Plenty of contenders: NY commuters on the LIE bumper to bumper @ 90mph while reading the morning paper (subway fold) and drinking coffee. Boston, just OMG! FL, 2 old lady's driving a golf cart on I95. I blame a lot on the 2 fast 2 furious franchise for the hot rod youngsters. The elderly that can't turn the wheel more than a fraction, or turn their heads, create new drive thru's in buildings, are a special breed.

People today cant park between two white lines, how do you expect them to drive?

Friends, if you want to see some amazing driving habits (not good, just amazing), you need to visit Taiwan.

A few years ago, I was a passenger in a car headed toward Taipei on a four lane highway. We had a flight to catch and were doing perhaps 80 in the slow lane. I noticed a shadow in my peripheral vision and turned to see a fully loaded bus passing us on the shoulder of the road.

Since then I've concluded the "bad" drivers here might not be as reckless as I thought.

???Why are golf carts even allowed on city streets.Just an accident looking for somewhere to happen, same as the things I call drunk bikes. In my opinion neither should be allowed on public streets.

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I Cor. 10:13 "1611KJV"

I after many trips around Chicago on I-294, I think they are probably some of the better behaved drivers. Even though the road is VERY heavily traveled and feels like a race track, the drivers for the most part don't behave like jack wagons. There isn't much tailgating, weaving in and out, etc. In general not a whole lot of type-A driving behavior.

For example, if I time my trip poorly and end up inching along in gridlock,
I can leave a big gap in front and just coast along without people cutting in and taking advantage of my gap. I don't have to do that thing where you have to constantly rush up and slam on the brakes every time the guy ahead moves.

It seems there is mutual agreement that traffic is very heavy and it works out better if we all just try to get along.

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Common sense isn't so common.

My Bro was there a couple years ago & tells us about a guy on a small motorcycle with a 100+ lb pig tied to it. Every now & then the pig would wake up & thrash around until the driver would reach back & give it a whack with a ball peen hammer. I guess PITA hasn't caught on there yet.

Calling Port A a city is a bit of a stretch. It does get mighty busy on summer weekends and during spring break season, though. I used to visit the beach there quite often. It was very clean and not very crowded in the old days.

Times, though, have changed. Now you have to drive several miles on the beach to get away from the huge crowds. Sometimes no matter how far you go there are still crowds. It's still about the nicest beach in Texas, though.

Same here--only they also force you to slam on the brakes to keep from getting sideswiped by the actor--so they can not only zoom into the lane--but through to the turning lane also cutting off oncoming traffic.

You got that right on all accounts. Add in from N.Y and N.J too. :-(( They hate the loud music and complain about it-though they KNEW full well that Austin is known as both the: Music Capital of the World, and the Never Ending Freak Show. Also, once while trying to drive to my brothers home--I had to go round and through I-35 twice--just to have a slim chance to get on the correct road leading to his place. Reason was that a 5 car pile on was being cleaned up on the first get go--the next two exits leading to the road he lives near--also blocked with car accidnets. This was about 2AM and I was just arriving from Houston--and had an 8 hour delay--due to a multi-car pile-up somewhere outside of HOUSTON.

No Bear-they're just tryin' to get outa' South Carolina!

In the North-New Jersey
In the South=Virginia-easily.
Especially if either driver is wearing one of those rain/fishing/slouch hats.

Used to live in NYC and moved to Louisiana. No turn signals, people pull out right in front of you, people on the darn phone even though it's against the law. I'm going to start wearing a steel pot and a flak vest next time I drive. Frank

One more thing ..not one of you mentioned....the so called "Smart Phone".. a prime cause of all the stupid things we all see other drivers doing....

Hmmmm. 50 posts! Have any states been missed? I don't remember seeing Utah or Oregon. I'm sure there are more. Maybe we should all move to the "good" states and teach them our spectacular driving skills.

