How bad is traffic?? (city)

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by JackieB23

STL, DC and LV have far more *aggressive* drivers than KC drivers, who in my experience tended to be more laid back and accomodating. Perhaps it's a function of the much larger traffic problems those metros have compared to KC?

laid back and accommodating = slow

[GraniteStater]

I-435 on the southside was quite bad when I lived in KC. I am sure it has only gotten worse. The I-435-I-35 and K-10 convergence is extremely bad and needs be studied. That would likely cost lots of money to improve in the future.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by JackieB23

I have to respectfully disagree.

Having lived in KC, STL, Memphis, DC, and now Las Vegas... KC's drivers were on average better than any of those other places (and I lived there longer than in any other city).

Memphis in particular was horrible - people would *stop* at the end of ramps going on to highways instead of yielding. People would drive 5-10 miles under the limit in the passing lane next to somebody going 10-12 miles under the limit in the right hand driving lane on a two-lane highway. They would talk on cell phones and veer off onto the shoulders, incoming traffic and across lanes, they'd pull out right in front of you... I'm amazed I got out of there without a major accident.

STL, DC and LV have far more *aggressive* drivers than KC drivers, who in my experience tended to be more laid back and accomodating. Perhaps it's a function of the much larger traffic problems those metros have compared to KC?

I agree with you, Jackie! KC drivers, for the most part, are courteous. Driving in KC is a real pleasure in comparison to driving in many cities. Cell phone usage while driving occurs in all metro areas and continues to be a huge problem. My son's teacher lost her son to a driver under the influence of cell phone talking. The driver just cruised thru the pedestrian crosswalk, killing her son. She didn't realize she was in a crosswalk zone and was unaware of a person crossing the street. Too busy talking on her cell phone! I so appreciate not being tailgated in KC. I have found STL drivers to be more aggressive in that respect and in rudeness while driving, quick with the profanity and fingers!

[JackieB23]

Originally Posted by smellykat

I agree with you, Jackie! KC drivers, for the most part, are courteous. Driving in KC is a real pleasure in comparison to driving in many cities. Cell phone usage while driving occurs in all metro areas and continues to be a huge problem. My son's teacher lost her son to a driver under the influence of cell phone talking. The driver just cruised thru the pedestrian crosswalk, killing her son. She didn't realize she was in a crosswalk zone and was unaware of a person crossing the street. Too busy talking on her cell phone! I so appreciate not being tailgated in KC. I have found STL drivers to be more aggressive in that respect and in rudeness while driving, quick with the profanity and fingers!

St. Louisans will run you off the road before they'll let you merge - happened to my Mom coming off of Dorsett onto Lindbergh heading south, in the 80's - it was light traffic, too, the dude just sped up so we wouldn't get in front of him!

[JackieB23]

Originally Posted by aragx6

laid back and accommodating = slow

LOL - I used to think that until I lived in the South (I learned to drive in STL and when I moved to KC I was amazed at how... easy... it was to merge and get on the highway). Now I see it as just nice.

[kcmo]

You guys are crazy. St Louis is NOT an aggressive driving town, it's slightly less laid back (slow/oblivious) than KC.

If you are being run off the road in St Louis, it's no wonder you like driving around with the morons in KC.

Nothing personal, but I think KC has the worst drivers. There are a few cities than come close. San Antonio comes to mind.

But you have to have some level of aggression to drive worth a crap in a major city on busy, urban freeways etc. I’m a very courtous driver, I signal, I let people over (if they signal and are going near the same speed as me) etc.

But I do not create traffic flow issues. The further to the left I am, the faster I’m going. If I’m being passed on the right, I move right. And KC people do talk on the phone and they can’t drive when they do.

I drive all over the country in every big city and never see the percentage of people on the phone as I do in KC.

Put me in Chicago any day. People may not seem courteous, but they are. Just don’t try to merge onto the freeway going 45mph and stay left to pass, regardless of what speed the traffic is going and people are cool.

I don’t think most people in KC would make it 10 minutes in a big coastal city or Chicago, Houston, Dallas etc. St Louis? Please.

St Louis is still better than KC though.

[smellykat]

Originally Posted by kcmo

You guys are crazy. St Louis is NOT an aggressive driving town, it's slightly less laid back (slow/oblivious) than KC.

If you are being run off the road in St Louis, it's no wonder you like driving around with the morons in KC.

Nothing personal, but I think KC has the worst drivers. There are a few cities than come close. San Antonio comes to mind.

But you have to have some level of aggression to drive worth a crap in a major city on busy, urban freeways etc. I’m a very courtous driver, I signal, I let people over (if they signal and are going near the same speed as me) etc.

