Why do people drive so slowly here? (San Diego, San Jose: law, to move)

[bigdumbgod]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

Or better yet, go hit Sears Point or Laguna Seca so you don't kill me while I'm minding my own business on 280.

That would be more of a concern late at night, after the drunks race home from SF.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by bigdumbgod

That would be more of a concern late at night, after the drunks race home from SF.

The drunks don't live in Hillsborough and Atherton, silly.

Actually, the only concern late at night is deer. I've seen them grazing right next to 280 many times during rush hour and it's a bit unnerving. 280 is the only Bay Area freeway that I drive with my brights on (provided no one's in front).

[downtownnola]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

Funny, I'm from San Jose and describe Denver like this. Nobody seems to respect the "slower traffic to the right" law out here, and I read something about Denver being one of the top cities where you're likely to find people not speeding. It's rare you see people out here doing more than 5 mph over the limit, as where I was used to the 75-80 mph flow out there.

I sort of miss the speedy Bay Area drivers, if you can believe that.

Are you serious? Where in Denver are you driving? I generally drive 5 to 10mph over the speed limit on I-25 and typically get passed by at least 50% of the traffic. Where did you read that Denver is one of the top cities for people not speeding??

In my experience, people in Denver drive just as crazy as the drivers in the bay area. Must be all of the California transplants.

[pw72]

Yep, Denver drivers like to play "speed racer". No question. I recently took a trip through Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, and Kansas. The most prominent speeding plate was "CO". Not even close.

[Ludachris]

Originally Posted by downtownnola

Are you serious? Where in Denver are you driving? I generally drive 5 to 10mph over the speed limit on I-25 and typically get passed by at least 50% of the traffic. Where did you read that Denver is one of the top cities for people not speeding??

In my experience, people in Denver drive just as crazy as the drivers in the bay area. Must be all of the California transplants.

I drive from the south metro area (Lone Tree) to Lakewood, about 32 miles one way, 3 days per week. I think I get a pretty good sampling of the Denver area in that drive. Not to mention I drive down to Pueblo on occasion and notice the same thing. I didn't say there are no speeders, but I've encountered far more slow drivers who stick in the left lane than I have speeders.

The survey I mentioned was talked about on one of the local radio stations. I'm sure it can be googled.

[downtownnola]

Originally Posted by Ludachris

I drive from the south metro area (Lone Tree) to Lakewood, about 32 miles one way, 3 days per week. I think I get a pretty good sampling of the Denver area in that drive. Not to mention I drive down to Pueblo on occasion and notice the same thing. I didn't say there are no speeders, but I've encountered far more slow drivers who stick in the left lane than I have speeders.

The survey I mentioned was talked about on one of the local radio stations. I'm sure it can be googled.

Alot of it depends on what time of the day you drive, too. Of course, rush hour speeds are much lower due to traffic volume but in my experience, traffic moves at a good rate during non-peak hours.

Don't get me wrong... I see my fair share of people driving slow in the fast lane as well (I have some very unkind words for those people that I cannot probably post in this forum). This problem is not unique to the Denver area... I have seen slow drivers in the fast lane in almost every major city I've driven in.

I guess our observations are a bit different, but in my experience, people drive pretty fast around here.

[BayAreaHillbilly]

I used to drive in the slow lane but I got really freaked out having to deal with people merging in, and, moving out to exit. So I started to drive in the next lane to the left. But there, I got freaked out by the people who merge into the slow lane, can't wait to get out of it, and then change into my lane. And so on. Now, I only drive in the fast lane. But here I get really freaked out by the scraps of paper getting picked up by the wind from the median. I can't help it, I slam on the brakes when that happens, no telling what horrible things might happen if I hit a scrap of paper ...

/sarc

[cardinal2007]

Originally Posted by ragnarkar

I regularly do the speed limit on the freeways (65) and set it on cruse control and find it difficult to maintain this speed even in the fast lane with no traffic. Even in non rush hour traffic I'd be weaving around everyone like a madman at this speed and regularly find people going 5 or 10 below in the leftmost lane.

In LA, you'd be tailgated like crazy if you did the speed limit on the freeways, except maybe in the rightmost lane. Are the cops here THAT strict? I've passed by a several of them on the sidelines going 5 over with no incident (so far.) In every other metro area I've lived in, people regularly go 5+ over the speed limit (LA, Sacramento, Detroit).. what's up with slow drivers in San Jose?

I find that really hard to believe, on the 280 I regularly see people driving 80-85mph, the speed limit is 65mph. I try to drive 65mph on the 280 whenever I'm not in a rush, I usually find that's okay on the right lane, and usually have to drive on the right line, but there is always some idiot trying to go fast on the right lane. When I first moved here I was surprised how much people speed. Some people drive at 80mph on the Dumbarton Bridge, it has a speed limit of 55mph, the 280 is the worst for speeders, but I usually find people going fast on the 101 too, sometimes I want to go at 75mph on the left lane and find that traffic is going faster, I have to move over to let cars pass, I mostly drive on weekend or after 7pm on weekdays.

If you drive during busy times the road will be too packed to be moving 65, if there is another car 20 ft in front of the car in front of you on the left lane, do you really expect it to let you pass so you can take its spot? Sometimes the 2nd left lane is moving faster, sometimes it is the rightmost lane, that happens when there is a lot of traffic, I used to change lanes when that happens, but nowadays I try to stay on the same lane and just go with the flow, it is a lot less stressful that way to me.

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by cardinal2007

If you drive during busy times the road will be too packed to be moving 65, if there is another car 20 ft in front of the car in front of you on the left lane, do you really expect it to let you pass so you can take its spot? Sometimes the 2nd left lane is moving faster, sometimes it is the rightmost lane, that happens when there is a lot of traffic, I used to change lanes when that happens, but nowadays I try to stay on the same lane and just go with the flow, it is a lot less stressful that way to me.

You learn after a while which lanes move pretty well and which ones are certain doom. 101 in San Jose during rush hour is a delicate proposition, but I can get from Brokaw to Capitol in 15 minutes in the evening if I hit it right. If I'm in the wrong lane, it might be 30.

[Ohs]

I don't know why they drive so slow out here but anyone from Southern CA thinks the same thing traffic is really back a$$wards here. People are really slow, they don't use blinkers, the double merging is SCARY especially when people aren't looking out for you and think they have the right away. Usually in Socal people in the slow lane people look out for merging cars and slow down so they can get on, not speed up on purpose and nearly run you off because they don’t want you to get one up on them and be 2 seconds ahead of them like here. And people change lanes and don’t even bother looking before they do it. At least they go really slow when they do it so you can see the almost accident early enough to avoid it. I hate driving on the freeways here I am a nervous wreck having to be on the offense at all times. My only explanation is that that there are a TON of foreigners here who didn’t grow up in the USA and then the other generations learned to drive here and think it’s the norm and perfectly ok not to use a blinker or look over when changing lanes. I also go crazy with the MILLIONS of stop lights, it takes 20 minutes to get to my work which is 4 miles away. I just have to go on auto pilot and zone out so I don’t go insane waiting and waiting. Also what’d the deal with the inefficient weird carpool lanes that are on the right side of the road where people are trying to get off. I don’t think I will ever be able to except the indecencies and be comfortable with traffic in the bay area.