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Some breakdown by state from the NHTSA https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813240 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPubli

by jcims 5y ago

Some breakdown by state from the NHTSA https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/813240 https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/... Anecdotally I've driven in Texas, California, Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania over the past 6 months. Southern Florida, Miami in particular, was far and away the worst (again limited sampling and anecodotal) in overall 'quality' of driver. I was nearly hit on several occasions by people making up their own rules. Constantly seeing people just do whatever they felt like (huge exotic and performance car scene down there though). Horns honking almost nonstop. It honestly felt like a good portion of people behind the wheel didn't actually know US driving laws or dgaf. But possibly to the point in the article, congestion was so bad that you didn't achieve the energy levels to kill a person in a modern vehicle. Zero chance I ride a motorcycle or scooter in that area though. I drove a couple thousand miles in Texas from Dallas down through Austin, San Antonio, South Padre Island and back over the course of a couple of weeks. Overall the drivers there were middle of the pack, but the speeds were off the charts. Regular excursions into triple digits just to keep with the flow of traffic. Also drove several thousand miles in and round San Diego over the course of a month. It was kind of a mix of the two, moderate amount of poor decision making but also very high speeds punctuated with traffic accordion stops out of nowhere. More whisps of tire smoke and whiffs of scorched brakes (and, lets face it, weed) on the highway there than anywhere else I drove. Ohio and PA didn't feel out of the ordinary at all. Basically a toned down San Diego, some bad driving and some high speed. But I'm from the midwest so it's probably just acclimatization, statistically all of the above are within spitting distance.

rectang 5y ago
A prevailing flow of traffic moving at 80 mph in the San Diego metro is common in the faster lanes of some highways. But triple digits, like you report in Texas, that I haven't seen. There are surely a few drivers zipping around at 90-100+, but they're the dangerous ones who are going outside the prevailing flow of traffic. I suspect that the cops make a priority of pulling over such drivers, although I can only speculate about the likelihood of getting busted.
- jcims 5y ago
  The thing that scared me about San Diego were the lane-to-lane differentials in speed. You'll have an exit lane stopped and people ripping along at 80mph just a few feet away. The high speeds in Texas were in the long connectors between metro areas. It's so flat out there that honestly it never felt 'dangerous', it's just that a greater percentage of run-of-the-mill mishaps will result in death. You couldn't do that in SoCal, too much terrain. Look at this chunk of 35 between Waco and Austin https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2560539,-97.2756464,3a,75y,36.94h,89.5t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szhqg1W_FipdzNqX1sfTKIw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dzhqg1W_FipdzNqX1sfTKIw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D283.07224%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2560539,-97.2756464,3a,75y,3... hammer down.
giantg2 5y ago
"and, lets face it, weed" A lot of this in PA over the past few years. Literally, people out there are driving around while hot-boxing. So much that I can smell it when driving behind them at 45 mph.
- bsagdiyev 5y ago
  I once saw a guy while driving on the 405 through Irvine, put his knee on the steering wheel to hold his truck in the lane, and rip a bong. That's some dedication and I was honestly impressed.

by jcims 5y ago

rectang 5y ago

A prevailing flow of traffic moving at 80 mph in the San Diego metro is common in the faster lanes of some highways. But triple digits, like you report in Texas, that I haven't seen. There are surely a few drivers zipping around at 90-100+, but they're the dangerous ones who are going outside the prevailing flow of traffic. I suspect that the cops make a priority of pulling over such drivers, although I can only speculate about the likelihood of getting busted.

jcims 5y ago
The thing that scared me about San Diego were the lane-to-lane differentials in speed. You'll have an exit lane stopped and people ripping along at 80mph just a few feet away. The high speeds in Texas were in the long connectors between metro areas. It's so flat out there that honestly it never felt 'dangerous', it's just that a greater percentage of run-of-the-mill mishaps will result in death. You couldn't do that in SoCal, too much terrain. Look at this chunk of 35 between Waco and Austin https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2560539,-97.2756464,3a,75y,36.94h,89.5t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1szhqg1W_FipdzNqX1sfTKIw!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dzhqg1W_FipdzNqX1sfTKIw%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D283.07224%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192 https://www.google.com/maps/@31.2560539,-97.2756464,3a,75y,3... hammer down.

giantg2 5y ago

"and, lets face it, weed" A lot of this in PA over the past few years. Literally, people out there are driving around while hot-boxing. So much that I can smell it when driving behind them at 45 mph.

bsagdiyev 5y ago
I once saw a guy while driving on the 405 through Irvine, put his knee on the steering wheel to hold his truck in the lane, and rip a bong. That's some dedication and I was honestly impressed.