Inconsiderate drivers! (Orem: how much, construction, bus)

[crisan]

Originally Posted by Intermountain Dog

What is with Utah drivers? I'm in the middle of Moderator cut: rude , someone has their blinker on and NO ONE will let him in! I see this time and time again. I'm so sick of inconsiderate drivers who clearly see someone that has their blinker on to change lanes and they speed up on purpose to block the person out. What is with that!!!???

We have the same kind of drivers in South Florida. Hey, some always keep their signal lights on without ever changing lanes. I am always that sucker who is waiting for them to change.

[a2ndchancetostartagain]

I give you all who live in utah credit. I dont know how you drive in compacted rural place but I hate it. whats your secret I like to know how keep so calm and why dodn't ever let some one in other lane????

[hilgi]

We are calm because many of us are from California and driving here is a dream in comparison. In my year of driving here I have been waved over a lane more than I have been my whole life in CA.

[ChrisC]

I refuse to talk about Utah Drivers (tm) today because I don't want my entire month ruined and my blood pressure to rise. But I do have a question: what do you mean by "compacted rural place"??? There's nothing rural about the Wasatch Front area or its driving. Not even close. Take a drive to Vernal sometime. That's rural driving (at least along the way until you reach Vernal).

[markg91359]

I've driven a car in probably 45 out of 50 states and Canada. As many are aware, I've lived in the Beehive State for most of my life. I feel qualified to make the statement that Utah has more than its share of bad drivers.

I've just seen too much over the years to draw any other conclusion. In no other state, will you find so many young mothers talking on a cell phone while maneuvering an SUV or pickup truck down the road with screaming young children in the back seat. In no other state, will you see an endless array of people cutting you off, refusing to let you change lanes on the highway, or refusing to let you merge on the freeway.

I have written on this topic before and I feel strongly about it. I attribute alot of what I see to passive/aggressive behavior. I think many people in Utah have "pent up" anger that they believe they cannot express in other venues. Example, if you tell the boss your wage is ridiculously low you may get fired. Or, I can't tell my neighbor that his fence is ugly and to not park his junk car by the property line because than everyone in my ward and neighborhood would think I'm anti-social.

One place someone can get away with expressing anger here is on the roadways. So, they do it. In my experience, "road rage" is all-too-common here. Anyone commuting to work or back on I-15 with open eyes will agree with me, sooner or later. I encourage anyone who can to avoid the "Bangerter Expressway". I think you'll find the very worst (and angriest) drivers there.

[Lamborgotti]

We already did this thread.

//www.city-data.com/forum/utah/...e-drivers.html

Seriously, do us all a favor and don't beat this dead horse any longer.

[Chango]

Originally Posted by a2ndchancetostartagain

I give you all who live in utah credit. I dont know how you drive in compacted rural place but I hate it. whats your secret I like to know how keep so calm and why dodn't ever let some one in other lane????

A typical morning commute in Utah:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gP-AbRTYNhI

[UtahRoots]

All I can say is try commuting daily through Parley's Canyon. Then you'll see all known forms of idiotic driving. A couple of weeks ago I was in the canyon, stuck behind snow plows in all three lanes. A guy in a pickup truck drove past me going 65 in the left emergency lane and narrowly avoided hitting the snowplow blade by driving down into the median and back onto the freeway in a barely controlled fishtailing slide. THAT is stupid Utah driving.

Utah drivers interpret yellow lights and turn signals as a command to press the gas pedal to the floor. But I just start signaling for my turn or lane change LONG before I need to move over. Then the driver next to me will STOMP on the gas and fly past me in time for me to move over. Once you get used to that Utah behavior, it's much less annoying to drive here. Just stay out of Parley's Canyon during snowstorms.

[ChrisC]

\

Originally Posted by UtahRoots

But I just start signaling for my turn or lane change LONG before I need to move over. Then the driver next to me will STOMP on the gas and fly past me in time for me to move over. Once you get used to that Utah behavior, it's much less annoying to drive here.

So true. Never fails. It's like a Pavlov dog thing around here.

I do the same thing (signal waaaaaayyyy early so the "alpha-driver" can show his/her dominance). The only time I do not signal early is when I'm making a right turn at an intersection. I probably shouldn't do this, but I've nearly been in accidents before I started doing it one to many times: I signal (right) just before I turn. I do it because people here do not know (or do not care about) the right-of-way rules. If I'm turning right at an intersection and there is an oncoming car turning left, he/she will invariably pull right in front of me if I signal too early. They do not understand that oncoming traffic has the right-of-way and that someone making a left turn (them in this case) must wait until the intersection is clear. So... if I don't signal until the last second, they don't know I'm turning right until just before I do it, thus not allowing them time to break the law and turn in front of me.

Also, it doesn't help matters when boneheads who make right turns at intersections actually stop (on a green light) to "allow" the left turn in front of them. That is bass-ackwards all the way. Idiots doing this should be cited. At some point, with this sort of thing going on, nobody knows who's supposed to be going first. Of course, that's really nothing abnormal in Utah is it??? When someone does this to me as I'm turning left, I refuse to turn until they do what they are supposed to do (get their butts around the corner). I once sat for a good thirty seconds waiting for a clown to turn right before my left turn. Finally he did what he was supposed to do. I wonder if he continued to be oblivious in the future or actually thought about what had happened and followed the rules after that?

[SouthernBelleInUtah]

I don't know where you guys are driving! I stay downtown, in the Foothills/Avenues and Sugar House areas and most drivers I see are courteous. Maybe b/c they aren't the soccer moms? Anyway, I've seen much worse in other cities.