What is with drivers here? (Chicago: rent, living, moving) - Illinois (IL) - City-Data Forum

permamigrant · 06-09-2013, 02:44 PM

I've searched the forum and haven't found nearly as many posts as I would have thought. Maybe my sample set is skewed by suburban drivers on my reverse commute down the Stevenson, but there doesn't seem to be any difference when driving in the city.

As I see it, people here drive like people do in NYC, except they try to do so at highway speeds. Ridiculously inadequate spacing on the highways and overly aggressive lane switching. The merging onto the highways has to be the worst - no matter how traffic is, go to the very last car you can pass and squeeze in front of them.

Naturally, this means the left lane (with the most aggressive drivers) will spontaneously come to a full stop in heavy traffic, while the center and right lanes will continue moving unabated. Of course, living here under a month, I got rear-ended by a guy because of that very situation. He tried to switch lanes and couldn't, so he couldn't stop in time.

I myself am a fairly aggressive driver. Most of my driving has been in the Philly/NJ/NY/Boston regions, so I am accustomed to... disreputable traffic. But I have never seen anything as reckless as the Chicagoland area. Unsurprisingly, I have never seen as many crashed cars on the side of the road, either.

I thought after moving here, I could get a new motorcycle, as my wife wouldn't let me ride one in NYC. This has to be the last place I would ever ride a motorcycle.

nj21 · 06-09-2013, 03:02 PM

Really?! Coming from the NJ area I think that drivers in Chicago are a lot slower than NYC drivers..

I just want to add that you may feel that way because it's an unfamiliar city..? I'm not too comfortable driving downtown - but all around the city I find drivers to me much more relaxed.

Ace Rothstein · 06-09-2013, 04:51 PM

Try driving in Miami sometime.

permamigrant · 06-09-2013, 06:02 PM

Let me addend my opinion of city driving - I meant something like 90/94 as it goes through the city, so maybe that's not a fair statement. On local roads, it's better than NYC. And don't get me wrong, Jersey drivers have nearly wrecked me several times. But it's not the speed that bothers me here.

I have never once thought to myself, "hmmm, maybe I should go visit Miami."

Lorielicious · 06-09-2013, 06:37 PM

When I opened this thread I thought it was going to be lamenting how slow everyone drives. Too fast? And I've never encountered aggressive driving here at all, let alone more aggressive than the drivers in Philly, NY and Boston. What Chicago is this?

marothisu · 06-09-2013, 06:38 PM

I encountered fast drivers once (I don't own a car - but rent when I need to) and it was on the freeway where everyone drives fast. However, I have encountered worse drivers elsewhere. Boston, NYC, Los Angeles, Honolulu etc all have worse drivers IMO.

RH3Flatlander · 06-09-2013, 06:57 PM

People here do drive like absolute morons. There's a difference between aggressive driving, and just stupid plain careless driving. Most drivers in Chicago have absolutely no feel for what proper spacing should be on the highway.

The thing that really pisses me off about Chicago drivers is the complete unwillingness to signal while changing lanes. Why would I want to let the dozens of cars behind me know that I am going to spontaneously change lanes at the very last moment while I'm already driving 30 mph over the speed limit. I seriously think some people are just too stupid to drive on the highways in this city.

It's also why Gabe Klein is going to reduce speed limits throughout the city. If people would just slow the hell down when driving through congested areas, accidents would drop tremendously.

Lucky Clover · 06-09-2013, 08:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ace Rothstein

Try driving in Miami sometime.

Yeah, the slowest drivers ever. That **** is the worst. They have minimum speed limits there which baffles me.

I personally don't drive here since I don't need to, but I actually think it would be fun to drive here with the aggressive and speedy nature of drivers. That fits my style of driving. Back in Houston, there's too much of a mix of driving, but the freeway system is much more extensive there. You had your good and bad drivers. There doesn't seem to be too many people who are driving too slow.

marothisu · 06-09-2013, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tawfiqmp

Yeah, the slowest drivers ever. That **** is the worst. They have minimum speed limits there which baffles me.

I personally don't drive here since I don't need to, but I actually think it would be fun to drive here with the aggressive and speedy nature of drivers. That fits my style of driving. Back in Houston, there's too much of a mix of driving, but the freeway system is much more extensive there. You had your good and bad drivers. There doesn't seem to be too many people who are driving too slow.

You should drive in Honolulu, haha. Much more aggressive IMO. Nobody is going to let you into a lane unless you just go for it and people will cut you off like 20 feet infront of you on the freeway.

Lucky Clover · 06-09-2013, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marothisu

You should drive in Honolulu, haha. Much more aggressive IMO. Nobody is going to let you into a lane unless you just go for it and people will cut you off like 20 feet infront of you on the freeway.

Ha. That'd be a challenge.