four sad long years :) although I lived in what people seem to think is rural Massachusetts, so I probably wasn't in Boston more than three weeks to a month, total.
I'm drawing a blank. I have no idea what Boston drivers are like but I would imagine it's not good since you are polling on it. Probably a lot like LA drivers.
I never thought of Houston drivers as all /that/ bad, except for the substantial portion of new immigrants/illegals who drive like they're still in Mexico or Saigon.
Of course, I was on the West Loop in morning rush hour the day after I got my driver's license, so I'm probably a little biased.
LA drivers, though....dear sweet jeebus they frighten me.
bad driver can't deal with rotaries doesn't know what a red light means doesn't know what "no turn on red" means basically as a lot of people have said: masshole
I've only seen shig23 really, really, white-knuckled angry on five occasions in the decade I've been with him. Two of them involved me, two others didn't (but were really impressive to watch), and one was in Boston traffic.
(Tallahassee drivers merely change lanes wildly without looking or signalling and ignore red lights. Durned students.)
Can I comment on behalf of my dad? He says, "Worse than Parisian drivers." which is saying a LOT. They're maniacs over there and drive however the hell they want. The difference between here and there is in Paris, the people actually know how to drive.
As a proud pedestrian, I have to say that Boston drivers are effin' scary. I come from "the country" in South-Central, MA and they're bad out there too. I currently live in Chestnut Hill, but spend a lotta time in Boston and out here, I think they really don't care if you're walking, flying, driving, biking, somersaulting, swimming, whatever, they're equal opportunity massholes and, if you're in their way, you're outta luck.
Only been to Boston once, but I recall a certain "death to pedestrians" attitude. And they park on anything that stands still long enough to back over.
Know nothing.... born & raised in LA... thus am a dreaded LA driver :D
I do drive aggressively but courteously, no cutting people off... I merge in front of you with a good 10-15 yds of space. However in absolute grid lock traffic, I'll push my way into your lane if I need to.
Take your average, ordinary driver from any other part of the country. Now put him in a car with no brake pedal, no turn signals, and no mirrors. Nail his foot to the gas pedal. Paint over his windows and install a radar system that only detects metal objects that are moving slower than he is. Finally, tell him that all those slow-moving objects are out to get him.
To be fair, I've only actually driven in Cambridge, which as far as I can tell hasn't discovered the left-turn lane yet. And there's apparently a shortage of sheet metal, so there's only one sign every 50 miles or so telling you if you're on the right state route or not. If the rest of Boston is like that, I can well understand how its drivers have gotten such a nasty rep.
No preconceived notions about Boston drivers. Although I guess when I visit my sister in Vermont, the jerks tend to be "Massholes".
Drivers here in Northern Virginia are actually mostly pretty decent. They scare the crap out of me by turning into the right lane when I'm in the left, but they always manage to stay where they should. And the left-turn arrows are actually long enough for everyone to turn left. It's a wonderful thing. Although that's not really due to the drivers themselves.
I haven't dealt with them much as a biker or pedestrian, but it's probably considered marginally less insane here than in most places.
Oh, and the weird things I have noticed about Portland, OR drivers...for one, if there are 2 lanes, and you are riding a bike or driving slow (looking for parking, etc) in the right lane, the driver behind you is more likely to go your speed and express frustration than pass you- even though it's legal and ethical to do so. The other is that for some reason people around here, when making a left turn cannot do so on a right angle, it's like they want to try and smash into things or something, actually going into the middle of the road on both sides of the angle.
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davis
\m/
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1. Stupid
2. Suicidal
3. Homicidal
4. Kamikaze
(Here in Houston, for the record, most drivers fall under #3.)
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5. All of the above
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Or, if you'd like to make an additional category of "Just don't care." I'd say a lot of them fall into that one too.
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Of course, I was on the West Loop in morning rush hour the day after I got my driver's license, so I'm probably a little biased.
LA drivers, though....dear sweet jeebus they frighten me.
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I've heard that about LA drivers, too.
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now you know
The biker in me says....
Last night I dreamed that I had a sweet single speed green bike with orange taped handle bars that had a little cart attached to it like yours!
I don't think I could handle it nor would make use of one, but riding around with it in my dream sure was fun.
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bad driver
can't deal with rotaries
doesn't know what a red light means
doesn't know what "no turn on red" means
basically as a lot of people have said: masshole
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(Tallahassee drivers merely change lanes wildly without looking or signalling and ignore red lights. Durned students.)
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I come from "the country" in South-Central, MA and they're bad out there too. I currently live in Chestnut Hill, but spend a lotta time in Boston and out here, I think they really don't care if you're walking, flying, driving, biking, somersaulting, swimming, whatever, they're equal opportunity massholes and, if you're in their way, you're outta luck.
-Carrie.
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I'm in Germany right now but I'm from VA.
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I do drive aggressively but courteously, no cutting people off... I merge in front of you with a good 10-15 yds of space. However in absolute grid lock traffic, I'll push my way into your lane if I need to.
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To be fair, I've only actually driven in Cambridge, which as far as I can tell hasn't discovered the left-turn lane yet. And there's apparently a shortage of sheet metal, so there's only one sign every 50 miles or so telling you if you're on the right state route or not. If the rest of Boston is like that, I can well understand how its drivers have gotten such a nasty rep.
P.S., I'm in Tallahassee, Fla.
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Drivers here in Northern Virginia are actually mostly pretty decent. They scare the crap out of me by turning into the right lane when I'm in the left, but they always manage to stay where they should. And the left-turn arrows are actually long enough for everyone to turn left. It's a wonderful thing. Although that's not really due to the drivers themselves.
I haven't dealt with them much as a biker or pedestrian, but it's probably considered marginally less insane here than in most places.
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