DC Area: Worst Drivers in the U.S. How Come? (Reston: insurance, home)

[perries]

OP, your post made me laugh and laugh - thanks.

My mom grew up in Boston and my dad grew up in Detroit. It was family lore at our house that drivers elsewhere may be pushy, aggressive and rude, but that Boston drivers were outright crazy and therefore unpredictable, but then that goes for the roads and traffic patterns in Boston too, doesn't it? I always thought Detroit/Michigan drivers handled themselves well, but have never liked their habit of driving right next to you in the next lane, without passing or dropping back, though according to my dad this is normal practice there. As irritating and enraging as driving can be around here, for my most white knuckle driving experience I vote for 2-lane California roads with all that high speed passing with oncoming vehicles - whew.

In contrast, I learned to drive in Pittsburgh where people are pretty slow drivers, amazingly polite at 4-way stops, sure in snow, and hardly ever any 2-lane passing since the visibility is so poor (too hilly). Also you have to orient yourselves according to the position of the sun and landmarks like rivers, because the roads are winding and lack road signs - though probably gps is taking away this orienteering skill. Though tailgating on 2 lane roads, especially at night, was a constant pita there.

My biggest gripe with poor drivers is when you are in a left turn lane that is by signal (arrow) only (you can't yield to oncoming traffic with a solid green). So you ONLY have the chance to turn when you have the arrow.

ChristineVA - this drives me nuts too. And sometimes the person in the front of the line doesn't go until the light is about to turn yellow or does turn yellow - probably on the phone - so infuriating.

To add a gripe, on the beltway or toll road, whenever you leave a safe one car length between you and the person in front, somebody changes lanes into the space - rrrrr!

[Caladium]

I haven't heard about that particular survey, but I have seen these recently:

Virginia Traffic Deaths Lowest Since 1966 | Loudoun Independent

https://www.city-data.com/forum/north...ce-1966-a.html

"DC Metro" area does not mean the same thing as "Northern Virginia" so maybe all that unsafe driving tells us more about other areas. "DC Metro area" covers two states and a district (and sometimes people include parts of Delaware and West Virginia when they say "DC Metro Area.")

[Fern435]

Allstate lists safest driving cities in the United States:

Survey: Allstate lists America's safest driving cities [w/video] — Autoblog

Drivers in northern Virginia seem to be a little less aggressive/reckless than DC and Maryland drivers.

Alexandria and Arlington are near the bottom of the list too.

[AG1024]

Just to chip in my 2 cents.. coming from Delaware where the biggest *highway* is three lanes wide, the traffic (and subsequently the drivers) in Northern Virginia scare the hell out of me. In the extremely short month I have lived here; I have been cut off, tail-gated, flicked off and beeped/yelled at more than all of my driving years in Delaware combined. What I notice as the biggest eye opener is the crazy highway situation (living in Springfield we sure plopped ourselves right in the middle of the mess), with the different lanes exiting and entering and people switching lanes like their lives depend on it.. there is way too much going on. My daughter acts like she is witness to a high speed car chase anytime we get on 495, which would be the only comic relief I feel when hanging on for dear life behind the wheel!

[Badger21]

I didn't read any of the comments, I just wanted to say that Maryland has some of the worst drivers ever given the privilege of operating a motor vehicle. Carry on.

[austindoxie1972]

I think this study was flawed because it lumped the entire region into the same category as Baltimore and suburban Maryland. And we ALL know that Maryland drivers are the absolute worst. When I'm watching the news at night and hear a story about an SUV hitting a house, I don't even have to wait for the location to be announced. I already know it's in suburban Maryland.

[Fern435]

Originally Posted by austindoxie1972

I think this study was flawed because it lumped the entire region into the same category as Baltimore and suburban Maryland. And we ALL know that Maryland drivers are the absolute worst.

Not exactly. The Allstate study separates Baltimore (#192) from DC (#193--worst), Arlington (#174), and Alexandria (#177). Not sure where Montgomery and Fairfax Counties would rank if they were considered.

But it does seem like many reckless drivers in Fairfax County have Maryland license plates attached to the back.

[Beth3551]

I especially love the drivers who speed up when they see someone with a turn signal on who wants to move over into their lane. Very classy and helpful. I also love the drivers who fail to acknowledge any appreciation whatsoever when you go out of your way to let them move over. Also very classy. And apparently, the driver's ed manual here teaches people that a YIELD sign means that other people will yield for you.

As for yellow lights, sorry--I slow down. I once got a ticket for speeding up to get through a yellow light. The cop told me if I hadn't sped up, he wouldn't have stopped me. Obviously it's always a judgment call, but I err on the side of no ticket for that one.

[justtitans]

Originally Posted by austindoxie1972

I think this study was flawed because it lumped the entire region into the same category as Baltimore and suburban Maryland. And we ALL know that Maryland drivers are the absolute worst. When I'm watching the news at night and hear a story about an SUV hitting a house, I don't even have to wait for the location to be announced. I already know it's in suburban Maryland.

I disagree, given I am from Maryland, I've worked in Virginia for 2 years and I went to school in DC, I would say I have a fairly balanced perspective on driving in this area and by far bar none the worst drivers in this area are in the city of DC.

Maryland drivers tend to be very reckless and often speed over the limit, but DC drivers have no regard for human life. I've seen people in the city run dead red lights, drive into oncoming traffic just because they think where they have to go is far more important. In addition to that, I've seen DC driver cut through parking lots like they own them, become extremely impatient and hook U-turns in the middle of streets, and also cut you off with an hesitation. These weren't isolated incidents, this was typical driving in DC on a daily basis.

And don't get me wrong Virginia drivers are bad in their own right. Virginians are very passive drivers, constantly on the phone, always rubbernecking during an accident, police stop, or car break down which leads to ridiculous back ups on 95 and 66. Forget roads being fixed in Virginia, if Virginians learned to pay more attention on the road, I'm sure it would do wonders. All-in-all, this an awful area to drive though.

[oneasterisk]

I just came back from 5 awesome days in OBX (********* EARL!!). The entire time there, I noticed that OBX drivers drive at or below the legal speed limit. At first it annoyed me, and I forced myself to calm down because I'm on vacation and I've got no where to rush off to. I normally drive 5-10 over the speed limit, so I had to recalibrate my brain/right foot. Once I got over that hurdle, I enjoyed the slower pace. NC drivers did NOT hog the left lane. It was weird because hardly anyone was driving in the left lane, they would use it to pass and then get back into the right lane. It was so awesome!!! Of course on the way back, the first car I see that hogged the left lane while going the speed limit was a car with VIRGINIA plates

I do have to apologize to the Norfolk/Hampton Roads drivers though. My GPS was flaking out and gave me some late directions forcing me to take a quick turn onto the on ramp. I signaled and there was plenty of space (no honking/hi-beamed/one-finger salute) but figured I'd throw it out there. Oh and apologies for my brother-in-law who had to follow my crazy maneuvers