Worst drivers

[urbanvb]

Washington DC region in my opinion. 95% of people are from somewhere else, all with different driving habits. Combination of super-aggressive and slow drivers, combined with the nation's second worst traffic. I've never driven in LA though it may be worse.

That sounds like Virginia Beach where I live. Because it is a military town it seems no one is from here. To me though driving up in Nova is on some level easier than driving here! Here folks are flying like idiots and are very unpredictable. It seems in Nova at least mostly there is a generalized flow of traffic and thankfully you guys use your signals where down here seemingly only half of folks do. It appears the further south you go the faster the drivers become.

[greystone98]

Having traveled over most of the states, I'll go out on a limb and nominate Houston. From the 3-4 times I've flown out on business, the drive from the airport to the hotel always felt like the last ride I'd ever have the opportunity to take.

[Recchia]

Having traveled over most of the states, I'll go out on a limb and nominate Houston. From the 3-4 times I've flown out on business, the drive from the airport to the hotel always felt like the last ride I'd ever have the opportunity to take.

Plus you have to worry about getting nailed by one of their state of the art LRT trains...

[monsoon]

I would say any city in South Florida, followed by any city in Virginia.

[colin]

The DOT did a study this year and here are the top 5 most dangerous cities to drive in order.

1) Atlanta

2) Houston

3) Dallas

4) Miami

5) Orlando

Notice they are all in the south, pretty interesting. Only northern city in the top 10 was DC at 9.

Phoenix is supposed to be on this. It is number one in red light running fatalities, has two of the ten most dangerous intersections in the country (about.com) and Arizona had the worst accident fatality rate between 1992 and 1999 at 6.5 per 100,000 people (a bike site).

I learned to drive in Houston, drove there for years and, yes, it's very dangerous. On the freeways, you generally have to always tailgate (at 65-75mph) or someone will cut in front of you and usually slam on their brakes. I used to edge to the left side of the lane to watch two cars in front for brake lights. Lots of accidents, all day, every day, all the time, although I was never involved in one. I've found that driving behavior commonplace there is considered dangerous and aggressive in other places, and have changed my habits somewhat since leaving.

And:

Plus you have to worry about getting nailed by one of their state of the art LRT trains...

actually, just about all of the accidents involving the LRT have been the car's fault. This would never have happened had Tom Delay not killed the federal light rail funding and allowed it to be built above ground.

However, Atlanta is definitely more dangerous. At least in Houston, they drive relatively sensible speeds and don't just punch it when there's a break in traffic.

Phoenix freeway driving isn't quite as bad, but Arizonans have this habit of quickly changing lanes when approaching red lights.

I'd fathom that the sprawl in the sun belt has led to the dangerous drivers. They're spending more time in the cars in worsening traffic, are much more frustrated, and are more likely take risks.

Just a thought.

[thedude26]

Actually, Pheonix was number 7 on the list so I would say it is probably pretty bad.

[kayman]

I would have to say Birmingham as the city with the worst drivers. Alabama currently holds its position as 1 of the top 3 states with the worst accident fatalities. The state also holds 1 of the deadliest stretches of highway in the nation, Interstate 20 between Birmingham and Anniston, AL, informally called Death Valley. Nearly 100 deaths occured on that that freeway in a 2 year time. I have driven in Atlanta and Miami, and they don't compare to most Central Alabama drivers. There are enough Alabama state troops to patrol the freeways, so it's literally a death trap. I fear for my life more driving on the highways in the state of Alabama 3 times more than I do when driving in North Georgia or South Florida.

[urbanvb]

Anyone know of a website that lists the best/worst states for driving?

[MrSmith]

I'd have to say Wyoming.... That one dirver there is so bad --he slows down all visitors...lol

[cms821]

Anyone ever driven on Route 146 northwest of Providence? Speed Limit 55, but if your not going 70, you're being tailgated by an inch. It doesn't help that some of the exits have speed limits of 15-20 MPH. If you go to take the Lincoln Park Exit and you don't pull out of the breakdown lane quick enough, forget it.

[mike0898]

I could not agree with you more. I also noticed that people drove the speed limit up there. It's not a bad thing, but at the same, time kinda drove me nuts. Are other cities like that I wonder?

Oh, you are lucky if you are in Seattle and behind someone who is driving the speed limit. All too often, I'm stuck behind some going 5 to 10 miles below the limit!

[Ted80]

Atlanta Driver, especially with Clayton County Plates.

