Wednesday's Question of the Day: drivers in your area

Good morning! 

I'm wondering what the drivers are like in your area... Are they generally courteous, clueless, or cautious? 

(I'm guessing Winchester will say there are some reckless drivers where she lives. So glad you are okay, Win.)

We have some pretty courteous drivers here in Victoria. They usually will let you in their lanes and don't drive too fast. They are terrible at running red / yellow lights, though, and there are constantly accidents here where someone in an intersection is trying to make a left turn on a yellow light, while someone else is trying to beat the light, and they can't be in the same place at the same time. Also, a lot of people get t-boned from people running the lights.

Nobody knows how to navigate all the new roundabouts we have now. There's no excuse, people! Look up the rules on the internet! We have lots of accidents with people braking while in the roundabout. Getting to the airport is now a real nightmare.

There are also a lot of pedestrian - vehicle accidents. When I'm driving, I'm always stunned how many people drive or step into a street WITHOUT LOOKING at all if there is a car coming! I've hit my brakes many times avoiding this stupidity. There's no excuse - why not look before you go there.

Pedestrians who wear black and jaywalk in the dark rainy winter nights get hit by cars here pretty often, too. The worst part (IMO) is the driver of the vehicle is almost always considered at fault when there is car - pedestrian contact. Even if someone steps in front of your moving car, you are at fault. It's stressful driving downtown in the winter.

Some are thoughtful to stop and let you cross the road here.

Mostly courteous here. Too polite sometimes (l'm impatient  )

There is a town to the west of me (l lived there a few years ago) whose residents are incredibly impatient and discourteous on the roads. l don't go there to shop because of this - l prefer to stay here, or drive further to the east towards the city to avoid the hassle.

People can't figure out our roundabouts either. We have lots of tourists, so driving is always interesting. This island has bicycle lanes (sidewalks) for bicyclists and pedestrians, but that doesn't stop them from just entering the street barely within braking distance. We have more nightlife here on the island so drunk drivers/bicyclists/pedestrians are common. Usually it's the tourists that present a problem rather than the locals.

Pretty good here.  We have lots of tourists around and we've gotten used to slowing down, staying back and waiting until they figure out where they're going.  LOL I like to be polite to them, too--I know how nerve-wracking it can be driving in an unfamiliar place.  There are lots of older drivers around here, too, who are very courteous.  

EXCEPT for the teenage drivers!  I live not too far from the high school and I hate being on the road mid-afternoon when school gets out--all those little jerks with cell phones in their hands, paying no attention to anybody else on the road.  

 I think the driving age should be upped to 30.  LOL    

SwampWitch said:

 
(I'm guessing Winchester will say there are some reckless drivers where she lives. So glad you are okay, Win.)

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You got that right! I was out today and it's market day (farmers market), so all the old people are out and about. It's just ugly. I try to stay over as far as I can, but sheesh. Thanks SW!

(Begin Rant) I have also found, and this was backed up by a policeman (and my husband), by the way, that women are worse than men in a lot of ways. Women will NOT move over when they see somebody walking along the road. They just don't. Guys will. They'll move over and I always wave and say "Thanks." One night I was out and a woman pulled up to a stop sign.....literally right in front of me.....and blew right through it, I guess just so she didn't have to wait 10 seconds for me to walk by. She was close enough I could have smacked her car with my hand. The next driver was male and he motioned for me to walk in front of him. I thanked him and he waved. Only to have the person behind him blow HER horn because SHE had to wait.

That being said, I've a lead foot. I speed and I fly down our road, just like everybody else. But I always slow down and move over for walkers, runners, and bikers. It's just common courtesy. I hate being behind school buses and will often take an alternate route to get home that I know have no buses running at that time. Or I time it when I leave work that I know I won't get stuck behind the bus on our road. And as a driver, when I crest a hill and see people walking two and three abreast in the middle of the darn road......really? Do they know how utterly stupid and dangerous that is? And with a baby buggy! And believe me, I've seen this!

I know, young people text, young people are speed demons, and young people don't care. And last year, a car full of kids had a horrific crash right out the road from us; the driver (17 years old and barely had his license a month or so) was flying out the road and lost control when the car in front of him slowed down quickly. Three of the four students died, but the driver survived. It was really bad.

