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-   -   Where are the world's worst drivers? (https://www.fodors.com/community/united-states/where-are-the-worlds-worst-drivers-396090/)

justshootme Feb 6th, 2004 11:50 AM

Where are the world's worst drivers?
 
ans - Paris, France and anywhere in Italy.

mcqueeney449 Feb 6th, 2004 11:55 AM

Within a one mile radius of wherever I happen to be driving on any given day. LOL

Patrick Feb 6th, 2004 11:56 AM

Where are the world's worst drivers? Mostly buried in the ground.

We have more than our fair share in Florida.


Knoel998 Feb 6th, 2004 12:18 PM

According to my husband....Korea!

jamierin Feb 6th, 2004 12:19 PM

Don't know about the world but if we are talking US - FLORIDA!!!

karens Feb 6th, 2004 12:22 PM

Dave Barry writes hysterical columns about seniors driving in Florida.

I find the New Jersey Turnpike gets more stressful and crazy the closer you get to NYC. And when I was driving with a friend in Boston I was pretty scared at times! But I in no way can say that NYers or Bostonians are the world's worst. I've never driven on the LA Freeways, and I suspect that the NJ Turnpike would feel like a country drive compared to that!

Wednesday Feb 6th, 2004 12:26 PM

Florida !!!!!!!!!!!! Too many "hit the accelerator instead of the brake" situations....I am always amazed at the DMV when they give out a license to someone who can't walk, or hear them talking and barely passes the sight test....huh ??!!

mclaurie Feb 6th, 2004 12:30 PM

In the US I have to say Fla. is right up there. The combination of the seniors going 12 mph :@ & the pickup driving kids going 90 mph #o...but driving in Europe is a different experience. In comparison, NY drivers are sane!

swalter518 Feb 6th, 2004 12:36 PM

I'm with Florida, where else are there at least weekly stories about drivers driving through the fronts of stores, restaurants, etc.

nytraveler Feb 6th, 2004 12:46 PM

Agree with Florida and Orlando specifically. In addition to the seniors and pick-up kids there are all the interntional tourists suffering from jet lag (and often the wrong side of the roaditis) plus all the tourists, with 3 kids screamimg Mickey! Mickey! in the back seat to distract them, and not a clue where they're going. I once saw 4 separate single-car accidents - on a perfectly clear dry day - in the short drive between the airport and the hotel.

LN Feb 6th, 2004 12:57 PM

In Florida I see people using the right lane (usually the slow lane) as the passing lane cause all the grays drive in the left lane. I also find that they like to make right hand turns from the left lanes and the other drivers generally just stop and shake their heads. And on occasion I've seen the grey speed up to beat the bridge going up. That is quite a sight!

I don't see as much aggressive driving in Florida (or maybe I'm not in the right city for it) as I do up North. At least in Florida I don't get cut off, cussed at, and the finger wave at least twice a day.

jor Feb 6th, 2004 01:05 PM

How interesting about Florida. My cousin was killed by a motorist in Ft. Lauderdale at a convension ouside of his hotel while he crossed the street as a pedestrian.

clarkgriswold Feb 6th, 2004 01:22 PM

Road-raged California drivers are addicted to their cellphones, and use their turn signals only AFTER they've started to pull into the next lane.

New Mexico is pretty bad.

questionmotives Feb 6th, 2004 02:42 PM

LMAO at mcqueeny, lol.

Denver ranks right up there though. Someone recently wrote a letter to the editor of the Denver Post, entitled "You Might be a Bottlenecker If...." He then provided a Jeff Foxworthy-esque list of such truthful observations about Denver drivers, that it made me chuckle.

You basically have three types here:

1. Old timer Colorado natives who are used to having the entire road to themselves and routinely drive ten to fifteen miles below any given posted speed limit -- in the far left lane, of course.

2. Southern California transplants in their behemouth SUVs, driving ten to twenty miles OVER any given posted speed limit in any given weather condition -- while talking on their cell phones, of course.

3. Out of state tourists in their motor homes and SUVs, driving ten to twenty miles below any given posted speed limit -- in the far left lane, of course.

lol

TalkisCheap Feb 6th, 2004 02:55 PM

MA, NY

though my wife would kill me if she saw this being from MA

uuhhhh Feb 6th, 2004 04:30 PM

depends upon where i am at the moment.

Gardyloo Feb 6th, 2004 04:57 PM

USA:
Incompetent - Florida, Oregon (what's that other lever for? Turn signal? Why, can't they see I'm turning?