[Rural King]

I'd go with Miami for the worse drivers overall. It was cery un-nerving place to drive in I thought, esp. Miami Beach where unpredicatable pedestrians were added into the mix. SWFL (Ft. Myers/Naples) in contrast seemed to have fairly good drivers.

Atlanta though would top my interstate/freeway bad driving list. When I have driven through there I keep wondering when two maniac drivers are going to pass the same car on opposite sides at 90mph and then merge violently into one another as they both merge into the same lane. I've never driven on Atlanta's surface streets, they may be just as bad.

[Jerseyman4]

Through my east coast travels, heres how i break it down:

New Jersey (north of NJ 70 roughly) is indescribable with words of how many bad drivers i come across on a daily basis. Its not getting any better because the law enforcement are too busy catching criminals, terrorists and doing drug raids. They are not paying attention to the countless unexplained/stupid/no common sense driving but then again, the cops themselves are bad drivers too for the most part and get away with everything and not even know how bad they really are. Have another donut.

Driving improves considerably leaving the NYC metro area in any direction, starting north and east.

Ive heard Providence and Boston are also bad too but i have not spent enough time in both places although i do believe the Masshole motorist theory(s). Ive found New York STATE north of I-84 to have fairly good motorists in teh rural and urban areas with little to none bad driving. Into interior New England, its mainly just slow driving but well cautious about their surroundings for most New Englander motorists so everything is kosher over there.

Going south and east of the NYC metro area

Philadelphia is hit or miss, it can be REALLY bad or ok. The notorious thing about Philadelphia motorists are running red lights and proceeding past teh white line before the light turns green. South jersey (south of I-195) has its moments like north & central jersey but is an improvement overall. The SJ rotaries are gonna have to go because only the locals know how to use it since the out of town travelersdo not know the "inner" and "outer" unmarked lanes (mainly PA drivers).

Into Delaware/Maryland, bit a sigh of relief but just in the urban areas can be a little dicey here and there. Again, anytime you see a high # of bad drivers, think they are probably from NJ originally. Baltimore has NO REGARD for pedestrians and they speed badly through many city streets. Many motorists are VERY inconsiderate and its up there with NJ. DC is bad during the week at its busiest times but its ok otherwise, does have it bad driving moments in general. Northern Virginia is almost up there with NJ in similar ways.

The rest of VA, very tranquil but on teh flipside, can drive 60-70mph safely on a 2 lane highway. The VA cities do well with motorists but a little iffy around Norfolk and VA Beach but thats about it, no big deal. VA and south do well with freeway driving moving over to the left lane to allow right lane cars to merge in. Cant say that with NJ.

NC - Rural areas do well, most drive at least the speed limit if not 5-10 over for the most part. The cities are ok but the only aggrevating areas at times can be Wilmington and Winston-Salem. Most of the bad drivers in NC with no regard to anything are the transplants that moved into NC. The natives though they are slower paced, for teh most follow the law.

SC - Rural areas dont do well. People in SC drive under the speed limit for the most part because if you go 3mph over, it can risk you being pulled over! The cities in my opinion are not bad but in teh south, you have to take in consideration the locals of how they drive and the transplant drivers again. Charleston however, seems to have its moments of not letting you out of an intersection/driveway/etc in city driving but thats about the only problem i have with Chas.

GA - Rural areas do well and they oftently go 10mph over or more while most drive fairly good! If not in atlanta metro of course, driving in GA is quite tranquil and pleasureful.

FL - North Florida does ok until near I-4 and the Orlando metro area. jacksonville was not bad for the most part. Its everything south of I-4 that brings back bad driving demeanors of you guessed it, NJ!

Driving in central/south florida is a free for all of different driving types which oftenly leads to a lot of bad accidents. One person commonly runs an amber light, while the other STOPS at one always. One stops at the yield sign at all times while another runs right past it. One drives 10mph under the speed limit, the other drives 10 over. One will give you the bird and the otehr will point a gun out and shoot you. There is no such thing as a "florida driver" because its everyone from someplace else!

With saying everything, i do miss NC driving the most while VA is the runner up.

[GaryP]

Atlanta though would top my interstate/freeway bad driving list. When I have driven through there I keep wondering when two maniac drivers are going to pass the same car on opposite sides at 90mph and then merge violently into one another as they both merge into the same lane. I've never driven on Atlanta's surface streets, they may be just as bad.