I think elderly people are worse as a rule, but that could just be me (seeing as how I got hit by an elderly man and almost hit a week later by an elderly women, both of whom were not paying attention at all). I truly get the impression that they, again as a rule, think they should have things handed to them on a silver platter.....simply because they're old. They should have the right-of-way, they should be able to do what they want. And even when they know they have to stop driving, they won't. I get it. I do. It's giving up that last vestige of independence and you all know that we went through that with my aunt. It was a bad situation. 

Carry on.....I'm done.  (End Rant)

Oh peaches, roundabouts. I can't figure out roundabouts. We were in Wisconsin back in August and the road that I was driving had three of them in a row. I had to make a turn to the left and I had no clue how to do it. Or where to do it. It wasn't pretty. I had a heckuva time.

I live right off a main highway so you have to drive pretty fast or you'll have other cars up your behind.  If you're a slow driver, just stay in the right lane so others can pass you.  Some drivers are really slow, they are mostly from out of State and don't know how to drive on our NJ highways.  These people can cause an accident. 

On regular roads the speed limit is anywhere from 25 mph to 40, the highways are 50 to 60 mph.  I would say most NJ drivers are cautious, you just better know how to drive in a large city.

Winchester said:

 
I

I think elderly people are worse as a rule, but that could just be me (seeing as how I got hit by an elderly man and almost hit a week later by an elderly women, both of whom were not paying attention at all). I truly get the impression that they, again as a rule, think they should have things handed to them on a silver platter.....simply because they're old. They should have the right-of-way, they should be able to do what they want. And even when they know they have to stop driving, they won't. I get it. I do. It's giving up that last vestige of independence and you all know that we went through that with my aunt. It was a bad situation. 

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Ok Pam what age are you saying is elderly, lol.  I'm a Sr. Citizen but don't think I'm elderly so just wondered what you consider elderly.  I also have a lead foot but have never been in an accident, I got one speeding ticket in my whole life and that was over 20 years ago.  I think I drive pretty well for an older person

I'm in New Jersey also, northern.  Notoriously terrible drivers.  I know I'm generalizing (since I'm not one of them) but honestly, I think people here forget everything they were taught once they get their license.  And filled with road rage as well.  Yes, it's a congested place to drive but that doesn't mean one has to be a danger to others.  

Two things make me nuts in particular.  The first, are people who don't use their blinkers and then make a turn really quickly as they reach the corner they need to get on.  The second, is people who make a left at an intersection before letting the person who is going straight through go first.  A ridiculous amount of people here do not seem to remember that the person going straight has the right of way over someone making the left at the intersection. 

LaRussa said:

 
Ok Pam what age are you saying is elderly, lol.  I'm a Sr. Citizen but don't think I'm elderly so just wondered what you consider elderly.  I also have a lead foot but have never been in an accident, I got one speeding ticket in my whole life and that was over 20 years ago.  I think I drive pretty well for an older person

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I'm not going to debate the age of elderly drivers. Suffice to say that the police officer was the one who first referred to the driver as an elderly driver....the driver is 66. The woman who almost hit me had to have been in her mid-70s. I'm sure she was elderly by anybody's standards.

People aren't too bad here.  It seemed like they were crazier when we first moved here; but I guess we've adjusted.  It's nothing like living near a big city; but people do go pretty fast.  When it snows it seems like a lot of people really don't know how to drive. They want to still go 60 when 40 isn't a good idea.  A few years ago we had a bright sunny day with blowing snow.  Anywhere there was open field along a highway they snow was on the road.  I did some sliding around on my own road that day while going slow.  But if there were trees or buildings the road stayed clear.  Traffic kept going from 50 to 35.  People would floor it to speed up and then hit the breaks when they came up to snow again.  It was ridiculous.  And they were almost forcing me to go faster getting up my rear!  I was so glad to be off the road!!

This time of year here in FL (Naples - which is on the west coast) we start to get our "snowbirds". (Paul calls them "snowflakes"). So the traffic starts to build up and since we get drivers from all over the country, it can get pretty crazy. Worst problem we complain about is tailgaters. As we get further into our winter season we start to avoid high traffic areas and get an early start to do our errands. We're morning people so in reality we get an early start all the time - not just in "season".