Aggressive - California

Incompetent <i>and</i> aggressive - Boston.

Overseas:

Portugal. By a landslide.

floridabound Feb 6th, 2004 05:40 PM

Northern Virginia. Rtes 66, 495 and good old Tysons Corner. Cell phone yuppies haven..stress out to the max here.e. That's why we want outta here.

Janny Feb 6th, 2004 05:56 PM

I'd have to say Florida. More specific- Ft.Lauderdale. They drive like speed demons and don't have your blinker on, you might as well forget getting over!!!

jor Feb 6th, 2004 06:55 PM

Gardyloo, I agree with you 100% about
&quot;Overseas: Portugal. By a landslide.&quot; I was terrified when I hitched a ride in the back end of a pickup among other incidents. But Portugal has the best people.



Scarlett Feb 6th, 2004 07:05 PM

I heard a story today about a very old man who just died behind the wheel at a traffic light in Sarasota Fl.
I remember driving into the mountains in Jamaica once and being scared to death by the cars full of people coming at us full speed, in our lane! They always moved over just in time, so maybe they were actually very good drivers~

kkraczek Feb 6th, 2004 07:16 PM

Very sad, but yesterday here in South Florida, an 88 year old woman was killed driving the WRONG WAY on 1-95. South Florida anytime between October and May definitely has the worst drivers!

kkraczek Feb 6th, 2004 07:17 PM

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localne...cb14a0093.html

Patrick Feb 6th, 2004 08:05 PM

This thread is becoming funnier and funnier. The contest seems to be between Florida and Portugal. After living and driving in Florida for 30 years, it's funny, but I never noticed anything out of the ordinary driving in Portugal. I don't have a clue what everyone is talking about, and we drove all over Portugal. Maybe those people have never driven in Florida?

joegri Feb 6th, 2004 11:32 PM

Jamaica for sure. They hit you and just keep going. In Kingston, we were getting hit at every intersection. We finally gave up and took cabs. At least the continuing damage wasn't to our vehicle.

Knoel998 Feb 7th, 2004 12:12 AM

Regarding Florida: being a Florida native, I just want to defend my homestate. The reason Florida has the worst drivers is because the elderly along with all the terrible drivers from the rest of the country move here!! Native Floridians are wonderful drivers- LOL :0)

Anonymous Feb 7th, 2004 03:12 AM

A group of Florida senior citizens were sitting around talking about their ailments.

&quot;My arms are so weak I can hardly hold this cup of coffee,&quot; said one.

&quot;Yes, I know. My cataracts are so bad I can't even see my coffee&quot; replied another.

&quot;It has gotten to where I cannot hear anything anymore.&quot; said one in the loudest voice of the group.&nbsp;

&quot;I can't turn my head because of the arthritis in my neck,&quot; said a another, to which several nodded weakly in agreement.

&quot;My blood pressure pills make me dizzy,&quot; claimed another.

&quot;I can't even remember what I'm doing half the time; if I don't make myself a note I forget what I am trying to do in the first place,&quot; chimed yet another.&nbsp;

&quot;I guess that's the price we pay for getting old,&quot; winced an old man as he shook his head.&nbsp;

Then there was a short moment of silence...

&quot;Well, it's not that bad,&quot; said one woman cheerfully. &quot;Thank God we can all still drive.&quot;

kkraczek Feb 7th, 2004 04:07 AM

This story just gets better and better... ugh!

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/localne...c00fd00ec.html

Beatle Feb 7th, 2004 04:44 AM

Great story Anon.
The 2nd worst drivers in the world: Paris. Annnnd now, for #1- ITALY

nytraveler Feb 7th, 2004 05:01 AM

I don't get the references to France and italy. To me, drivers in those countries have to have especailly good - to be able to avoid constantly having accidents given the rules/conditions they drive under. I mean, it takes real effort to be a bad driver on a wide open highway with no traffic - but the worse the condiitons (lots of traffic, few traffic lights, several-way intersections with cars coming from everywhere, traffic circles, double and triple-parked cars and masses of darting pedestrians) the greater the driving skills required to avoid hitting someone or something. I've always found drivers in Europe in general to be more skilful than those in the US - much faster and more erratic - but more skilful.

Judyrem Feb 7th, 2004 05:16 AM

Yes, Florida is the worst because of the blue hairs! I lived in Atlanta and those are some of THE most aggressive drivers ever! I was always white knuckled driving in town and on GA 400. BTW, I always loved Seinfeld's idea of a FL state flag: 2 arms with holding a steering wheel with no head! Judy

Connie Feb 7th, 2004 05:36 AM

CHINA

I read that more tourist are killed by being hit by a car than any other means.

