The study, conducted and published by Forbes Advisor, ranked the worst drivers in the 50 most populated metropolitan areas in America. Probably to the surprise of quite a few, many of California’s busiest bustling cities actually fared quite well in the ranking.
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It's been 8 years since I left California and I can still say that Californians are by far the rudest, most inconsiderate, ignorant and just plain dumbest fucking drivers I've ever seen.
They think nothing of cutting you off while giving you the finger, passing you at 70 mph on a rural highway in a 30 foot visibility fog, tailgating at 70, or blowing through red lights. Don't even get me started on hit and run accidents.
Well, welcome to the center of driving civility. A place where you can spend hours at a 4 way stop because the other folks at the intersection are more concerned about being polite than following the rules governing right of way. Not really complaining; this place is a breath of fresh air compared to any other place I have lived. Never been around a group of people who are more polite and civil.
ReplyDeleteMy wife's from Maryville, Tn. We lived there for a few years after I retired from the telephone company and experienced what you say. When we moved back to Georgia, it was near Athens. I mentioned some Tennessee thing to my son who had spent years in Athens. He said, "Don't try that here." True. The thing I see every day is no thought of pulling over to allow someone to merge on the "Loop". Just general thoughtlessness. I blame it on Yankees and academics from UGA. Actually, it's not just driving. I once said to my wife that it was the only place I'd lived where I could go pay the water bill and come home with a smile.
Delete8 years already ? man...its like the old movie montage where the pages get ripped from the
ReplyDeletecalendar by an unseen hand. faster and faster. glad yall are diggin the country life amigo.
Dang! Looks like Florida has some competition for the worst and rudest drivers.
ReplyDeleteWe get our bad drivers from New York, New Jersey, Canada and fucking China.
Deletetry the beltway around washington dc.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't driven in Rhode Island or Boston?
ReplyDeleteJpaul
#1 Massholes, #2 Long Islanders #3 Drivers at Rt 95/395/495 blender. Nothing in Cali comes close.
DeleteDC used to be terrible about….
ReplyDeletebusting thru yellow/red lights….
I used the count to 3 technique….
on red/green lights.
Es357
I learned to do that in Chicagoland (90-95) too.
DeleteOne word: Boston
ReplyDeleteI agree, driving in Boston is a freaking mess, that whole area for driving a a mess steer clear and avoid, if you must go hire a driver.
DeleteI lived in Nashua for a while. Those taxichuettes drivers are arseholes. Switching lanes right in front of you with no notice. I almost go hit twice in the short span by the same guy. Been to Boston too and have to agree. Stay clear of those taxachuttes drivers. No consideration. -sammy
DeleteBig vehicles and doing 50 over are indicative that most people are emotional reacting, instant gratification, albeit low self-esteem assholes who use size and speed to prove to themselves they're better than everyone else. It’s a feel-good thing. I fell prey to that human trait until I grew up. It don't matter whether it’s a Red or Blue state, Liberal or Conservative ideological faction they are. Stupid is as stupid does.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about open highway driving, but from my experience for urban traffic, Boston could give Kali a run for its money.
ReplyDeleteShortly after I moved to LA from Chicago in 86, I recall a freeway drive with numerous people cutting me and others off and flipping the bird.
ReplyDeleteThen the freeway shootings started. A year later it was all blinkers and waves. Just a few people shot, but a few years of polite drivers. Makes ya think...
I've noticed two recent changes in my little town (~12K population). First a lot of cars have an expired license plate from that state out west. Second, there seems to be a lot more people running red lights and by that I mean ones that have been red for more than a few seconds.
ReplyDeleteFolks, if you don't like the way things are going in your old state, don't bring those ways with you to your new one.
Or go back!
juvat
Good luck with that ....
DeleteThe worst are actually the Central American illegals flooding Houston these days.
ReplyDeleteWell sure, you dealt with horrible drivers in California. You lived in the armpit of the West, San Juaquin County.
ReplyDeleteI visited Ceres to see a dear friend on a weekend ten years ago and came home on 99 on a Saturday afternoon. I couldn't believe the way people drove. The worst was a black guy driving a convertible, talking to his white girlfriend. He was doing 90, changing lanes at will, waving his arms while talking, not paying a bit of attention to what he was doing. Insane.
