Crazed drivers

[jacksandgo]

Wow, this is the number one pet peeve of mine about SD after almost 8 years of living here, and here it is in full commentary for me to vent…I mean add a comment.

Well, I don’t have a problem with the speed on the roads in SD; I have a problem with a few of the reckless driving habits:

-No turn signals during lane changes (illegal).
-Cutting off or blocking merging traffic (perhaps causing signal avoidance?).
-Tailgating even in the slower lanes above speed limits.
-1/2 second distance between vehicles at 85mph.
-Last minute multi-lane crossing off-ramp exiting.
-Exit lane merge hunters during rush hour. Uhhh…merge early like the rest of us?
-Eating 4 course meals, reading newspapers, full makeup application, multi mirror face/teeth/hair checks (guys and gals) and what must be THE MOST important, engrossing, top-level international negotiations on their cell phones while oblivious to oh…I don’t know…DRIVING! But that’s ok…they’ve got a full 1/2 second space in front of them to react, so I feel safe following behind them…really. Actually, I backed off to 4 seconds behind them, but 7 cars squeezed in between us to close the unbelievable gap, so it’s hopeless.

But, in all seriousness, the fact that there aren’t more accidents on the roads attests to either pure luck or decent driving skills among the population.

[JES]

As a Midwest transplant who has lived here 8 years I’m still sickened by the way people drive in San Diego! 6 months ago I merged into a right lane and a guy with his family in a Mercedes followed me into the Home Depot parking lot! I parked and he got out and threatened me as I walked towards the store. I stopped and we nearly threw down in front of the store and his kids! When I pointed out his stupidity and the fact that his kids where there he left. What a piece of work…

On another note, allow me to share a passage from a short commentary I recently wrote:

“…Trucks passed me at breakneck speed near inches from my Honda Odyssey that had delivered me safely over 2000 miles from Iowa. Listening to the purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, I started to think about all of the great places that I had been in my life and the wonderful cities I visited on my trip to Iowa and back. I entered San Bernadino County, picked up speed, and descended from the mountains into the valleys of Southern California. It was now past midnight but traffic swarmed around me from every direction. Cars passed me at over 100 mph and some swerved recklessly in and out of traffic. Not only was I physically tired, but increasingly mentally and spiritually exhausted. Tired of viewing the people in the cars next to me as faceless objects to deal with in traffic. Tired of competing with them for limited resources in an overpopulated region, and tired of seeing the problems that the trappings of wealth and status cause in the community.

San Diego is certainly one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and many people who have ‘headed west’ have settled in Southern California and are living perfectly content and prosperous lives. For families like ours, however, the cost of living and overcrowding have created a strong desire to find another ‘best place.’ Thankfully, we are blessed to live in a vast country with endless great places to lay down roots. My only regret is that I was only able to drive through a select few cities and not tour the entire country. What I saw were small and medium sized cities with good schools, low crime, plentiful job opportunities and housing costs that are a fraction of those along the coasts. For those willing to trade in their surfboards for skis, the opportunities are endless. My only request is that only a few people follow in my footsteps. These cities are already showing the strains of rapid growth, and I would hate to have to begin my search anew to find another best place!”

[FormerOwner]

Very well said, JES.

This thread makes me think of the movie “The Beach”.

[no_such_reality]

after they raised the speed limit too… Anyone know if that is true?

Yes, but not for the reason you think. It’s speed gradient that is the problem.

We raised the speed limit, but didn’t change the minimum, and even worse, officially have a significantly slower speed for semi-trucks and vehicles with trailers.

[lostkitty]

Yes, but not for the reason you think. It's speed gradient that is the problem. We raised the speed limit, but didn't change the minimum

 

But dont our roads need to account for most of the peoples that drive on them? I have absolutely no problem driving fast when the roads are clear. It's fun. However, there is a huge population of retired people in San Diego. I’m not talking about the super-old grannies at 95+ that should not be on the road anymore. I am talking about those 65-90yrs that may be slowing down, their eyes arent perfect anymore, their neck is stiffer than it used to be. They need to drive a little more safely – slowly – in order to see what is around them. To have to make lane changes with cars zooming up on all sides at 80-95mph requires a higher level of alertness and agility than changing lanes at 60-70mph. Add to that the high levels of congestion, the trucks and very old dangerous drivers that inevitably get on the roads, the over-loaded, rickety trucks stacked with mattresses etc, and it is a recipe for disaster at the newer speeds.

[poorgradstudent]

Traffic speeds should vary according to traffic and conditions. On a congested freeway you can’t expect to go 85 mph safely. But if you’re driving up the I-15 in the middle of no where to Vegas, 85 can be quite reasonable.

[speedingpullet]

My personal thought is that the bad driving/tailgating/lane hopping/failure to pay attention is another manifestation of the sense of entitlement we rail against all the time, except on the road, rather than in RE.

Having just returned from a 3000 mile trip in the US southwest, in an F150 wheelchair converted van, I still maintain that SoCal (esp L.A) driving is the worst I’ve ever seen.
Most prevalently seen with expensive cars (Lexus, Mercedes, Bimmers), as
a) what right do I have driving a slow van at all in a freeway (note: the van does 95mph with five people, heavy medical equipment and a wheelchair, as I proved on a particularly empty stretch of the I-15 north of Cedar City, UT)
and b) driving an expensive car means that you have more important business, hence need to get from A to B quicker by any means possible than other drivers.

