Worst Drivers

It has been way too long since I have posted anything, so I thought I would do a little research so my blog would be more than just my ramblings about bad drivers. I took a very scientific (ok not so scientific at all actually) poll, where I asked a few of my friends which state they thought had the worst drivers. 67% (see how scientific!) of those who responded, answered the state they are currently residing in. The number one answer was Utah with just over 58%, with other states mentioned including California, DC, Maryland, Arizona drivers living in Utah (but does that really count?), Arizona, Massachusetts, and Tennessee.

According to a study done by GMAC insurance New York takes the cake. GMAC created a national driving test pulling questions from states all over the country. Click the link and take the test... see how you rank.

Here are the top 5 worst states, their ranking, and in parentheses their ranking for last year.

51: New York (51)

50: New Jersey (50)

49: Washington, D.C. (44)

48: California (48)

47: Rhode Island (46)

And...

The top 5 best states

5: Iowa (9)

4: Minnesota (11)

3: South Dakota (5)

2: Oregon (10)

1: Kansas (4)

Utah ranked 23rd (a sharp increase from last year at 7th), Arizona 17 (30), Maryland 20 (41), Massachusetts 38 (45), and Tennessee 19 (38).

Now while I think that there is some merit to this study, I don't think it is fair to label a state as the one with the worst drivers based on a written test with questions compiled from all over the country. I think that more research needs to be done including data collected in regards to actual numbers of say traffic citations, accidents, and so forth. But it was kind of fun after all.

A Ray of Sunshine in an Otherwise Dreary Driving World

For several days I have noticed an increase in random, crazy driving... I have also had conversations with others about their experiences lately with drivers. Yesterday a driver stopped in the middle of the road to let a car in... as nice as that is, I honked at him. I'm not a jerk. You just can't stop in the middle of the road. You just can't. If that guy in the center turn lane didn't realize you were stopping to let him in within the first 15 seconds, its too late.

Today I was already slightly annoyed because one of my favorite little "short cut" roads was closed for construction, so I had to take another route and there was road construction there too! So road construction alone does not annoy me. What annoys me is when people get out of the lane that the cars are being forced into just to get ahead by three or four cars. Or when cars are blocking the intersections because they... I actually don't know why they do it. Maybe they can't wait for another light cycle... who knows.

So today as I was driving home from school I saw a car in a parking lot with a banged up hood and front bumper (Sad). But I realized that the little fender bender had just happened! What amazed me is that the drivers had pulled into the shopping center to take care of their business to not block traffic!

They must have not been from Utah... it is the only conclusion I could come up with!

But it was a little sunshine in my gloomy, rainy driving day.

Detour

I drove home from Salt Lake to Agoura this past Friday... and I took an unplanned detour. I think I must have been half asleep! So funny. I was trying to get home early, and my little detour took me about an hour out of the way! I was so frustrated with myself! But I got home finally, and all was good in the end!

Here is a little map of my travels!

Top 10

I haven't posted for a while, so I thought I might give you a top ten of my biggest pet peeves associated with drivers, driving, etc...

10. Drivers with little cars who pull all the way into a parking spot so you can't see them

9. Motorcycles that take a whole spot to themselves

8. Drivers who speed up when you turn you blinker on
7. 5 extra cars driving through the red light on a left turn arrow
6. Drivers that cut-off semi-trucks, especially those carrying toxic, hazardous or potentially explosive materials
5. Slow cars in the fast lane
4. Drivers who don't know how to merge, or worse Drivers who don't want to merge
3. Drivers who can't commit
2. Drivers who, when you are trying not to block the intersection, pull on in
1. Drivers who block intersections

Road rage

So I was out and about today and while waiting in a left hand turn lane, spotted a man across the intersection out of his car yelling wildly at the car next to him. Crazy. Who does that?!

