Maryland drivers more agressive? (Arlington: high school, gated, live)

[VRE332]

I just wanted to express my opinion about Maryland drivers especially in Montgomery, and PG counties. Seems like they are constantly driving on my ass in the slow lane and passing me on the right.

[claude henry smoot]

Ha - you sound like me when I'm on I-270. It seems like an inordinate number of MD people pass on the right. When I'm on I-95 in VA and I see a car pass on the right, I'm never surprised to see a MD plate (which it is 75% of the time).

Of course, if everyone would drive right and pass left, people trying to pass on the right wouldn't even have that option. We need better signage and more education to fix these issues. I've never met anyone who had more (initial) driver's education than I did, and I just did the typical course offered through my high school. I thought nothing of it at the time, but I'm always surprised to meet people who had NO driver's education. My HS program consisted of:

One semester in the classroom
2 weeks on the range/road

Range:
- Emergency steering (quickly dodge left or right based on instructor's last second instructions)
- Emergency braking
- Off-road recovery (drop 2 wheels off pavement and recover without overcorrecting)
- Parallel parking
- Wet skid pad (instructor guides you into a skid - you have to recover)

Road:
- Drove during late PM rush (sun was down)
- Hit local drawbridges, tunnels, and interstates
- Spent time on downtown one-way streets

My results since then? No accidents, no tickets. Driver's Ed may seem like a waste of time in many highschooler's busy schedules, but if you wrap your car around a tree at age 18, then those AP courses are not going to help a whole lot.

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by VRE332

I just wanted to express my opinion about Maryland drivers especially in Montgomery, and PG counties. Seems like they are constantly driving on my ass in the slow lane and passing me on the right.

I've seen lots of Virginians do the same, so what does that prove?

[The Dissenter]

Originally Posted by dkf747

I've seen lots of Virginians do the same, so what does that prove?

agreed. on the beltway, i see more MDers fly by but VAans do it too.

[PrISM]

Move to the right then. I don't understand why people insist on traveling slow in the far left lane.

[Flamingo13]

I don't want to be bashed, but why do so many MD drivers (as well as OH) (I just honestly see this much more w/MD and OH plates, oh, MI also - think they NEED to be in the left lane, even if the exit is coming up soon and they then zip across all lanes of traffic?

[dkf747]

Originally Posted by Flamingo13

I don't want to be bashed, but why do so many MD drivers (as well as OH) (I just honestly see this much more w/MD and OH plates, oh, MI also - think they NEED to be in the left lane, even if the exit is coming up soon and they then zip across all lanes of traffic?

I have MD tags, and am from MI and I don't do that. Again, lots of Virginians do it too. Why not ask this in the MD forum?

[convergent]

I don't know about the drivers, but the Maryland police are more agressive. The very first time I ever drove into Maryland (a LONG time ago) I got a ticket. I was heading around the beltway and popped over a hill and there were state police everywhere giving out tickets. I never saw the car with radar. Over the years I learned to drive more safely in Maryland.

[quiet walker]

Originally Posted by convergent

I don't know about the drivers, but the Maryland police are more agressive. The very first time I ever drove into Maryland (a LONG time ago) I got a ticket...

I note you said a _long_ time ago. I've lived in Silver Spring and Arlington and worked near the American Legion bridge. In my opinion neither state's drivers are different from the other. They're both just as bad. And as for a long time, it has been at least a decade, if not more since I saw a police vehicle on the beltway. I remember an incident like convergent described. Back in the 80's I was on 495 on my way to Bowie for Thanksgiving with the family. Was in the right hand lane, going 75+mph, getting tailgated mercilessly, while traffic blasted by on the left like I was going backwards. We came over a hill and there were about a dozen state police cars and they were pulling cars over and writing tickets as fast as they could. While 99.9% of the rest of the traffic flew by unimpeded. I believe the police now avoid the jam packed road altogether. Enforcement is pointless and just causes more danger.

my 2c

[dkf747]

I still see them out there, just not often.