• silverwhisper said on Sep 26, 2007....

  heh...of the states in which i've driven, i have to say that the maryland drivers are the hands-down worst, to be honest. aggressive driving i understand. slow driving i understand, rude/selfish driving, ditto.
  
  but IMX, MD drivers are just plain insane!
  
  stupidest thing i've witnessed a driver do? i think i've seen someone go the wrong way down a one-way street--at highway speeds (residential area).
  
  ed

• evil_twin said on Sep 26, 2007....

  silver--So what do they do that's so insane? I was following some lady through a residential neighborhood here and she was driving on the wrong side of the road. Then she'd come back over to the right lane, almost hit a parked car, then go back over to the other lane. It was crazy! And the best part was, she was wearing a bonnet on her head. Like an Amish person! I stayed as far away as I could!

• silverwhisper said on Sep 26, 2007....

  what's so insane about MD drivers? completely unpredictable lane shifts/turns, wildly varying driving speeds--and i mean, this is true on highways, interstates and local roads!
  
  ed

• evil_twin said on Sep 26, 2007....

  silver--We get that here too a lot. Speeding is more of a problem than you'd guess here given how much traffic we have. But people love to drive on the shoulder or in the median if they have to! 

• silverwhisper said on Sep 26, 2007....

  i'll confess i'm shocked to hear that--we've heard about the legendarily bad traffic here, too!
  
  ed

• evil_twin said on Sep 26, 2007....

  silver--We definitely have the traffic issues, but there are times when the roads are fairly clear. At least for a good stretch. And then people go a 100 mph, which causes a problem when the brake lights start coming on ahead. They don't give themselves enough time to stop and suddenly it's a ten car pile up. People just don't pay attention!

• dailyachesandpains said on Sep 26, 2007....

  E_T:  Okay, I'm laughing here! 
  I thought Boston drivers sucked, but we all "understand" each other when we're on the roads.  It's a brotherhood.  LOL
  It's when the tourists come to town that the problems happen.  Flipping each other off is almost a kind gesture after a cut-off. 
   
  When I lived in Snottsdale, AZ I could have DIED driving.  Where people kill in murder/suicides because of (at the time) no guard rails on the highway...that's just crazy!  When you think about it, it's the melting pot places that are the worst places to drive.  If everyone is moving 'here', in my opinion, it is going to be worse due to driving styles that they bring from 'there'. 
   
  Florida sucks for driving too.  You got the Sunday drivers with the teens and tourists...fahget it!   
   
  Great post!
  daily

• tizzygirl said on Sep 26, 2007....

  well we all know how I feel about traffic....I hate it....mostly people drive too slow!  Or cut me off....which I'm beginning to think I should just run them over....but anyway...it depends on what part of town you are in...by my house there are a lot of old people who go too slow, mid-town there are tons of people on the cell and driving crazy and downtown there are tons of people going slow and making horrid lane changes and stupid moves.....I don't believe anyone knows how to drive but me lol ;)

• uniquely-ironic said on Sep 26, 2007....

  The bay area is one of the worst places I've even driven.  I don't allow my son to drive here and won't until he has at least a year of solo driving under his belt.  Hawaii was tame by comparison and Oregon is irritating, but doable.
   
  People here have no concept of speed limits, they use the commuter lane as a passing lane, turn signals probably rust out before they wear out, and the language and gestures are the stuff nightmares are made of.  Even when someone is completely and obviously wrong in a near miss they flip you off and scream at you. (the near victim)  It's like steroid rage people are so aggressive.
   
  The worst things I've ever witnessed in person is someone backing up on the highway on the right shoulder (which really didn't exist) and the teenagers sitting on the roof of their car driving with their feet through the moon roof down the street.

• sweet_cookie01 said on Sep 26, 2007....

  i agree some drivers shouldnt have a drivers license!... here in my country accidents often occur because of reckless driving.

• UnknownUser said on Sep 26, 2007....

