Massachusetts driving observations (Boston, Attleboro, Abington: house, live in, dangerous)
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I really think our driving is a Northeast Corridor city thing. I, too, am a native and totally used to it. Law-abiding highway drivers? What's that? I think it stems from partly 1) we're a small area and therefore don't have the space to stretch out our roads. but more important 2) this is city driving, everybody's in a hurry, and I'll be damned if you get to where you're going before I get where I'm going, so I'll arbitrarily cut you off just for the heck of it. It's not just a MA thing. The attitude stretches down through NJ.
That said, not everybody plays by this. I don't. I tend to drive the speed limit and will go into the right-hand lane so I don't hold up whoever's in back of me. I can't tell you how many times I've wound up behind somebody doing maybe 40 mph in the middle lane and all I want to do is pass them while holding up a sign telling them to move over. Grrr...
There are people out there who have the cojones, though, and have no issue with letting you know. They'll tailgate, they'll cut you off, they'll merge without looking, they'll run a red light, etc. I just let 'em pass and hope they don't cause an accident, or, if they do, they're the ones who are injured
I'm not a original from MA either and I completely agree with you guys. Weird how no one talks about improving safety on the roads except people who moved here and find it ridiculously unsafe. I guess that's not an item that gets people elected to high offices.
I like those chevron markings.....but I'm sure people just ignore them anyway. It's a miracle to have people fall back the distance of 1 of those, let alone 2. Plus, they cost the govt more to maintain so it'll never happen here.
Adding to your observations, street signs are missing / non-existent contributing to the erratic driving by people who don't know where they're.
BTW, I've a 18 year old car and when merging it just doesn't get up to speed fast. Nothing I can do, it only gets to 50 or so by the time I'm at the end of the little merging lane. Worse if the incline is steep. So every time I merge, it's like hoping the oncoming car behind me realize soon it'll hit me if it doesn't slow down. So hopefully people read this and understand that some cars just can't get any faster in the short distance that they are given.
The chevrons at least serve as a guide. Not that motorists don't tailgate in the UK either...they do and often the same culprits. However and for the most part, aggressive and fast drivers over there won't mess with you as long as you don't lane hog. Here it seems like it doesn't matter if you use lane discipline. Some idiot will still get too close to your rear end.
As for your car, it shouldn't matter. Other motorists need to allow you to merge safely as they have the advantage of being able to see you approaching while you have to rely on mirrors to see them. That's the problem I have with the whole yield when merging law...it gives motorists the carte blanche to intentionally prevent cars from merging, which is very dangerous. As a result people do not merge safely here. They either stop completely or merge awkwardly. I often try to avoid being in the inside lane because you never know what to expect.
I really think our driving is a Northeast Corridor city thing. I, too, am a native and totally used to it. Law-abiding highway drivers? What's that? I think it stems from partly 1) we're a small area and therefore don't have the space to stretch out our roads. but more important 2) this is city driving, everybody's in a hurry, and I'll be damned if you get to where you're going before I get where I'm going, so I'll arbitrarily cut you off just for the heck of it. It's not just a MA thing. The attitude stretches down through NJ.
That said, not everybody plays by this. I don't. I tend to drive the speed limit and will go into the right-hand lane so I don't hold up whoever's in back of me. I can't tell you how many times I've wound up behind somebody doing maybe 40 mph in the middle lane and all I want to do is pass them while holding up a sign telling them to move over. Grrr...
There are people out there who have the cojones, though, and have no issue with letting you know. They'll tailgate, they'll cut you off, they'll merge without looking, they'll run a red light, etc. I just let 'em pass and hope they don't cause an accident, or, if they do, they're the ones who are injured
I agree that lane hogging is a problem all over the US, but having driven extensively here, I believe that a lot of the lane hogging is due to the fact that changing lanes is difficult because of other motorists reluctance to allow a car to change lanes. In the UK, I would most likely be allowed to change lanes safely if I put my indicator on. Bear in mind, UK cities are often equally as gridlocked and our roads are very similar to those here in the northeast. I find lane changing here 100 times more difficult as no one wants to let anyone get in front of them.
The problem with these aggressive driving habits is that they are counter-productive. Aggressive drivers drive aggressively to save time, but in reality such driving habits create bottlenecks and even accidents, so it's not only dangerous but also pointless.
Here in Massachusetts I notice a lot of stop-start driving, some of which is caused by not only traffic volumes, but poor driving skills and impatience. I also see a lot of people using mobile phones while driving or even texting.
