Is Orlando's road rage really that bad?? (Jacksonville, Deltona: work, home)

[kchula]

Hello all,

My best friend and I are moving to Orlando. We are excited being that we have planned this for over a year now. I am currently in Virginia and My BF in Jacksonville. We've done our research, and we decided for work and school reasons that Altamonte Springs is the best area for us. The random acts of crime I can deal with, its everywhere. Its all in common sense if you ask me. My worry is all this talk about traffic and road rage. Is it that bad? I mean should I carry a bat in my car just in case I decide to cut someone off and they come charging at me?( im kidding!) I am really short tempered, am I gonna be sucked into this road rage madness also?..lol. Anyway other than I4 are the back roads something of an advantage?? Can anyone help?

Thanks

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

I have to say the drivers here are pretty aggressive. Just don't become one of them, keep your distance and try to remain calm. It's really hard because you try to keep a safe distance behind someone and there will ALWAYS be someone who will jump in your small space between cars. That is one of my biggest pet peeves since I moved here.... ooops... forgot about the red light runners. Please take your time before you proceed forward on a green light. I'm serious.

[aogaeru]

Originally Posted by BeenAroundTheBlock

I have to say the drivers here are pretty aggressive. Just don't become one of them, keep your distance and try to remain calm. It's really hard because you try to keep a safe distance behind someone and there will ALWAYS be someone who will jump in your small space between cars. That is one of my biggest pet peeves since I moved here.... ooops... forgot about the red light runners. Please take your time before you proceed forward on a green light. I'm serious.

Ditto on the red-light caution!! Seriously, even if its green, look both ways before you proceed. Road rage can get insane here. Getting shot at or attacked doesnt really happen. However, if you open your windows, throw middle fingers and shout 4 lettered words at motorists regularly, I'd recomend stopping lest you run into the wrong guy at the wrong time.

That said, like the above poster said, try to stay calm. I get real angry here since everyone is Orlando is a bloody tourist even if their LOCAL! I4 can be backed up for MILES and when you finally get to the cause, you find no lane blockage, rather just a dude changing a flat OFF the road or a cop writing a ticket. Everyone has to slow down to 15mph to take a look, maybe a picture, maybe they ask for freakin autographs... I dont know WHAT or WHY, but people are always rubbernecking and that makes traffic a huge headache.

[Markcarrimason]

My husband and I lived in Orlando and currently make about 7 trips a year, traffic there can be bad if you let it get to you. Just remember to use your blinker, some calming music and maybe a yoga mat in your trunk for after driving are also good ideas lol! People in Orlando still aren't as bad as the doofs that live here in Greenville, Sc (home of the BMW Manufacturing plant). You really do have to be careful about intersections in South FL, as a member before me stated. Red lights and stop signs.... & tourists! Oi vez! Also becareful about unmarked police cars. They use impounds and soup them up. *Backroads can take just as long, if not longer, to get where you need to be. Make sure you do some test runs to work/school, I-4 and backroad, compair time and distance and frustration level :-) Overall Orlando and the surrounding area is a great place to live, don't forget to have fun!

[backtofla]

beenaroundtheblock said it the best. read and re-read everything he/she said. it is stressful driving here, and orlando and miami are the worst --- probably in the nation. my suggestion = move somewhere else other than orlando. there are much better choices out here. i think almost everyone else would agree also. if college is very important, move to gainesville or tallahassee, much better choices imo.

[THASPECIAL]

I love living here and know about the crime issues which are there but you dont feel in danger unless you are on foot in some places when it comes to crime...as for driving and road rage......i can honestly say i havent been to a worse place for road rage and rude drivers .......ive lived and driven in San Fransisco area, Nashville TN, Atlanta GA, Lousville KY, Texas, and all over Florida.......


