We Are Not the Worst Drivers (Chicago, Nashville: construction, to live in, legal)

[ImaloneJill]

Worst drivers in America by state

Not by a long shot. But, the midwest states were among the safest, scoring higher. None, however have a city the size and population of Chicago.

[linicx]

I've driven in LA, SD, Dallas, KC, Atlanta, Albuquerque, Amarillo, Palm Springs, Phoenix, St. Louis. NOLA, Tulsa, OKC, Nashville, coast to coast several times, Florida, Canada and Mexico. Most of the drivers in these placess would not survive a week in Chicago traffic. I learned the easy way: Monday morning on the Outer Drive at 7am. I've never forgotten the lessons.

I'll put my money on a seasoned Chicago driver any day. LA is piece of cake.

[Lookout Kid]

The hardest lesson I had to learn when moving here was how to change lanes in bumper-to-bumper traffic. You can sit there with your blinker on all day, and no one is likely to let you in. So you either have to wait for a gap to appear, or you can use this maneuver:

Gently commit the front corner of your car to the lane change, wait to see if the car behind you reacts and lets you in, and then pull in to the next lane. If they don't see you or instead try to close the gap, you have to pull back quickly into your lane to avoid an accident. It's "cutting someone off politely", if that makes sense. Sometimes it takes a few nudges before someone will make the space for you. And of course, the blinker signals your intentions. I hate people that don't use blinkers for lane changes.

[ccjarider]

It's all relative. I spend several weeks/year in China. Chicago is a piece of cake!!

[04JETTA]

^^ what he said

[Steve-o]

In the USA, I still think Chicago-area drivers are amongst the WORST Ive ever encountered. Not only are the drivers around here fast, but they dont signal, cut you off like its going out of style, ride your butt, and jab on the cell phone all doggone day. I LOVE leaving IL to travel, other states (especially IA, MO, OK, NM, TX, etc) have drivers that, you know, actually OBEY THE LAW. Screw Illinois drivers, theyre the worst!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[paulap70]

I don't necessarily think it's the drivers' fault - I think the road conditions and the construction season bear part of the blame. I drive I-88 from Iowa to Chicago a few times a year and the thing that drives me nuts is the way people drive on the interstate. I have never seen so many drivers that just "hang out" in the left lane. But, I think people have been conditioned to do do this because the right lane is historically been full of potholes. As for the construction - why do they block off like 20-30 miles at a time when they can only work on a much smaller area? That is the other thing that drives me nuts.

[ChicagoBurbs]

IL drivers are fast. There is a difference between going recklessly fast and being such a good driver that you are able to skillfully go fast. IL is the second option.

[linicx]

A*seasoned Chicago driver knows how and when to safely merge into rush hour traffic. A seasoned Chicago driver who moves quickly is far safer than the idiot dirver who merges into 65mph traffic at 45mph and expects to live. He thinks he was right of way because smart drivers merge into another lane to avoid him.

Driving on I-80 is not representative of the driving habits of Chicago residents. Neither is 1-44, !-40, I -10 or I-5 representative of driving habits in those states. You need to live in these towns to learn how many drivers actually know anything about driving let alone surviving in big city traffic. Most of them wouldn't survive in OKC traffic.

[mdand3boys]

I have driven extensively around the country, in almost every big city. I even lived in downtown Chicago for almost 2 years. I found New York City drivers were more predictable than Chicago drivers and as such, would rather drive in NYC!
However, I live in Hawaii now and know that despite the ranking of 7th, Hawaii drivers should rank even further towards the worst. Drivers here will slam on their brakes on a 2 lane road to wave someone out from a side road, despite having 10 cars behind them! Yikes. The bad driving stories go on and on. A tourist that is drinking while driving with a BAC at .08 doesn't scare me - a local with a BAC of .25+ does and they are everywhere, at any time of day. Seatbelt use has to be the lowest in the free world. It is legal to have passengers in the back of your pickup truck. I could go on for hours!