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I find here in Durham that I was in for a shock how people would actually stop when I was walking in the parking lot or on the street and let me walk. This was virtually non-existent in NJ. They also tend to let me over and I don't have to 'bogart' out into the intersection and squeeze in (all the time hoping I made it and breathing a sigh of relief when I did). This is one of the things that made me very nervous about driving when I first started driving there. Dh was more experienced and he was a pro at it. Others have had the opposite experience.
Definitely a big difference here is heavy cell phone usage while driving. It's pretty sad when you see people doing stupid things and you drive up and sure enough, 9 times out of 10, they're running their mouths on the phone.
I also second the lack of signaling. Maybe the silver lining to this one is that you're more mindful not to tailgate.
I have lived in the Northeast (NYC and Jersey), and in Atlanta. Here in the triangle, people are nice, they let people in, they do not try to cut everyone off, they allow you to merge, etc. This is not like most major cities where everyone is out for themselves only. I know there are exceptions to what I have stated, but I would actually submit most of the exceptions are probably new to the area and are used to screwing people over...after a bit of time in the area they learn manors...something the south is famous for.
I have lived in the Northeast (NYC and Jersey), and in Atlanta. Here in the triangle, people are nice, they let people in, they do not try to cut everyone off, they allow you to merge, etc. This is not like most major cities where everyone is out for themselves only. I know there are exceptions to what I have stated, but I would actually submit most of the exceptions are probably new to the area and are used to screwing people over...after a bit of time in the area they learn manors...something the south is famous for.
This is very heartening. The majority of posts seem generally positive, with some aggravating exceptions in habits that seem bearable (e.g. lack of signaling). I'm looking forward to the culture shock of living where (most) people have manners and are a bit more relaxed!
This is really valuable to know -- thanks for the observation.
On another note, and to all who might read this, how considerate are the drivers towards pedestrians? (I mean to refer to non-jaywalkers)
The only time I really WANT to hit a pedestrian is when I see some poor jogger, running in the rain. I think he must be really unhappy to have fled his home, his wife and his small kids, in order to run in the rain. I think he must be way too obsessed with his running and I think that if I were to hit him with my car, it would end his misery.
I think most drivers here are pretty good. I'd say it's 75% good, polite drivers and 25% jerky drivers. I rarely have a problem with tailgaters on local roads, but people can be fairly viscious on 40. Most people will move over and let you merge if they can, I frequently see drivers who have the right of way gesture a left turner to go first on a busy road. I see people leaving space for others to pull out of parking lots when there is a line of cars stopped. I see people slow down or stop for pedestrians and bikers.
It is true that a lot of people here don't use turn signals. I guess I'm just used to it and have adapted my own driving style to that expectation, but I can definitely see how if you drive with the expectation that others will signal, you will be frustrated.
Wow, I guess the perspective on driving here really is based on where you come from.
I find driving here to be very aggressive: a yellow light seems to be a command to accelerate and run the red light; when I enter a yellow intersection, I'm amazed that three cars follow me!
And the speeding -- oh my! Shortly after I arrived here, the N&O ran a four-part series on driving in NC, and quoted a recent transplant from California a saying, "In NC, speed limits are regarded as suggestions."
I came here from Corvallis, OR -- a small western town where, like everywhere in the PacNW, people are a lot more laid back, speed limits are more or less obeyed, and the fines for breaking the law are not trivial.
Been here 3 and 1/2 months. I think drivers, on the whole, are much more courteous here than in New England. On the other hand, I echo Mrs. Steele's comment about the lack of using turn signals - directional must have been optional when people here purchased their cars!
I'd say people here are more timid about changing lanes than people in LA were. Here, they want several car lengths to open up between you and the car in front of you before they'll get in the lane. In LA, if someone left you enough room that it was physically possible to squeeze your car in between theirs and the one if front of theirs, that was considered "letting you in", and you'd better get the hell over or they'd close the gap.
Also, beware that it is not common knowledge around here that an intersection where the traffic lights aren't working becomes a four way stop. And the few people who do realize that aren't paying good enough attention when they come up to the intersection to know it's their turn. So half the people sit there timidly awaiting for all traffic to stop for several beats before they go, while the other half flies right through the intersection without stopping. This situation can be really scary.
I despise 4 way stops. Not so much because I see people flying through the intersection but mainly because I think most of us are so courteous that we do sit and wait for the other person to go. Then, we all go at the same time! I always think the 4 way stop is an accident prone intersection!
For the time that I was in the Raleigh Area (2 weeks total) for work, I' found that the traffic/people are MUCH more civilized then here in Atlanta. Washington D.C. is the worst I've seen, then comes Atlanta as far as rude/dangerous drivers.
Take it from someone who commutes between the two... Baltimore beats DC.
The few times that I drove around the Triangle (between Raleigh, Chapel Hill, and Durham, actually), drivers were as polite as those around where I grew up (Hampton Roads, VA). I'm looking forward to that again.
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