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What city in the world do you think has the worst drivers?
I went to Egypt and it was pretty bad throughout, but worse in Cairo.
cars speeding, pedestrians trying to get across, running red lights, ignoring lights and traffic officers, going down highways the wrong way to avoid traffic, swerving, swaying out of lane, frankly just driving into another "lane" (using the word "lane" loosely here) without any given thought to any other car that might already be occupying that same spot in the other lane, making a 3 lane road into 6, rear ending other vehicles, Front ending vehicles (just backing up directly into the car behind it), women sidesaddle on the back of a motorcycle holding infant, man on motorcycle followed by two toddlers and the wife (yes all on the same motorcycle), car playing chicken with donkey cart, not using headlights, still driving cars after they have been in a wreck (yes I saw a car on the road driving with the trunk smashed into the back seat), bus full of soccer fans waving flags while hanging out of the bus from every opening, doors windows, etc... along with 18-22 on TOP of the bus.
None of this is an exaggeration. My kids knew that if they stepped foot off the curb they were dead, and even pleaded with me not to go when we had to cross the street.
So, has anyone experienced a similar situation anywhere else in the world? Whats your worst foreign country driving story?
I have a hard time believing it but I have heard first hand from multiple people who have visited Mexico that the drivers there do not use their headlights at night because they believe that they will run the battery down if they use them...
No-holds-barred driving. Sidewalks, both in forward and reverse, are fair game. Tram tracks, 4 lanes of road are wide enough for 8 Zhigulis and a truck.
For about $10,000 Russians can also buy a special flashing blue light for the top of the vehicle which allows them *legally* to blow through traffic lights, intersections, pedestrian crossings, and do any speed on any roadway at any time of day or night.
Not to mention that most of them bought their drivers licenses with bribes and never did the driver training or the test.
Throw in a roadway coating of filthy slush on the car's headlights which obscures any illumination that they might emit.
Maniacal, irrational, incompetent, and insane drivers. Wildly dangerous.
No-holds-barred driving. Sidewalks, both in forward and reverse, are fair game. Tram tracks, 4 lanes of road are wide enough for 8 Zhigulis and a truck.
For about $10,000 Russians can also buy a special flashing blue light for the top of the vehicle which allows them *legally* to blow through traffic lights, intersections, pedestrian crossings, and do any speed on any roadway at any time of day or night.
Not to mention that most of them bought their drivers licenses with bribes and never did the driver training or the test.
Throw in a roadway coating of filthy slush on the car's headlights which obscures any illumination that they might emit.
Maniacal, irrational, incompetent, and insane drivers. Wildly dangerous.
great description.
LOL, i love the sidewalk part!
I have actually been to Russia too, but apparently I didn't notice the traffic situation. I was a teenager at the time....
India, hands down. The most frightening rides of my life.
They only turn on headlights just before the head-on impact. Honestly, they don't use headlights. And there's no lighting on the roads.
On the route to Agra, to see the Taj, it's a two-lane road. That's considered a major highway. However, one of the two lanes is often not functional due to repairs. So you get to play 'chicken' in the pitch dark. Sometimes, one of the dueling drivers will flash headlights...and then, again, sometimes not. And sometimes the drivers miss collisions by millimeters. Never again.
In this city, there is no such thing as "merging". It is dog-eat-dog, whoever has the balls to get in front, goes ahead. Timid? Polite? Eat my dust.
Do not signal your intentions, just go for it. Indicators/signals are just useless options on your car. If someone signals they want to move into your lane, do whatever it takes to block them from doing so. Even if it means coming within centimetres of their car.
Pedestrians - when the light says for you to walk, do not step onto the street right away. Give it a second or two for the predictable red-light runners to blast through the intersection. Trust the walk light, and you're dead.
Pedestrians: just jaywalk, or cross against the light. Everybody else does.
When you are stuck in traffic, use the emergency lane to drive up 90, 100 metres, and butt in in front of others. Or, use the exit lane of the highway - pretend you're getting off the highway, then at the last minute, butt in back onto the highway.
Which city am I referring to? No, not a city in India or Africa, or Asia.
Montreal.
Fantastic city, but they are completely feral when they get behind the wheels of their cars.
The French used to be the worst drivers in Europe but this has changed drastically since the implementation of much stricter rules.
Italians are so bad every time I go to Italy I convince myself that I am going to die in a car crash.
Rome has got to be one of the most dangerous cities on earth to drive. Every time I go I am shocked at tiny one way streets where drivers come at you at infernal speed the wrong way up.
I also notice that most Italian drivers seem to have a predilection for overtaking at bends on a hill ( Aosta was a really, really scary place, believe me).
I also find drivers in Mexico city a bit insane and let's not even start about India... India is like road chaos all the way.
India.
Was in a city in the western part of India. At night two truck drivers crashed, head one, because neither one wanted to move out of the way. They have these motorcycle taxisis that carry seventeen people on at once!
India.
Was in a city in the western part of India. At night two truck drivers crashed, head one, because neither one wanted to move out of the way. They have these motorcycle taxisis that carry seventeen people on at once!
Tok-Tok! That is what they call those motorcycle-car things in Egypt. It looks like a shell of a short van which is actually on top of a motorcycle or something. Apparently they are a new thing there. But I didn't see any with 17 people in it at once!
And we wonder why America is so dependent on oil! Gas consumption per person is def. lower when you have 6-10 people in one tiny car vs. a mom and two kids in a mini van.
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