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Weather plays a small part...
But Lots of folks natives or non-natives (who can tell) that have no concept of braking distance, they don't use turn signals (who cares because the police aren't there) and they cut in front of folks at the last minute. They ride slowly in the far left lane and cause people to pass on the right instead of the left. Lots of this stuff going on in our roads. On a dry road this is dangerous, on a slick road it just gets worse.
This is magnified especially between 7am-9am and 4-6pm when there are more cars on the road. The huge issue is infrastructure related- public transit stinks and are roads are crowded we are at about 150% capacity. So obnoxious behaviors become a bigger risks.
I think most non natives are mindful of pitfalls even oil build up...I didn't think you capture all outsiders as they deal with black ice and as a precaution lots of folks change their tires to fit the seasons.
Those two things are worse in Northern CA than SD so I don't think it's that bad there, especially the left lane.
I don't they are the mindful of oil buildup at first, probably after living here for a while they would be.
Location: San Diego CA>Tijuana, BC>San Antonio, TX
6,498 posts, read 7,525,332 times
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I don't think SD drivers are bad, I just wish people would slow down when it rains. There is no need to drive 75-80 MPH in Monday's weather for example.
The 5 and the 15 leaving SD to Riverside County and LA/OC are areas where I notice people cruise in the left lane, it usually means I am passing up traffic on the right lane if I need to get by.
I don't think SD drivers are bad, I just wish people would slow down when it rains. There is no need to drive 75-80 MPH in Monday's weather for example.
The 5 and the 15 leaving SD to Riverside County and LA/OC are areas where I notice people cruise in the left lane, it usually means I am passing up traffic on the right lane if I need to get by.
I can't figure if folks here are better or worse than most, but I think the lack of patrol makes folks a little more daring/stupid and sometimes selfish behavior on the road.
I can't figure if folks here are better or worse than most, but I think the lack of patrol makes folks a little more daring/stupid and sometimes selfish behavior on the road.
I can go weeks not seeing a patrol car.
I agree that Police presence is very weak in SD. Its not right. It's downright concerning.
I too can't sometimes figure out if drivers here are better or worse than others cities. I will tell you that there are a lot more of them here.
A large majority of the drivers traveling through SD County on the freeways are from LA(going back and forth to Mexico).
Anyone that lives here, needs to go to South Florida sometime and drive to really see bad drivers. Nobody uses their turn signals, you have a mix of illegals with no drivers licenses or insurance, people from various Caribbean countries that don't know how to drive period, Senior Citizens, hot headed New Yorkers, Cocky Rich People driving luxury cars and etc., between Oct and April it's full of Snowbirds so it's even worse. Sitting at a traffic light, light turns green and within a second you will hear horns blowing. Fingers flying, fist shaking and brake checking is the norm. People are in a fit of rage in South Florida, I have not had any real incidents here yet, a few morons and people who drive too fast when it rains but nothing like my old home.
I have seen some amazing antics during my time in South Florida and have had many close calls along with daily, unprovoked road rage incidents. Explains why Car Insurance there is extremely high. I had a 30 mile commute and it took me around 1 hour one way, I dreaded my daily commute so much that I did not look forward to leave work which is the opposite of what many feel.
Anyone that lives here, needs to go to South Florida sometime and drive to really see bad drivers. Nobody uses their turn signals, you have a mix of illegals with no drivers licenses or insurance, people from various Caribbean countries that don't know how to drive period, Senior Citizens, hot headed New Yorkers, Cocky Rich People driving luxury cars and etc., between Oct and April it's full of Snowbirds so it's even worse. Sitting at a traffic light, light turns green and within a second you will hear horns blowing. Fingers flying, fist shaking and brake checking is the norm. People are in a fit of rage in South Florida, I have not had any real incidents here yet, a few morons and people who drive too fast when it rains but nothing like my old home.
I have seen some amazing antics during my time in South Florida and have had many close calls along with daily, unprovoked road rage incidents. Explains why Car Insurance there is extremely high. I had a 30 mile commute and it took me around 1 hour one way, I dreaded my daily commute so much that I did not look forward to leave work which is the opposite of what many feel.
You've got a similar mix of folks here in SD.
Florida is a PIP state ripe with fraud- could explain high car insurance.
Florida is a PIP state ripe with fraud- could explain high car insurance.
Still have not seen anything remotley similar to a drive in SoFla especially when considering Miami. People are severly impatient in SoFla, aggressive and filled with rage when driving. I have had death threats, rage screaming hand gesturing maniacs flipping the bird and sticking their head out of the window screaming All for which was not provoked, either I did not go right on a red when it said you cannot by law, or blew my horn while in motion at a someone because they were about to turn into my lane. I almost got a CCW my final years there because FL Stand Your Ground law applies to Vehicles and I was going to take it upon myself to defend due to the volatile nature of people there. A few times I would have been inclined to use it and some have. I even found myself being swayed to the darkside after living there so long, and am still traumatically damaged that when I drive I feel paranoid around other drivers.
The high car insurance in SoFla is due to the high % of uninsured drivers years back a study stated that one in four drivers on the road did not have insurance along with fraud, staged accidents, fraudalent insurance claims and etc. Our insurance there for 2 average cars was over $300/month with excellent credit and driving history and it went up every 6 months. Here it's $80/month and has not gone up and we have been here over a year now.
