Miami Tops List for Rude Drivers

rh · Post by rh » Tue May 16, 2006 3:11 pm

Here's a story i have absolutely no trouble believing:

Miami Tops Auto Club List for Rude Drivers
By BETH RUCKER, Associated Press Writer

Stressed Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that the city earned the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.

AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude driving.

Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists.

full story at
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060516/ap_ ... /road_rage

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:14 pm

Probably because they are so close to Joplin.

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:14 pm

Huh. Just last evening I was wondering if every third driver here was on Ambien.

rh · Post by rh » Tue May 16, 2006 3:26 pm

Well, besides the auto-sociopaths we have down here, there are also the people who are just plain too old to drive. So both ends of the spectrum are quite well represented.

missy · Post by **missy** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:34 pm

What's a turn signal???

Walden · Post by **Walden** » Tue May 16, 2006 3:37 pm

missy wrote:What's a turn signal???

Is it one of those traffic lights that points a certain direction?

Post by **Nanohedron** » Tue May 16, 2006 4:06 pm

I have to say that drivers here aren't exactly rude, much, but there seems to be a fair amount of taking turns and exits from the far lane. Hence my "Ambien" quip. I understand some drivers wind up doing some pretty crazy things if they take it regularly, particularly if they drink alcohol when taking it. Some sort of effect carries over into the day hours.

Got run into last year by a young lady trying to take a left turn from the center lane on a one-way street. I was in the left lane, and we were both idling at the stoplight waiting for it to turn. It's not like she couldn't have seen me.

Something in the water?

Flyingcursor · Post by **Flyingcursor** » Wed May 17, 2006 5:54 am

Drivers around southwest Michigan are the stupidest. Calling them rude would imply the mentality to actually "try" to bother you.

I'll tell you a short tale of a surprising incident.

A car broke down in front of me at a stop light the other day. I couldn't change lanes due to the traffic. Then a kind person let me over. They were driving an SUV!!!! I couldn't believe it. An SUV driver showing courtesy. It's shaken my whole belief system.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:03 am

In some quarters stories like this are considered a challenge.

emmline · Post by **emmline** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:22 am

I hate idiot tailgaters!!!
I hate impatient morons on the road!
Do these people have NO comprehension of physics, and the geometric increase in the force of impact if you closely follow someone at high speed?

Can we please issue special car-top flags for jerks so I'll know to avoid them? It will be a red flag that says: "Move. I'm more important than you."

The last several years of my life have been about teaching teenagers to drive, urging caution, alerting them to risk factors. I drive carefully, and with great respect for the variables of human error and physics. Squeaky clean driving record.

Can you tell I was tailgated and honked at by a cretin on my way back from carpool drop-off this morning?

(I am so regretting that I didn't make my Lon Chaney Phantom of the Opera face at him as he huffed past me as I was waiting to turn into my street.)

Joseph E. Smith · Post by **Joseph E. Smith** » Wed May 17, 2006 6:32 am

Miami has the rudest drivers? Go figure....

fel bautista · Post by **fel bautista** » Wed May 17, 2006 7:10 am

Walden wrote:Probably because they are so close to Joplin.

Wow! I've been to Joplin and stayed at the Holiday Inn next to the freeway. Nice airport

rh · Post by rh » Wed May 17, 2006 7:59 am

Joseph E. Smith wrote:Miami has the rudest drivers? Go figure....

You should come down South a little more often...

Drive 95 or the Palmetto anywhere near rush hour and you'll see some fine examples of idiot driving.

Miami drivers seem to be sort of a unique mix of rude people from NYC, NJ, Boston, Bogota, Buenos Aires, etc. Probably a big part of it is the rapid growth down here, the infrastructure is not enough to meet the demand for transportation. I was surprised to see Phoenix way up the list too, maybe a similar situation.

Had to laugh at the Boston headline though...

StevieJ · Post by **StevieJ** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:14 am

Montreal drivers have no lane discipline or apparent concern for safety (especially for that of cyclists), rarely use turn signals, tailgate, and flout speed limits and all the other rules of the road with aplomb. But I see little road rage - I think people expect crazinesss and don't seem to get worked up about it.

dwinterfield · Post by **dwinterfield** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:16 am

rh wrote:Had to laugh at the Boston headline though...

Ever since the Red Sox won the World Series, Bostonians have considered second place in anything so, well,,,,,, second place.

At one time Boston had the highest pedestrian fatality rate in the country. Can't really blame that on the drivers though. What other communities call jaywalking, Bostonians call a constitutional right to cross any street anytime, anywhere and if you peak at the traffic, it's cheating.

Rude drivers, blind pedestrians! A great mix.