I'm scared of driving in MD. (Baltimore, College Park: college, law, moving)

[Chris-Kim]

My office is in downtown Baltimore and I see non-sense driving everyday. Balto drivers seem incompetent as well as oblivious to their surroundings. At least, despite all their bad behaviors NYC drivers are competent.

[samstersmom]

I have lived here for six years and know that when a car is touching the line between my lane and theirs they are getting ready to try and cut me off. I get so fed up that I move more towards them and they back off.
And then there are the ones who wait until there is no room to move over and then need to get in front of me when there was no one in back of me for a mile.
Also, I can't believe that nobody knows where their exit is and then have to suddenly move over three lanes of traffic and cause everyone to slam on their brakes.
And I especially love the drivers on 295 N that act clueless that there is a long line to get on 695 and try to squeeze in up front as if their time is more valuable than everyone else's.

[filmsniffer]

I've driven all over the lower 48, and I place Maryland as the state with the worst drivers. They display aggression much more than any other state and will ride your ass if you aren't doing 20 over...or any reason whatsoever!

Yesterday, I was doing the limit (40) on SR-355 just before the shopping center in Germantown...a woman in a SUV came flying up to my bumper, flashed her high beams on me. We were in the center lane of a 3-lane road with no cars on either side. WTF? I got pissed and stayed where I was. She veered right and passed me. That's when I veered right behind her and shined my high beams on her for a good five seconds.

Just today, I was waiting to turn on a left lane for the light to go green. I didn't go, because...Mont. Co is filled with red-light runners. Two cars ran the red while I was waiting to go...on green. Luckily, a cop behind them caught those two cars and tagged them down.

We need to teach them a good lesson.

[kinkytoes]

LOL I am full of jokes but they are not PC. Well, you should be very afraid. I'm an MD driver, but I think the drivers here are notoriously bad... Maybe it's the crabs

[cpterp]

Maryland does have aggresive drivers, but Jersey drivers are worse. On a trip from NY a month or so ago I drove past a girl in her 20's reading a book while driving (I think we were both doing around 80mph), and this was for at least 10 or so miles. Now in MD drivers may fly along the Beltway and I-270 at 90mph per hour, but that was just plain stupid. I've seen NYC cab drivers do some pretty crazy stuff to. I'm surprised to hear that Howard County has bad drivers to, I thought they were generally restricted to the immediate DC and Baltimore Metro Areas.

I will admit I drive fast (usually 70-80mph on I-270, which has a 55mph limit), but I obey all road signs (except speed limit signs duh) and signals, use headlights when appropriate, use my turn signals to change lanes etc. The thing is everybody drives fast here. Even gramps will be clocking at least 65mph in the far right lane, so the odds of me getting a ticket (and I'm always on the lookout for MD troopers) are slim.

It is annoying though when I have to travel to Florida or anywhere south of DC, since I-95 has only two lanes in each direction for every state below Washington D.C. (except GA) and many people down there don't seem to understand how the two-lane "system" works. Even worse is when you have out-of-staters (especially from Virginia or the Midwest) dawdling along at 50mph in the far left lane, when there are 5 more lanes to the right.

[DCgoblue]

If you think people in Maryland drive fast, try a freeway around Detroit, it's like Mad Max there sometimes.

I usually have no problem with Maryland drivers, but maybe I'm just used to it.

[Mrs. 14th & You]

Allstate insurance ranks the best drivers in the nation based on the number of claims they receive, which is viewed as an indicator of the likelihood a driver will be involved in a collusion. They used to rank the municipalities with the worst as well, but they seem to have quit that, or at least burried that press release on their website. The most recent worst driver rankings from Allstate that I could find are from 2003-2004. Here were the results:

1. Newark -- 5.0
2. Washington -- 5.1
3. Elizabeth, N.J. -- 5.4
4. Alexandria, Va.-- 5.7
5. Arlington, Va. -- 6.0
6. Glendale, Calif. -- 6.1
7. Jersey City -- 6.2
8. Paterson, N.J. -- 6.5
9. San Francisco -- 6.5
10. Baltimore -- 6.5

I see that 4 of the top ten are in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area, which would tie us with NJ.

[jkyj1976]

I hear you... I especially hate idiot drivers who swerve left and right without even bothering to use the turn signal.
I tend to stay away from 495N if I can help it. Seems like people who drive on 495N don't seem to understand that when it rains or snows, you are suppose to slow down. No wonder there are accidents galore when it rains or snows....

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by DCgoblue

If you think people in Maryland drive fast, try a freeway around Detroit, it's like Mad Max there sometimes.

I usually have no problem with Maryland drivers, but maybe I'm just used to it.

They have higher speed limits in Detroit.

[jayman1981]

MD drivers are great. We have what I like to say organized chaos. I think really driving in Northern VA is worse. I've got to hurry up and get my Starbucks coffee and these idiots jump into my lane with not turn signal and just driving slow in the fast lane. So upsetting.

But I like driving in Maryland, where else can you feel like a nascar driver and everyone with Maryland Tags is on one accord with this notion.