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NRA Benefactor

I agree with everybody above. Lotta bad — which means dangerous — drivers everywhere.

What helps for me is, as I have gotten older, I just give the lunatics plenty of space. Got no need whatsoever to challenge anybody.

Want to cut in front of me suddenly? Have at it! I leave plenty of space for it. Want to pass me on a curve? Sure, I'll slow down and try to give you the best possible chance of surviving.

Like to run red lights? I'll wait on green until I am sure you've stopped.

I still run pretty fast when traffic is sparse and it feels safe to me. (And I think unlikely to get speeding tickets.) But I sure have no interest whatsoever in playing games with yahoos.

You've got that right. Took my life in my hands every time I ventured out on the road when I lived in Chicago.

I think there are bad and inconsiderate drivers everywhere, but the thing about Oklahoma drivers that has puzzled me is what happens when it rains. I drive the same when it rains as when it's sunny but maybe just a little slower and more cautiously. For some reason, rain freaks some people out here! Some will be driving 20 mph on a 65 mph road when there's a light sprinkle, and other people act like they can't see or are lost. You see wrecks EVERYWHERE, I never have figured that one out.

The only signal I see is the bird they flip you when they make a left on red while smoking/drinking beer/texting/ and leaning on the horn cuz it's your fault.

Another pet peeve is while driving on a street where people coming from the right have a stop sign. Many many times as I enter the intersection where they are supposed to stop, they continue past the stop sign into the intersection. Of course I never know if they will actually stop at some point or just plough through so I have to hit the brakes. For some reason this is mostly done by women.

I have enjoyed all the posts, and I certainly don't challenge the accuracy of anyone's recounting of personal experiences, but I am a little surprised at all the negative comments, particularly in places where I have actually driven.

Boston, for one, does not seem to me to have worse drivers than other parts of the country. If nothing else, they should get considerable credit for not running over all the lawbreaking bicyclists that infest the city (bicyclists, don't bother flaming me - I was a life member of LAB back when it was LAW).

I did notice the last time I was northbound on 95 in the Carolinas that the left-lane speed would have been called reckless driving in VA, but that's why they call them the Carolinas (because they're not Virginia). But that was just a nice cruising speed - I did NOT see any unsafe driving. Anyway, I don't drive that way any more, anyway. I try to avoid two (NJ, NY) of the very few states that are more anti-2A than MA. And I get MD and DC thrown in as a bonus.

We (the US of A) have our share of idiots, but I'm pretty sure that this is actually one of the safest countries to drive in.

However, enough of reality. I didn't really mean to break up a good bull**** session. And the complaints aren't bull**** - they just, in my experience, do not represent what's mostly going on out there.

That appears to be SOP in Austin as it happened several times while we were there. I'm not talking about city streets with 25-30 MPH speed limits, but secondary state highways where the traffic flows at 55-65 MPH. Maybe it's an intimidation tactic, but it would seem to result in some significant "wrecks".

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Can open, worms everywhere.

During my years as a paramedic in Boston I responded to many collisions involving bicycles. Very few of them were purely the motor vehicle driver's fault and some were completely the fault of the bike rider.

When I was working I did a lot of overtime on a bicycle and saw a lot of bad bike riders.

Cambridge of course, is much worse. I was there yesterday and many bike riders seem to think that some painted lines on the street give them license and protection to ride like idiots.

Unsurprisingly, Austin is similar. It's like Cambridge in so many ways, although the food, weather, and friendliness of the inhabitants is much better.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

Well I haven't driven all over the country but I have over a goodly bit of it. Before I found myself driving in New York City I would have said Dallas Texas. Those folks have a little game they like to play called Freeway Roulette. Drivers turn on their radios and the disc jockey plays a pre-selected song. At some point before its end the DJ stops the music and all drivers must change lanes.

I have to drive through Dallas coming and going to Miss Pam's folks place in the Texoma area and I've been doing that a dozen times a year and I've been doing it for 36 years so I know where of I speak.

