OT: Where are the Worst Drivers? (US only) (At least the post involves cars, some of which would be Toyotas)

I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US and
Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New York
Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
learned to drive near Boston and then DC.

Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing far
more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's just
not a pleasant place to drive.

If the drivers in the Chicago area didn't scare the crap out of me, I might
have time to admire their skill.

Also, a disproportionate share of the really aggressive drivers seemed to be
driving BMWs. A good choice, I suppose, if you're going to drive
aggressively. They do handle nicely.


So, does Chicago get the nod for worst drivers or does someone want to
nominate someplace else? Please, justify your pick with examples of poor
driving practices. I'd like to get beyond the simple "They suck."

If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to nominate a
runner-up.


PS: I notice, now, that I've got a typo in "Los Angeles" but it looks
somehow appropriate, kind of sums up my experience driving there once, so
I'm leaving it.

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews...[color=blue]
>I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
> driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US
> and
> Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
> driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New
> York
> Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
> Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
> numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
> learned to drive near Boston and then DC.[/color]

Of the cities you listed, I've driven in every place you listed except for
Seattle and DC, although NY was the Bronx/GW Bridge through NJ along I-80.

I learned to drive in Chicago, lived in the SF Bay area for 5 years,
Boston/New England area for 10 years, back in Chicago for last 12 years.
[color=blue]
>
> Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
> multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing far
> more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
> traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's just
> not a pleasant place to drive.
>
> If the drivers in the Chicago area didn't scare the crap out of me, I
> might
> have time to admire their skill.[/color]

Did you get to drive down a Chicago neighborhood 2-way street at 30+ MPH?
Picture a street with parked cars on each side, with remaining pavement
about as wide as a 2-car garage. It's kind of like playing chicken.[color=blue]
>
> Also, a disproportionate share of the really aggressive drivers seemed to
> be
> driving BMWs. A good choice, I suppose, if you're going to drive
> aggressively. They do handle nicely.
>[/color]

Most of the people driving BMWs in Chicago may drive agressively but they
are not skillful drivers. I always pull over when passing head-to-head with
one on a neighborhood street because they can't judge width. On the other
hand, I have no qualms about passing a cop or taxi on a narrow street.
[color=blue]
> So, does Chicago get the nod for worst drivers or does someone want to
> nominate someplace else? Please, justify your pick with examples of poor
> driving practices. I'd like to get beyond the simple "They suck."
>
> If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to nominate a
> runner-up.
>
>
> PS: I notice, now, that I've got a typo in "Los Angeles" but it looks
> somehow appropriate, kind of sums up my experience driving there once, so
> I'm leaving it.
>[/color]

I still think drivers in Boston are the worst.
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews...[color=blue]
>I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
> driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US
> and
> Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
> driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New
> York
> Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
> Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
> numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
> learned to drive near Boston and then DC.
>
> Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
> multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing far
> more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
> traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's just
> not a pleasant place to drive.
>
> If the drivers in the Chicago area didn't scare the crap out of me, I
> might
> have time to admire their skill.
>
> Also, a disproportionate share of the really aggressive drivers seemed to
> be
> driving BMWs. A good choice, I suppose, if you're going to drive
> aggressively. They do handle nicely.
>
>
> So, does Chicago get the nod for worst drivers or does someone want to
> nominate someplace else? Please, justify your pick with examples of poor
> driving practices. I'd like to get beyond the simple "They suck."
>
> If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to nominate a
> runner-up.
>
>
> PS: I notice, now, that I've got a typo in "Los Angeles" but it looks
> somehow appropriate, kind of sums up my experience driving there once, so
> I'm leaving it.
>
>[/color]

Chicago sucks. No doubt. I've been driving in Chicago traffic for nearly a
decade. What's even scarier than Chicago expressways are the city streets
in the Loop.

Just remember

We have:

A "Rush hour" that doesn't rush and lasts about 3 hours.

Expressways that don't usually express.

