Whenever I ride in a taxi in New York City, I marvel at the intestinal fortitude of the drivers who navigate pedestrians, potholes and other drivers who seem to have learned how to drive via a video game. And, according to a recent survey of driver knowledge by GMAC Insurance, it turns out that the awe these drivers inspire is justified.Blah, blah, blah, NYC traffic sucks, yadda yadda yadda. NYC ≠ NYS. The list was automatically made of fail, though, given this:
13. Massachusetts - 75.8No. Hell no. There is no way on God's Green Earth that Massachusetts is tied with Pennsylvania. There's folks in Pennsylvania that don't even drive cars, for crying out loud; here in MA we give cars away to folks on welfare. We give driver's licenses to people who can't even speak the language; hell, even if your language is based on clicks and inflection we'll chuck a license at you here in the Volksrepublik (as long as you vote Dem...).
I agree with FL being high up on the list (sorry Robb, Greg, and Jay). Having driven quite a bit through the Sunshine state I'll attest to the poor quality of their drivers; however that's skewed because of the high percentage of a) whitehead snowbirds and b) tourists. We MAholes drive like this year round, 24/7, 365. It doesn't get better in the summer or off-peak here. To further complicate matters, we have things called "rotaries" (also known as "traffic circles" further north or "roundabouts" going south) where no one has any fucking clue what to do, and it becomes a vehicular darwin campaign whereby the crappiest and largest car always has the right of way.
MA, where our proud driving motto is "Death before yielding"...
That is all.
17 comments:
When I was attending (1971-72) Framingham State (1st Normal school in America, 1st to go Abnormal!) I heard the story of the car full of elderly ladies stuck in a rotary on the road leading to the Cape. They stayed there going in circles longer than Tom Dooley had to ride the MTA for want of a nickle.
The only folks I ever encountered who drove worse that Massaholics are the farmers in Indiana - those guys will pull a 10-wagon hay train across the Indiana Turnpike without even looking to see if a school bus is stopped to let of children (also happened on the Indy Pike).
BTW - I think I am the only person who could figure out how to legally drive around the block at Louisburg Square up behind the Capitol. Also learned how to back a semi-trailer down an alley while a student in Taxachusetts.
stay safe.
WV = ditol: the stoty you just heard - it's what I ditol you.
I've driven in every big city in the US, including New York, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver, Dallas, Houston, Washington and yes, Boston.
Boston has, by far, the worst drivers of any city in the US. It's not a question of skill, but of evil intent. Boston drivers are just flat out rude and will go out of their way to block you, cut you off or run you off the road.
Any list that doesn't have Boston at the top of the worst drivers is just not valid.
Jay, you've obviously never been to either Philadelphia. Driver's in Philly don't stop when they see pedestrians in the crosswalk: they accelerate (nevermind the fact that state law says to yield to peds).
And while the idiots on the Main Line know what to drive, they have no clue how to drive it. No lie: I was almost run off the road twice in the same place by the same car!!!! And once got the finger from a Soccer Mom after she ran me off the road whilst driving her SUV who was driving in oncoming traffic.
Drivers of the Volksrepublik ain't got nothin' on drivers around here.
He he, when it comes to roundabouts, you lot are amateurs.
Jay, if you ever cross the pond I'll take you over the Magic Roundabout (I choose that word advisedly) and then I'll buy you a beer to calm you down.
nbc....
OMG!!!!! WTF?
WV.... "seduccle"... what obama does to michelle....
(sorry i know its still early)
"Big Ben, kids! Parliament!"
Little brother-
I'm not saying our traffic issues are worse than Boston...
But I can tell you this:
I've driven in Australia, Shanghai, Beijing, Greece, Italy, England, France, Mexico, Columbia, and Tokyo...
BOSTON is the only place I've given up and turned in my rental car and resorted to taxis for transportation. Between asshat drivers, poorly marked roads, confusing traffic flows, and overall transportation stupidity, I couldn't handle it.
As for Florida-
Driving & navagation is a walk in the park as long as you have the right frame of mind...
We have relatively little road rage, since there is a good chance of encountering an armed driver...
HOWEVER-
You hit the problem on the head-
Take the worst drivers from the Northeast, tack 60 or 70 years on them, take away half of their eyesight, reduce their reaction time by 2/3, stick them in huge lumbering 70's-era landyachts and send them down here to clog our roads?
Gee, thanks for all the damnyankees.
So- throw all the bluehairs on the highway, then a bunch of good ol' boys in the giant 4x4s pick-um-ups, a convoy of 18-wheelers driven by amped up NASCAR wannabes who haven't slept in 2 weeks, farm trucks filled with mutant Georgia swine and open-top orange carriers trying to make it to the fruit processor before the chancre sets in, and just for fun- throw in a handful of brothers on hopped-up rice burners weaving in and out of traffic like a swarm of angry hornets riding 400hp sewing machines...
Welcome to a typical trip on I-95 in North Florida.
But let's see you do this...
Right now, out in the Blue Toaster I have 300 rds of 12ga #8, 200 rds of .44 Mag, 1000+ rds of 5.56, 400 rds of .40, 400 rds of 9mm, and 1000 or so .22, and a selection of firearms in all those calibers, because there is a slight possibility of a range trip this afternoon...
And it wouldn't even raise my bloodpressure if I got pulled over by the local SO or the FHP.
Do you live in a similar environment?
Hey nbc-
The Magic Roundabout...
Jeebus!
Have someone stick a camera on a motorcycle and ride through that thing...
I'd pay good money to see that.
TBG
"poorly marked roads"
There's a law in Massachusetts that requires a tree to be planted in front of every road sign.
