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Old 07-25-2014, 07:49 AM
 
3,984 posts, read 7,051,528 times
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So I'm down in Miami visiting family for a week. Love the beaches, warm weather & variety of things to do. But one thing I've noticed. You have absolutely the worst drivers I've ever seen. No signaling, driving 100 just to brake & swerve up ahead, tailgating, not putting lights on during horrendous downpours. Coming down 95 on a Friday night we must've counted around 10 accidents in a 20 mile stretch. And this coming from someone used to driving the NJ Turnpike, Cross Bronx Expressway & Belt Parkway.

And one other thing. When did the hostesses outside the Miami Beach restaurants harass you like dept. store perfume clerks to check out their menus?
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Old 07-25-2014, 08:14 AM
 
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i'm not from Miami, but I'd guess the bad drivers situation has a lot to do with the large number of out of state and international tourists who descend upon Miami. Everyone comes down, rents a car, and drives as if they're back in their homeland (either 20 MPH in Wyoming or 100 MPH on the Autobahn). I was down there a few months ago and while the traffic sucked, I didn't find the drivers to be too poor, at least compared to the worst of the worst (Naples FL and Connecticut drivers)
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Old 07-25-2014, 11:55 AM
 
1,284 posts, read 3,880,994 times
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I'm from Miami and the bad drivers are the locals and the non locals,this is the biggest mish mosh of people who have no idea how to drive.Old people,people who live here now who came from some other country where driving was even more dangerous than Miami so the stuff they do here even though crazy seems sane to them.The young drivers with the souped up cars swerving in and out of traffic,the 30 year olds that haven't gotten over their 17 year old stage of swerving their souped up car in and out of traffic.The texters,the late for work lady applying makeup while driving,the cell phone users doing everything from driving 15 mph while everyone else gets pissed or the others who can't stay in their lane.Miami as a whole is not a sane place to live in.
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Old 07-25-2014, 12:29 PM
 
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
7,375 posts, read 6,435,347 times
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"And one other thing. When did the hostesses outside the Miami Beach restaurants harass you like dept. store perfume clerks to check out their menus?"

...we have this same crap in San Diego which might have started in Tijuana....I always tell the hostesses, no thanks--I've eaten out before, know what a menu is, and know how to read one." I refer to them as street gawkers--reminds me of what they used to have on 42nd Street and 8th Avenue in Manhattan before they cleaned that area up.
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Old 07-25-2014, 01:16 PM
 
1,448 posts, read 2,877,828 times
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Miami has one of the highest car insurance rates in the country. There are constant mentions of this downside of dangerous driving among locals in this forum. I spent much of my life driving in the NYC/NJ area too, and this is much more dangerous. People in NYC/NJ follow rules, they just do so quickly and without a lot of consideration for others - when you get used to it, you can drive pretty safely. People in Miami do not follow any driving rules of any kind, and don't even care if they kill people - there's no pattern you can follow to guarantee your own safety. Also unlike the NYC metropolitan area, the worst drivers in Miami are the cops and troopers. They never have signals on, are always the fastest on the road, and are also some of the more aggressive drivers, frequently tailgating and weaving, and not using turn signals - all the things you see locals do, but faster just because they like to abuse their power. The best part of this is, I see them all the time pass right by accidents, and ignoring hotrod race driving (a popular thing among local rich kids in sports cars who think the highway is a video game) - many of them will not even stop to help, or to pull over blatant offenders. But then when they have a quota to fill at the end of the month, they'll pull over people who are 5mph above the speed limit on a poorly marked local road.

Miami roads are essentially lawless, and without common sense or concern for human life. It's too bad, it is one of the worst things about the city. Highway patrol could help make it safer for tourists and locals alike, but instead they choose to make it more dangerous simply to feed their ego. It's very frustrating, and completely unnecessary.

Enjoy the rest of your trip, and try to drive during off-peak hours in the daytime, which will help you keep a safe distance between your car and others.
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Old 07-25-2014, 01:19 PM
 
Location: SW Florida
14,827 posts, read 11,967,559 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shadowsjc View Post
i'm not from Miami, but I'd guess the bad drivers situation has a lot to do with the large number of out of state and international tourists who descend upon Miami. Everyone comes down, rents a car, and drives as if they're back in their homeland (either 20 MPH in Wyoming or 100 MPH on the Autobahn). I was down there a few months ago and while the traffic sucked, I didn't find the drivers to be too poor, at least compared to the worst of the worst (Naples FL and Connecticut drivers)
Those lousy drivers also come from south of the US border and the Caribbean as well. Quite a few of them, to put it not PC, aren't in the country legally and don't even have driver's licenses, let alone insurance.

And there aren't enough FHP troopers to work all the accidents that occur along those roads, let alone traffic enforcement- the State of Florida pays very poorly as an employer- so people generally get away with whatever they pull on the highways...