Tollways that are usually not busy now even during rush hours (A tip of the
hat to Governor Blagojavich for releiving the congestion on the tollways by
doubling the tolls and tripling the tolls for trucks, thus causing them to
reroute through Momence and Kankakee, Illinois and up the US 41 up north to
avoid the tolls on the I-294.)

Rivers that 'leak'.

Bridges that fall 'up'.


What's sadder is I do signal and my signals are basically ignored.

Bimmers think they own the road especially since it's usually high end
people driving them, but the SUV's think I'm something to be ignored since
I'm not as big as they are. People keep saying I should drive a Bimmer, but
I don't want one.

Even on the freeways, unless there is a traffic jam, the left lane is going
80. Sometimes the tollways hit 90! I've seen even the right lane hitting
80 in spots. Then they wonder why I only get 30 mpg with my old Corolla.
But of course, the cops will give you at least 10 over the limit (which is
55 in most of Chicago) and if the traffic is flowing at 80, they are not
going to stop you from doing 80, they'd have to stop and ticket everybody
and that would put them over their quota . . . . I suspect that if they go
over their quota, their quota gets raised for the next month . . . .

They will, given the chance, go after out-of-staters. Illinois has a
crooked little law that says if the cops stop an in-state driver, half the
fine goes to the county the vehicle is registered in, but no such law
applies to out of state cars or drivers . . . .

And they say Illinois doesn't need any reform.

Charles of Kankakee

"Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote in message
news:4d018$43169164$180fead6$15328@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue]
>
> "dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
> news:1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews...[color=green]
>>I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
>> driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US
>> and
>> Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
>> driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New
>> York
>> Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
>> Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
>> numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
>> learned to drive near Boston and then DC.[/color]
>
> Of the cities you listed, I've driven in every place you listed except for
> Seattle and DC, although NY was the Bronx/GW Bridge through NJ along I-80.
>
> I learned to drive in Chicago, lived in the SF Bay area for 5 years,
> Boston/New England area for 10 years, back in Chicago for last 12 years.
>[color=green]
>>
>> Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
>> multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing
>> far
>> more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
>> traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's
>> just
>> not a pleasant place to drive.
>>
>> If the drivers in the Chicago area didn't scare the crap out of me, I
>> might
>> have time to admire their skill.[/color]
>
> Did you get to drive down a Chicago neighborhood 2-way street at 30+ MPH?
> Picture a street with parked cars on each side, with remaining pavement
> about as wide as a 2-car garage. It's kind of like playing chicken.[/color]

And then there's the 4 lane streets that are just barely wider. My brother
got his truck cut into on the right side by an old lady in a Cram-Me that
wasn't watching traffic, or his signals. She suddenly sped up and took out
his passenger door.[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>> Also, a disproportionate share of the really aggressive drivers seemed to
>> be
>> driving BMWs. A good choice, I suppose, if you're going to drive
>> aggressively. They do handle nicely.
>>[/color]
>
> Most of the people driving BMWs in Chicago may drive agressively but they
> are not skillful drivers. I always pull over when passing head-to-head
> with one on a neighborhood street because they can't judge width. On the
> other hand, I have no qualms about passing a cop or taxi on a narrow
> street.
>[/color]

No they aren't, just basically arrogant, like the SUV drivers in the Burbs.
Oh, I forgot, they're so much safer because they are driving SUV's . . . .
[color=blue][color=green]
>> So, does Chicago get the nod for worst drivers or does someone want to
>> nominate someplace else? Please, justify your pick with examples of poor
>> driving practices. I'd like to get beyond the simple "They suck."
>>
>> If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to nominate
>> a
>> runner-up.
>>
>>
>> PS: I notice, now, that I've got a typo in "Los Angeles" but it looks
>> somehow appropriate, kind of sums up my experience driving there once, so
>> I'm leaving it.
>>[/color]
>
> I still think drivers in Boston are the worst.
> --
> Ray O
> correct the return address punctuation to reply
>[/color]

I've not driven in Boston, but I have driven in B'ham and I made the mistake
of driving through Atlanata at 5 PM on Friday on the I-75. If one can call
that driving, it was a lot more like parking. . . .