Every single friend who gets driven down the 405 from LAX to our house in Van Nuys has commented (often from the floor of the car) that L.A driving is the most insane they’ve seen. Even once i’ve explained the rules of the road to them (ie, there aren’t any) they still wonder how we do it without suffering catastrophic firey deaths every day.

Then, I take them out to Page, AZ. and show them the difference. up until then, they are convinced that US cars are not equipped with signals, because they’ve never seen them used in L.A.

Re: new building.
Haven’t been to the Southwest in 4 years, so was suprirsed to see how much new cookie-cutter stuff has been built on the I-40 east of Flagstaff. Even flagstaff itself is bigger. Wonder how many of these new tract homes will sell 60 miles from the nearest big town…

[speedingpullet]

Sorry, out of practice, double post

[no_such_reality]

Add to that the high levels of congestion, the trucks and very old dangerous drivers that inevitably get on the roads, the over-loaded, rickety trucks stacked with mattresses etc, and it is a recipe for disaster at the newer speeds.

No. It’s a recipe for disaster at any speed.

You need to stop treating the symptoms (accidents) and start treating the problem. (the situations you just discribed.) We need to regulate speed better, and the basic expectations should be you need to be able to drive safely at that speed or you are wrong for going on that road. There should be ticket for people going to slow as well as too fast.

I don’t remember exact numbers, but the stretch of the I405 through Huntington Beach is up for widening. It sees something like 300,000+ vehicle trips a day.

At 80% of the 300,000 trips being rush hour with an average speed of 15 miles an hour, the five miles going past Huntington Beach accounts for 7 wasted people-years every single day.

[VanMorrisonFan]

I think a lot of the speeding is due to the fact that rush hour has gotten worse (it lasts longer and the speeds are slower) so when the traffic is relatively clear there is a tendency to rush even more.

I am amazed at how many people tail-gate, and I’ve never heard of anyone getting a ticket for it. There was the “rule of thumb” in driver training that you should allow one car length for every 10 mph that traffic is moving. At, say, 80 miles per hour, that is a minimum of EIGHT car lengths you should allow (more in rainy weather). I see cars right behind the car in front of them…right behind. Yes, sometimes the driver “in front” is driving a little too slowly, but still…

The other thing that is interesting to do is to notice the expressions on people’s faces. So many people seem to be saying (through their facial expressions), “I don’t think I can take another day of this” or something like that.

[JES]

Most of us seem to agree that traffic and drivers are worse here than just about anywhere. There’s other people out there who insist that traffic is bad everywhere and that you are no better off in a place like Denver or Portland. My conclusion is that many of our problems come down to the people behind the wheel, and not purely the levels of traffic, although traffic jams can also cause changes in a person who would otherwise be calm. Are there just more worse, self absorbed people in SoCal than elsewhere? Instead of answering that question, let’s lay out examples of situations you’ve seen here that would never happen elsewhere. I’ll start (Actually, I already did above, but here’s another!):

-Every single time that I have pulled up to a four way stop at the same time as another driver the past 8 years, the other driver has never waved me to go first. I routinely tell other drivers to go ahead, and whenever I visit other cities I am routinely provided with the same courtesy.

[Anonymous]

Hey, all you Prius drivers with your NPR license plate frames and rude Darwin ‘fish,’ move over to the far right, now! Or, get some heavier Birkenstocks so that you can more easily apply higher pressure to the accelerator.

Thank you.

[lendingbubblecontinues]

Off topic a bit, but…

Has anyone else seen the disgusting and disturbing pairs of “balls” that some pickup truck drivers dangle from their towing hitch?!?! This is truly sociopathic and sick!!

I’ve got virgin eyes and ears travelling in the car with me (little kids) and I swear I’d love to see someone throw said “balls” through the windshields of those redneck drivers’ gas-guzzlers.

So..to sum up…if YOU have a pair of these disgusting “balls” hanging from your pickup…remove them at once. Next…run, do not walk, to the loony bin and ask for a straight-jacket. Thank you.

[Anonymous]

Low balls is the topic of another thread.

Yeah, drivers are a little nutty out here. Especially for those of use who migrated from more mellow midwestern areas. However, as big cities go I don’t think the driving conditions are that bad.

My least favorite place to drive was always Chicago, either in the city freeways or even worse the perimeter toll roads. I drove through there a couple years ago and it was a nightmare. Heavy truck traffic, bad weather, potholed crappy road conditions (due to the constant bad weather and trucks). The drivers themselves may not be such whack jobs but the driving experience is much more stressful.

Obviously many of you haven’t traveled abroad either. Try driving in Mexico City or Manila before you complain about LA drivers.

[BuyerWillEPB]

From what I’ve seen, China has the craziest drivers. The pedestrians have NO right of way there. It’s just a free for all.

The only rule seems to be, you can drive any way, and anywhere you want, just honk your horn ALOT.

[Author]

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