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0 pointsjbarberu7y ago0 comments

I've also lived in Spain for a short time, which isn't exactly known for their great drivers. Central Florida is worse by miles. People stare at their phones while moving (at a light is bad enough, but at least you won't hit anyone), they drive with about a car's length of distance while going 45mph, shifting lanes without using their signals and other crazy shenanigans.

I'm just astounded by the complete disregard for other humans while they're in their cars. This is one of the biggest reason me and my wife are looking to resettle elsewhere in a couple of years.

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graywh7y ago

> they drive with about a car's length of distance while going 45mph, shifting lanes without using their signals and other crazy shenanigans

this shit happens everywhere

magduf7y ago

It's worse in some places than others. Oregon, for instance, is famous for its drivers being too polite.

rconti7y ago

That's Washington. Oregon drivers are aggressive like Californians, don't signal, but then drive ungodly slow just like the overly polite Washingtonians.

An Oregonian will cut you off without signalling, then drive 52mph.

loeg7y ago

Nah. It's definitely worse in some places than others. In Michigan, people would go 80-85 mph with 1-2 car lengths between them. California is notorious for not using turn signals before lane shifts (and my experience matched that reputation). I would say both of these experiences are quantifiably different from my experience driving in Washington (though I do not have such numbers).

dsfyu404ed7y ago

There's two kinds of "bad" drivers. There's "the insurance company does not like it when you drive this way because you will likely cost them money" bad drivers and there's "legitimately doing a poor or ineffective job at accomplishing the task of driving". Weaving through traffic at +20 and passing on the inside in a rotary are examples of the former. Paying more attention to your phone than to driving is an example of the latter.

Florida by nature of it's popularity with tourists and retirees has a lot of the latter. Most people drive about average. When the local average is dragged down by hordes of tourists and retirees even the people who wouldn't otherwise drive that way do so because it's what's normal around them.

loeg7y ago

Huh? Insurance companies and the law have similar goals w.r.t. preventing personal injury and property damage. I'm not sure how you define a 2nd kind of bad that isn't just some subset of that.

Weaving through traffic at 20 over the speed limit and making illegal and surprising passes is an example of something insurance doesn't like, and doing a poor/ineffective job of driving.

vkou7y ago

There's a tonne of tourists driving in Hawaii, and yet, I've never had that bad an experience driving there.

Actually, that's not true. Highway 360 on Maui (The road to Hana) was the most terrifying driving I've ever seen, but that is due to the state of the road, and the familiarity (and lack of interest in spending more time then they have to on it) of the locals.

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graywh7y ago

> they drive with about a car's length of distance while going 45mph, shifting lanes without using their signals and other crazy shenanigans

this shit happens everywhere

magduf7y ago

It's worse in some places than others. Oregon, for instance, is famous for its drivers being too polite.

rconti7y ago

That's Washington. Oregon drivers are aggressive like Californians, don't signal, but then drive ungodly slow just like the overly polite Washingtonians.

An Oregonian will cut you off without signalling, then drive 52mph.

loeg7y ago

dsfyu404ed7y ago

loeg7y ago

Huh? Insurance companies and the law have similar goals w.r.t. preventing personal injury and property damage. I'm not sure how you define a 2nd kind of bad that isn't just some subset of that.

Weaving through traffic at 20 over the speed limit and making illegal and surprising passes is an example of something insurance doesn't like, and doing a poor/ineffective job of driving.

vkou7y ago

There's a tonne of tourists driving in Hawaii, and yet, I've never had that bad an experience driving there.

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