I drove through downtown Atlanta about a month ago; the lanes on I-75 seemed like they were about 10' wide. I had trouble staying in my lane. Maybe it was because I was enjoying the scenery a little too much, but I sure was glad it was around 4 in the morning because if there was any more traffic things could have been bad

[vandynole]

I have lived in both Miami and Atlanta (intown in both cities). Miami's drivers are FAR worse, with so many hailing from different countries with different driving laws. Add in the fact that South Florida is loaded with old people (who often drive slow) and ostentatious jerks (who often take unnecessary risks), and you've got a terrible situation.

Atlanta's drivers get a bad rap, but my only compaint is they drive too fast. For the most part they know how to handle a car.

I can't comment on driving in Boston, but as a passenger there, I have noticed it could be potentially even worse than Miami.

[thedude26]

I found Miami drivers to be a breeze. Did not witness one accident during my time there. Every time I go back to Atlanta to visit my family, I see at least 3 accidents OCCUR. I do not know anyone in that city who has not had at least one accident. Boston drivers are not as bad as some people say either.

[cmj2k5]

The worst drivers are in the south when it snows/ices....

[socaguy]

Miami freeways are fairly tame IMO, but its surface streets are a nightmare. I have never seen people take off so fast at a redlight in my life! Its like they dont want to keep their car running in good order. How stupid!

And in Atlanta, cops will actually pull you over for going the speedlimit. It causes accidents when the normal flow of traffic is 80-90mph.

[damus]

And in Atlanta, cops will actually pull you over for going the speedlimit. It causes accidents when the normal flow of traffic is 80-90mph.

I'd tell them to start enforcing the speed limit. My crapty old car ('94 cutlass sierra v6) starts shaking at around 78-80 and just gets exponentially worse with each mph increment. I'm not wasting gas and ruining my car because they don't feel like doing their job.

[bigbigyo2000]

As for the slowest drivers....

Definately the people that drive the most like old ladies are Minneapolis drivers. They have the whole "drive 10 mph below the speed limit" process down to an art form.

[thedude26]

Hey Socaguy, when have you ever seen an Atlanta cop pull someone over? In the 15 years I lived in the Atlanta area, not once did I see an ATL cop pull anyone over. Only saw them at accidents. That's one of the reasons drivers are so bad, no police presence.

[FromCityToRural]

I always thought Californian drivers sucked until I moved to Texas. Turn signals seem to be forgotten here, and when I was in Dallas the other day for some business, it seemed like it was regular practice to just butt in and cut you off, or cut through 2, 3, or even 4 lanes of traffic. It doesn't help that the lanes there seem to be narrow, too. At least they don't run red lights like the San Franciscans.

[PghUSA]

Interesting comments, I love reading all the personal experiences in this thread !

As far as the worst drivers, about road rage Florida is hit and miss, some drivers are very kind some are complete and total $*@$(*@! I have litterally gotten screamed and yelled at by some Florida drivers, for nothing more then slowing down at a yellow or jaywalking on a downtown street.

Pittsburgh drivers by comparison are saints, driving in Florida for awhile I sometimes take the field in Pittsburgh and it is amazing how kind the majority of drivers are in this city. Some exceptions of course but overall it is like going back to 1955 here.

One curiosity about Pittsburgh though is the "Pittsburgh Left" where a Left on Red is permitted. The origin of this I am told is that most major streets in the city have only ONE lane of traffic in either direction, the reasons for this are many, from the hills and hollows preventing road expansion to them preventing business expansion except for taking up more roadway, to the old trolley lines and street parking taking space away from traffic lanes. The reason a left on red is permitted is that if it is not you end up backing up traffic for dozens of blocks in that single lane until that one or two cars can make their left already. This is why opposing traffic will almost always yield for a few seconds to a car making a left coming from the opposite direction. If you aren't used to it . . . it could be very scary .

Then there is the Pittsburgh right but that's for another day . . .

[tamias6]

I always thought Californian drivers sucked until I moved to Texas. Turn signals seem to be forgotten here, and when I was in Dallas the other day for some business, it seemed like it was regular practice to just butt in and cut you off, or cut through 2, 3, or even 4 lanes of traffic. It doesn't help that the lanes there seem to be narrow, too. At least they don't run red lights like the San Franciscans.

Turn Signals? Oh so that's what the do-hicky sticking out the the steering column is for. You see, we Michiganians always though it was a neat toy to play with. Flip it and watch the pretty little blinking light on the instrument panel. Boy its sure passes the time away on that long road trip from Grand Rapids to the U.P.