Know the rules of the road?
Maybe you don’t. According to a study reported by CNN, about 1 in 10 American drivers wouldn’t be able to pass a state driving test. Think you live with the worst drivers? You’re right if you live in the NorthEast or a mid-Atlantic state. The best drivers?: those in the NorthWest. That last one surprises me a bit, given the rash of pedestrian crosswalk accidents we’ve had lately in Seattle. The classic error is when one or more cars stop for a crossing pedestrian and another car swerves around those hitting the pedestrian. Presumably the swerving driver thinks that the stopped cars don’t know what they’re doing — or maybe the driver isn’t thinking at all. Either way, the results can be disastrous. 3 days ago an 11-year-old kid was seriously injured in just that scenario. At my work, we have a crosswalk over a busy, 3-lane road. The left-turn/middle lane complicates things. One time a car stopped for a group of us and seemingly out of nowhere came this black pickup truck swerving around the stopped car into the middle lane, nearly hitting us. I responded with a yell of disgust and the male driver flashed us the bird. Very nice buddie. Maybe this behavior shouldn’t be surprising, as the survey also showed the following:
“For instance, one out of five drivers doesn’t know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, and one out of three drivers speeds up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are present, the study said.”
All it takes is one driver and yours truly could turn out like Earl the Flat Cat ™. Fortunately I’m a pretty cautious crosser, so no worries.
As for by-state survey results, here’s a summary of those likely of interest to this group:
- 1. Oregon – Best!
- 2. Washington
- 15. Alabama
- 25. Tennessee
- 31. Oklahoma
- 49. Rhode Island – Worst!
May 27th, 2005 at 4:49 pm
The Northwest is best? Then I’m not going anywhere. I was going to stay home in bed but I found out most accidents happen in the home. I need help.
May 28th, 2005 at 8:31 am
I thought we had 50 states, but after looking at your reference, I saw that we had two states tied for 27th on the list….. I didn’t read how they conducted the test, but I would have been sure Oklahoma should be at least 51st (which would have made us “Worst in the World) instead of just 31st…. If you want bad drivers come to Oklahoma…..
The main problem, and this includes the Highway Patrol, local, and county branches, is that they do not inforce traffic codes….. They break them more often than the average driver (I use the term “average” very loosely, I guess I should say normal dangerous Oklahoma driver)…..
Pedestrians really don’t exist in Oklahoma, everybody drives….. If you are a pedestrian, you’re fair game just like any other road kill….. Now, I’m not saying that the law enforement doesn’t do anything on the highways and byways….. They probably have the fastest response time in the nation getting to an accident (we have plenty)….. I guess they think that traffic enforcement duty is a punishment for poor service or they don’t want to be tied up with all that paperwork and traffic court appearances…..
Tip if you are driving through Oklahoma – If you do the speed limit on the Interstates, be prepared to be run over…… Your only chance is to keep a safe distance from the car in front of you, because I can quarantee, without a doubt, that you WILL have some Jackass glued on your back bumper…. Of course other Jackass’s immediately notice this large open hole in front of you and fill it in, which requires you to back-off and re-establish your safe air space…. In other words, it’s an aggressive defensive battle just to get to the local 7-11…..
May 31st, 2005 at 8:15 am
There are horrible drivers everywhere, but I was generally quite impressed in the PacNW. At least compared to OK/TX, they are fairly conservative, competent, and courteous. OK drivers are horrible; TX drivers are just as bad but drive faster in worse traffic. I’m frankly surprised OK/TX isn’t even further down the list. The NE must be really, really bad.
FWIW, I thought CA drivers drove really fast but seemed pretty competent.
And mrambler’s right, OK is a very unfriendly place to be a pedestrian or cyclist. It makes me appreciate the separate paths for bicycles and pedestrians every time I visit the socialist paradise of Boulder.
May 31st, 2005 at 10:43 am
Hmm, socialist paradise? perhaps for a white person in their 30’s. Tarn and I spent a weekend in Boulder earlier this year. While I certainly appreciated the ped and bicyclist friendly downtown, the social mixture felt off. During the day, white 30’s something couples with kids in strollers dotted the streets. During the night, white 20’s something college kids ruled. During the whole weekend, I saw one notably old person, one black person, and no Asians. I suppose it is possible that we were only exposed to the weekend crowd or maybe there was a minority convention elsewhere that weekend.
May 31st, 2005 at 4:13 pm
I was speaking of socialism in the Marx/economic sense, you bourgeois oppressor you. We must tax, tax, tax to fund not only those wonderful sidewalks but also massive regulatory bureaucracies for regulating leaf-blowers (I’m only exaggerating a little).
The ironic aspect is that it is an extremely expensive place to live.
June 2nd, 2005 at 4:42 pm
Boulder is named after a rock right?….. Let it fall on itself…. I thought we were talking about traffic….. Colorado as a state comes in at 21….. I figured it would be higher on the list than that….. I’ve never driven in Boulder, but I have in Colorado…..
A few years ago when I was driving back to OKC from Seattle, I entered Denver on I-25 from the North around 5:00 pm on a weekday….. I figured it would be a massive traffic block and take forever to get across Denver since I-25 cuts directly though downtown….. Boy, was I ever surprised!….. First, the entrances and exits were miles long, unlike OKC where you are lucky if an entrance/exit is 200-300 yards in length…. The interstate was packed on the 4 to 6 lanes (varies with the entrances and exits), BUT, everyone was keeping a reasonable distance from the car in front of them even though they were doing the speed limit….. You could change lanes easily because the traffic was not bumper-to-bumper (No “Tailgaters”)….. I picked out the middle lane since I was driving striaght though and never had to slow down….. I drove through Denver at the height of rush hour at 55 mph with no problems what-so-ever…..
In Oklahoma, most the time, with no traffic compared to Denver, you could make better time by getting out and walking…..