In some ways, manual transmission is safer because having to operate a gearstick & clutch doesn't allow you to be as lazy or distracted behind the wheel.
Sorry...I just have little tolerance for dangerous driving.
I'd add that this varies dramatically by town. Wider roads might appear to make it safer but in reality it doesn't. Adding sidewalks helps a bit more because if a car hits something (curb) then it can slow it and be a tad of a deterrent.
I'm still surprised by how many don't know you can turn right on red, especially when it is a right turn only lane :-(
There are some places that frankly have not been designed well. There's a small rotary with cross walks in one town. OK so you stay to the left to go around..you have to check to your right for a merging lane, check straight because that is merging too, check the cross walk AND check your lane because it splits into right turn only, left turn or straight! Another town has a crosswalk at the end of a state route now there's no light BUT this crosswalk is further down AND there is no public lighting at night!
Also...I noticed that it's law to yield to pedestrians when they're crossing at a crosswalk. It seems that a lot of pedestrians literally dart out into oncoming traffic. At night, such crossings are very hard to see due to poor lighting. I wonder how many accidents have been caused by this?
Sorry to mention the UK again, but we have what's called zebra crossings:
Just like Massachusetts, you have to stop. However, these crossings are well lit so that you're able to see them at night + the actual pedestrians crossing.
So unless Massachusetts plans on improving the lighting at these crossings, the law actually makes it more dangerous for pedestrians by lulling them into a false sense of security that cars are going to stop, because half the time, you can't even see people crossing until the last minute.
I'd add that this varies dramatically by town. Wider roads might appear to make it safer but in reality it doesn't. Adding sidewalks helps a bit more because if a car hits something (curb) then it can slow it and be a tad of a deterrent.
I'm still surprised by how many don't know you can turn right on red, especially when it is a right turn only lane :-(
There are some places that frankly have not been designed well. There's a small rotary with cross walks in one town. OK so you stay to the left to go around..you have to check to your right for a merging lane, check straight because that is merging too, check the cross walk AND check your lane because it splits into right turn only, left turn or straight! Another town has a crosswalk at the end of a state route now there's no light BUT this crosswalk is further down AND there is no public lighting at night!
The right turn on red is potentially dangerous in itself. What if you are at a red light, for whatever reason only look left, pull out and strike a pedestrian trying to ceoss who may well have the right of way? It makes crossing the road here as a pedestrian a lot more tricky.
I agree about the lighting thing...must be to save money. I've never seen such busy roads devoid of all lighting. You'd think that it'd be common sense to install lighting in a place subject to a myriad of differing weather conditions.
Another thing I noticed...roads in New Hampshire seemed of a higher quality. Are they newer perhaps or does that state invest more in road maintenance? Even the regional roads there seemed of a very high quality.
Since I know no one would dream of doing anything the dreaded British do, maybe it's better to show a French example of what a safe motorway merging system should look like:
Long, clearly marked and safe.
Ireland too:
Almost identical to what I'm used to in Connecticut. Don't make the mistake of thinking the entire country is like ma, it's not.
The right turn on red is potentially dangerous in itself. What if you are at a red light, for whatever reason only look left, pull out and strike a pedestrian trying to ceoss who may well have the right of way? It makes crossing the road here as a pedestrian a lot more tricky.
I agree about the lighting thing...must be to save money. I've never seen such busy roads devoid of all lighting. You'd think that it'd be common sense to install lighting in a place subject to a myriad of differing weather conditions.
Another thing I noticed...roads in New Hampshire seemed of a higher quality. Are they newer perhaps or does that state invest more in road maintenance? Even the regional roads there seemed of a very high quality.
Southern NH is no more empty than much of MA, so don't want to hear it. They also have no state income or sales tax to pay for it like MA does. The difference is called good governing vs. bad governing. We are content with paying top-shelf price for an inferior product. Thank you Massachusetts voters, we get what we deserve.
I was born in MA but spent most of my life in the midwest. I find that MA drivers are very aggressive and inconsiderate compared to most other places I have lived.
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I think it stems from partly 1) we're a small area and therefore don't have the space to stretch out our roads. but more important 2) this is city driving, everybody's in a hurry, and I'll be damned if you get to where you're going before I get where I'm going, so I'll arbitrarily cut you off just for the heck of it. It's not just a MA thing. The attitude stretches down through NJ.
