When did drivers become.... nice? (Los Angeles, Sacramento: taxi, living in, mall)

[PDF]

Originally Posted by thebordella

This might not be a popular opinion but people who think LA drivers are rude and aggressive really need to travel more. Maybe they are aggressive by chill west coast standards, but LA drivers and their spacey nonchalance would get them rammed into a pulp in at least several east coast cities. And that's just the U.S.

I don't know. I've only been to DC and NY as far as major East coast cities go, but I've never had a problem with aggressive drivers until I moved here. Maybe drivers in the northeast are just more used to pedestrians, and LA drivers are very impatient?

[thebordella]

In my experience here, most bad behavior from LA drivers is not because they are hostile, it is because they aren't paying attention. Distracted driving is a problem everywhere but Angelenos really take it to a new level. People are just in their own little worlds.

My theory is that people from here don't actually know how to drive. They know how to get in the car and push the gas and hit the brake, but they don't know how to drive. Which means actually driving and not texting/talking/eating/playing words with friends/touching up mascara. I once saw a guy here eating a bowl of cereal while driving. With a spoon!

I would humbly submit that if an LA driver were visiting Boston, and took his or her relaxed time to hit the gas when the light turns green like they do here, they would be murdered and their body already buried before the light even changes back to red.

[iNviNciBL3]

Originally Posted by thebordella

This might not be a popular opinion but people who think LA drivers are rude and aggressive really need to travel more. Maybe they are aggressive by chill west coast standards, but LA drivers and their spacey nonchalance would get them rammed into a pulp in at least several east coast cities. And that's just the U.S.

East Coast drivers are just dumb, they will pull of crazy unnecessary moves just to get only 1 car ahead of you in traffic.

They'll even zoom ahead of you on surface streets only to slam on the breaks to take a left turn.
basically going out of their way to disrupt the flow of traffic. but i guess if you live in such a stressful environment you'd probably develop some bad driving habits.

Los Angeles is far more laid back than North Eastern cities, and you can tell by the driving habits.
not as much road rage, not as much aggressive drivers, etc...
Its crazy driving in such a huge city and the people arent driving like such a-holes.

[disgruntled la native]

Originally Posted by thebordella

This might not be a popular opinion but people who think LA drivers are rude and aggressive really need to travel more. Maybe they are aggressive by chill west coast standards, but LA drivers and their spacey nonchalance would get them rammed into a pulp in at least several east coast cities. And that's just the U.S.

Totally. I've experienced the same. And I agree LA drivers tend to be spacy and distracted, but not angry.

Exception being cab drivers. If I see one trying to pull into a cross walk I just let them have the right of way no matter what. Don't wanna risk getting killed just so they can get to a fare 10 seconds faster.

[thebordella]

Few if any areas of LA have the pedestrian density of the urban cores of NYC and DC. In those cities, there is enough 'pedestrian bandwidth' that they become their own stream of traffic, which drivers have become accustomed to accommodating.

But that dynamic ends -- abruptly -- once you get outside the urban cores of those cities. Go into mid-density areas around those cities (which are much more like LA), or outright suburban areas, and you will find drivers aggressively owning the road to a degree that makes LA drivers look sleepy.

I walk a lot here and have not had many problems, even using crosswalks across busy streets. But there are a higher proportion of clueless people here who just aren't paying attention, and so I must pay extra attention.

PS. These aren't really complaints, just observations. I'll take spacey and distracted over raging a-hole any day.

Originally Posted by PDF

I don't know. I've only been to DC and NY as far as major East coast cities go, but I've never had a problem with aggressive drivers until I moved here. Maybe drivers in the northeast are just more used to pedestrians, and LA drivers are very impatient?

[ccm123]

I have been in the LA area (Marina del Rey, Arcadia, West LA & Pasadena) this entire week and believe that the drivers have even gotten more aggressive and impatient than when I last lived here several years ago. The congestion has gotten worse also. I drove from Pasadena to Marina Del Rey (midday) via I-10 and it was an hour and 10 minutes. The I-10 around MidCity is very congested, even at 11:00 AM on a weekday.

[Bunjee]

Originally Posted by thebordella

But that dynamic ends -- abruptly -- once you get outside the urban cores of those cities. Go into mid-density areas around those cities (which are much more like LA), or outright suburban areas, and you will find drivers aggressively owning the road to a degree that makes LA drivers look sleepy.

I agree from my experience too. In Queens, not a hyper-urban area like in Manhattan, you've gotta be far more wary as a pedestrian than I ever experienced in L.A. People are going fast too, and doing a lot of lane switching. So if a car has stopped for you, you still gotta watch out for someone hauling out from behind him. Or at green lights when the pedestrian has the walk sign but a driver's in motion--FAST--to turn right. I've almost been hit on many occasions. I suppose experiences differ, but those are mine anyway.

[Praline]

Originally Posted by thebordella

In my experience here, most bad behavior from LA drivers is not because they are hostile, it is because they aren't paying attention. Distracted driving is a problem everywhere but Angelenos really take it to a new level. People are just in their own little worlds.

My theory is that people from here don't actually know how to drive. They know how to get in the car and push the gas and hit the brake, but they don't know how to drive. Which means actually driving and not texting/talking/eating/playing words with friends/touching up mascara. I once saw a guy here eating a bowl of cereal while driving. With a spoon!

I would humbly submit that if an LA driver were visiting Boston, and took his or her relaxed time to hit the gas when the light turns green like they do here, they would be murdered and their body already buried before the light even changes back to red.

I agree, however, I live in Glendale ("Home of the Hit and Run") and I wonder how some of these people got a drivers license in the first place. Every other driver is on their cell, will never signal, and will cut you off.

[Count David]

In my experience, LA drivers are, uh, professional. Crazy, but they get the job done.

Oregon has the best drivers on the planet, no joke. They part like the Red Sea when you're coming up behind them at 5 over. Now, if they could just do something about the traffic in PDX....

[Exitus Acta Probat]

Originally Posted by timtemtym

Or maybe enough freeway shootings changed behavior.

I believe this is the case. Back when I first began driving on a regular basis in 1991, drivers seemed to be far more aggressive than they are today. It really is a world of difference in my opinion compared to what it was back then -- I could go on and on with stories such as trying to merge into traffic from an on-ramp into the slow lane at 50 mph and getting the high beam treatment although I was merely 5 mph below the speed limit and the freeway had 4 other lanes to choose from, and so on. These days people are probably more so afraid of road-ragers who will follow you home and shoot you, beat your head in with a tire iron, etc. for showing unwarranted aggression.