  I used to drive cross-country and I can honestly say that the worst drivers I've seen are right here in Alaska.  I expect a stupid driver at one point during the day.  However, I see them one right after the other here.  Some are on cell phones, others aren't.  My poor truck has had more body work done on it than it is even worth!  LOL  I have been rear-ended, broad-sided, and had a couple hit and runs.  So far in the last 6 years, that truck had been hit 14 times at last count.  One guy broadsided me in a parking lot so hard that he actually bent the car in half!

• evil_twin said on Sep 26, 2007....

  daily--I think you're right about melting pot cities being the worst. It's just too many driving styles in one little place. It's chaos! And I agree about the Florida drivers. I wanted to pluck my eyes out with a spork after driving there for three weeks.
  
  tizzy--You bring up a good point. I often think I'm the only one on the road who knows how to drive. And I'm sure the rest of them think think the same thing! Some of us are wrong though....
  
  uniquely--I have driven in SF before and I never will again! I hate the roads there and the bridges and all the one way streets. And the hills! It was nail biting just making it through that place alive!
  
  cookie--I hear ya. It happens here all the time too.
  
  unknown--Alaska is one place I've never driven. Or been to. But I imagine the winter time is the worst with the constant darkness and the snow. That's horrible that your car got hit so many times! I hope you stay safe.
  

• Eilan said on Sep 26, 2007....

  My husband is a retired highway patrol sergeant, and he's seen tons of funny, stupid, and sad stuff over the years.  I could do several blog entries about it.
  
  Here are a few stupid things he encountered:
  
  A drunk made his 10-year-old drive.
  
  A drunk changed seats after he'd been pulled over on suspicion of DUI.
  
  A speeding teenager led him on a high-speed pursuit.  The kid was fairly conscientious: he stopped at a stop sign--AND used his turn signal!
  

• rupert7 said on Sep 26, 2007....

  I feel better now! Perth Western Australia has the reputation of having the worst drivers in the country. Just last week a car salesman took a modified Porsche for a run (without authorisation ) and the police clocked him doing  181 mph on the freeway which has a speed limit of 65mph. 181 miles per hour!!
  
  What is tailgating? Here everyone thinks you must drive as close as possible to the car in front! If you pass someone then you must cut as sharply in front of them as possible! If someone tries to pass you then SPEED UP!! If someone tries to change lanes then do all you can to stop them! Change lanes frequently for no good reason and NEVER indicate your intention! Ignore the speed limit,especially if on a motor bike, give way signs are for losers! stop signs are invisible to many motorists as well! Parking? park anywhere anyway you want!Blocked someone in? who cares! Road rage is a sport! One poor woman was bumped over an embankment, her car rolled and she was killed! Why? She was in the way- hell she was only doing the speed limit!!  Welcome to Perth WA!!
  

• rupert7 said on Sep 26, 2007....

  I forgot to talk about the "Hoons" - The youg smart alecs who think they own the streets at night. Constant burn outs and worse high speed street racing, often for money. There is even an "anti hoon" law these days. If caught it is possible to have a car impounded for a few days! like that makes a difference!

• kelly said on Sep 26, 2007....

  I moved to the LA area in 1987 and oddly enough back then I was impressed by how decent and calm the drivers out here seemed. People didn't tailgate nearly so much and when two lanes merged people politely "zippered" together rather than trying to race ahead on the shoulder to edge in past the car in front.
  
  
  Nowadays it's pretty bad in my opinion.  Not only do people not stop at stop signs, they don't even attempt to wait their turn.  I sometimes get the feeling that people think if they slow down at a stop sign then they have the right to plow ahead no matter what the situation.  I've nearly been pegged a number of times.  If I drove like everyone else I would have been for sure.
  
  
  I used to wonder about all those jerks on the road until one day I was riding with a friend of mine.  He was tailgating the heck out of the guy in front of us just as a matter of course.  Then I realized that all those jerks on the road were probably people just like my friends.  Now I don't believe people should be allowed to drive at all.
  
