East Coasters - what surprised you about moving to Oregon? (Portland: transplants, neighborhoods)

[Lunar Delta]

Originally Posted by gma221

I've found after living here for two months that just about ALL of my Oregon pet peeves are related to driving.

THIS. Literally within days of moving here from Georgia I began to notice that there was something seriously wrong with the way people drive here. I had never been in any kind of accident or had any driving incidents of any kind... until I moved to Oregon. In the two years I had been here, I have had so many near-hits, close calls, and other issue that I can't even count them.

The problem is that people here simply don't know how to drive defensively, sometimes they don't know how to drive at all, it seems. People going out of turn at 4-way stops, people turning left in front of me instead of yielding, people running red lights, people speeding in excess of 40MPH inside parking lots, failing to yield to people who have the right-of-way in general, people going extremely slow on the freeway (especially in the left lane), people going extremely slow on freeway on ramps only to brake at the end when they realize the ramp is ending and they can't get in. The list goes on and on and on. People simply do not pay the least bit of attention to what they are doing when they are driving. (This behavior is expressed everywhere they go too. I've seen more than my fair share of people power-walking their shopping carts out of/into busy aisles without even a single glance to check if anyone is in the way. They simply have no situational awareness whatsoever. Everyone is completely caught up in their own little world. Ridiculous).

It is tiring and annoying to have to constantly be hyper-vigilant and exercise extreme caution every time I just want to go to the grocery store. I never had any of these issues in Georgia. People knew how to drive properly and followed the rules of the road, as well as plain old common sense. It was only when I moved to Oregon that this kind of stuff started happening. Truly, the drivers here are among the worst I've ever seen.

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by Lunar Delta

THIS. Literally within days of moving here from Georgia I began to notice that there was something seriously wrong with the way people drive here. I had never been in any kind of accident or had any driving incidents of any kind... until I moved to Oregon. In the two years I had been here, I have had so many near-hits, close calls, and other issue that I can't even count them.

There seems to be a direct correlation between these types of issues and mass migrations of Californians. It'd be interesting to see a study.

I have noticed the issues you're talking about too. They seem to be more common in the past five years. I chalked a lot of this up to the massive amounts of road work on Highway 26, but it seems that it's spreading from there.

[Silverfall]

Originally Posted by Lunar Delta

The problem is that people here simply don't know how to drive defensively

I've been here for 20 years and I came from the Chicago area. The problem is that Oregonians have never had to learn to drive in high stress driving situations until the past decade or so as the cities grew. Natives are at a complete loss about how to drive around the more aggressive drivers that have moved to the state. There is a technique to driving in metro traffic.

[kapetrich]

Originally Posted by Silverfall

I've been here for 20 years and I came from the Chicago area. The problem is that Oregonians have never had to learn to drive in high stress driving situations until the past decade or so as the cities grew. Natives are at a complete loss about how to drive around the more aggressive drivers that have moved to the state. There is a technique to driving in metro traffic.

Exactly. Even in Bend I often scratch my head at some of the drivers and this is all while giving them the benefit of the doubt considering it's a small town......

When I travel to Portland and see the same type of stuff, I'm a little baffled......

It's all pretty entertaining until someone gets hit.

[Minervah]

They simply have no situational awareness whatsoever. Everyone is completely caught up in their own little world. Ridiculous).

I love this phrase. It's so apropo! If one more stupid woman hits me in the back of my legs with her stupid SUV baby stroller I am going to scream. And supermarkets? I just hope some people don't drive a car the way they handle a shopping cart.

[gma221]

Originally Posted by Lunar Delta

THIS. Literally within days of moving here from Georgia I began to notice that there was something seriously wrong with the way people drive here. I had never been in any kind of accident or had any driving incidents of any kind... until I moved to Oregon. In the two years I had been here, I have had so many near-hits, close calls, and other issue that I can't even count them.

Yes! I relate to everything you said. We should start a support group. Or perhaps a driving school.

I, too, have either had or witnessed more close calls than I can count -- and that's after just two months here! (For the record, I've been driving for 11 years and have never gotten a speeding ticket or been in an accident.) I would call myself an aggressive but extremely alert driver. I have a zippy little car and enjoy city traffic (or I DID... before I got here). When I first noticed how slowly everyone drives here, I thought it might be a good thing -- a sign that everyone around me was being extra cautious. NOPE!!! Just like you said, people seem to be in their own little world. Ironically, I feel that driving here requires you to be far MORE alert than in most other cities, due to the heavy bike and pedestrian traffic. Being a driver here has made me a very anxious pedestrian, and I will NEVER ride a bike on the city streets.

It's funny that you mentioned oncoming traffic making left turns in front of you. That happened to me a couple weeks ago, and I was totally baffled by it. My light was green, and not one but TWO cars in the oncoming left turning lane went right in front of me as I was entering the intersection. Apparently when drivers here don't have a red arrow to tell them to stay put, they get confused.

Another thing I've noticed is how TERRIBLE cars look in my neighborhood (NW Portland). Just about every car you see parked along the street has a beat up bumper and more than a few dents and scratches. And this is not limited to old jalopies, either. There are tons of newer and/or very expensive cars that look like total crap. Do these people not care about the resale value of their car??? I just don't get it. I don't drive a fancy car, but I happily pay $80/month to keep it OFF the street. I also keep a bumper guard in my trunk for trips that require street parking. I guess I'm just an uptight East Coaster!

[Larry Caldwell]

I think the Californians drive just fine, but if someone is blocking the fast lane or driving erratically, 90% of the time the car will have Washington plates, and the other 10% of the time they learned to drive in Washington. This is in Southern Oregon, I imagine it's worse in Portland.

What's a bumper guard, anyway?

[1208]

driving discussions are so infinitely, infinitely, boring. can we hear about something else please?

This thread was interesting at first, cultural and social differences are always worth a listen.

[angrycandy]

Originally Posted by Lunar Delta

I have had so many near-hits, close calls, and other issue that I can't even count them.

How bizarre. I moved to the east coast (Asheville, NC) from southern Oregon 7 years ago and I can say the same thing.

Western North Carolina has the worst drivers out on the road I've ever seen. It's like dodging a bullet every time I go out to drive.

Sadly, but not at all surprising, NC has the highest teenage driver death rate.

[hamellr]

Houston and Miami are both worse in my opinion.

Houston because it's usually a huge pickup truck doing 90mph and cutting you off.

Miami because the little old person behind the wheel can barely see over it, or the driver doesn't have a license at all.