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Don't put so much weight on blaming "Transplants" the one and only time someone almost caused me to have an accident here it was a local in a beat up old pick up truck that thought it would be OK to turn right into the left lane (on 521) so he could pass the truck in front of him making a right as well. They had the red, I had the green going straight and had just switched over to the left lane since I saw that the truck was making the right onto the highway and I wanted to give him room to go. The guy in the pick up truck made the right around the truck, into my lane, making me slam on my brakes. I drive a lifted 4 door white Jeep no way he missed me coming down the road. I leaned on my horn to let him know the high level of stupidity behind that move.
I do give him props for later pulling over to the right lane next to me when traffic slowed and apologizing (and the thick accent let me know he was a local).
The roads where I see people pulling in and out of and cutting people off, then not using directionals, tend to be from neighborhoods where few transplants live.
I agree that people from the NE tend to drive more aggressive, but more aggressive doesn't necessarily equate to more accident prone. You can cause an accident by merging into traffic too slow or not paying attention to your surroundings -- which I see a lot of around here.
I learned to drive in NY and drove a lot in NYC. You learn to drive very defensively and hyper aware of all the cars around you, not only focused on what you're currently doing but also looking down the road and seeing what the situation is like further down the road so you can prepare for it. I see much less of that here - regardless whether native or transplant.
I use my blinkers all the time, but it seems more often than not, turning your blinker on to indicate a lane change is just a signal for the car in the next lane to speed up and cut you off rather than let you in. I can see why so many people don't indicate a lane change!
Seriously, that's how it works in Boston, but I've seen none of that here (Raleigh). I guess I'm lucky. I put on my blinker and change lanes and haven't had a problem yet.
Garbage statistics. Take NY, for example: following the article's metric, an urban area is one with a population of more than 50,000 people. There are 14 "urban" areas in NY, that meet that criteria. Combined, those populations total 49% of NY state's population. An additional 7 million people would need to live in "urban" areas, for NY to have the 17% rural residency that your link lists. That's simply not the case.
Where are you getting your numbers? You've misinterpreted some things. Urbanized areas are not strictly cities. This is a Census measurement. More than 49% of NY's population lives in NYC or on Long Island (10 million plus).
I use my blinkers all the time, but it seems more often than not, turning your blinker on to indicate a lane change is just a signal for the car in the next lane to speed up and cut you off rather than let you in. I can see why so many people don't indicate a lane change!
Not saying this is okay, but do you mean cut you off in the lane you're currently in? If so, why does that matter to you if you're trying to switch lanes anyway?
I've said in the past that in my opinion a lot of the traffic problems (like what ani described previously) are made worse because a lot of the drivers around here are too nice (both transplants and natives). The reason people continue to drive down a lane that's about to end is because they can and they know someone will let them in, and of course as people continue to do that it continues to slow down the traffic in the lane remaining open. If people made it a little more difficult (without causing accidents of course) maybe they'd think twice about doing that. Of course some will argue there's nothing really wrong with doing that...I know my Dad was always a big fan of the "use both lanes and alternate merging" signs that some construction zones will use.
Sure, there are some aggressive drivers here, but it's nothing like in some other areas IMO. And as NJCoqui said, an aggressive driver doesn't necessarily cause more accidents. I'm going to agree that as far as accidents go it's probably more a result of cell phones, likely by an equal number of both transplants and natives.
The roads where I see people pulling in and out of and cutting people off, then not using directionals, tend to be from neighborhoods where few transplants live.
Where are you getting your numbers? You've misinterpreted some things. Urbanized areas are not strictly cities. This is a Census measurement. More than 49% of NY's population lives in NYC or on Long Island (10 million plus).
The website you quoted initially specified that they considered "urban" to be a city or pocket of 50k or more. NYS has a website that lists the population of every community in the state, by population, in descending order. There are 14 cities in NY, with pop greater than 50k. When added together the risk was just a titch under 9.5 million. Referring back to your link, they claim that only 17% of NYS is considered "rural." With literally dozens of counties having less than 200k total residents, the 17% figure doesn't add up.
I'm in Fort Mill, SC -- so maybe not in NC, but I don't think just crossing the border makes a huge difference, since I get to experience Charlotte driving to work. I take 160 every day towards 521 (Fort Mill Highway) and there are many side roads that lead into "local" neighborhoods where transplants are afraid to venture. From these roads I've seen people pulling out onto 160 no blinkers, slowing down as they pull out (instead of speeding up as they merge into 45 mph traffic) and cutting off people already on 160. Then you get the return home, no blinker, and turning left (or right with a complete stop) into their neighborhood causing the person behind them to slam on the brakes.
Sundays on our drive to church -- our church is in NE Charlotte -- pretty much the same thing as we drive down the main drag. But, I just blame that on gray hairs and Sunday drivers.
Not saying this is okay, but do you mean cut you off in the lane you're currently in? If so, why does that matter to you if you're trying to switch lanes anyway?
I've said in the past that in my opinion a lot of the traffic problems (like what ani described previously) are made worse because a lot of the drivers around here are too nice (both transplants and natives). The reason people continue to drive down a lane that's about to end is because they can and they know someone will let them in, and of course as people continue to do that it continues to slow down the traffic in the lane remaining open. If people made it a little more difficult (without causing accidents of course) maybe they'd think twice about doing that. Of course some will argue there's nothing really wrong with doing that...I know my Dad was always a big fan of the "use both lanes and alternate merging" signs that some construction zones will use.
Sure, there are some aggressive drivers here, but it's nothing like in some other areas IMO. And as NJCoqui said, an aggressive driver doesn't necessarily cause more accidents. I'm going to agree that as far as accidents go it's probably more a result of cell phones, likely by an equal number of both transplants and natives.
No, I mean if I'm in the middle lane and need to move to the right lane, and there is ample space for me to merge over, if I turn my indicator on, the car in the right lane I would be moving in front of will speed up to prevent me changing lanes and getting in front of them.
I agree that the people who speed all the way down to the end of a lane before forcing their way in can be annoying and there will always be people who think they're going to get where they need to be faster for having cut ahead 4 cars.
I've spent far too much time commuting in horrendous traffic in my life and it still amuses me when I see the drivers who constantly switch lanes, speed up, slam on their brakes, tail gate and switch again, and without fail, end up a half mile behind me in the end because they are completely oblivious to traffic flow patterns. It seems like such a stressful way to drive.
Traffic engineering will show that traffic moves faster when ALL cars occupy ALL lanes until they taper out. You're getting mad at someone for using an open lane? If you see an open lane, OCCUPY IT! Everyone should zipper in at the end. If everyone did that, ALL traffic would move faster. It does no good to cue up for two miles with an open lane to your left or right, it's silly in fact. A nice enough idea, but wrong fundamentally.
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