Driving in Charlotte (Cornelius, Speed: buy, living in, law)

[monicat]

No, I don't that is the problem. Maybe because Nascar is close some people feel they are race driver.After all is so close!!!

[Megax]

Originally Posted by amploud

A forum search will yield several threads expressing similar frustrations. Of course, you can search just about any City Data forum and find complaints about crazy drivers in every town in the USA.

I agree that it isn't confined to Charlotte. So what solutions/ideas do people suggest to try and combat some of these?
Some places, in the U.S. or abroad, might not have all of these problems, so what are they doing that we could learn from?

Originally Posted by Native_Son

Yeah, the morons get to me sometimes too.

I've found that living close to my office prevents most of my frustrations though. My ~10 minute round-trip commute does wonders for my blood pressure.

But I still wish I had some 50-caliber side-mounted cannons on my car to take out the following:

1) Lane weasels. You guys suck. Seriously.
2) Non-signalers. Tell us where you're going already. If you have any f****** clue yourself.
3) Left-lane slowpokes. The left lane is for passing only. Not for you to camp out at 55 MPH, I don't care what the speed limit is, move your ass to the right lane.
4) Driving and texting. You might as well be blindfolded... and then shot.
5) Random brakers. Why are you applying the brakes? You're doing it wrong.
6) Tailgaters. I see you. And if you hit me from behind I'm going to beat you. in traffic.

7) Yellow light. It means slow down, not accelerate.
8) Tossing cigarettes. Typically with a "I Love my Country" bumper sticker....the irony.

All 8 have a commonality.....can anyone figure-out what it is?

[etacarinae]

The pinnacle of complacency and self serving arrogance!!!

[susan42]

People that just weave from one lane to another depending on which lane they can use to get past people.Then they are in the right lane overtaking and suddenly cut across 3 lanes to go up the ramp, like the NCDOT have moved the ramp a mile overnight and they weren't expecting it to be there!
Doesn't really matter if folks are from in state or outta state-it's still all dangerous driving.
I think that people put the cruise control on and point the car in the right direction.They don't want to have to brake as CC comes off so they just treat it like a go kart track.
I don't find the volume of traffic too bad mostly.

[susan42]

Originally Posted by Megax

I agree that it isn't confined to Charlotte. So what solutions/ideas do people suggest to try and combat some of these?
Some places, in the U.S. or abroad, might not have all of these problems, so what are they doing that we could learn from?


7) Yellow light. It means slow down, not accelerate.
8) Tossing cigarettes. Typically with a "I Love my Country" bumper sticker....the irony.

All 8 have a commonality.....can anyone figure-out what it is?

Well in UK it is illegal to undertake ie overtake someone in the slow lane if they are in the fast lane, doesn't matter how slow they are going.
It is also illegal to use cell phones whilst driving.(unless hands free)
People still tailgate, but it's rarer here.I think generally people drive faster (unless there is a speed camera!) but people don't weave .Our roads are much busier than NC, we still get crawlers and indecisive non signallers.

[lumbollo]

Originally Posted by Megax

... So what solutions/ideas do people suggest to try and combat some of these? .....

To answer this question it comes down to this about traffic combat:

First,

• You can't control the actions of the other driver. No matter how much you get mad, scream, have fits of road rage, stick your tongue out, give the finger, etc. you can't control how they will drive. Offensive driver probably doesn't even know you are mad and upset at them.
• A lot of people have a hard time with the above. They think: "If everyone drives like I do, the roadways in NC would be perfect." or "Everyone drove much better at the place I moved from, they are stupid here." (unless from S. Fla.) They don't understand why people drive like they do in Charlotte and want to make bad drivers into good drivers with their most burning thoughts. i.e. "I just have to make them understand and regret their failure at good driving..."
• This kind of telepathy doesn't usually work. Your options for this are to be made dictator like Kim Jung Il, or be willing to turn your car into 2 ton weapon or pull a gun. Unfortunately these solutions have lots of issues and don't fix problem.
• The only thing you can control are your reactions to the other driver.
• You can choose revenge, a poison you make for others but drink yourself, or choose to forget it and move on. If you choose the latter, you will end up having a better day. I would bet good money that drinking poison won't make for a pleasant afternoon.

So if you accept the above, and some won't, then the solution is simple. Set the example, don't pass judgement, realize there is nothing to win except a safe trip to your destination.