But in October of Y2K we went to visit our daughter who was then living in NYC. She was tired of having to worry about parking/storing her car so she asked me to drive it home for her.

SAY WHAT!?!? You want me to drive...HERE?

I'd just guess that 80% to 90% of the vehicles on the streets of Manhattan are taxi cabs. If a street is marked for 2 lanes or 10 it makes no difference. They pay no attention to lane markings. If there is a space even barely big enough to push a cab through it they will go for it and to heck with the lane markings.

They drive with their horns and not their brakes. I only had to drive about a mile to get to the opening of the Lincoln Tunnel and more than once I was positive that I was going to die in traffic before I ever saw the Lincoln Tunnel. Somehow by the grace of God we made it but we were deaf from all the honking and curses from irate cabbies. See, If you try to drive friendly and observe lane markings, stop lights, and speed limits you are going against the system and endangering the cabbies. It's a dangerous business and I ain't lyin'!

When we came out in New Jersey we were sweaty with relief and drove I-95 almost all the way to Texas. Nooooo Problem-o! I will never drive THERE again. There is no where I want to go bad enough to ever drive in NYC again. I'll just stay put until I can catch a ....cab. It's the safest way to travel. Not pleasant but safer than driving yourself.

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Real men love cats!

Virginia drivers are the worst I have ever encountered.

Zero concept on how to merge onto a highway.

Multiple car pile ups during the rain.

No concept at all of the coast to coast traffic law.Longest right hand turn at an intersection.

And every other Trucker playing Elephant race on the interstates.

As they say in Austin, "keep Austin weird"

Riding through there on a Harley is quite an adventure.

Riding on a motorcycle through Austin has to be a life threatening experience.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

I sometimes think the ultimate car to have is a beat up but running 1970 Chevy Impala. How many people are going to cut off a tank?

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Common sense isn't so common.

Look up a 1932 movie called "If I Had a Million." There is a segment with W.C. Fields where he did something similar.

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Can open, worms everywhere.

elm creek, that was Christie Brinkley, she was trying to catch up with Clark W. Griswald (Chevy Chase?)!!!

Best Regards, Les

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SWCA 3084, SWHF 495, PGCA 3064

Out here in the mountains of West Virginia, the locals generally know how to drive and driving on a mountain road's just something you do to get from one place to another.
It's the tourists that come out here and have not a single clue.
They'll jump all over their brakes every time the road curves or goes downhill.
They'll slow way down and ooh and aah at the local scenery.
I'd come around a corner at 60 mph and some ding-a-ling'll be creeping down the road at between 30 and 35.
"Oh (expletive deleted)!" On the horn and the brakes.
The upside is they're also really helping the local economy, especially when they speed through town.

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Keep on Chooglin'

As a A B A T E motorcycle safety officer and a G W R R A ( goldwing group) saftey office . We train that all cars in front and besides are looking to kill you at any given moment.

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Spin The Wheel

During the first snow of winter, people in Minnesota drive like they were born in Florida.

Without any doubt whatsoever, the absolute worst drivers in the USA by far are ALL in or from the State of Rhode Island. It is worse than a demolition derby down there. Going down there is almost certain death for MA folks like me. It's pure and total insanity.

+1 on Louisiana drivers they are the worst I have seen. I lived in Baton Rouge for a few years while working for LSU the driving was terrible. But before Katrina you could drive around Baton Rouge without pulling your hair. Then it was New Orleans. Of course traffic on I 95 on a Friday or Sunday during the summer in and around Richmond is almost as bad.

You forgot the idiots from E-town!

I'm thinking Indy is rising quickly on the idiot driving list. Constant lane changing thru intersections. But my daily favorite is going from the 3rd or 2nd lane and in one move exit I-465 onto I-74. It's like Saigon on Tet under fire!

