A (non) Idiots Guide To Driving In Miami (Hialeah, Palmetto: rental, luxury)

[santiago33]

Originally Posted by WINTERFRONT

^^^ compared to world standards Miami is a walk in the park; we are talking America wise.

I remember being in Argentina during rush hour in a little black Fiat taxi. We are on a 4 lane road traffic decided that another lane can fit in there. I am talking about actual straight roadway, not where two roads are merging together or anything like that.

Originally Posted by rogerbacon

I've got one:
When you are on a lane that has another lane merge into it people who are alrready merged will often cut out into the merge lane and zoom up to the last merge point and then cut back into their original lane. All this just to get a few cars ahead.

The sad truth is if everyone slowed down a little bit and left 1 or 2 car spaces in front of them, the traffic would flow like normal. Instead everyone is slamming their brakes every 2 seconds, mashing the accelerator the next fighting for the inch in front of them. Talking about merge lanes, many people don't understand those. They seem to think the lane that is merging in his the right of way (despite being presented with a yeild sign).

Talking about Argentina driving, a Dominican friend says driving in D.R. is very bad.... maybe it's not an "illegal immigrant" thing but an "immigrant" thing in general? Many people from Latin America here in Miami sometimes it feels like you are in another country... like when stuck on S.W. 8th St. westbound right east of 826 in rush hour. Look around everything is in Spanish ... even the large Banco Popular building.

[Nolefan34]

Originally Posted by Coconut1

Come on over here and drive in midtown Manhattan or head down south towards the North Carolina/Southern Virginia area and then we'll talk. It's like a Sunday drive in Miami compared to them.

Midtown Manhattan is bad. But North Carolina/Southern Virginia? Is that a joke?

I will say this. Miami is the worst city to drive in period. Midtown Manhattan might be the single worst subsection of America due to the taxi's, but NYC in general is not as dangerous as Miami. NYC has worse traffic due to higher volume of cars and very old roads/expressways. But Miami has the worst/most aggressive drivers. You will see acts of driving here that you wouldn't see on tv.

[Nolefan34]

Common problems with Miami drivers:

1. Texting and driving- I see this more and more, mainly amongst women. Texting and driving= suicide. YOU WILL HAVE AN ACCIDENT IF YOU TEXT AND DRIVE! What don't you ppl. get about that? They say that talking on a cell phone while driving increases your risk of accident by 2-3X, but texting and driving increases your risk 50X!

2. Grooming while driving- I saw a girl in her 20's putting on her eye-liner while looking in the beauty mirror while driving 70mph in the left lane on 95 the other day. I've also seen men shaving using an electric razor from time to time.

3. Left lane hogs- Idiots who drive slow in the left lane of 95 for miles causing traffic to get backed up and forcing aggressive drivers to pass in the right lane cutting off others. New Flash: The left lane is for PASSING ONLY! You should've learned that in driver's ed. Oh wait, most drives in Miami have never taken driver's ed.

4. No turn signals: This is about 95% of us. Even I am guilty of this. But I am afraid to use turn signals because the other driver's might think I'm a tourist and might shoot me.

5. Using 4-Way Emergency Hazard Lights when raining- I never understood this. We get a light drizzle and suddenly people turn on their hazard lights. You are only supposed to do this in torrential downpours. Not for routine showers.

6. Treating driving like a game of *******: Weaving in and out of multiple lanes, cutting off other cars inches from their bumpers.

[Nolefan34]

Oh yeah, and watch out for cars with a Jesus fish on the rear. For some reason, these drivers are particularly bad. I guess they think they have Jesus on their side so they can do whatever they want.

[Schrodinger's Kittens]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

Common problems with Miami drivers:

5. Using 4-Way Emergency Hazard Lights when raining- I never understood this. We get a light drizzle and suddenly people turn on their hazard lights. You are only supposed to do this in torrential downpours. Not for routine showers.

Um, no. Hazard lights are only supposed to be used when you are stopped. No other time.

Other than that one mistake, you're totally right. LOL at the Jesus fish--I always thought that about people with any form of "baby on board" sticker. Instead of on the back of the car, it should be on the steering wheel to remind the driver.

[Nolefan34]

Shroedingers-

Do you live in Florida? You are actually supposed to put your emergency hazard lights on in heavy torrential downpours when there is zero visibility. THis happens often in the summer months in Florida. It is a safety thing to prevent someone from rear-ending you who doesn't see you. My issue was that people turn them on during routine rainstorms when you should be able to see the car in front of you fine.

And yes, anytime I see a car with a Jesus fish I immediately switch lanes to get away from them. Almost every time, without fail, they suddenly switch lanes without looking or cut someone off. They feel they are entitled to own the roadways because Jesus is behind them or something.

