Posted on 05/31/2009 11:03:37 AM PDT by JoeProBono
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The worst drivers in the world all live in the State of Michigan.
Don’t doubt me.
Just shows dumb motor = dumb voter
For the last 3 years, I’ve been living half my life in China (one month there, one month here). All 3 of the car accidents I’ve been in have been when I was a passenger in a private vehicle; I’ve logged at least 10X more seat time in taxis than private cars.
I think it’s the general “screw you I’m a cab driver and am prepared to make your life hell if we collide” attitude of most cab drivers over there that lets them have a lower accident rate - everyone else yields to the more pushy taxi cab!
Oh, and a cab ride through downtown Shanghai has got to rank up there with a few laps at the Daytona 500, in terms of sheer adrenaline rush!
That’s why The Braille Institute is right off the 101 freeway..
we made a short trip from our hotel to the hardrock cafe in bejing and i thought sure we were all gonna die. those people are crazy. the lines on the road are just a suggestion that separate lanes of traffic should exist. the driver had one hand on the shifter and the other on the horn at all times. i just sat in the back, hugging my son and laughing because there really wasn’t anything else i could do about the psychosis of chinese traffic.
Beijing? That explains it... They actually know how to drive there, so the semi-crazy actions of the cab drivers seem scary!
Now, head out to Xi’an or Chengdu and the traffic is so insane all the time that you’ll understand that the cab drivers are actually using chaos theory to survive and flow, and thus realize they are just a bit better than Michael Schumacher in analyzing traffic and driving strategy!
Then you can sit back and relax in complete confidence...:)
Having moved to NY two years ago (and having gotten a job in NJ about six months ago), I’ll agree to the results presented. In any case, when I go back to the Pacific Northwest to drive, it seems like being on a kiddie ride at Playland in comparison.
I recently finished driving around Ireland for two and one half weeks. Irish drivers are generally very good. A few old codgers out in the hinterlands are a menace, but overall very good.
Not surprised Florida ranks at 43, since many of our drivers are actually New Yorkers and New Jersites. If South Florida was done as a separate state I bet they would have done even worse. Our car was totaled a couple of weeks ago by a driver who ran thru a red light (it was a blinking red all 4 ways) and hit us in the side so hard she tore the rear end out of our Olds Aurora. And, even tho there is no way she could have stopped, the local police called it NO FAULT! Amazing...
Totally.
Only New York and Southern California do drivers look squarely at you and then force you to avoid them because THEY want the spot where you are (or were).
I found the best way to deal with them was to return the lunge (and smile while I’m doing it). It is amazing to see the shock in their face when they find someone who is not intimidated.
When riding a motorcycle I had a basket with gravel and a chain on a rope. I would throw rocks at their car and then pick up the rope if that was not enough and sling it at them.
You learned to anticipate what certain people would do, so you would have to have the gravel ready. It was usually the older people with the new Cadillac, Buick, Pontiac or it was the younger (kids) with the sports car.
They were easy to spot and anticipate their action because they usually looked at you first then made their move. That gave you time to prepare and act.
Worked every time I used it.
To myself.
Note. Tell the joke about the Arabs.
Most everyone know that the Arabs are known for their development of higher mathematics. One of the principals of math is the “shortest distance between two points” - which is of course, a straight line.
Their driving is somewhat diametrically apposed to this principal.
1. When they pull up to a stop sign (three lanes wide) there are 6 or more cars in front (not three).
2. When the light turns green they all start honking their horns IMMEDIATELY.
3. This is where the Algebra comes into action - The shortest distance between two points in Arabia is a left hand turn from the right hand lane.
Yeah, I’d say the worst are Mass/Boston (the term ‘Masshole’ didn’t get coined for no reason), followed by Jersey and then NYC - during a recent trip to a little town near Boston, a MA state cop behind us, on an empty, four-lane section of highway, actually high-beamed us because apparently 10 mph over the speed limit wasn’t fast enough for him and he couldn’t simply pass us in one of the other three unoccupied lanes... a friend from the area later informed us that this was a somewhat regular occurence. However, in the town we visited, there were hardly even stoplight or stop signs, just ‘yield to pedestrians’ signs at every intersection, and the drivers there were so polite and actually did let pedestrians, and naturally the traffic in the same direction as the pedestrians, go first, and it all worked perfectly. NYC drivers are pretty insane, and bad as far as breaking the laws go, but they tend to be very good at not getting into accidents considering the kinds of traffic they drive in. And Jersey drivers are just plain bad...
Hubby and I used to vacation in Great Britain when we were rich, and we’d rent a car and drive all over the place, England, Wales, and Scotland. Most drivers were very good, but we really didn’t get into too much traffic, wandering in the hinterlands as we did.
I particularly like Scotland, where we once did a whiskey tour. It was great, and we both enjoyed comparing single-malt scotches.
I've never driven in Great Britain, just been a passenger in my in-laws various cars. I cheated somewhat in my own foreign driving experience by paying more and renting an automatic. I noticed the routine that my Brit in-laws went through every time they stopped and started the car while driving a stick shift. I didn't want any part of that. Learning to drive on the opposite side, driving on narrow, twisty roads, and handling roundabouts were made a lot easier with the automatic. And to be sure Ireland doesn't have near the traffic of England.
IMHO, Germany has the best drivers.
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