reuters: mpls/stp city with 5th rudest drivers (St. Cloud, Cleveland: live in, dangerous)

[whoopsie goldburg]

this blows me away....

New York drivers named most aggressive, angry in U.S. | U.S. | Reuters


they don't have a LIST, per se, but by my counting, they put MSP as 5th, behind atlanta, detroit, dallas/ft worth, and NYC.

thats pretty high on the list! its surprising to me because my impression of twin cities drivers has been the exact opposite: curtious and considerate at all costs.

[Ghengis]

Hey! That's COMPLETE B.S. Reuters! We are the NICEST, most considerate and mild tempered drivers in the whole G..D..., F...ing World!

Well, I think Reuters is in the bottom 5 news organizations in the HISTORY of Mankind! I'd only put the 'al Qaeda Gazette' and the 'Telegraph Agency of The Soviet Union' below them and that's on a slow news day!

Ha! not such a BIG man now are you Reuters! Huh?! Are YOU!

* * * * * * (I'm flashing my brights at you) * * * * * *

[Cruz Azul Guy]

I hate Minnesota drivers. Once people quit being passive/aggressive and learn how to merge we might be able to get off that list.

[MPLSCleveland]

Slig, you are absolutely right. I despise MN drivers myself. The difference between MSP and the other cities (I have lived in ATL and DFW) is the fact that drivers there are very aggressive (you have to be). Here in MSP, most of the drivers are passive-aggressive (like they are with a lot of things). Not to mention, they can not merge or stay in their lane driving down the interstate.

[whoopsie goldburg]

i'm surprised LA wasn't in the top 5

[Cruz Azul Guy]

Originally Posted by whoopsie goldburg

i'm surprised LA wasn't in the top 5

LA has bad traffic but at least people will let you merge there. I found people's driving there to be a night/day comparison to the Twin Cities, and in a favorable way.

[WannaBeinBoston]

MSP drivers are horrible. Slig and MPLSCleveland couldn't be more accurate in their description.

[cdubs3201]

Here's what I hate most about MN drivers: They ride in the far left passing lane and go 10 mph under the limit. On several occassions I've been flipped off by soccer moms for passing them on the right. But it's not like I had a choice, they were riding the left lane!!

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Slig

I hate Minnesota drivers. Once people quit being passive/aggressive and learn how to merge we might be able to get off that list.

I thought the article was not that far off. People here really have gotten rammy in the last 5 years. Lot of pent up frustration that shows people have not fully learned to deal with increased congestion. Places like LA have had congestion for years and by now have figured out that being rammy and overly aggressive make it worse. I seem to recall in the early 80's there were a lot more issues in LA and the somewhat infamous shooting spree that went on for awhile with road rage.

One part of the problem is that our roads are very lacking in design and capacity. Our Interstate loop is a cobbled up mess of old highways to a certian degree. There are many places where there just is not enough space to merge properley and this causes people to react in different ways. Some people have faith that a spot will open and accelerate as such. Other people are afraid and they do really bad things like stopping completely on a merge. This is the worst possible reaction. Projects are helping like the unweave the weave (694 an 35E) and the crosstown/35w project. Other major problems still exist and will likely take a very long time to fix. Micro merge lanes on Highway 100, Stop light at 494 and 169, Highway 10 and 694 commons. At this point there is no way DOT can deny that we need 3 lanes each way on every major highway in the metro. This would include 494/694 loop all the way around. Highway 100, 169, 36 and 10 at a minium and probably 52/3, 110 and 61. 94 needs 3 lanes each way to at least St. Cloud. 394 to 94 is yet another major cobble job that is flat out dangerous in heavy traffic.

I have driven in a lot of other metros. One that has me impressed a great deal recently is Phoenix. For a long time they were lacking, but they have been building super slap everywhere in the last few years and it really helps. LA has mega infrastructure with good design, but just a case where there are so many drivers it is hard to believe more capacity will help. Seattle can be tough, but they have similar issues we do with water and natural barriers.

I have seen some real insanity in Atlanta. I was "taught" a tactic there that still makes me shiver. It was reffered to as the "fake and bake". Wheel jerk to make somebody in the other lane think you are coming over, which causes them to break and a spot to open up where you can merge into. Scary stuff.

[10,000Lakes]

I was surprised by this. We live in the San Diego area right now and everytime we go back to MN for a visit my husband and I always comment on how stress free it is compared to CA drivers. This is our experience.