From: eric@npri6.npri.com (Eric Williams)
Newsgroups: dc.general
Subject: Re: Driving in DC (was we don't need signals......)
Summary: ha! you don't know unsafe driving...
Keywords: driving in dc=nightmare
Date: 24 Jul 92 15:15:59 GMT
Distribution: dc
Organization: NPRI, Alexandria VA

In article <14627@umd5.umd.edu>, kerry@is-next.umd.edu (Kerry Ogata) writes:
> 
> I would just like to say that driving *anywhere* in the DC area is one of
> the most hellish experiences of each day.  There are the rudest, nastiest,
> most obnoxious, unsafe drivers here that I have ever seen.  
Where have you been driving all your life? On a closed track? I consider
DC (area) drivers--while not overly courteous--at least especially
cautious. Try driving in Boston (or in New England in general), New
York, or Montreal... If DC drivers shake you, I guar-an-tee you'll be
a basket case on return from any of these vacation spots. LA? Well,
traffic crawls there, so there's not much speed-daemoning, but your fellow
driver may well put a bullet through your brain.

> For example,
> if you do not go at least 65 on the beltway, you will get tailgated (even
> in the "slow" lane.)  
Out west, if you don't go 70+, a monster truck will flatten you.

> No one uses signals.   
This can be annoying, but it's better than those drivers who put on
the *wrong* signal.

> If lanes are closed ahead,
> cars will speed up the lane that is closing and cut in front of you at the
> last minute.  
But then some of you drivers in the surviving lane rarely open a spot for
us. At least at the mergepoint we can count on the zipper effect, and
maybe some begrudging accommodation. 

> Merge?  Hah!  No one merges!   And if you do leave a safe
> amount of space in front of you and the car ahead of you, *some* car will
> cut in and brake, so that your front bumper is in their rear one.
Well, how else to merge? On one hand you complain that drivers DON'T
merge in advance, and on the other you cavil when they take advantage
of an opportunity. Make up your mind!

> Also, I really love it when you see some car weaving down the road between
> two lanes and then when you pull up next to it, you notice that the driver
> is READING THE NEWSPAPER.  
That's me! Usually it's a book or magazine though.   :-)

[A little bit cut that describes car phones, fingers... temper, temper...]

> there are the people who pull out in front of you on a heavily traveled road
> where the average speed is around 50 mph (and they're going 10 mph.)
These are Maryland drivers. They were born in a land where the entrance ramps
had stop signs. This has been remedied, but now it's in their genes...

> And then there are the people who throw crap out the window (like cigarette
> butts) which ends up in your windshield. 
My goodness, mommy didn't change your diaper this morning, did she?
This is called littering, and if you record the offender's license you *might*
have the pleasure of delivering retribution. 

>And then there are the people who
> perform your standard illegal traffic things like running red lights, turning
> onto roads that are restricted from certain hours, cutting through residential
> areas, running stop signs, not stopping for pedestrians........
My God, the only solution is to ban automobiles entirely! Except for
yours, of course...

> I could go on and on, but I think that's enough!  
Gee, we were just getting amused.

>I moved to MD about 6 years
> ago, and I don't think I will ever get used to driving here.  
You're one of THEM now. Resistence is futile!

>Every day I
> marvel at how I've gotten through another one without getting in an accident!
> I can't wait to move somewhere where there are pleasant, courteous drivers==
> I know such places have to exist!  (don't they?!)
In Fantasyland. Remember those little bumper cars in the controlled lanes?

Ew, whiny drivers just ruin a trip...

-------- eric@npri.com ---------- or ---------- ...uunet!uupsi!npri6!eric -----
                                Voo mi annoyay.                                 
Eric C. Williams/ NPRI/ Alexandria, VA/ USA/ (703) 683-9090/ Usual disclaimers.
Newsgroups: dc.general