Charles of Kankakee

"Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote in message
news:4d018$43169164$180fead6$15328@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=blue]
> Of the cities you listed, I've driven in every place you listed except for
> Seattle and DC, although NY was the Bronx/GW Bridge through NJ along I-80.
>
> I learned to drive in Chicago, lived in the SF Bay area for 5 years,
> Boston/New England area for 10 years, back in Chicago for last 12 years.
>[color=green]
> >[/color]
> Did you get to drive down a Chicago neighborhood 2-way street at 30+ MPH?
> Picture a street with parked cars on each side, with remaining pavement
> about as wide as a 2-car garage. It's kind of like playing chicken.[color=green]
> >[/color][/color]

Well, I havent' done that but I'm probably psychologically prepared for it.
A week or two after I got my license, I found myself chauferring my
grandmother, in her '68 Cadillac Sedan deVille, through Georgetown. I'd
swear the space between the parked cars was narrower than the Cadillac.

And I've played "chicken" overseas and actually smacked mirrors with passing
cars driven by the natives.
[color=blue]
>
> Most of the people driving BMWs in Chicago may drive agressively but they
> are not skillful drivers. I always pull over when passing head-to-head[/color]
with[color=blue]
> one on a neighborhood street because they can't judge width. On the other
> hand, I have no qualms about passing a cop or taxi on a narrow street.
>[/color]

I've got to assume there's some sort of skill there because nobody died
while I watched. It's not good when you want to close your eyes to avoid
seeing looming disaster around you, when you're the one driving the car.
[color=blue]
> I still think drivers in Boston are the worst.[/color]

Why? What is it they do?
[color=blue]
> --
> Ray O
> correct the return address punctuation to reply
>
>[/color]

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews...[color=blue]
> I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
> driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US[/color]
and[color=blue]
> Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
> driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New[/color]
York[color=blue]
> Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
> Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
> numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
> learned to drive near Boston and then DC.
>
> Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
> multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing far
> more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
> traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's just
> not a pleasant place to drive.
>[/color]

I'd like to propose the Twin Cities as runner-up for worst drivers. Three
reasons:
- They complain about traffic conditions that are actually better than many
other places. They whine about it incessantly and it's really not bad. If
they were better drivers, in fact, conditions would be good all day.
- It's the only place where I've noticed they'll speed up to cut me off when
I'm merging onto a freeway. It frequently happens that I'll be coming down
a ramp to merge onto a freeway, a fairly empty freeway at that, and they
will actually speed up to get ahead of me before I get off the ramp. They
could move left, or even just continue as they were and I'd merge safely
ahead of them but, no, they've got to be first. OK, not all the time, but
enough and I haven't noticed this anywhere else. In cities with really bad
traffic (Boston, for instance), it's true that people won't let you in but
that's because it's already bumper-to-bumper and it's nothing personal but
merging is YOUR problem. If you work to get a fender out there, yeah, you
get in. In the Twin Cities, they never yield to the well-placed fender,
they just keep fading further to the farther lanes until their stream of
traffic actually moves into the other lane.
- I swear, when they merge into traffic, they NEVER look. Maybe they
actually do look, quickly and surreptitiously, but I've never caught them at
it and I've certainly had to use my horn often enough (when I couldn't move
left) because they don't seem to have a clue that I'm there.

I did spring a Jersey Turn(*) on them, once. That was quite satisfying, for
some reason. The oncoming drivers looked absolutely shocked. However, they
all appear to have grown up on the farm and learned to drive in the
cornfields and I really don't trust their driving skills enough to have
tried it again.



