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I've noticed that NYC drivers tend to be the slowest drivers ever on not urban roads. On urban roads, they'll fly past, but heaven forbid there's more than 50 yards where you don't have to stop, they seem baffled.
That's probably because the speed limits aren't as high as other places. Plus people tend to drive slow when they don't know where they're going, that's probably why people are seeing NY/NJ drivers "cruise" on the highway in other places. I've witnessed this first hand in Florida on I-4 when we blazed through 70 miles then slowed down for about 10 miles trying to find an exit.
I'd say NY/NJ drivers drive the fastest, on urban streets, suburban streets, highways, etc. It is not a game lol. I don't know anyone that drives slow. People drive fast but I've only witnessed maybe 3 accidents in my life, they know what they're doing.
I think NY/NJ is the Speed Demon capital. Never have I seen the pull-over lane and the grass on the side used as extra lanes, that happened last year on the NJ turnpike when we was going to Six Flags, like who does 50 in the grass lol.
Okay...you are wrong. Consider yourself corrected.
Seriously, the drivers in Raleigh/Durham are tame compared to where others are suggesting.
Houston, Miami, Atlanta, DC and Chicago come to my mind as particularly fast driving cities. Of course, these places also have ridiculous traffic. So, they only drive really fast when they aren't sitting still or crawling in rush hour traffic.
Conversely, I find California cities to be quite tame in regards to driving and speed when compared to many, many places in the East. Perhaps the PNW is also tame? This might be why you think Raleigh/Durham is "fast".
Yeah felt like the PNW, or at least from my impression from I-5 through Seattle, drivers are pretty tame.
In Southern California, particularly SD, LA, and OC, I found a mix of fast and slow drivers, and not in any particular lane either. Someone could be doing 50 in the left lane, or 100 in the right lane. Here is my impression from driving in Cali: the car in front of you is driving too slow, the car behind you is tailgaiting you, and the car in lane you're trying to merge into is driving too fast so you can't get in front of it.
Of the other cities you mentioned, the only one I've driven in is ATL, and yeah we do drive fast. The speed limit on the freeways is only 55, but everyone does 80.
Okay...you are wrong. Consider yourself corrected.
Seriously, the drivers in Raleigh/Durham are tame compared to where others are suggesting.
Houston, Miami, Atlanta, DC and Chicago come to my mind as particularly fast driving cities. Of course, these places also have ridiculous traffic. So, they only drive really fast when they aren't sitting still or crawling in rush hour traffic.
Conversely, I find California cities to be quite tame in regards to driving and speed when compared to many, many places in the East. Perhaps the PNW is also tame? This might be why you think Raleigh/Durham is "fast".
Thanks for the correction.
Actually I have driven in most major cities in the U.S., and seriously, Raleigh/Durham (atleast on the freeways) was quite fast. But, again, this was just one day, perhaps I hit a time when everyone had just visited Starbucks.
Funny, the south in general seems quite sedate on city streets, but turns up the heat on freeways. NYC is just the opposite, quite fast and agressive on city streets, but slow on the freeways (or "expressways" as they are called locally).
People in LA drive fast on the freeways, but are extremely slow on city streets. Everyone says that Bay Area drivers are slower than their LA counterparts, but my experience has been the direct opposite. The drivers up here are insane! - then again, I do live in Oakland...
I have driven extensively in every major city, here is my take.
Noticeably or excessively fast: Chicago, Atlanta, LA, Houston, Miami
Honorable mentions: Dallas, DC, Toronto, San Fran (san jose), Nashville
A little slow for a bigger metro: Minneapolis Seattle, Boston, Denver, Baltimore, Phoenix, Philly
Annoyingly slow: Austin, San Antonio, Memphis, Kansas City, St Louis, New Orleans
Worst drivers: San Antonio and Kansas City
San Antonio due to their proximity to Mexico where drivers have no idea how to drive in big USA metros. The Mexican trucks towing cars down the left lane of I-35 to Mexico are the worst, but slow drivers are always to the left etc and all the pickup trucks are just annoying.
Kansas City just has the worst drivers period and they are not from Mexico. KC is the WORST city in the country for people trying to get onto a freeway going 30-40mph. You run into that in all metros on occasion, but in KC, it's every time you get on the freeway. Very dangerous. Plus, people in KC drive very slow during commute times as though to create a rush hour problem that should not exist because it's simply slow driving that caused gridlock in KC, not volume 90% of the time.
Best drivers: Chicago and DC.
People drive stupid in all towns, but I think Chicago and DC both have the best drivers for their respective conditions and traffic. People tend to know how to merge and most are attentive enough to let others merge, they tend to use signals more often and there is "less" people totally clueless on the cell phone. They do this while managing to drive at high speeds when they can while not totally losing their minds when things are all clogged up still pretty friendly allowing merging etc.
Every city has a fair share of absolutely retarded drivers though.
I also find it true that NYC drivers are slow outside of NYC, especially the further away from the east coast they get when the speed limits hit 65-70 mph, but they drive very fast on the urban freeways and parkways around NYC when you are feet from other cars and walled in with retaining walls and sharp turns. The highways around Manhattan are a blast to drive on when it's not rush hour, it's like a video game.
New York and Miami definitely have the fastest drivers
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