But I do not create traffic flow issues. The further to the left I am, the faster I’m going. If I’m being passed on the right, I move right. And KC people do talk on the phone and they can’t drive when they do.

I drive all over the country in every big city and never see the percentage of people on the phone as I do in KC.

Put me in Chicago any day. People may not seem courteous, but they are. Just don’t try to merge onto the freeway going 45mph and stay left to pass, regardless of what speed the traffic is going and people are cool.

I don’t think most people in KC would make it 10 minutes in a big coastal city or Chicago, Houston, Dallas etc. St Louis? Please.

St Louis is still better than KC though.

Well, we already know you're crazy, KCMO I do feel that STL drivers are more aggressive (tailgaiting)and much less courteous than KC drivers, and STL drivers are on their cell phones just as much as KC drivers. I will admit, however, that driving in STL over the past 25 years has made me a much better freeway/highway driver. You are right, you do have to drive with a level of aggression to be able to navigate freeways properly and not endanger others. There is an art to urban driving, and, if you only drive the side streets of your suburb within a five mile radius, yes, you will impede the flow of traffic on the freeways from your lack of experience and are much more of a threat to others than the person driving 85-90 in the fast lane! Driving into downtown Chicago - we're talking headache and sweaty armpits, just too much traffic!

[kcmo]

I LOVE driving in cities like Chicago, LA, Houston, Atlanta, Dallas etc. I really like driving in NYC, especially Manhattan.

Nothing better than a nice fast flow of urban traffic full of drivers that know how to drive.

Nothing worse than three people doing 50-55 mph in all three lanes of traffic in KC. Nothing worse that people that get on the freeway and merge clear to the left lanes going 75% of the speed of the flow because they have to exit 6 miles down the highway.

When two lanes come together, you don’t have to fly into the other lane, you can stay in your lane and merge later.

People in KC have NO idea what this sign means.



In KC, people are too nice. I have to honk my horn from 3-4 cars back to get people to go when light turns green because the other cars will sit and patiently wait for the first car to get a clue.

In Chicago, you will get a horn instantly if you don't go when it turns green. Instantly.

Not because they are mean, but because they know they have to keep traffic moving. In KC, people will slowly move through a green left turn arrow very spread out and they will only get about half the cars through the intersection than you would in Chicago.

In many big cities, it’s illegal to talk on the phone and even those that do, seem to be able to drive and talk at the same time. KC cell phone drivers act like they are the only ones on the road.

What's really odd about this is that these same people drive like fools when it snows, it's icy or when they enter a busy pedestrian area of the city like the plaza or downtown. Then they lose their minds. When I drive through the plaza, I slow down and give pedestrians total right of way. People here turn aggressive in areas like that.

I love KC, it’s a great town, but they need to teach all these people how to drive in a metropolitan area. This isn’t Topeka.

[northbound74]

I grew up not far from Memphis, and have driven there extensively. It does seem a bit worse than KC, but not much. Kansas City drivers are horrible, at least a large percentage of them are.
There's some decent drivers who are courteous, but there's also way too many rude and aggressive drivers in KC.
I see very little difference between KC and St. Louis drivers.
I haven't been to the coastal areas as much as some people, so the only large city I've seen a huge difference in is Minneapolis, which had the best drivers of any big city I've seen so far.

[Chris19]

I have not had too many problems in KC, although I find that traffic there and in Omaha flows better than in Sioux Falls. My complaint about the drivers in my area, Sioux Falls, is that they are slow and rude (and many are horrible at city driving). Oddly enough, I find that drivers in KC and Minneapolis are more courteous on the interstate and roads compared to Sioux Falls (a city that is a little bigger than Topeka).

I drove in Minneapolis, Denver, Memphis, and Indianpolis and find KC to be much easier to drive in than Minneapolis for sure (Minneapolis has an outdated interstate system that lacks capacity) and Denver (Denver has an up-to-date freeway system but the drivers are leadfoots that can be rather agressive). I despise the freeways in Minneapolis (especially 35-W from Lakeville to Downtown). I know that in the larger cities, one needs to be able to drive with a level of aggresiveness or one one would take forever getting from place to place or get around. I think that KC can improve, but each metro and area have its quirks nonetheless.

Why some slower drivers hang out in the left lane puzzles me. I always understood that the left lanes are for faster vehicles and the right lanes are for those who are going slower and those who plan to get on or off the interestate and one works his/her way over if they want to move right to left lanes and vice versa instead of jumping multiple lanes (which is very risky). When I was in Denver and KC, I stayed towards the middle to right hand lanes and planned ahead and got through those two without any problems.

When going through KC, I do not care for I-70 east of 435 and wish that the road would get updated (and I-70 between KC and St. Louis should be three lanes on each side in my opinion). I do not have a problem with most of the other freeways.