DC Area: Worst Drivers in the U.S. How Come? (colleges, gated)

[saganista]

Originally Posted by scott0482

honestly, if you drive like a complete arrogant prick in DC.. it works..

No, it doesn't work. Assuming that you do not cause an accident through all your generally pricky behavior, you will get to where you are going at the same time you would have otherwise. You will only have driven your blood pressure up. As well as that of a few others, I would surmise.

Originally Posted by scott0482

...there are enough of them already, that people already expect them.. and you can't go to the trouble to get mad and honk every time someone cuts you off, because you would have an aneurysm...

The question is more toward why you would feel this physically-expressed need to visit wrath of some sort upon people simply for having cut ahead of you in traffic. The next poster is as likely to call local drivers mean and inconsiderate because they insist on sitting for 30 seconds at a spot ten feet ahead of where they would have spent those same 30 seconds after letting a driver needing to change lanes in ahead of them. Driving is not a time-trial. There is no big stopwatch in the sky keeping track of how long it takes you personally to get from Point-A to Point-B each day. Everybody out on the road with you is in the same unfortunate bowl of soup as you. You will all get along better and more safely if you cooperate and are considerate of each others needs. Be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. You can do it...

[mysticaltyger]

Every city forum on CD has threads about how the worst drivers live in that particular city. I wish people would stop saying this stuff.

[ICS67]

Originally Posted by saganista

Just a reminder than on another day in a different forum, someone else has been complaining about some other idiot loose on the roads, and that idiot has been you.

Drive like you've been here before. Know enough to expect the unexpected. Understand that it is a certainty that other drivers will make what you will see as mistakes, and try to be alert enough to avoid making what others will see as mistakes yourself. Is that so hard?

Good advice in your second paragraph, and I do in fact try to drive defensively and expect the unexpected. I don't have enough hubris to say that in all my years of driving I've never made a mistake. The difference, I guess, is that when I drive I pay attention to the road full-time and never, ever use a cellphone (unlike the driver in the example I mentioned).

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Every city forum on CD has threads about how the worst drivers live in that particular city. I wish people would stop saying this stuff.

Yeah, but around here we can back it up with studies.

(see the original post #1)

[Teebyrd86]

Originally Posted by scott0482

2. people driving slow in the left lane. (i am very close to putting a sign on my windshield written in reverse that says "move over -->" and other sign in my rear window that says "slower traffic keep right" that flashes violently every time i pass someone on the right..

So what is slow to you? I drive in the left lane and go THE SPEED LIMIT and sometimes a tad above but yet people still tail gate me. Is the speed limit too slow?

[xantia10000]

Originally Posted by Teebyrd86

So what is slow to you? I drive in the left lane and go THE SPEED LIMIT and sometimes a tad above but yet people still tail gate me. Is the speed limit too slow?

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a considerate, situationally-aware driver, please use the left lane FOR PASSING ONLY. If you like to drive the speed limit, please do so. But not in the passing lane. This is one point that I cannot understand - why so many of us (in VA and all over the U.S.) don't seem to practice. Didn't you learn that in driving school that left lane is for passing only? Even if you didn't, doesn't it make sense to move to the right to let faster traffic by?

The analogy I like to use is: if you're walking down the sidewalk at a 'reasonable' pace and someone from behind is running quickly (perhaps safely, perhaps not), do you stick your arms out on either side to prevent the runner from getting by? No... so don't do this with your car - even if you know that the person in the left lane is exceeding the speed limit. It's not your job to be the police. It is your responsibility to be courteous.

Thanks.

[Joke Insurance]

Originally Posted by mysticaltyger

Every city forum on CD has threads about how the worst drivers live in that particular city. I wish people would stop saying this stuff.

Check out the link that the OP posted.

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by xantia10000

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a considerate, situationally-aware driver, please use the left lane FOR PASSING ONLY. If you like to drive the speed limit, please do so. But not in the passing lane. This is one point that I cannot understand - why so many of us (in VA and all over the U.S.) don't seem to practice. Didn't you learn that in driving school that left lane is for passing only? Even if you didn't, doesn't it make sense to move to the right to let faster traffic by?

The analogy I like to use is: if you're walking down the sidewalk at a 'reasonable' pace and someone from behind is running quickly (perhaps safely, perhaps not), do you stick your arms out on either side to prevent the runner from getting by? No... so don't do this with your car - even if you know that the person in the left lane is exceeding the speed limit. It's not your job to be the police. It is your responsibility to be courteous.

Thanks.

When I was coming back from Nags Head, I noticed that the folks with NC plates were very cognizant in moving over as I was driving in the fast lane. Of course the first car that hogged the left lane was, you guessed it VA plates...

[Teebyrd86]

Originally Posted by xantia10000

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a considerate, situationally-aware driver, please use the left lane FOR PASSING ONLY. If you like to drive the speed limit, please do so. But not in the passing lane. This is one point that I cannot understand - why so many of us (in VA and all over the U.S.) don't seem to practice. Didn't you learn that in driving school that left lane is for passing only? Even if you didn't, doesn't it make sense to move to the right to let faster traffic by?.

Didnt you learn in driving school to abide traffic laws and not put others in danger? I use the left lane to avoid folks that are going slow (well under the speed limit) in the right lane and to avoid the tractor and trailors that use the middle lane. You are probably just like the guy that passed me today (while I was driving the speed limit) in a single lane road by useing the turning lane to the left. I dont understand why people like to drive so fast and put others safety in danger, we have speed limits in place for a reason maybe you should try being a considerate-situationally-aware driver.

[oneasterisk]

Originally Posted by Teebyrd86

Didnt you learn in driving school to abide traffic laws and not put others in danger? I use the left lane to avoid folks that are going slow (well under the speed limit) in the right lane and to avoid the tractor and trailors that use the middle lane. You are probably just like the guy that passed me today (while I was driving the speed limit) in a single lane road by useing the turning lane to the left. I dont understand why people like to drive so fast and put others safety in danger, we have speed limits in place for a reason maybe you should try being a considerate-situationally-aware driver.

Oh please, you mean to tell me you've never broken any traffic laws? Get off your high horse

If you're throwing accusations blindly, you're probably that guy I had to pass on the turning lane because you had your turn signal on for the last five miles