The lousy drivers in Naples, FL ARE likely to be NY visitors.
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Old 07-25-2014, 05:12 PM
 
3,984 posts, read 7,051,528 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by StarfishKey View Post
Miami has one of the highest car insurance rates in the country. There are constant mentions of this downside of dangerous driving among locals in this forum. I spent much of my life driving in the NYC/NJ area too, and this is much more dangerous. People in NYC/NJ follow rules, they just do so quickly and without a lot of consideration for others - when you get used to it, you can drive pretty safely. People in Miami do not follow any driving rules of any kind, and don't even care if they kill people - there's no pattern you can follow to guarantee your own safety. Also unlike the NYC metropolitan area, the worst drivers in Miami are the cops and troopers. They never have signals on, are always the fastest on the road, and are also some of the more aggressive drivers, frequently tailgating and weaving, and not using turn signals - all the things you see locals do, but faster just because they like to abuse their power. The best part of this is, I see them all the time pass right by accidents, and ignoring hotrod race driving (a popular thing among local rich kids in sports cars who think the highway is a video game) - many of them will not even stop to help, or to pull over blatant offenders. But then when they have a quota to fill at the end of the month, they'll pull over people who are 5mph above the speed limit on a poorly marked local road.

Miami roads are essentially lawless, and without common sense or concern for human life. It's too bad, it is one of the worst things about the city. Highway patrol could help make it safer for tourists and locals alike, but instead they choose to make it more dangerous simply to feed their ego. It's very frustrating, and completely unnecessary.

Enjoy the rest of your trip, and try to drive during off-peak hours in the daytime, which will help you keep a safe distance between your car and others.
Was driving back from Hollywood beach around 4:30 today in the right lane of the Palmetto. I let one person enter the highway and a woman in a large SUV couldn't wait (everyone's in a rush) and blows past me. I sensed idiocy and backed off. Traffic slowed and she jammed on her brakes, swerved over to the fast lane (without signaling) and took off like a rocket. It's actually kind of fun to watch...in a trainwreck kind of way.
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Old 07-25-2014, 06:19 PM
 
Location: Miami
6,853 posts, read 22,380,079 times
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My cousin was in town from Europe a few months ago, he said the same thing as the OP. He said he thought Spain had the worst drivers, but he said the drivers in Broward and Dade County have to be the worst he's experienced. Sadly I wasn't to surprised.
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Old 07-25-2014, 06:47 PM
 
Location: Miami/NYC
1,209 posts, read 2,409,784 times
Reputation: 508
I thought Boston drivers were bad. I drove in Montreal last month it was heaven compared to Miami.
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Old 07-26-2014, 02:39 AM
 
Location: Miami
253 posts, read 432,012 times
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I'll echo everything in the thread. It's remarkable how bad the drivers are in this area, especially upon return after visiting elsewhere. I have yet to see a valid comparison. Maybe around the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. That's as bad as I've experienced. Boston is a good nomination also. They drive 75 mph on the narrow shoulder and stay there mile after mile like it's a valid lane.

The prototype genius Miami driver has already been described. He's the young hot rod who can't see more than 25 feet in front of him, not in application anyway. The light can be fresh red 100 feet ahead but that won't stop him from zig zagging from lane to lane 3 more times. Then he'll wonder what happened when he's forced to stop behind a wall of traffic. He'll honk and gesture and gyrate. Then he wants the restart to be like Daytona.

As dangerous as it is, I find myself laughing. Can you imagine going through life with a mindset like that? Beyond scary.

As mentioned earlier, they may have juvenile tendencies but that doesn't align with age alone. The zig zag continues for decades if not all their lives. I can't count how many accidents I've witnessed. Then the punk will emerge from the vehicle and somehow claim the normal driver was the cause. Unfortunately the officers, some with similar style, don't always identify the true culprit. Three years ago I saw one zig zagger approproately ticketed after myself and another witness gave testimony. The zig zagger was in a state of shock, and threatened us. He assumed he would lie and get away with it, as always. Meanwhile, the officer calmly detailed that you are supposed to leave one car length distance for every 10 mph when passing. If that were enforced, Miami might have 3 drivers with a clean slate. The zig zaggers don't always allow 10 inches, let alone a full car length.

The other atrocity is turning left on red. Standard here is within 5 seconds after full red. That may not sound like much, sit and count it out sometimes. I've seen well beyond 5 seconds. You'll get bombarded with horns if you actually stop on red. The guy behind you expects 5 more cars to pass.

The geniuses who zig zag and turn late on red also have no clue toward basic geometry. When forced to stop they roar past the yellow line and don't think it matters. They predictably have no clue that the drivers trying to make a right turn from their right now can't see the flow of traffic because the zig zag car is too far out there, let alone that the drivers who eventually will turn left on lead from the perpendicular lane to their right now are forced to take a radically different angle than ideal to swoop around the zig zag car.

As I've mentioned previously, if not for the guaranteed injuries a great idea for a reality show would be to drop a few dozen Miami drivers into Hawaii and then film away. It wouldn't take an hour to fill several episodes. Hawaii drivers will stop and smile while waving you to cut in front of them.
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