1/20 Having been all over this country of ours, but only driven extensively
in California, I'm curious: is the rest of the country as full of
pathologically bad drivers as California, or are we special in some way?\
\_ Let's start a list of rules that people break:
1. If you plan on driving slower than others, drive on the right
2. Pass on the left
\_ This is not a law or even a "rule" when you have more
than two lanes. You are just a hick.
\_ passing on the right is more dangerous, because you
spend substantial time in the blind spot of the other
driver.
\_ not only that there is an assumption slow people
drive on the right lane and when an 85 mph driver
passes on your right, he won't show up on your mirror
before it's too late
3. Trailing distance is 2 seconds, not 2 feet
\_ isn't it 3 seconds?
\_ this just isn't possible in high traffic areas
\_ Because some asshole will always swerve into any gap
large enough. This doesn't excuse the rampant tailgaiting
you experience on most major freeways around here. My
favorite is when someone follows you 5 feet away at 75 or
80 mph, gesturing and flipping you off, and if you move
over for them, they are only able to then tailgate the car
in front of you that was moving the same speed.
\_ I'm just saying 2 seconds is not going to happen
on a crowded freeway. Yes people tailgate too much,
but in high traffic areas leaving 2-3 seconds is
bad driving not good.
\_ Bullshit. I leave 2 seconds all the time. Expect
that someone will cut in front of you every couple
of miles. That is no big deal. Tailgating is always
dangerous and a bad idea, but especially so in
heavy traffic.
\_ Amen brother! Same with racing up to red lights. If you
don't stay at top speed going to that red light they'll
ride your ass or race around you. Then you either both
sit at the light, or he's stopped there while you're
cruising by as it goes green.
4. The on-ramp is for accelerating to highway speeds
5. An entrance to a parking lot is not a parking space
\_ I've never seen people flat out park in an entrance. I have
seen plenty of people park on parts of a parking lot that
aren't really spots and that make traffic a lot messier.
\_ That was more of a hyperbole. I was talkinga about people
who pull into an entrance, stop, the scope around the
parking lot while their ass sticks out into the street
preventing others from moving.
6. Don't correct a navigation error with a driving one
7. If there are 2 left turn lanes, you CAN'T make a U-turn from
the outer lane.
\_ have you ever seen someone do this without making it pretty
obvious beforehand? (And waiting till the inner lane is free)
\_ Yes I have. Even if it was free, you should still get
into the proper lane to makea U-Turn. If you miss the
lane change, then at least obey rule #6
\_ Let's start a list of rules that people break:
1. If you plan on driving slower than others, drive on the right
2. Pass on the left
\_ This is not a law or even a "rule" when you have more
than two lanes. You are just a hick.
\_ passing on the right is more dangerous, because you
spend substantial time in the blind spot of the other
driver.
\_ not only that there is an assumption slow people
drive on the right lane and when an 85 mph driver
passes on your right, he won't show up on your mirror
before it's too late
3. Trailing distance is 2 seconds, not 2 feet
\_ isn't it 3 seconds?
\_ this just isn't possible in high traffic areas
\_ Because some asshole will always swerve into any gap
large enough. This doesn't excuse the rampant tailgaiting
you experience on most major freeways around here. My
favorite is when someone follows you 5 feet away at 75 or
80 mph, gesturing and flipping you off, and if you move
over for them, they are only able to then tailgate the car
in front of you that was moving the same speed.
\_ I'm just saying 2 seconds is not going to happen
on a crowded freeway. Yes people tailgate too much,
but in high traffic areas leaving 2-3 seconds is
bad driving not good.
\_ Bullshit. I leave 2 seconds all the time. Expect
that someone will cut in front of you every couple
of miles. That is no big deal. Tailgating is always
dangerous and a bad idea, but especially so in
heavy traffic.
\_ Amen brother! Same with racing up to red lights. If you
don't stay at top speed going to that red light they'll
ride your ass or race around you. Then you either both
sit at the light, or he's stopped there while you're
cruising by as it goes green.
4. The on-ramp is for accelerating to highway speeds
5. An entrance to a parking lot is not a parking space
\_ I've never seen people flat out park in an entrance. I have
seen plenty of people park on parts of a parking lot that
aren't really spots and that make traffic a lot messier.
\_ That was more of a hyperbole. I was talkinga about people
who pull into an entrance, stop, the scope around the
parking lot while their ass sticks out into the street
preventing others from moving.
6. Don't correct a navigation error with a driving one
7. If there are 2 left turn lanes, you CAN'T make a U-turn from
the outer lane.
\_ have you ever seen someone do this without making it pretty
obvious beforehand? (And waiting till the inner lane is free)
\_ Yes I have. Even if it was free, you should still get
into the proper lane to makea U-Turn. If you miss the
lane change, then at least obey rule #6
\_ they're bad every where, just bad in different ways.
\_ Californians do this:" Oh my god, it raining! What do I do? Should
I drive *faster*?"
\_ I dont knwo where you are, but most californians I've seen drive
ridiculously slower in the rain. Like "Oh My Goodness, Rain! I
should slow down to 5mph!"
\_ I think most people react like this, period. Try living
somewhere with snow and ice. Everyone either drives
at 5 miles an hour, hunched over their steering wheel,
or spins around like crazy at 10 over the speed limit
because they think 4wd makes them immune to the laws of
physics. We have about 2 months of snow and ice where I live
and the idiocy never wears off. Of course, where I live
people also will pass you on the right to take a left turn
on a red while honking and flipping you off(New England.)
\_ My experiences:
Tulsa, OK: more aggressive than LA in general; do not slow down at
all in the rain, so rain=accidents
Tampa Bay: retirement haven. they drive like it. 15 in 25 zones.
NorCal: very reasonable. few aggressive drivers. slow down a lot
in the rain.
SoCal: more aggressive. faster overall speeds on freeways. slow
down ~5mph in the rain, but rain != instant accidents
\_ SFBA: Terrible. Rarely use turn signals to indicate lane
changes, rarely look in rearview mirrors before
changing lanes, become spooked at aggressive driving
and slam on the brakes. Slow down unnecessarily during
rain. Afraid to use horn.
LA: Aggressive and belligerent. Fight for every inch of
highway. Prone to driving on shoulder, driving 55 in
fast lane, and weaving in and out of traffic when
frustrated. Like to blow horn.
San Diego:Relaxed. Content to remain in slower lanes when slow.
Prone to passing on right, left, and whatever. Not
perturbed by faster cars passing on right, left, or
whatever. Not fond of horn.
\_ In SFBA, some drivers are on their cell phones paying most
of their attention to the road. In LA, more drivers are
on their cell phones paying some of their attention to
the road. In SFBA, "Stop" means "Approach stopping." In
LA, it means "stop accelerating." No one pays attention
what's in front of them if they want to turn or what's
beside them if they want to go straight. And aggressiveness
begets aggressiveness, so LA really sucks.
\_ Yep, LA sucks, but you've missed the main reason. Driving
sucks everywhere. LA sucks because you have no choice
but to drive. |
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