Center turn lane revisited

So I have been driving around Utah for a little while now and I have noticed in the past couple of days, in my opinion, gross misuse of the center turn lane (here in Utah referred to as the "special purpose left turn lane", and sometimes referred to as a suicide lane). I went to look in my handy dandy Utah DOT drivers handbook and found a little snippet at the very end of the section (easily overlooked I'm sure). Turns out you can drive a lot farther in the center turn lane in Utah than you can in California (500 feet in Utah to 200 feet in California). No wonder I thought these people were crazy. Its just the way they were taught.

The link to the Utah drivers handbook just in case you need some lite reading..., and to California's, if you want to read about how it should be done.

I took a drive today

Well, I took a drive today... from St. George back to sunny Southern California. It was an adventure. My dad and I drove today, leaving St. George where it had just snowed about 4 inches, on our way back to Agoura the good life. We were a little hesitant at first because all the places I looked, and all the news from people was that the I-15 was closed in a couple places. Shoot.

So we took our chances and were fairly successful until we got to Vegas. Then there were signs (those crazy electric signs that hang over freeways making people slow down to read them) that said the I-15 was closed from Prim Nevada to California. What does that mean anyways. California is kind of a big state. So we got there and sure enough it was like a parking lot. From searching around the various highway stations we learned that they were escorting people through the stretch of road that was closed.

In the meantime, people were shutting off their cars and getting out. I just don't think, no matter how long you think you might be stuck on the freeway, is it ever a good idea to get out of your car. That wasn't even the worst thing about being stuck on the freeway. Not only were people getting out of their parked cars, some people actually thought they could reverse into the emergency lanes and back their cars to an off-ramp. Well I am only guessing that was their plan. I don't exactly know what they would do when they got to an off-ramp, they would have to try to get back into traffic and then cut across three lanes of traffic to get off the freeway. Again, not a smart idea. In addition to being illegal (I haven't checked it out yet but I will) it makes it pretty hard for emergency vehicles to travel in the emergency lane if there are people backing up down them. Honestly, honestly! What are people thinking sometimes.

I may be in the wrong field!

So my sister sent me this email of a link to a website she got from one of her friends where people could actually post licence plates of offending drivers. It is a fun website and hopefully you don't recognize your plate on it. There are also people's stories about bad driviers they have encountered. There are some good ones.

http://www.platewire.com/

But from there I found another great website http://www.howsmydrivingmovie.com/

And from there I realized there are actually people who claim to work in the field of Traffic Psychology. First off, how come I didn't think of that, and second, I may have to change my career goals... no, ok I'm not going to drop out of school, move to Hawaii, and start working with just about the only only guy I can find connected to a school in the states on the subject... but doesn't that sound nice?

Park It

So the other day I was driving and there was a small little fender bender on the road... normally I try really hard not to pay attention to accidents on the road because it only causes more problems. But this time I couldn't help but notice the people had just parked their cars in the lanes where the accident had occured. Talk about causing problems. I am pretty sure when you get in an accident, if it is possible (the cars are still drivable) you should move over out of lanes to take care of business. So I did a little checking... the California Driver Handbook on pg 49 reads
"Move your vehicle out of the traffic lane, if no one is injured or killed." On pg 51-52 it also reads "You must move your vehicle out of the traffic lane (unless it is disabled) when it is safe to do so, if you are involved in an accident. Law enforcement may tow or impound your vehicle if it is left in an unsafe area and causes safety concerns." http://www.dmv.ca.gov/pubs/dl600.pdf So I looked up what it says in the Utah Driver Handbook, and no surprise, there isn't anything in there about moving out of traffic lanes. Go figure.

Hands Free

So starting yesterday California is officially hands free. Well, hands free from holding a phone up to your ear. It is now against the law to hold your phone up to your ear. Still perfectly legal to dial your phone, or to text message (although you still may get pulled over for not driving safely), or eat breakfast, read the paper, shave, put on make-up, smoke, but no, can't hold the phone up to your ear. Honestly I am struggling with it. I hate the blue tooth business. I can't stand when people have those thing like surgically implanted to their ear. I can't handle it. So I am opting (for now at least) to use the speaker phone on my car. Good times.

