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From driving in many different cities, I'd have to say that cities with bad roads, inadequate freeway systems, old infrastructure, narrow lanes, and narrow roads make for aggressive driving. Montreal and Chattanooga come to mind.
Also, the surface streets of the OKC area get pretty wild. Many major streets have no defined turning lanes. Instead, you have one single center lane painted in the median, and you have a gazillion different shops and restaurants that each have their own entry into the road. Everyone driving out of these shops turning into the main road are doing so without any traffic signals or even stop signs. It's really a free for all and can get confusing, messy, and aggressive. It also doesn't help that the freeways in OKC have short on ramps, so you really have to be a bit aggressive to speed up and get in the freeway.
Then you have Dallas. For a metro area of six million, people actually drive very well. They know how to drive. The roads are in excellent condition, the freeways are mostly very wide and easy to use, the on and off ramps are nice and long, the lanes are wide, the signage is clear.
Can anyone agree that bad roads breed bad drivers?
Then you have Dallas. For a metro area of six million, people actually drive very well.
First off, Dallas has a metro of 7.5 million.
Second, you're the first person I've ever heard say that.
That said, I disagree with your conclusion. Metro Detroit is a lot of things and has roads paved in hell, but I usually hear nothing but good things about its drivers.
Second, you're the first person I've ever heard say that.
That said, I disagree with your conclusion. Metro Detroit is a lot of things and has roads paved in hell, but I usually hear nothing but good things about its drivers.
I started driving in Greater LA, and I consider Dallas drivers to be just as good as LA drivers. LA drivers are considered to be very good for such a large city.
There's always exceptions, but typically bad roads do breed bad drivers.
I started driving in Greater LA, and I consider Dallas drivers to be just as good as LA drivers. LA drivers are considered to be very good for such a large city.
There's always exceptions, but typically bad roads do breed bad drivers.
Ok, I can understand someone from Los Angeles thinking Dallas isn't so bad. The cities are really more similar than given credit for.
FWIW, I've driven in Los Angeles and aside from the fact that it can take an hour to go 10 miles, I agree that it's actually pretty good. In fact, LA's drivers are surprisingly courteous.
Ok, I can understand someone from Los Angeles thinking Dallas isn't so bad. The cities are really more similar than given credit for.
FWIW, I've driven in Los Angeles and aside from the fact that it can take an hour to go 10 miles, I agree that it's actually pretty good. In fact, LA's drivers are surprisingly courteous.
And partly because the freeways in LA are just amazingly well organized, so no one's confused, and partly because it's pretty darn hard to weave through six lanes of bumper to bumper traffic on the 405 without wrecking your car.
Also, on ramps are nice and long, people don't have to speed up and cut you off aggressively when merging onto the freeway. Does it make sense? When you have very short on ramps, you have to speed up very quickly and merge very quickly and aggressively or people from behind will just close the gap and not even let you come in.
I tend to agree with the general sentiment of the OP. I don't know if I'd call drivers in cities with bad roads "bad drivers," but the roads certainly do affect the way people drive. Like other factors in life, if the roads present certain challenges, drivers will adapt. Here in Boston, we're known for bad drivers. But when people say "bad," they're often referring to the aggressiveness and rudeness (though there are plenty of plain bad ones too). Those are products of a terrible road network. Many times, if you make a wrong turn, you can't just swing around the block to correct it. So drivers will cut across three lanes of traffic before they miss their turn or exit. Traffic is so bad that they'll run a light for a few seconds after it turns red. They'll go as fast as the flow of traffic will allow them if the highway isn't backed up, and they'll ride very close to the cars in front of them because they're simply no room to spread out. Drivers won't hesitate to swerve into a lane of oncoming traffic (with even a narrow window of time before a car coming the other direction gets too close) to avoid a pothole or big bump. All of those things are products of the environment.
There are, of course, other factors. But for the most part, I think drivers are a part of their environment and bad roads are a big piece of that environment.
Driving the twisting, winding roads over hills and around bends in Connecticut during the Fall is truly breathtaking. The best relief for quiet contemplation or problem solving.
Driving the twisting, winding roads over hills and around bends in Connecticut during the Fall is truly breathtaking. The best relief for quiet contemplation or problem solving.
There's a huge difference between winding hilly roads in the country and windy twisty major roads and freeways in Chattanooga. The former promotes relaxation, the latter promotes confusion, danger, and aggression.
I think we can all agree that on freeways with ridiculously short on ramps, drivers get more aggressive when merging onto the freeway, they have to speed up very fast and cut people off when doing so.
Where I used to live there was a freeway with a conventional diamond interchange but the next one down the road was on the left. Needless to say a lot of weaving accidents, and many were blamed on "amateur drivers." It was later changed to a Single Point Urban Interchange (SPUI) and the accidents stopped.
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