(*) - Jersey Turn - I define this as the practice of waiting at a red light
to turn left and then just rocketing off on the green, and taking your left
before the oncoming traffic can get moving. A badly executed Jersey Turn
ends up with you partway through the intersection, with oncoming traffic
swerving to go around your front end, while the cars behind you can't get
around your back end. This makes you very unpopular In a well-executed
Jersey Turn, not only do you get through but sometimes a few more left turns
will draft through behind you. The danger in doing this turn in the Twin
Cities is that you can't trust those corn-dogs to STOP when you've clearly
beaten them. They keep coming and if you don't get through FAST, they'll
hit you. Along the East Coast (I think you have to be north of Baltimore),
the oncoming drivers accept defeat gracefully, slow or stop and salute you
with horn and finger. In Texas, I expect they'd salute you with a .44, so
I'm not going to pull this trick there.

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125555754.4a6fc8134b9d38009b70275adaeed18b@teranews...[color=blue]
> "dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
> news:1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews...[color=green]
>> I drove through Illinois recently, well, through the Chicago area. I've
>> driven in almost every state (46) and many of the large cities in the US[/color]
> and[color=green]
>> Chicago has got to have the worst drivers I've ever encountered. I've
>> driven in Manhattan/Brooklyn, Boston (I hear their motto is "We Eat New[/color]
> York[color=green]
>> Plates for Breakfast"), Lost Angeles, DC, San Franciso/Oakland, Dallas,
>> Atlanta, New Orleans, Miami, the Twin Cities, Seattle, Cleveland and
>> numerous others and either driven there or rented cars while there. I
>> learned to drive near Boston and then DC.
>>
>> Chicago drivers go faster in heavy traffic, use turn signals less and do
>> multi-lane changes at high speed differentials with inadequate spacing
>> far
>> more often than in any other place I've been. Coupled with the God-awful
>> traffic around Chicago no matter what time you go through, well, it's
>> just
>> not a pleasant place to drive.
>>[/color]
>
> I'd like to propose the Twin Cities as runner-up for worst drivers. Three
> reasons:
> - They complain about traffic conditions that are actually better than
> many
> other places. They whine about it incessantly and it's really not bad.
> If
> they were better drivers, in fact, conditions would be good all day.
> - It's the only place where I've noticed they'll speed up to cut me off
> when
> I'm merging onto a freeway. It frequently happens that I'll be coming
> down
> a ramp to merge onto a freeway, a fairly empty freeway at that, and they
> will actually speed up to get ahead of me before I get off the ramp. They
> could move left, or even just continue as they were and I'd merge safely
> ahead of them but, no, they've got to be first. OK, not all the time, but
> enough and I haven't noticed this anywhere else. In cities with really
> bad
> traffic (Boston, for instance), it's true that people won't let you in but
> that's because it's already bumper-to-bumper and it's nothing personal but
> merging is YOUR problem. If you work to get a fender out there, yeah, you
> get in. In the Twin Cities, they never yield to the well-placed fender,
> they just keep fading further to the farther lanes until their stream of
> traffic actually moves into the other lane.[/color]
There are idiots in Chicago that will not let you in. Never mind that there
is no one behind them for 20 car lengths and no one in the next 3 lanes
over. They just have to cut you off. Arses. I hope they get the GI Trots!
[color=blue]
> - I swear, when they merge into traffic, they NEVER look. Maybe they
> actually do look, quickly and surreptitiously, but I've never caught them
> at
> it and I've certainly had to use my horn often enough (when I couldn't
> move
> left) because they don't seem to have a clue that I'm there.
>
> I did spring a Jersey Turn(*) on them, once. That was quite satisfying,
> for
> some reason. The oncoming drivers looked absolutely shocked. However,
> they
> all appear to have grown up on the farm and learned to drive in the
> cornfields and I really don't trust their driving skills enough to have
> tried it again.
>
>
>
> (*) - Jersey Turn - I define this as the practice of waiting at a red
> light
> to turn left and then just rocketing off on the green, and taking your
> left
> before the oncoming traffic can get moving. A badly executed Jersey Turn
> ends up with you partway through the intersection, with oncoming traffic
> swerving to go around your front end, while the cars behind you can't get
> around your back end. This makes you very unpopular In a well-executed
> Jersey Turn, not only do you get through but sometimes a few more left
> turns
> will draft through behind you. The danger in doing this turn in the Twin
> Cities is that you can't trust those corn-dogs to STOP when you've clearly
> beaten them. They keep coming and if you don't get through FAST, they'll
> hit you. Along the East Coast (I think you have to be north of
> Baltimore),
> the oncoming drivers accept defeat gracefully, slow or stop and salute you
> with horn and finger. In Texas, I expect they'd salute you with a .44, so
> I'm not going to pull this trick there.
>
>[/color]