Been there and believe it!!

Patrick Feb 7th, 2004 06:01 AM

Good point, Knoel, the native Floridian are good drivers. All 25 of them???

The comment about China reminds me of a story from my partner's brother who was on business in Taiwan. The taxi was zooming him off to the airport, when a bicycle darted in front of them. The taxi hit the bicycle which went one way, and the rider went flying through the air, landing on the side of the road. &quot;Aren't you going to stop?&quot;, Richard asked, shaking and horrified. &quot;No,&quot; replied the driver. &quot;It was his fault. He pulled in front of me.&quot; To this day Richard has no idea if the man was killed or not.

Jed Feb 7th, 2004 06:09 AM

I agree with Connie about China. You have to experience it to believe it. When our tourist bus was in traffic, it just drove over the line, on the other side of the road. We saw a city bus driving the wrong way in the middle of traffic. Cars cut off one another, missing other cars and pedestrians by millimeters. Aggressiveness is in, courtesy is out. Damn the traffic, full speed ahead. :-O

And it only will get worse, as the number of cars is expected to double in the next ten years as a huge number of people get to afford it.

LN Feb 7th, 2004 06:13 AM

Let's keep it going!!

Two elderly women were out driving in a large car . . .

. . . both could barely see over the dashboard. As they were cruising along, they came to an intersection. The stoplight was red but they went on through.

The woman in the passenger seat thought to herself, I must be losing it. I could have sworn we went through a red light.

After a few more minutes they came to another intersection and the light was red; again they went right through.

This time the woman in the passenger seat was almost sure that the light had been red but was really concerned that she was losing it. She was getting nervous and decided to pay very close attention to the road and the next intersection to see what was going on.

At the next intersection, sure enough, the light was definitely red and they went right through. She turned to the other woman and said, &quot;Mildred! Did you know we just went through three red lights in a row? You could have killed us!!!&quot;

Mildred turned to her and said: &quot;Oh shit, am I driving?&quot;


suzanne Feb 7th, 2004 06:14 AM

The highways in New York City have the worst driving I've ever seen. I fear for my life everytime I must be on the road. Just last night there was someone making a right turn from the left lane, cutting in front of us &amp; not even looking. I see this every time I drive. And no one EVER seems to look when changing lanes.

I disagree about Portugal...I had been afraid to drive there because I had heard stories of crazy drivers, but I found it to be the most pleasant driving experience of my life. I drove about 5 hours on the toll road, and guess what....people drove on the right and passed on the left. It made so much sense and was so...polite. We're SUPPOSED to do that in this country, at least in several states (NJ?) but no one seems to follow that rule and people pass on the right as well as the left because no one seems to realize that the left lane is for faster-moving traffic.

Gardyloo Feb 7th, 2004 06:49 AM

Well on the non-toll roads in Portugal they drive like they're from Boston, except worse.

Only place I know that has freeways with signs on the on-ramps prohibiting donkey carts.

The signs are ignored.

Patrick Feb 7th, 2004 06:50 AM

I used to have a little old lady friend who lived in a retirement center about 10 miles north of the center of Naples, Florida. One day when I was driving through the four lane traffic heading south, I came up behind a car going about 30 miles per hour in the left lane in a 55 mile zone. Suddenly I realized it was this friend of mine. She was soon leading a long procession of cars who couldn't get around her, most finally passing on the right when there was an opening -- me among them.
About a week later, I mentioned I had been behind her that day and asked why she was in the left lane. She calmly replied that she was going to be making a left turn and didn't want to have to switch lanes at the last minute. The place she was going to turn left was roughly 10 miles straight ahead. Now, that's what I call planning when driving!!

Scarlett Feb 7th, 2004 06:58 AM

That is so sad. That poor old woman.
Although I have come from a state where everyone of every age drives, from every country, I cannot say any particular type is a worse driver.
Unless it is the overly aggresive late teens..they all seem to want to prove their machismo-that would include the young ladies too.
I would be happy to travel all around the world and take a survey if anyone is interested in financing it :D

Knoel998 Feb 7th, 2004 07:03 AM

Very funny, Patrick. :0)
Common misconception about Florida....but my family alone has more than 25 natives. Our numbers are great, we're just drowning in a sea of tourists, transplants, and snowbirds! I'd also blame the election fiasco on the elderly and transplants &lt;tic&gt;.


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