Tucson has horrible drivers! (Benson, Oracle: dangerous, statistics, safe)

[tom4416]

Originally Posted by Mike_Slammer

Tucson traffic and Tuscon drivers are both vastly superior to what we have here in the Washington DC area -- trust me.

I would like to second this and invite anyone who thinks Tucson is a traffic mess to spend just one week in DC - you will never complain about Tucson traffic or drivers again!

[Jimrob1]

I'm sure the fact that Tucson is so transient, has an impact on the type of drivers in town. Though Tucson drivers are much better than in many parts of this country. If anything is not so great in Tucson in regards to driving. Then I would say it is the poor condition and disrepair, of many of the streets and roadways. I found it strange with the lack of winter, snow, ice, all that comes with winter weather, that Tucson has such bad roads. That and the lack of some type of expressway/fwy to get across town.

[jdcnosse]

Originally Posted by Jimrob1

I'm sure the fact that Tucson is so transient, has an impact on the type of drivers in town. Though Tucson drivers are much better than in many parts of this country. If anything is not so great in Tucson in regards to driving. Then I would say it is the poor condition and disrepair, of many of the streets and roadways. I found it strange with the lack of winter, snow, ice, all that comes with winter weather, that Tucson has such bad roads. That and the lack of some type of expressway/fwy to get across town.

That is probably due to the explosion in the population awhile back and the city didn't really plan anything...

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk now Free

[5150aries]

I am a Cali. native, lived in Tempe/Mesa before Tucson, and YES! AGREED! The drivers here are BAD! From Tucson all the way through Marana and Picture Rocks! My bf got ran off the road by a woman in a white car, I have been on trips where we just missed side swipes, and lately, ALOT of people act like they are trying to get you to hit them! wtf! Worst drivers I have ever been around, period.
And people, please hang up the damn phone and just drive, nothing you have to say is worth risking your life, or someone elses over, if it's that important, pull over and talk. Alot of drivers that are driving carelessly are on their phones, I see it attached to your ear when I look over to try and see a visual as to why you are driving like an idiot, think of that phone being replaced with a life support system because that call just couldn't wait?

[sickofIL]

The same goes with texting, putting on makeup, shaving, reading books and the newspaper and I am sure there are more that i haven't thought of.

I think in general, everywhere, drivers are getting worse. But it is being made worse because you don't need to really know how to drive anymore. It used to be that you needed to learn how to drive in slippery weather but now you have ABS-traction control-active stability control and things like that. I think it is so ridiculous that so many people have all wheel drive (here in the snow belt) and still end up in the ditch.

Look what is advertised for 2014 now. Now you have available (in some cars) automatic accident avoidance. They advertise this by showing a mother with kids looking at something on the side of the road instead of what is in front of them and this new system keeps them from rear ending the car in front of them.

This doesn't even account for the people that shouldn't be driving in the first place. It takes virtually nothing to get a license now so is it really so surprising that there are so many bad drivers?

[LordBalfor]

Originally Posted by sickofIL

The same goes with texting, putting on makeup, shaving, reading books and the newspaper and I am sure there are more that i haven't thought of.

I think in general, everywhere, drivers are getting worse. But it is being made worse because you don't need to really know how to drive anymore. It used to be that you needed to learn how to drive in slippery weather but now you have ABS-traction control-active stability control and things like that. I think it is so ridiculous that so many people have all wheel drive (here in the snow belt) and still end up in the ditch.

Look what is advertised for 2014 now. Now you have available (in some cars) automatic accident avoidance. They advertise this by showing a mother with kids looking at something on the side of the road instead of what is in front of them and this new system keeps them from rear ending the car in front of them.

This doesn't even account for the people that shouldn't be driving in the first place. It takes virtually nothing to get a license now so is it really so surprising that there are so many bad drivers?

Nissan has already announced it be selling a completely automated car by 2020. That's not a real surprise since the Google Car has already driven 10's of thousands of miles (freeway & city) with no human intervention in places like Los Angeles and Phoenix. We saw it driving once in Scottsdale AZ.

Nissan Sets Goal of Introducing First Self-Driving Cars by 2020 - Bloomberg


Self-Driving Car Test: Steve Mahan - YouTube

Nevada has already set license requirements for such driverless vehicles and other states will soon follow.

As the Google Car has shown, the technology is already there, it's just a matter of the cost coming down a bit and the public getting used to the idea - hence the slow but steady introduction of features like auto-parking, cruise control that not only keeps your speed steady but also keeps you in your lane and slows you down if you come up on a slower vehicle (some models even have cruise control for stop and go traffic), auto-braking, and "two car look ahead", etc, etc, etc, that are ALREADY available on new cars. All of that is to allow car makers to gradually introduce the technology and allow owners/drivers to psychologically prepare themselves for driverless vehicles.

Ken

[jertheber]

I'd have to agree, the apparent lack of patrol officers on the AZ highways is an open invitation to morons who already believe the law doesn't apply to them. Spent time last winter in the green Valley area, wanted to get out to photograph the beauty of the desert but most days were spoiled by the idiots who seem to be in abundance in AZ.

I thought that maybe the straight highways coupled with a lax law enforcement could give rise to boredom and hurrying, but then decided it was just habit. I've seen this same kind of "I own the road" mentality in farm country where the roads are also straight and the law enforcement nil in most areas. Mu own town is bad but the horrendous speeding I witnessed in AZ was obviously the norm for morons.

[OnryOne]

Agreed! I've driven in NY, Conn, DC, Chicago, and have never seen anything like the driving I've seen here. I sold my small car and bought a Suburban (couldn't find an Excursion) just for safety.

[Marcy1210]

Coming from a very rural Colorado mountain town, Tucson drivers are pretty darn good. We had dirt roads, two lane roads, no street lights, lots of nocturnal wildlife (deer, raccoons, coyotes, etc) to dodge, pick-up and Suburban/Yukon Denali/F-350's and other road hogs, along with people who thought a two lane road with no center line was really a one-way road. I sold my Escalade and bought a Chevy Traverse when I moved here because the smaller car does better on the crowded and congested Tucson roads with no snow or traction issues.

[LordBalfor]

It doesn't matter what opinions people have here that Tucson has terrible drivers, the statistics say otherwise. Back in August Alllstate ranked the nations' cities by accident rates, and Tucson faired REALLY WELL. It was the 20th safest city overall and #1 for it's size in regards to how safe you are likely to be driving there. According to the report, drivers in Tucson are 12.4% less likely to have an accident than folks in the nation overall, and generally go 11.4 years betwen collisions. Considering that Allstates' business is calculating risk and they are pretty successful at their business, I'd say their report outweighs EVERYONES' mere subjective opinion here.

Where are the Safest Driving Cities in America? The Ninth Annual "Allstate America's Best Drivers Report®" Reveals New Results - Auto - News, Videos, Photos, Press Releases | Allstate Insurance Newsroom

So, it's doesn't matter what people may think or say here, it's pretty apparent that Tucsons' drivers are some of the best in the nation. If you think otherwise, it's pretty apparent that you've not been around much.

Ken