Have any of you folks been to DC/Northern Virginia/Metro Maryland? Holy cow, I call DC the District of Chaos. At least 50% of the drivers there, the last transportation they owned was feet or donkeys. Mid block u turns any time, any place. I used to commute to DC from Edinburg Va ,99 miles each way, every day. Coming in on 66, at a walking pace, you would see multi car accidents, where cars were totalled.And when you *finally* passed the accident, you were still moving at a walking pace. Too many people, too many non drivers, and they are ALL more important than you. Simply amazing.

I couldn't agree more. Drivers routinely turn left against oncoming traffic...playing chicken and not yielding to other cars when you don't have the right of way is routine. I was the passenger in my cousin's car and he thought nothing of driving on the freeway emergency lane at 60 MPH.

In a lot of places around Boston, that is legal. Disconcerting, but legal. Brings in the whole "If you're not FROM there..." problem.

Perhaps a leaf peepers ahead sign might help.

Funny coincidence; my daughter just called from Texas. She lives about an hour north of Austin. She said Texas drivers are the worst in the world. The comment was unsolicited.

Correct. For a very long time, corrupt MA pols would not fund new road construction or expansion of existing roads at all because it would cut down on what they could steal. Their solution when it got completely unbearable? Let people drive in the breakdown lanes.

But Little Rhody is much, much worse. Two infamous, almost unbelievable moves that you only see in Rhode Island: 1) Drivers suddenly stopping dead in the middle of a multi-lane highway for no apparent reason... ... and, 2) Drivers cutting over from the high-speed left lane in traffic all the way over to the extreme right lane to exit the highway... in as little as 100 feet. And the weirdest part of all? They aren't doing that by accident or negligence. They are doing it intentionally for the sheer "sport" of it. I kid you not.

Boston! I wasn't driving but the cabbie was something else. We went through a toll booth at about 40 mph and the driver just threw the coins in the direction of the toll collection machine. I didn't need to get anywhere fast, he said he drives like that all the time.

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Bill

#2 is pretty common down here in Texas.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

I like that. Not so negative but most positive in yer entire post.

Yer 2nd paragraph describes what just happened to me today coming from a minor emergency clinic to come get a quick meal from WM Deli. The first one was an idiot female texting and paying sub-zero attention to traffic. First cutting across three lanes of traffic barely missing my front so-called "bumper" causing me yo HAVE to slam on my brakes. Then, both of us in a left turn lane to get to Everhart strtte-and about 2 blocks from a red light, this twit slams on her brakes (me too again) to answer a fragging TEXT!?!?

True, during certain specified hours, posted rather conspicuously. And that extra extreme right-hand lane (called the breakdown lane during other hours) is usually occupied by the faster drivers, often motivating down the road at a speed greater than the speed limit. Is that not predictable? If you are not in the habit of making illegal lane changes, it is not a problem. AFAIK, it is generally not a problem. I really don't see or hear of very many collisions.

Sorry, but I think you need to get out more. I lived and drove in the People's Republic of Puget Sound for nearly 30 years. They drive fast and blow through a lot of red lights, but they aren't anywhere near the worst drivers I've seen. Heck, Portland has worse drivers than Seattle by a long shot.

The worst drivers I've seen were in Puerto Rico. People passing on the left AND right shoulders at 60-70 miles an hour. Lane markers and traffic signs ALL get treated as if they were just suggestions, and little or no traffic enforcement to convince them otherwise.

HA! I have to admit that you see a lot of that kind of thing in Seattle too. Which is really weird since it rains there 200 days a year on average....

I noticed that in ABQ NM. Red lights mean nothing to those folks. Saw more people run red lights there in 5 days than I've seen in 5 years where I live. Suicide to be the first person in on a green light.

Still a lot better than Mexico. I would rather be shot at than drive there. Rented a car in Cabo once and that was enough for me. Demolition derby down there.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Double post, sorry.

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That's just somebody talkin.