Salt Lake City drivers are bad, they run through stop lights 2 or 3 cars at a time on some roads where they know the light takes forever to change. My biggest issues with drivers here is the speeding and more so driving way to close to the car in front of them for the speed limit.

Another issue that's a huge problem is pedestrians crossing wherever they please. Sometimes these careless kids and adults will run across 4 lanes of traffic where it is hard to see them all to save the minute it takes to go to the crosswalk.

I see people of all ages on their cellphones while driving or parents looking back at their screaming children like their loud wails are more dangerous than not looking at where one is driving.

My dad hit a pedestrian on his way home tonight, she was in the crosswalk and not badly injured.

betsygee said:

 
 I think the driving age should be upped to 30.  LOL  

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HEY! I'm 25, and think I am a pretty darn decent driver  never been in trouble. Besides, I had to get to university, work and ballet somehow! I don't have regular access to busses, and I highly doubt my mom could be my personal driver constantly. Especially since I live out in the country, and the closest transit is an hour away, it would be a terrible situation for 20 somethings if they weren't allowed to drive. *Pokes you with a stick playfully*

I would say 80%-85% of drivers are very good and nice around here.

But there is always the occassional bad apple - mainly with speeding and tailgating and whatnot.
 

The worst case I never witnessed in this area, is the time I stopped behind a schoolbus (As the usual customary action, of course) a guy behind me, went off the road and sped forward to pass me and the bus. He almost hit the kid! The kid was lucky enough to have hopped on the bus just in time. WHAT an IDIOT. That happened a couple of years ago. I was born in Montreal and used to live in St Lambert, QC for a bit. They are genuinely notorious there!
 

I actually find the worst drivers are the middle age folks, and teenage boys. But, anyone can be a bad driver, no matter who they are. It is easy targetting other groups and whatnot. In the end it really doesn't matter, just think of fixing the problem itself instead of finger pointing or jumping to whatever conclusions there might be.

College town, and drivers are mostly courteous. I have been on the giving and receiving end of yielding when I/they didn't need to.

The pedestrians, on the other hand, ugh. I live in a college town, and there are so many kids here who think they own the roads. They just dart out onto the street texting or yakking on their phones without looking. There have been accidents, some fatal, involving pedestrians. In many of these cases, the police cleared the driver of any criminal wrongdoing, aside from a fine for not giving way to a pedestrian, even though it is impossible to do so.

i live less than a mile from the college and most of the younger drivers are always speeding. there's a stop sign in front of my house and most kids don't stop

i noticed when i walk in a shopping center/mall lot 9 out of 10 male drivers stop and let me cross but almost none of the female drivers will. they're pretty rude

Courteous drivers are few and far between around here!

AbbysMom said:

Courteous drivers are few and far between around here!

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We lived in Cambridge for almost 3 years and I know that you're not kidding! People honk constantly there - what's up with that? I could rarely tell if someone was honking at me or not, since so many people are laying on their horns like it's just part of driving.

I was always confused about left turns on lights - this was 15 years ago so things might be different now - but some left turns were protected, and some were not. The traffic lights did not give a clue if you could go ahead and turn, or had to wait. I felt like I was just supposed to "know" somehow what to do at every intersection. I'd always hesitate before making a left turn at a light because there was a 50/50 chance it wasn't a protected turn. If the turn WAS protected, the cars behind me would all start honking like crazy within seconds so that was my clue...

On the good side, I learned how to navigate roundabouts there - seriously you have to know what you doing on those.

Another woman got hit the other day.....not on our road, but on a road close-by. We have a lot of Amish in our area and they ride bikes. She was walking her bike along the road (she said she was off the road), and the driver got her in the arm with the mirror (pretty much what happened to me last month). Only that driver didn't even bother to stop, they just kept on going. I don't know if the woman's arm is broken; the article in the newspaper didn't say, but she did go to the ER. The article said more details would be coming and that was it. Nothing about what kind of vehicle it was or anything like that. But the driver didn't even bother to stop and see if she was OK.