When I got home, I thanked the Lord and said never again.
Nowadays I don't even like driving the six miles to town. Everybody is in such a damn hurry while burning up their expensive gasoline and risking a very expensive ticket. Dumb asses.
I purposely drive the speed limit. Once caused a town to change the speed limit from 25 to 35 on a section of road. Must have pissed off a town counsel man. I especially like to force the cops to slow.
DeleteEvil Franklin
It's been 8 years? Oh wow....
ReplyDeleteI've driven all over North America. I'm from Los Angeles. As long as the roads are dry, the LA drivers are the least offensive I've seen, considering the traffic loads.
ReplyDeleteThe worst, by far? Drivers from Quebec.
When you lived out here, did you ever get over to Union City? I've lived here 36 years and I have to say that we have at least 89% of the truly fucked up drivers in the world.A Japanese guy I used to work with claimed it was because the town has a large Asian population. You know, folks that transitioned from an ox cart to a minivan? On foot or on bike, you take your life into your own hands venturing out.
ReplyDeleteMe and my wife are from California, both born in the late 50s. I am from SoCal and she is from NoCal and we met at UCLA in the mid 70s. Both of us had been taught driving in HS. I had to teach her how to drive properly on the streets and freeways of LA as the Bay Area Freeways are much different. Driving skills learned back before 75 is much better then now as you learned with heavier/bigger vehicles, higher horsepower, and worse brakes. In LA the Freeways at the time had short on/off ramps but high speeds that a person had to be at when you got on/off.
ReplyDeleteWe moved to the Silicon Valley after college and I taught my sons how to drive as my company moved me to Northern VA (DC Metro) in 96. Driving Classes were no longer given in school when my sons went HS.
I traveled a lot internationally but would always leave driving to locals. In the US, Mexico, and Canada I did a lot of traveling and would drive and found some areas worse then others. The DC Metro area was always bad as I lived there for years and it became worse with snow.
Chicago Metro Area was bad and Boston-CT area was horror. I moved to Atlanta when I took a new job in 2005 and found how bad the traffic was in that metro area as I ended up living in Northern Atlanta Metro. Atlanta traffic is like all major cities where traffic is stuck into certain routes causing heavy delays.
The worst I found was Miami Area as going down the freeways you could be doing freeway speed with flow at 60-70 and suddenly the car in front of you would move and someone old would be doing 45 and you had a couple seconds to respond. There was also crushing traffic on the freeways in all areas at certain times and not ways to get around it.
I had no idea I’ve been visiting your site for over eight years, Kenny. Where has the time gone?
ReplyDelete50 years ago, I was taught here in California to wait until you could see the headlights of the car in my rearview mirror before changing lanes on the freeway. I visit Indiana several times a year and am startled by their driving. They start to pull over as soon as they get past my front tires.
ReplyDeleteI noticed two types of drivers when I lived in California. The "good" group were the morning and evening commuters. They were used to the freeways, had no false expectations, and treated the drive as part of their job. It was the others, the "amateurs," who messed things up. They either didn't know or ignored both written and unwritten rules, they expected traffic to accommodate them, and were erratic on the road. I always felt less safe on a Saturday when the others were the majority on the road.
ReplyDeleteWhat happened to California? California changed with the onslaught of both legal and illegal immigration. Asians who were driving a water buffalo a year earlier were now negotiating the 405 Freeway at a blistering 45 mph. Of course, so many immigrants brought their socialist politics with them and they held their hands out to the Democrat Party for free benefits.
ReplyDeleteWhile Heartlanders looked on indifferently because they thought that it wasn't their problem, white people now constitute only 1/3 of all residents. California changed because the people did. And now, even small towns in the Heartland see the Third World cast-offs piling into their fair towns and villages. Can you hear me now?
I've lived both in San Jose and off the DC beltway. San Jose drivers are bad; DC drivers are evil.
ReplyDeleteJohnny Carson asked Ed McMahon, because Ed traveled by car a bunch, where is the worst place to drive. Ed said there were 2 worst places. And they were both ….
ReplyDeleteTulsa Oklahoma! I concur.
Well when you consider that half the drivers in Kali are unlicensed, uninsured illegals it's no surprise that driving in Kali is a terrible experience.
ReplyDelete