver and get into that lane without making people slam their brakes.
I wouldn't say California drivers are that bad though, just more population compared to the other Western states (Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, etc.) so more bad drivers. The east coast is probably worse. New York, Jersey?
Being in CA, I'd say you'd have to choose city to city, rather than state to state - unless the state is sparsely populated.
In CA, my experience is that the cities with the most immigrants have the worst drivers. For me, this is especially Silicon Valley. Why? Most of the immigrants come from countries where driving is madness. OR, they never drove before they got here. And worst of all, they never drove before they got here AND their idea of how to drive is based on where they came from where driving is madness.
It's like living in a city of a million people, and most of the people on the road are teenagers who just got their licenses. Worse, really because they are actually adults who are less cautious than teenagers whose parents will kill them if they get a ticket or wreck the car, and they're from countries where you're expected to drive like a madman, or never get anywhere.
I had a Chinese friend in Santa Clara, and he said that in China, not only do they drive like madmen, but if you hit a pedestrian, they will back up and make sure the pedestrian is dead - in other words, drive over him again - because it's cheaper to pay for a dead person than pay their continuing medical bills.
And that's just China.
Now, get away from Silicon Valley, and the drivers get much better. Get out of the rat race of the SF Bay Area, and to a town like Redding, drivers are much, much better, or where I am now in Crescent City, where it's peaceful to be on the road.
So, I blame places with bad drivers on the level of expertise of the drivers, coupled with where they came from and how people drive there. In other words, the more immigrants from places with crazy drivers, the worse the drivers will be.
Best: TX (mostly courteous, i.e. Texas 4-lane highway )
Best runner-up: MA (aggressive but respectful, don't seem to lay on the horn like NY'ers)
Worst: NM (slowest drivers in the country - always in the left lane traveling below the speed limit)
Worst runner-up: NE (slow, lack of turn-signal use, like following a combine)
Location: northern Vermont - previously NM, WA, & MA
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Worst: Florida - worst mix of divers I've seen anywhere. Lots old people, timid tourists, and aggressive locals jockeying and weaving all over the freeway lanes. I-95 in South Florida is the worst.
Best: Colorado - Roads are in good condition, traffic in the passing lanes moves reasonably fast, not too many jerks on the road overall. Even on the windy mountain roads most people seem to drive at a reasonable speed and have courtesy.
Last edited by Champ le monstre du lac; 12-10-2014 at 01:20 PM..
Best: Michigan. It's the only place I've ever been where everyone was driving between 80 and 85 in moderate to heavy traffic. It ran like butter. They also know how to drive in the snow.
Worst: Chicago. Half the people driving down the expressway have a death wish, as they're doing 95, cutting people off, and ignoring lane dividers. The other half are driving 45 in the fast lane. Once, on I-90 somewhere between Rockford and Elgin, I saw a woman change her blouse while driving!
Best: Michigan. It's the only place I've ever been where everyone was driving between 80 and 85 in moderate to heavy traffic. It ran like butter. They also know how to drive in the snow.
Worst: Chicago. Half the people driving down the expressway have a death wish, as they're doing 95, cutting people off, and ignoring lane dividers. The other half are driving 45 in the fast lane. Once, on I-90 somewhere between Rockford and Elgin, I saw a woman change her blouse while driving!
Because who doesn't change their blouse while driving lol
Worst: Florida - worst mix of divers I've seen anywhere. Lots old people, timid tourists, and aggressive locals jockeying and weaving all over the freeway lanes. I-95 in South Florida is the worst.
Best: Colorado - Roads are in good condition, traffic in the passing lanes moves reasonably fast, not too many jerks on the road overall. Even on the windy mountain roads most people seem to drive at a reasonable speed and have courtesy.
Florida I totally agree.. too many internationals who have no idea what they are doing, too many old senile people driving Caddys and too many young driving like they are on set with Paul Walker RIP and Tyrese in the Fast and the Furious lol
As someone who lives in Michigan, when I see an Illinois license plate I automatically think you have no idea how to drive.
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