Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Here in the Northeast; here is the order of bad drivers:
New Jersey drivers the worst, road raging, tailgating, next Mass, drivers who are famous for the "Mass block," next is Rhode Island just dangerous, next would be New York, mainly speeding, passing on right regardless, tailgating. CT then probably mainly tailgating. Maine & NH just good drivers.
The one state that stands out is Massachusetts. They either have a death wish or just don't care. If you are traveling on any road in that state beware of traffic turing into your lane. Assume that they will turn in ahead of you at half the distance you would assume would be safe. Even if there are no cars behind you for miles.
I was born/raised in SoCal, so driving aggressively was an innate ability.
One thing to take into consideration is laws. For example, in CA, the law is "slow vehicles stay to the right" whereas in OR, the law is "left lane for passing only". It's basically the same thing, but at the same time, it's soooo not the same thing.
I used to love driving to Vegas from LA because once you got outside of the city, people going slow in the fast lane would move over; get out of my way. In OR, for the most part, because it's a passing lane, you can just zip on by (and then get over when it's safe). It's weird going in and out of traffic in OR, but legally. In CA, you'd get pulled over for that crap, even if you're doing it safely. (disclaimer: saying "in and out of traffic" I mean, pulling into the left lane, going past the person, then safely getting back into the right lane -- I don't mean driving like a crazy person with inches to spare -- in and out driving).
It's also illegal in Texas (well, this is what I was told, and I forget if anyone mentioned it) to sit in the intersection while waiting to turn left. It's also illegal in OR to do that too, so no one but transplants sits in the middle of the intersection.
A friend commented how people in OR make 90 degree right hand turns. I told her one day, I think i realize why....in CA, where she lived for a handful of years, we have dotted lines towards the corners, so we can drive legally into the bike lane. There are not dots, it's a solid white line to the crosswalk, which means, we can't drive into the lane.
Point being, laws are different in CA than OR. So people do things differently.
As for zipper merging, I personally feel that staying in those long lines are faster and more considerate vs CA ways of waiting until the last minute to merge as no one will let the arse in who "tried to cut the line". They wait in one lane in OR. You may sit back farther, but I feel it moves faster because there is no bottleneck at the sign, and when people aren't trying to "cut in front", it just moves faster. Granted, yes, if you want to get through as fast as possible in the one-laner states, be the arse that cuts the line.
People in OR are so kind, they'll break laws, just to let you go first (stupid, but true).
Chicago drivers are crazy. Never drive the speed limit! They drive at least 10-15mph over and will cut you off. We moved to NW Indiana and it's quite the opposite. Most people drive under the speed limit and it driver my DH crazy! It's as if they have nowhere to be so drive as slow as they can.
Everyone knows Chicago doesn't have speed limits...except for late at night in the far north of LSD. The speed limit is the flow of traffic. If that means 100 on the Ike at 3:00am...so be it. You'll return crawling at 5mph.
Besides, if the car in front of you is doing 85, then you need to do 85 or everyone will pull in front of you if there's more then a car length or two in front of you. Basically it's like playing *******.
Not crazy, just common sense.
What I can't stand here in San Jose is how many drivers will brake for some reason that only they know. There's a ton of drivers that do this when coming upon a stoplight they have a green light. It's the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen.
Not all drivers are bad in the area though. I really applaud the State's legislation to allow them to self-identify by driving a Prius.
I found that EVERY new 4-cylinder sedan vehicles on rental lots I've tried (doesn't matter what brand) can get up to 55-60 MPG on highway at 45 mph max speed flat highway driving.
Here in the Northeast; here is the order of bad drivers:
New Jersey drivers the worst, road raging, tailgating, next Mass, drivers who are famous for the "Mass block," next is Rhode Island just dangerous, next would be New York, mainly speeding, passing on right regardless, tailgating. CT then probably mainly tailgating. Maine & NH just good drivers.
I'm writing this from my girlfriend's place in West Hartford. At least in this part of Connecticut, it's a blend of the worst of Boston and NYC. They're every bit as aggressive as Boston but they use the horn like a New Yorker. In Boston, using the horn is a sign of weakness since you're acknowledging that you actually see that other car. Near as I can tell, Connecticut ran out of money so there are no police on the roads. All Connecticut drivers know this so traffic laws are 100% optional. Traffic lights seem to be pretty much optional.
As for zipper merging, I personally feel that staying in those long lines are faster and more considerate vs CA ways of waiting until the last minute to merge as no one will let the arse in who "tried to cut the line".
In Boston, when two lanes merge into one, everyone gets right on the bumper of the car ahead of them. They don't turn their head and make eye contact with the car next to them. Doing that is a sign of weakness and you then have to yield to that other car.
It's also illegal in Texas (well, this is what I was told, and I forget if anyone mentioned it) to sit in the intersection while waiting to turn left. It's also illegal in OR to do that too, so no one but transplants sits in the middle of the intersection.
I've confirmed through multiple sources that this is legal in Texas, at least they say there's no law on the books that says you can't pull up before turning left. Ditto for California. Some places might have laws that say you can't pull up if the street you're turning onto is completely jammed because you'll be stuck in the intersection when the light turns red. (that might have been California).
As for forming a single line instead of zipper merging, the feds or maybe some state i think did a study a while back and concluded zipper merging is faster if traffic is stop and go while moving into a single file is faster if traffic is flowing fairly freely. It's too hard to explain in words here but there are youtube videos explaining the mechanics of why.
Can I drive 55 mph in rural Texas with 85 mph speed limit?
In OK, if you have a farm tag, you can poke along at any speed you like. A farmer could put a lawn mower engine and set of wheels on a commode, and he would not get a ticket. I imagine it's the same in Texas.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