[Schrodinger's Kittens]

Yes, I live in Miami. Have been here too long and will be out of here after I finish grad school. And no, you're still not supposed to use hazards any time you're in motion.

FHP - Stop! Flashing lights while you're driving is illegal (http://www.flhsmv.gov/fhp/misc/News/Related/2006/FHPnews071106s.htm - broken link)

Although it's a common misperception. I grew up in Colorado and people would turn their flashers on when driving in heavy snow. The state patrol would cite people if they caught them.

[Coconut1]

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

Midtown Manhattan is bad. But North Carolina/Southern Virginia? Is that a joke?

I will say this. Miami is the worst city to drive in period. Midtown Manhattan might be the single worst subsection of America due to the taxi's, but NYC in general is not as dangerous as Miami. NYC has worse traffic due to higher volume of cars and very old roads/expressways. But Miami has the worst/most aggressive drivers. You will see acts of driving here that you wouldn't see on tv.

There's plenty acts of aggression in both places, NY and NC/VA. NY is a more finger swinging, hands in the air aggression and then they zoom off.

NC/VA is a "I'm going to follow you home and introduce you to my shot gun" type of aggression. They're nuts there.

Originally Posted by Nolefan34

Common problems with Miami drivers:

1. Texting and driving- I see this more and more, mainly amongst women. Texting and driving= suicide. YOU WILL HAVE AN ACCIDENT IF YOU TEXT AND DRIVE! What don't you ppl. get about that? They say that talking on a cell phone while driving increases your risk of accident by 2-3X, but texting and driving increases your risk 50X!

This is really bad in NC/VA. Not as much texting as talking, but I often see texting.

2. Grooming while driving- I saw a girl in her 20's putting on her eye-liner while looking in the beauty mirror while driving 70mph in the left lane on 95 the other day. I've also seen men shaving using an electric razor from time to time.

They don't really groom in NC/VA so they get a plus one for that.

Haven't noticed this problem in NY.

3. Left lane hogs- Idiots who drive slow in the left lane of 95 for miles causing traffic to get backed up and forcing aggressive drivers to pass in the right lane cutting off others. New Flash: The left lane is for PASSING ONLY! You should've learned that in driver's ed. Oh wait, most drives in Miami have never taken driver's ed.

This is a VERY bad problem in NC/VA. Not so much in NY. In VA, many highways only have two lanes in each direction. You have your slow drivers in the right, and then somebody in the left that thinks it's their right to slow down traffic. They're so stupid there they just don't understand that the passing lane is for just that, passing, not riding in it.

4. No turn signals: This is about 95% of us. Even I am guilty of this. But I am afraid to use turn signals because the other driver's might think I'm a tourist and might shoot me.

They'll use them in NC/VA, but only after they're already in the turn lane. They haven't comprehended the part that the turn signal notifies drivers where you are going BEFORE you do it. There's no sense in turning on the signal when you're already in the turn lane waiting to go.

5. Using 4-Way Emergency Hazard Lights when raining- I never understood this. We get a light drizzle and suddenly people turn on their hazard lights. You are only supposed to do this in torrential downpours. Not for routine showers.

They do this a lot in Newport News, VA, especially along a road called Jefferson Ave. Never understood the connection between rain and hazard lights

6. Treating driving like a game of *******: Weaving in and out of multiple lanes, cutting off other cars inches from their bumpers.

This happens a quite a bit in NY.

[Nolefan34]

Coconut>

Sorry, but Southern VA/NC doesn't stack up to Miami with aggressive drivers. Miami is the worst. You see things on the roads here on a daily basis that you almost never see anywhere else in FL or other states. Also, the roads here are outdated and very clogged up. Hit-and-runs are common and people will drive backwards on the interstate if they miss the exit. I saw a guy the other day drive sideways and jump the embankment to make the exit. The Expressways here are virtually lawless. At least half of the drivers are constantly playing a game of ******* trying to weave in and out of cars to get one car ahead. Nobody uses their turn signals either, and they change lanes inches from your bumper. People ride right on your tail and force you off the road. Again, this is not a few people. This is just how people drive here.

When you drive further north into Broward County, the drivers get much much better, yet Broward is still one of the worst areas in the country. When you drive into Palm Beach County, the drivers are mostly more conservative with a few idiots. And Palm Beach County is far worse than any counties further north, where people drive like old fogies.

I often drive out of South FL and the further north you go the more conservative the drivers. Then once you get out of FL, the drivers are very passive and drive slow.

[Your.Decision]

Nolefan: some of these Miami apologists are clearly delusional, but you hit the nail on the head with your post(s). I do not known of any other city in America that suffers from as much lawlessness and lunacy as Miami does. NY cannot be compared because it's a huge city; a city that at least you have mass transit and a city where most of the aggressive drivers are the cabbies