quote:

To go from Canada (or England, France, Germany or Italy) into the U.S. is to feel exactly as if you've been demoted from adulthood and sent back to first grade, complete with hall monitors, teachers, lunch lines and slow-to-mature classmates who are still struggling with coat zippers and shoelace technology.

As an adult American driver, you feel you've been placed in a school desk ad­justed too low for your knees. Why is this? There are, I believe, three basic forces at work here: Obliviousness, Sloth and Self- Righteousness. Yes, the Three Deadly Traf­fic Sins. The problem is, it's hard to know where one ends and the other begins.

This from an article written by Peter Egan for Road and Track Magazine a couple years ago. I’m getting to where I’d rather take a beating than drive through the Front Range of Colorado; so many discourteous, oblivious, incompetent and diffident drivers as to make one semi-suicidal.

Worth your time—it’s a short article.

The American Driver

Drivers who tailgate and don't signal should be sentenced and put to death right at the roadside.

Ditto for morons that loiter in the PASSING lane.

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Originally posted by kz1000:
Drivers who tailgate and don't signal should be sentenced and put to death right at the roadside.

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Originally posted by Jimbo Jones:
Ditto for morons that loiter in the PASSING lane.

quote:

Originally posted by kz1000:
Drivers who tailgate and don't signal should be sentenced and put to death right at the roadside.

Did you read the article? Egan talks about this. I have also found the far right lane to often be clear driving down I-25

Jebus, tell me about it

My wife and I just got back from eight days in the Netherlands. BIL loaned me a VW Polo. Despite not having driven a stick for eight years, and despite not having driven in the Netherlands for forty, I had no problems and no frustrations.

My Lord was that ever a pleasant change from driving in the U.S.

Then I came back here. I love my Jeep Grand Cherokee with its Hemi. I really, really love that car. But I think I'd trade it for that little Polo in a New York heartbeat to drive amongst sane, capable drivers. Truly I would.

And I may.

One big difference: Driver's licenses aren't gimmees in the Netherlands. You actually have to prove you know how to drive, competently, to get a DL there. They will fail you in a flash for the slightest mistake.

Seriously though: have you ever driven in another country ?
America is like the epitome of civilized order and politeness COMPARED to many, if not most, others.

It is not "American drivers" it is "humans". Americans are actually an example of the top end of the spectrum.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
Seriously though: have you ever driven in another country ?
America is like the epitome of civilized order and politeness COMPARED to many, if not most, others.

It is not "American drivers" it is "humans". Americans are actually an example of the top end of the spectrum.

Compared to Africa, Asia and LatAm the US is “advanced”. Compared to Canada, Western Europe, Japan and Oceania the US is a bumbling idiot when it comes to driving.

I think drivers Ed shouldn't be an elective, but mandantory, for several years.
Hell you could spend a whole semester on the right of way.
"Drive right"
How a LEGAL right on red works.
Ride along's in a tractor trailer so they have an F'ing clue.
Beat into pea brains.

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Originally posted by reloader-1:

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
Seriously though: have you ever driven in another country ?
America is like the epitome of civilized order and politeness COMPARED to many, if not most, others.

It is not "American drivers" it is "humans". Americans are actually an example of the top end of the spectrum.

Compares to Africa, Asia and LatAm the US is “advanced”. Compared to Canada, Western Europe, Japan and Oceania the US is a bumbling idiot when it comes to driving.

I agree. People I know who lived in England said a driver's license is hard to get and can be lost in a heart beat. Here in the US, you don't really even need one. It's catch and release here.

Having recently driven through Germany and the Netherlands for several days each, US drivers suck in comparison. The most obvious thing I noticed was a complete lack of entitled left lane cruisers grinding traffic to a halt.

While I'm totally on board with people not "driving right", most of the highways I drive on it just wouldn't work. The volume of cars wouldn't fit in the right lane even if they were all doing the same speed.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
Seriously though: have you ever driven in another country ?
America is like the epitome of civilized order and politeness COMPARED to many, if not most, others.

It is not "American drivers" ...

You might actually read the comments from some of us that have driven in other countries. And, yes, it is American drivers. They suck. I'm sure they're not the worst, but they're far from the best.

Have driven fairly recently in Germany, France, and Italy and have ridden in Austria, Spain, Hungary, Russia, and The Czech Republic. All are vastly superior in driver skills and courtesy to US drivers. Of course there are exceptions but not so many...

My "go to" comment when dealing with discourteous or simply oblivious US drivers is "I wonder what cereal box they got their driver's license from?"

The SLOW motorhomes/5th wheels, on two lane roadways, that REFUSE to maintain the speed limit, or pull over to allow others to pass....Absolutely epidemic here in the Summer months. Taking a trip up to Glacier NP in summer adds easily 30 minutes to what is usually a two hour trip.

To many people believe it is a right, not a privilege to drive in America. They are not held accountable for their actions and do whatever the hell they feel like with little enforcement action. They drive without a license or insurance, and you had just better get the hell outta their way.

Reminds of George Carlin - anyone driving slower than you is an asshole; anyone driving faster than you is a maniac.

quote:

Originally posted by Crom:
Seriously though: have you ever driven in another country ?
America is like the epitome of civilized order and politeness COMPARED to many, if not most, others.

It is not "American drivers" it is "humans". Americans are actually an example of the top end of the spectrum.

I drove in Germany in the early 1990s. For the most part, they were better drivers than what we see here. They explained this by saying driver's licenses there cost thousands of dollars to get, were more difficult to earn, and therefore, they appreciated them more.

Now, you could not PAY me to drive in Rome. It was chaos. I actually sat on a sidewalk railing across from the Victor Emmanuel II memorial and watched the traffic in the traffic circle for an hour. I was truly amazed I didn't witness any deaths (really well-dressed women on Vespas routinely cut off tour busses).

Ubiquitous car AC's changed the whole driving metric. Things were much more civil when everyone drove with their windows down, arms hanging out. Communication was possible and there was a greater chance of resulting consequences. Hey, neighbor...

Unproven theory -- In today's insular driving pods, most people are no more in touch than if they were sitting on the couch at home, staring at a tv screen instead of through a windshield.

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Originally posted by Ripley:
Ubiquitous car AC's changed the whole driving metric.

Personally, I blame it on the automatic transmission.

When you actually have to operate the vehicle, you tend to pay more attention to what the thing is doing.

Well, driver training by and large sucks. For the most part, they don't teach driving, they teach vehicle operation, and the basic rules of the road. Then you're on your own.