I've got places here where the left arrow goes green and they sit there in
the lane for several seconds. I give them the Chicago salute* from behind
to get them going but sometimes that doesn't work. They sit there and
wonder what you're honking at while the turn arrow goes yellow.

The drivers here in Kankakee are mostly older people. Kankakee is divided
between being a retirement community and a bedroom community. There are few
industries left to be able to work here and those that still exist mostly
pay pretty poorly.

What's stupid is so few people seem to understand the Chicago merge in
crowded traffic. Also known as the Zipper merge where two or more lanes are
merged down to one, and alternating lanes merge into the open lane, or are
supposed to.

*Chicago salute. One finger out the window, one hand on the horn. I
sometimes substitute the English two-fingered salute just to see if anyone
actually pays attention along with the prerequiite Bronx cheer.

Charles of Kankakee

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125555751.55ebfb2ce364231cac388a18b9ac9064@teranews...[color=blue]
> "Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote in message
> news:4d018$43169164$180fead6$15328@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=green]
>> Of the cities you listed, I've driven in every place you listed except
>> for
>> Seattle and DC, although NY was the Bronx/GW Bridge through NJ along
>> I-80.
>>
>> I learned to drive in Chicago, lived in the SF Bay area for 5 years,
>> Boston/New England area for 10 years, back in Chicago for last 12 years.
>>[color=darkred]
>> >[/color]
>> Did you get to drive down a Chicago neighborhood 2-way street at 30+ MPH?
>> Picture a street with parked cars on each side, with remaining pavement
>> about as wide as a 2-car garage. It's kind of like playing chicken.[color=darkred]
>> >[/color][/color]
>
> Well, I havent' done that but I'm probably psychologically prepared for
> it.
> A week or two after I got my license, I found myself chauferring my
> grandmother, in her '68 Cadillac Sedan deVille, through Georgetown. I'd
> swear the space between the parked cars was narrower than the Cadillac.
>
> And I've played "chicken" overseas and actually smacked mirrors with
> passing
> cars driven by the natives.
>[color=green]
>>
>> Most of the people driving BMWs in Chicago may drive agressively but they
>> are not skillful drivers. I always pull over when passing head-to-head[/color]
> with[color=green]
>> one on a neighborhood street because they can't judge width. On the
>> other
>> hand, I have no qualms about passing a cop or taxi on a narrow street.
>>[/color]
>
> I've got to assume there's some sort of skill there because nobody died
> while I watched. It's not good when you want to close your eyes to avoid
> seeing looming disaster around you, when you're the one driving the car.
>[/color]

I think the skill is in the other drivers seeing the Bimmer coming and
getting out of the way.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I still think drivers in Boston are the worst.[/color]
>
> Why? What is it they do?
>[color=green]
>> --
>> Ray O
>> correct the return address punctuation to reply
>>
>>[/color]
>
>[/color]

There's a reason Texas drivers have two license plates. It's so others can
see the front plate and get out of the way. It would hold in Illinois
except many cars in Illinois don't properly display a front plate . . .
Camaros and Corvettes seem to be espeically bad in this regard as well as
some models of Bimmers. And no, I've seen both ends, they are not from
Indiana or Michigan (both one-plate states, Indiana since the '50's,
Michigan since 1984.) Indiana drivers are a lot like Kankakee drivers,
sadly.