The Finger

So my friend and I were in St. George Utah a little while ago, and while driving, we got the finger. Ok so not the finger you are thinking of. Well, my parents live down a street that one must drive around a round about to get to. So we were driving through the round about, and apparently we either didn't know what we were doing, or I don't know what (because it couldn't have been us really). Anyways, the passenger in the car waved her finger at us. An angry wave. Who knew. I guess thats the way they roll in St. George!

Missing pictures

So some of you may wonder, where are the pictures. Could you imagine if I was on the road taking pictures of all the stuff I write about...

I think that taking pictures while driving, or anything close would fit nicely into my "other things not to do in the car"

So, you won't ever see pictures of people cutting of driviers, or giving me the finger, or driving too slow in the carpool lane....

Speed Sandwich

So one time I was driving on the freeway, and I was driving behind this guy going pretty fast, and then behind me was this other guy keeping up to both of us... so I thought... I am in a speed sandwich! Now, this I figure is a pretty good place to be. If there was a cop sitting up on the road somewhere behind a tree or something, he would snag the guy in the front, right?! and if there was a cop on the freeway crusing up behind you, he would snag the guy in the back. He would be the first guy the cop would see. Leaving you (in the middle) to keep on going... Now if you get pulled over in the middle of one of my speed sandwiches, don't quote me on this theory... but try it sometime...

I'm so confused?!

Tell me the truth?!

Really... Tell me the truth! I pride myself on my good judgment, and my abilities as an assertive driver, but twice in the past two days I have been given the finger by other drivers.
Honestly, the first time I was getting onto the 23 fwy (one of my favorites =P) at Janns and this lady was in the slow lane. The fast lane coincidentally was empty, and she could have very easily moved over. So as I like to do, I was accelerating to traffic speed (as I do not like to drive 45mph on the fwy) and the lady was matching my speed, not moving over, not speeding up, not slowing down... she almost ran me off the road, and then gave me the finger.

The second time I was again getting on the fwy (and again because I like going faster than 45mph) I was getting up to speed, and I was coming up behind a tanker truck in the slow lane, so I got over behind another car. That car was coming up behind a slower car, so he got over.... does this sound finger worthy yet? Well I didn't want to be behind the slow car either, so I got over behind the same guy I was behind in the other lane. He picked up his speed (and rightly so, we were, after all, in the fast lane) and passed the slow car. He then swerved back through the #2 lane and half into the slow lane, and then back into the #2 lane.... so I thought "what a weirdo" again anything finger worthy? and then when I went to pass the guy (because I don't like to drive slow) there it was, the finger.

So I am asking you, tell me what you think and give me your honest opinion, does my driving warrant the finger?

Who's driving?

So... it has been a couple of days, and I have to say that I haven't seen any gross violations of my roadway rules (except maybe for the guy that was driving 35mph on the freeway) but when the freeway is wide open, as it was tonight, I could easily over look this one.

I was thinking however about spandex or leg warmers (try it yourself, you will be able to think of one) just because you can, doesn't mean you should. Can you see how this works with spandex, well it also works with the ever so elusive carpool lane. Just because you have two or more people in your car doesn't mean the carpool lane is the lane for you. Honestly... I was driving on the 210 fwy and there was this beat-up old van with no windows (you know what that means) and they were driving in the carpool lane. Any other day I wouldn't care, but they were probably only going 50mph.

The carpool lane is a hard call. If you go to fast, you could be stuck behind someone slow, and crazy enough the oposite is also true. If you are going too slow you might have someone riding your tail the whole time. And then you are stuck for a mile or so before you can leagally exit (in Cali at least, other states are more liberal with their carpool lanes). Enter at your own risk. But like I said before, just because you can doesn't mean you should. Try it for yourself.

The road to no where

So, one of my biggest pet peeves is when people block intersections, not only does it annoy your fellow drivers, but it is what causes grid lock. And then you could just kill me now.