  
  "A drunk changed seats after he'd been pulled over on suspicion of DUI."
  
  
  Was the giveaway that no one else was even in the car?  ;-)
  
  
  
  

• minniemouse said on Sep 27, 2007....

  Hey e_t......I heard about this story on the radio the other day and I thought of you out there in L.A.!  How funny!  I was driving in my car, on a Maryland road cutting everyone off and swerving through lanes as I was listening to the radio and texting on my cell phone.  ;-)  Minnie

  P.S. Ed.....its the D.C. suburb drivers, on 495 that give Marylanders a bad name....

• silverwhisper said on Sep 27, 2007....

  mm: you know, i used to think that but o no, i've seen it well away from the beltway, too!
  
  ed

• evil_twin said on Sep 27, 2007....

  eilan--I heard a story about a drunk guy who let his kid drive instead! That's crazy. I can imagine the amount of stories your husband has!
  
  rupert--181mph?? That is insane! And we have street racers here too. They have a new law here in California where if they catch you racing, they take your car and crush it! You never get it back. They actually did a big bust a month or two ago and rounded up a bunch of the street racing cars and impounded them. Those people are always crashing and killing innocent bystanders.
  
  kelly--I understand what you mean! I have friends who drive like that too and it does make you wonder how anyone got a drivers license! And I see that you're familiar with the shoulder drivers too. I hate those people!
  
  minnie--You made me laugh! I sure hope that's not how you really drive :-P But you forgot to say that you were applying mascara and sipping coffee, along with texting and listening to the radio. I've seen people doing this! I actually saw some guy shaving at a stoplight before.
  

• Tara115 said on Sep 27, 2007....

  Hey I am in CT and  I don;t think the drivers are tooo Bad, I have seen some ridiculous New York drivers though here.  Cell phones are banned while driving here,  but i still see EVERYONE on theirs.  I think no matter where you go there is gonna be someone who drives shitty.  Especially those OLD people who should NOT be driving,  UGH  thats makes me nuts!!!

• hollywoodJess said on Sep 27, 2007....

   
  Hah! A blog devoted to L.A. drivers! Thank you because drivers in L.A. are the worst! I can relate because i am in the area....and let me tell you, nothing is worse than a driver on the phone here. Better yet-texting while driving!! Ugh where do people get the nerve to text and drive? I mean everyone is driving these expensive cars and they are cutting people off like no tomorrow. They are all asking for it...
   
  Thanks for the link.
  Definately saving that to my favorites!

• kelly said on Sep 27, 2007....

  Today I remember the most bizarre driving incident I'd ever seen.  I was on the Hollywood freeway going south one night and it became apparent that a car up ahead of me was pouring out a lot of smoke.  Sure enough, I passed a car that was trailing enormous amounts of smoke, but where the smoke was coming from was the bizarre thing.
  
  
  The car had a flat right-front tire yet the woman driving it had the thing floored and was driving on, pushing that destroyed front wheel along on the pavement still going at least 45 mph.  Smoke was billowing out and as I passed I looked over and saw that the wheel well was full of flames.
  
  
  It was a weird scene.  The woman gripping the steering wheel, the smoke, the fire, the darkness and me wondering just how desperate do you have to be not to pull over when you get a flat?

• evil_twin said on Sep 28, 2007....

  tara--Old people really are a hazard on the road sometimes! And the cell phone drivers drive me crazy. That's interesting that they've already been banned where you are, and yet no one heeds that law. I'm pretty sure it'll be like that here too when the law takes effect.
  
  hollywoodJess--This city definitely is the worst. I mean, we have people like Lindsay Lohan crashing up her car on a regular basis because she's high or running from photographers or chasing people. Everyone else is just as bad! I see the people texting all the time too.
  
  kelly--That is crazy! Obviously she was either oblivious or too afraid to pull over on the freeway to wait for AAA. I'm sure that her mechanic was thrilled when he finally got a look at her destroyed wheel and charred up car!
  
  
  

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