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Every place has the worst drivers in the world, but people here consider getting a car as a higher priority than getting a driving license. Cars taking up half of one lane and half of another, blocking intersections, texting while driving SUVs, running red lights, going the wrong way on roundabouts, driving THROUGH roundabouts, never using blinkers when turning...plus, police cars are doing the exact same things. It's a hard knock life for a pedestrian or a decent driver in Jackson, Mississippi.
I was having a discussion with my brother recently about the misconceptions people have of NYC drivers. I won't deny that we're aggressive; we most certainly are, but that does not mean we're bad drivers (on the contrary, I'd say we're very good drivers as we're used to having to be hyper-aware of our surroundings when behind the wheel). In NYC, aggressive driving is the norm, so nobody takes it personally if they're cut off, which happens all the time. What may seem rude to outsiders is just standard to us. Someone from Nebraska was saying that its polite to roll down your window and say thank you when someone lets you in. This is a really funny concept to me.
Anyway, I'll be traveling cross country soon and I was wondering what the driving culture is like in different areas of the country.
(As an aside, why are there so many Florida drivers all over the place? Every state I go it seems, I see Florida plates.)
Here in Indiana the driving culture is pretty curteous. It is considered customary to give someone a wave or something when they let you in.
I hear you about Florida plates! I see more Florida plates than any all the states' plates that I have seen combined!
Well, I live near and work in a college town near the beach, so in the summer I get irritating tourists that have no clue where they're going and in the fall/winter I get irritating college students driving mommy and daddys BMW who don't pay attention to where they're going. Nobody looks or uses turn signals before they merge, they go the wrong way down one way streets and tailgating is really bad. 1/2 the time I can't see the persons headlights behind me.
Plus, we have a ridiculous amount of lifted trucks and people who think they should be in the movie Fast and the Furious and drive thusly. The lifted trucks are the worst, especially at night since their headlights are right in my back window and I can't see a damn thing.
I've also noticed a lot of people passing on the right lately... not just the right lane, but going onto the sidewalks and passing in the bike lane. It's happened to me in town before, and on the freeway more times than I can count.
well..lets start with Vale, OR and Ontario, OR. People do NOT know how to drive there. Seriously. They literally STOP their cars like they were at a stop sign when making a right turn into a parking lot or a street. No one uses blinkers, and if its decently heavy traffic and your trying to get into the next lane and you have your blinker on, no one will let you in, in fact, they will just cut you off. And statistics (me always counting from the time the light turns green to when the car starts going forward), the average would be around 7 seconds. Do it..count to 7 real quick..yeah..really.
Then, I moved to Boise, Idaho. And the driving around here is just awesome. Everyone is so courteous (except for Saturdays, because all the idiot drivers from Vale and Oregon are in Boise shopping.) It's amazing, just an hours difference and the driving is totally different. But..one of the downsides to drivers in Boise is..they honk all the time and once in a while you will witness a few red light runners. Haha.
Too slow. Its very annoying. I like to drive at least 10 over the speed limit. I drive on some roads that are only 2 lanes, not even a turning lane. These roads are very congested. It's frustrating to be behind someone for 3 miles who is slow and you can't even pass.
The Bay Area has the WORST drivers compared to SoCal, I cannot stand driving up there anymore. Some of the most clueless, self righteous jerks on the road there. And there is no concept of a fast lane there and people can't comprehend that black and white sign that says "slower traffic keep right". Too many slow drivers and people that just seem clueless and not paying attention to how they are driving, it's like they're all stoned or something which very well may be the case.
Rush hour traffic in Hollywood or in the Gateway Cities is a DREAM compared to rush hour in San Jose. Shoot... Kill me before I ever have to drive in San Jose traffic again. Crazy a** drivers there...
Oregon isn't a good place for driving enthusiasts. We drive slowly and we are polite until you tailgate us or try to pass us on the right. Then we will passive-aggressive maneuver the heck out of you. We were rated as the most knowledgeable drivers in the country, for what it's worth. The freeways and streets suck around Portland and there's too much construction, even though necessary, on the 5 through the rest of the state. At least everyone's pretty polite about letting you merge/change lanes, not honking, keeping an okay following distance, etc, or else it'd be an absolute headache to navigate Portland properly.
San Jose/South Bay and the Peninsula traffic is the worst in the Bay. The East Bay and North Bay traffic isn't nearly as bad and IMHO the drivers are much better..SoCal drivers are good though especially in the North SD (Oceanside,etc.,etc.) area and in LA county.
I was having a discussion with my brother recently about the misconceptions people have of NYC drivers. I won't deny that we're aggressive; we most certainly are, but that does not mean we're bad drivers (on the contrary, I'd say we're very good drivers as we're used to having to be hyper-aware of our surroundings when behind the wheel). In NYC, aggressive driving is the norm, so nobody takes it personally if they're cut off, which happens all the time. What may seem rude to outsiders is just standard to us. Someone from Nebraska was saying that its polite to roll down your window and say thank you when someone lets you in. This is a really funny concept to me.
Anyway, I'll be traveling cross country soon and I was wondering what the driving culture is like in different areas of the country.
(As an aside, why are there so many Florida drivers all over the place? Every state I go it seems, I see Florida plates.)
If you honk at another driver in Tennessee, you're probably from Florida, California or the northeast. Don't do it if you come to my state. And if you have a reason to get out of the car, most men who are natives of this state, have exceptional manners...like in they hold the door open for you BEFORE they go through it themselves and it doesn't matter if they're poor, rich or in-between. That demanding rude boy stuff doesn't work here.
Now, all of that goodness aside, there are a lot of unlicensed and uninsured people driving around here and most of us residents aren't required to have the car inspected/do emissions stuff.
Oh yeah, one more thing, if you should have an encounter with the police while you are in my county, your name and full address will go in the newspaper with whatever it is you did, even if it's a car accident or even if you are a victim and not the perp.
Oh most definitely Florida drivers! And they do DAWDLE and won't change lanes to let you pass, ever!
There are a lot of Floridians from NY, originally. They just moved their bad manners south.
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