I think adding a sign with an unobstructed view of traffic is the only crime punishable by death here.
I think its the roads here. They're just so poorly laid out that I don't think new drivers ever figure out how to drive, so they just decide to be belligerent assholes and break traffic laws until they arrive at their destination.
I still can't figure out if it's a compliment or an insult to be told that I drive like a Boston cab driver....
I can tell you that I never parked my car on the street, as old as it was, because I've never seen other cars' bumpers used for a 'parking assist' for someone to get into a spot.
New York is far from being the worst. Greater Baltimore is the worst, so MD should be #1. As a friend explained to me, "Down here, we consider the use of turn signals a sign of weakness."
Rhode Island should be higher than #5. The absolute worst drivers in MA have RI tags on their plates. I think they suffer from "Small State Syndrome" or something.
Big Guy. During the Revolutionary war, American troops would remove road signs to confuse the Red Coats. We've just never got around to putting them back up.
Then again, I've driven in FL and never had so many near misses from "Q Tips" driving while not being able to see over the dashboard of their Grand Marquis.
That is why I don't drive in Mass... at least not by choice...
I absolutely believe Jersey is right up at the top. We have a charming mix of aggressive, incompetent, and oblivious (often all at the same time), mixed together in a state whose ridiculous overpopulation requires insane road design and traffic patterns that encourage the oblivious to swerve across three lanes of traffic to get to a surprise exit.
Also, fun fact: the far left lane of New Jersey highways is reserved for meek drivers. It exists not for the purpose of passing, but for the convenience of those who feel more comfortable with a wiiiide open space ahead of them.
"(nevermind the fact that state law says to yield to peds). "
I grew up and learned to drive in PA and this is news to me. ;-) I remember first coming to MA to visit colleges and being amazed when cars stopped as I approached crosswalks.
I think those suggesting that a big part of Boston's problem is its awfully designed roads are right on.
The study tested *knowledge* of traffic laws as opposed to *following* them. If they could somehow test willful violations, MA would move up the list a bit.
Jersey's bad. 30 minutes on the Turnpike, and I was going 85mph, and screaming spittle on the inside of the windshield in obscene Spanish.
I don't speak Spanish. I apparnatly picked up a decent (if subconscious) vocabulary from my Puerto Rican buddy in Basic, back when Ronaldus Magnus was CIC. This is one of two occaisions it has popped out.
Baltimore is pretty bad. Dumber, but less aggressive drivers. ABSOLUTE PANIC when precipitation happens. I mean like, "ABANDON YOUR CARS! WEATHER IS HAPPENING!" You expect to see them fling themselves into the nearest ditch (abandoned car door open and idling), ass to the blast, to Duck & Cover. (I love that little turtle song. . . )
But upstate NY and most of Pennsylvania has the most. . . interesting roads. Both states apparantly feel no need for road signs (obscured or otherwise), figuring, "If you need a sign, you really don't belong here."
Pennsylvania also has The Eternal Construction Zone. I've seen worse in Hampton Roads, VA (IIRC, ONE project that was slated for 3 years ran about 20. . . but a lot was bad luck -- undergound water ways hit, ancient Indian burial grounds unearther, etc.) But PennDOT has it down to a SCIENCE.
Contrast North Carolina. Heading down to Charlotte, I saw NCDOT crews doing something unbelievably foreign to my eyes. Why, they were actually doing PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE on the highway! Little things like replacing expansion joints BEFORE they got all mucked up. All in very short segments (about a half-day's work of work long), so they only had to put a work zone up for a brief period -- not 20 miles of work zone ("WORK ZONE! FINES DOUBLE! -PennDOT") for 100 yards of actualy work.
I moved here from Florida, which has its share of bad drivers, but nowhere near as awful in those let loose in the Boston area. After three years here, I've just started to assume that all drivers are homicidal maniacs out to get me (and everyone else in their way).
But let me ask you -- what the hell is up with the total lack of street signs, actual marked lanes, and other useful identifying thingies on the road? And why in the name of all that is holy isn't there a SINGLE road in this state that runs in a state line and intersects with another road that goes in a state line? Were your road planners inspired by a plate of linguine? Are you lot getting kickbacks from makers of GPSs?
(P.S. Great blog; I'm also confused about the gun thing. I shall read on.)
I grew up in New England, I've driven in Boston many, many times. I've also lived in Pittsburgh, PA. Boston drivers score points for being out & out evil, Pittsburgh drivers score being being just plain fucking stupid. I'd say they're about even.
I love Boston driving, it's driving at its most feral. As soon as you've made eye contact with the guy you're trying to get past, you've admitted weakness. Don't look, and you can do whatever the hell you want so long as you know where you're going.
I used to live in East Boston and commute for work to Cleveland Circle in Brookline. I covered all the worst roads, the Callahan tunnel, 93, Storrow Drive and Comm Ave with target....errr...BU students.
It was like living in a Burt Reynolds movie.
DC has the worst drivers.
There are the locals who couldn't care less about anybody but themselves, live in the left lane, can't keep up with the car ahead and never, ever use signal lights, not even the cops when not using their flashy lights.
You also have people from all over the country, each with their own driving style.
Then you have people from all over the world, including 3rd world countries with no driving rules.
Add in gobs of tourists who have no G-D idea where they're going and you have a melange of stupidity unsurpassed even in Maine (where their other car is a tractor).
NYC is just speed, rudeness and ignoring the laws. I actually like that too, speed limits are about 10% lower than the slowest driver goes, but it's not as cut-throat as Boston or as stupid as DC.
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