Today I was driving over my favorite little bridge that also happens to be a freeway overpass and one of the only ways onto the freeway near my house, when someone getting off the freeway took the chance of pulling into the intersection with no where to go. Now it looked worse than it really was because he made it through the light before it turned red. But this is not always the case.

Now I realize that if you believe there is enough time between when you pull into the intersection and the light turning red, then you might just go and do it... But remember, if you get stuck in the intersection with no place to go, you are breaking the law. I know breaking traffic laws is the least of most of our worries, but really, do be kind to the rest of us. Is it really going to kill you to sit through one more light? And if it is then you should have called 911 to begin with and not bothered to drive yourself or someone else for medical attention. Honestly...

FYI

I have added some new links to some fun websites. The first is the California Dept of Transportation site where one can find real time traffic info, and highway conditions. Here are some goals of Caltrans:
- SAFETY -Provide the safest transportation system in the nation for users and workers
- RELIABILITY -Provide dependable travel times
-PERFORMANCE -Optimize transportation system throughput
-FLEXIBILITY-Provide mobility choices through strategic partnerships
- STEWARDSHIP -Preserve and enhance California’s resources and investments
- DELIVERY -Improve delivery of projects and services

The other is the California DMV site which I know will only be helpful to a handful of you, but there one might find answers to some interesting questions regarding traffic rules and ways to stay safe on the roads. You can also take their driving knowledge tutorial, or their Sample Written Driver License Test. Isn't learning fun!?

Trouble with traffic and men

There are some men out there ( and no doubt a few women) that have trouble committing. It has been my experience that sometimes the reason for traffic is that people can't commit. You think you have enough space in front of you to pass the car on your right (okay, or your left, I do it too) but at the very last minute you freak out, slam your brakes and cause everyone else (especially the tailgater) behind you to do the same. This my friends is what causes the rubber band effect so fondly referred to by our favorite TV traffic people.

My other theory on this matter is that people either don't know how to merge, or there is some @%*$# who won't let you in. Have you ever been stuck behind someone getting on the freeway (turnpike, highway, etc.) going 45mph? And then if this is not enough they think they can just pull into traffic going this slow. This again causes people to slam on their brakes, resulting in slowed traffic.

So please for the love of me, if people are trying to merge, is it going to kill you if one more person is in front of you? And really if you don't feel that you are capable of going at least the speed limit don't get on the freeway. There are other very comfortable roads to drive on.

Center turn lanes: suicide or the place to be?

Today, on my way home from our little local post office maybe 2 miles, I saw not once, but twice a car not utilizing the center turn lane A.K.A. the suicide lane. I can not tell you how frustrating this can be, especially when I did not have the personal opportunity to pull up behind the car and let them know of my frustration.

The center lane is not there to look pretty, it isn't there for flower pots, it serves a real and essential function. It allows cars to move out of the way of moving traffic while they wait to make their turn. Honestly...

Please do not neglect the center turn lane. Use it, embrace it, love it.

A New Hope

I decided, for reasons described below, that I would dedicate this blog to the proper etiquette of driving in Los Angeles, California (or any other city/state for that matter). If we all could go to our local DMV and read up, they have a wonderful little book to help. In the meantime...

At first I had grand plans for writing a book, but I never did anything and then it occurred to me that a book was a little too ambitious for me. So I thought that I could write articles, but still that seems like it would have to be pages long.... to much for me. So I thought I could write your average run of the mill essays. 1 page maybe 2, and I realize that might be a little excessive for this medium, so just a little here and a little there of my musings about driving and smoking crack ( which I am convinced is going on more than we would like to admit) and how not to do them at the same time.

I realize this may go out to more than my little neck of the woods, so some things might never make any sense, but bare with me. If I can persuade but one person to go the speed limit, or move to the right when someone obviously wants to pass, or to use the center turn lane, then I will feel as if I have done some service, however small it is.