Stuff like this is not uncommon there, though both were at fault and were eventually arrested. There has even been some people shot and killed that remained unsolved.
Still have not seen anything remotley similar to a drive in SoFla especially when considering Miami. People are severly impatient in SoFla, aggressive and filled with rage when driving. I have had death threats, rage screaming hand gesturing maniacs flipping the bird and sticking their head out of the window screaming All for which was not provoked, either I did not go right on a red when it said you cannot by law, or blew my horn while in motion at a someone because they were about to turn into my lane. I almost got a CCW my final years there because FL Stand Your Ground law applies to Vehicles and I was going to take it upon myself to defend due to the volatile nature of people there. A few times I would have been inclined to use it and some have. I even found myself being swayed to the darkside after living there so long, and am still traumatically damaged that when I drive I feel paranoid around other drivers.
The high car insurance in SoFla is due to the high % of uninsured drivers years back a study stated that one in four drivers on the road did not have insurance along with fraud, staged accidents, fraudalent insurance claims and etc. Our insurance there for 2 average cars was over $300/month with excellent credit and driving history and it went up every 6 months. Here it's $80/month and has not gone up and we have been here over a year now.
Stuff like this is not uncommon there, though both were at fault and were eventually arrested. There has even been some people shot and killed that remained unsolved.
The road rage in California is well documented as is the speed and pace at which folks drive. Maybe the rage isn't as bad because the amount hit and run accidents seems higher here. Also, The bad dynamic here is the person going 90 and the other guy going 55 (in the left lane) and the person going 90 weaving through traffic coupled with the crowded highways.
I joke with my parents when they come into town and use my car. You can go 90 but don't park 5 mins over your time limit. The priorities are different here. The parking division has a bigger presence then the patrol division.
I spend a week each Summer in the Gulf and I drive around a little. It isn't great, but there is a police presence- I have to adjust and not use my California lead foot. You can avoid busier highways too- My opinion, at a certain point 75,80,85 years old you have no business driving at certain rates of speed when your reaction times get slower.
Also, I have a friend that is an insurance adjuster in NJ- and swears that PIP states NJ/FL (the big ones) are the main reason you pay because people abuse the system.
Location: Miami (prev. NY, Atlanta, SF, OC and San Diego)
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I live here now, in Brickell, which is supposed to be a clusterF*ck but I have seen much worse....while I work from a home based office and do not commute to work, traffic in Miami is tame compared to LA/OC, SF Bay Area and NYC--like comparing the 2016 Padres to the 1998 Yankees. I have not seen and am unaware of bumper to bumper traffic at 2AM, which was not uncommon driving on LA freeways. I have yet to see police chases on the turnpikes with the moron driver thinking he can escape/outrace the police.
Insurance in Miami Dade is high because many people do not have insurance.
That being said, the drivers here absolutely do suck--more aggressive than SD (again, SD a different animal than LA and OC) and bad. I also agree about an earlier comment you made re: pedestrians and the danger they face crossing streets--as bad or worse than NYC....and red lights and stop signs seem to be optional here.
SD drivers suck in a different manner--little respect for the left hand passing lane on freeways, the concept of it is ok to turn right when you have a green arrow indicating such when the top light is red has not sunken in to many drivers' brains yet, and the taxi drivers are the lamest I have seen anywhere (usually, they are the most aggressive drivers in many cities; in SD they are the slowest and overly cautious drivers/slowest I have seen). For some reason when there is a heat spell, some SD drivers seem to think their car will melt or overheat and they drive slower (below speed limit) on the highways. At 4 way stop sign intersections, the drivers try to outpolite each other (you go first, no--you go first...no, I insist you go first) to the point it takes 3 times longer to get through the intersection than it should for someone to make the first move--including the car with the right of way.
And I agree about poor police presence in SD...try calling the non emergency line and 49 out of 50 times you will get a recording and be placed on hold for several minutes or longer...I called to complain about drivers on Harbor Dr downtown coming from the airport making a left hand turn and blocking traffic in the intersection and got the run around from police (the 1 time out of 50 I got through and/or email I sent) that there was nothing they could do...duh, how about issuing a ticket??
Quote:
Originally Posted by aewan68
Anyone that lives here, needs to go to South Florida sometime and drive to really see bad drivers. Nobody uses their turn signals, you have a mix of illegals with no drivers licenses or insurance, people from various Caribbean countries that don't know how to drive period, Senior Citizens, hot headed New Yorkers, Cocky Rich People driving luxury cars and etc., between Oct and April it's full of Snowbirds so it's even worse. Sitting at a traffic light, light turns green and within a second you will hear horns blowing. Fingers flying, fist shaking and brake checking is the norm. People are in a fit of rage in South Florida, I have not had any real incidents here yet, a few morons and people who drive too fast when it rains but nothing like my old home.
I have seen some amazing antics during my time in South Florida and have had many close calls along with daily, unprovoked road rage incidents. Explains why Car Insurance there is extremely high. I had a 30 mile commute and it took me around 1 hour one way, I dreaded my daily commute so much that I did not look forward to leave work which is the opposite of what many feel.
Last edited by elchevere; 03-13-2017 at 09:19 AM..
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