Charles of Kankakee

dh, 9/1/2005, 1:06:43 AM,
<1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews> wrote:
[color=blue]
> If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to
> nominate a runner-up.[/color]

The worst drivers are the ones in the left lane with the cell phone
stuck to their ear and 20 car lengths between themselves and the car
ahead. They are everywhere in the country and are the most
self-centered people around. They impede the flow of traffic and cause
accidents because they aren't paying attention to their surroundings
and won't get out of the way.

--
"I miss. I miss. I miss. I make." -- Seve Ballesteros describing his
four-putt at Augusta's No. 16 in 1988.

badgolferman wrote:[color=blue]
> dh, 9/1/2005, 1:06:43 AM,
> <1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews> wrote:
>[color=green]
> > If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to
> > nominate a runner-up.[/color]
>
> The worst drivers are the ones in the left lane with the cell phone
> stuck to their ear and 20 car lengths between themselves and the car
> ahead. They are everywhere in the country and are the most
> self-centered people around. They impede the flow of traffic and cause
> accidents because they aren't paying attention to their surroundings
> and won't get out of the way.
>[/color]


I think badgolferman and I could agree that Richmond VA has some of the
worst drivers in the nation. They go soooooo slow... like they OD'd on
Prozac right before they got in their cars.

In Richmond, a traffic jam is when there's a car sitting at a light.

On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 00:55:08 -0500, "dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>And I've played "chicken" overseas and actually smacked mirrors with passing
>cars driven by the natives.[/color]

My first day of work at the Nasa facility outside Madrid....back in
'70.

4 of us in a Seat (Spanish badged Fiat)....

They put me in the suicide seat....

The back roads in Spain have neatly made ROCK walls very close to the
road....

We come barreling around a corner and there is the biggest bus I've
ever seen. I swear it took up the whole road.

How we made it by is beyond me. Three of the others in the car were
laffin at me....I was whiter than usual.



--

Scott in Florida

"A Democratic shift to the right risks inflaming the party's Angry
Left base, while a shift to the left would surely cost the party
whatever support it has left from normal people."

James Taranto - Wall Street Journal

"dh" <dh@stargate.com> wrote in message
news:1125555751.55ebfb2ce364231cac388a18b9ac9064@teranews...[color=blue]
> "Ray O" <rokigawa@tristarassociatesDOT.com> wrote in message
> news:4d018$43169164$180fead6$15328@msgid.meganewsservers.com...[color=green]
>> Of the cities you listed, I've driven in every place you listed except
>> for
>> Seattle and DC, although NY was the Bronx/GW Bridge through NJ along
>> I-80.
>>
>> I learned to drive in Chicago, lived in the SF Bay area for 5 years,
>> Boston/New England area for 10 years, back in Chicago for last 12 years.
>>[color=darkred]
>> >[/color]
>> Did you get to drive down a Chicago neighborhood 2-way street at 30+ MPH?
>> Picture a street with parked cars on each side, with remaining pavement
>> about as wide as a 2-car garage. It's kind of like playing chicken.[color=darkred]
>> >[/color][/color]
>
> Well, I havent' done that but I'm probably psychologically prepared for
> it.
> A week or two after I got my license, I found myself chauferring my
> grandmother, in her '68 Cadillac Sedan deVille, through Georgetown. I'd
> swear the space between the parked cars was narrower than the Cadillac.
>
> And I've played "chicken" overseas and actually smacked mirrors with
> passing
> cars driven by the natives.
>[/color]