• Don't be in a hurry. If by some unforeseen thing you are, just accept the fact that you could be late at no fault of anyone else. Slow driver, driver that caused you to miss light, school bus, girl jumping up and down in bikini on side of road slowing traffic, etc, did not cause you to be late.
• Be a good driver yourself. Use your signals, if you are stuck in traffic and need to get over, roll down window and ask. You will be surprised at how well this works. Much better than forcing yourself over. Acknowledge someone doing you a favor like letting you in.
• Don't tailgate. Simple advice and one that has a number of great benefits. Don't use it to try and force people out of your way or make them go faster. Tailgating pisses people off and could turn you into road warrior like Mel Gibson from the movie.
• Don't use phone, put on makeup, feed the family, read the paper, use the laptop, txt someone, shave, get dressed, solve love issues with partner, slap and yell at the kids, try to eat chicken wings, etc. while driving. You can't be a decent driver while participating in these activities.
• Your best bet is to drive in the right lane and follow the speed limit as close as possible. Some will think this must be advice coming from a clueless alien in space, but it really does have a big big effect on removing you from the traffic combat situations. Despite this alien consideration, a lot of people do this very thing on the roads. These are the people you don't notice.

In other words, advice from the old hippy days is appropriate concerning traffic combat: Make Love, Not War. I know, it doesn't seem like the American way any more, but it really does work. One more time, the good drivers are the ones you don't notice. It works both ways. Think about it. It took me 25 years of driving to figure this out. Now that I don't try to get one up on the traffic laws and other drivers, I don't really care much what other drivers do and it makes for a lot better driving experience.

I apologise for sounding like preaching to everyone. I'm really trying to explain how it works for me. "you" is used in bad grammar general sense.

[ClevelandMike]

Originally Posted by monicat

I have to be honest and admit that I come from the Suburbs in NY and not NYC. However I find that the people in Charlotte, UNC area to be more exact are terrible drivers. Most people speed and they never look when changing lanes or backing up the car. Mallard Creek Church road is a race track 24/7. Another road that makes me think twice before driving is Wt Harris Boulevard. Does anybody else feel like me?

Once again were talking about our infamous UC Area and it habitants. Simply put, it's a jungle out there! I would quote Dorothy from OZ, but
some say it's some type of coded language. Your'e from NY where everything is apparently better so, Drive more aggressive and take them out!

[bs13690]

People who throw cigarette butts out the window should be caned with a bamboo rod.

[Collective]

Coming from Mexico City I notice two things. 1) In the city, Charlotte and the US in general are definitely easier to drive than any Latin American city. 2) In the highways, it is quite the opposite. People seem to drive at the same speeds in any lane. You can find ppl going very slow in the left lane and others using the right lane to pass. Truck drivers are kamikaze!

I suppose it's because highways are now part of the cities instead of connecting roads. They are treated like city roads instead of... well... interstate highways.

[Megax]

Originally Posted by lumbollo

I apologise for sounding like preaching to everyone. I'm really trying to explain how it works for me. "you" is used in bad grammar general sense.

Lumbollo, I was thinking more in the sense of is there something that could be done to change the culture of the violators on a macro level, not by taking matters into our own hands - self control is great, but only when everyone is on-board. It's simply not fair that those who abide by the rules, to be treated the same as those who don't - that's where the aggravation/road rage comes from.

I really feel like many of the problems are habitual - someone once ran a red light, was scared of the consequences, but there were no consequences, so they became less scared on the next occasion - and a habit forms.

I would agree with Susan that European driving laws are more strictly enforced - the actual rules aren't that different, but they are enforced.

If a traffic cop sat at Harris & Tryon and gave a ticket to everyone who ran that light, they'd have to pull a UHaul just to carry the tickets. People then get into the issue of "we can't have police resources tied-up in stupid stuff when they should be out doing something more important".
I don't disagree - but I'm just answering the Q of how to reduce traffic violations. Allocation of police resources are another matter. How does the UK manage, for instance? Are there less murderers to chase?

Traffic cameras - horrible things - but they serve a purpose. It's not the fault of the speed camera that it didn't work in Mecklenburg Co, it was the admin side of things that screwed it up. If you don't wish to tie-up police resources then they are very good at what they are designed to do. Again, I'm just trying to provide solutions. If it's the Big Brother aspect that people fear, then that's fine - but then you don't get to complain about traffic violations when there are legitimate solutions available.

Driving test - I was back at the DMV in under 90 seconds when I took my 'exam'. That maybe an extreme situation, I don't know - but I promise you that my driving skills certainly weren't assessed. Talk about setting the bar low. Again, is it resources issue? The police operate the DMV - police are expensive - could someone else not carry-out the function of giving road tests that didn't necessarily have to have all the other training and expertise that a police officer has? Probably.