The amount of traffic in Orlando isnt the worst but the way people drive here is the worst compared to any of those other places ive been........ive never seen as many fights or shouting matches and ive seen people pull out a gun a couple times and they just kept battling the other person and following them..........the police don't give a crap out here either....if you think they care about somone that just did a hit-n-run then you are mistaken.......i deliver pizza down in the tourist area and i lived up in Altamonte and Deltona for a while and go to downtown alot and it is terrible all over.....people are just inconsiderate in the whole area.......


yesterday i was driving to go eat at Bubba Gumps at Citywalk and there was 2 lanes and the traffic was flowing at about 40mph - 45 mph ....and there was a Sherrif about 2 or 3 car lengths ahead in the right lane....i was in the left lane behind 3 other cars ..well there was a Greyhound bus pulling out ahead of us into the median.....well he was tring to make it all the way over into my lane before the first car in the front could get there....well he did a hollywood stop in the median and cut out in front of the first guy in our lane which had to slam his brakes to avoid hitting him......and guess what?.......the frikin fat pig police officer was 2 cars behind all this and had to brake too but just let the bus continue driving recklessly.....less then a quarter mile ahead i noticed 2 cops siting in the median ....i guess they were there just playing checkers or something because they were close enough to see what happened and didnt do anything either....the guy that got cut off by the bus was honking at the bus but the cops are "too busy" writing speeding tickets for going 2 miles over the limit i guess......



well i have actually thrown a baseball bat out the window at some dudes car on my way to Clermont while on the turnpike and ive gotten out a couple times and been in 2 fights from inncedents....



the first was with some thug wanna be white boy with his gold teeth and big rims.....he kept tailgating me and traffic was cut down to one lane near Lake Mary on I-4 one day because of a wreck and this guy was tailgating me the whole frikin way and the cars in front of me werent really moving to fast either....it was stop and go.....well he would tailgate then when we stopped he pulled his car on the median and up near my back driver side door....so i got pissed cuz traffic wasnt going anywhere in front of us but this guy was blaming me for not tailgating the guy in front of me.....i was only a car length and a half behind the guy in front of me when we were moving....i wasnt trying to be rude and we werent getting anywhere anyways.....well the little thug got out of his car after about a mile of this and started walking up to my car starring me down in my rearview.....so as soon as i noticed this i was already so pissed from him being inconsiderate wanting me to ride the guys azz in front of me so i just got out because he aint gonna shoot me or threaten me without a fight.....when i got out i was alot taller than him and he kinda slowed up his walking pace then we got into it shouting at each other and he tryed to swing at me but i ended up hitting him in the face and then we got to wrestling and i noticed that someone came over and was trying to break us up so the traffic started moving again and the thug boy kept threatening me as he sped of around my passenger side onto the area where you can pull off on the side and he took that down to the exit ahead of us ...



just to give you an idea of what things are like......its every man for themself on these roads....no one is going to protect you from a hit n run artist or someone who decides to pull a gun or anything else that might threaten your life here.....im not even exadurating things.......i could write a novel on all the accidents ive seen in intersections from red light runners and all the hit n runs ive seen and been a part of....and all the times ive seen 2 cars driving wrecklessly trying to prove something to the other car

[markhunt]

Originally Posted by THASPECIAL

well i have actually thrown a baseball bat out the window at some dudes car on my way to Clermont while on the turnpike

LOL... I'm sorry, but I'm just visualizing that and laughing my *** off! LOL!

[Rhett_Butler]

Comparatively speaking, yes, Orlando road rage is bad. However, that isn't to say that you see cars exchanging gunfire on I-4 everyday. It isn't like that, but it IS worse and more common than most places.

[Matrinka]

I blame the red-light rage on how LONG you have to wait at one of them. I timed myself coming home from Apopka the other day. There was a 4 minute red-light on 436. Honestly. The lights almost triple my commuting time. Its enough to drive anyone batty.

[backtofla]

still no excuse for running red lights. this is very, very common here in orlando. like no other place i've seen. not in atlanta, charlotte, raleigh, greenville, sc or lansing michigan. it's horrible here in puertorlando.