Same thing! You'd feel right at home on a Chicago side street.
[color=blue][color=green]
>>
>> Most of the people driving BMWs in Chicago may drive agressively but they
>> are not skillful drivers. I always pull over when passing head-to-head[/color]
> with[color=green]
>> one on a neighborhood street because they can't judge width. On the
>> other
>> hand, I have no qualms about passing a cop or taxi on a narrow street.
>>[/color]
>
> I've got to assume there's some sort of skill there because nobody died
> while I watched. It's not good when you want to close your eyes to avoid
> seeing looming disaster around you, when you're the one driving the car.
>[color=green]
>> I still think drivers in Boston are the worst.[/color]
>
> Why? What is it they do?
>[color=green]
>> --
>> Ray O
>> correct the return address punctuation to reply
>>[/color][/color]

Boston drivers have this thing about avoiding eye contact with other drivers
when merging or changing lanes. If they make eye contact with another
driver, they will not cut you off so they will purposely avoid eye contact
and then cut you off. The trick when you're the person being cut off is to
honk the horn, which makes Boston a pretty horny city!
--
Ray O
correct the return address punctuation to reply

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0e6q03me20f7l000@news.readfreenews.net...[color=blue]
> dh, 9/1/2005, 1:06:43 AM,
> <1125551411.79f8fc70c5e8e63081a6a181e4171585@teranews> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> If you feel your city's not actually worse, please feel free to
>> nominate a runner-up.[/color]
>
> The worst drivers are the ones in the left lane with the cell phone
> stuck to their ear and 20 car lengths between themselves and the car
> ahead. They are everywhere in the country and are the most
> self-centered people around. They impede the flow of traffic and cause
> accidents because they aren't paying attention to their surroundings
> and won't get out of the way.
>
> --
> "I miss. I miss. I miss. I make." -- Seve Ballesteros describing his
> four-putt at Augusta's No. 16 in 1988.[/color]

I've seen women sitting at a light gabbing on the cell phone after it goes
green so many times. I've used a radio for 20 years, not a problem. But
then I can walk and chew gum at the same time, unlike some cell phone users.

Charles of Kankakee

Charles @ Kankakee, 9/1/2005, 12:30:08 PM, wrote:
[color=blue][color=green]
> > The worst drivers are the ones in the left lane with the cell phone
> > stuck to their ear and 20 car lengths between themselves and the car
> > ahead. They are everywhere in the country and are the most
> > self-centered people around. They impede the flow of traffic and
> > cause accidents because they aren't paying attention to their
> > surroundings and won't get out of the way.[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
> I've seen women sitting at a light gabbing on the cell phone after it
> goes green so many times. I've used a radio for 20 years, not a
> problem. But then I can walk and chew gum at the same time, unlike
> some cell phone users.
>
> Charles of Kankakee[/color]

Maybe not a problem from your perspective, but what would the people
behind you say?

--
"The least thing upset him on the links. He missed short putts because
of the uproar of butterflies in the adjoining meadows." -- P.G.
Wodehouse

"badgolferman" <REMOVETHISbadgolferman@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:xn0e6q8hcedf848001@news.x-privat.org...[color=blue]
> Charles @ Kankakee, 9/1/2005, 12:30:08 PM, wrote:
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>> > The worst drivers are the ones in the left lane with the cell phone
>> > stuck to their ear and 20 car lengths between themselves and the car
>> > ahead. They are everywhere in the country and are the most
>> > self-centered people around. They impede the flow of traffic and
>> > cause accidents because they aren't paying attention to their
>> > surroundings and won't get out of the way.[/color][/color]
>[color=green]
>> I've seen women sitting at a light gabbing on the cell phone after it
>> goes green so many times. I've used a radio for 20 years, not a
>> problem. But then I can walk and chew gum at the same time, unlike
>> some cell phone users.
>>
>> Charles of Kankakee[/color]
>
> Maybe not a problem from your perspective, but what would the people
> behind you say?
>
> --
> "The least thing upset him on the links. He missed short putts because
> of the uproar of butterflies in the adjoining meadows." -- P.G.
> Wodehouse[/color]

I can talk on the radio and drive at the same time. How do you think the
cops do it in single-cop cars? It's an aquired skill. Takes a bit of
practice, but unless you're a total ditz you should be able to do it.


Charles of Kankakee