Aggressive imbecile drivers and lack of guardrails in the canyons

I’ve lived in Southern and Northern California, and now Washington, and I can say unequivocally that Utah drivers are the absolute worst on the roads. Having grown up in Utah (as part of the dominant culture, I might add), and having lived there for many years as an adult, I think I can explain this phenomenon, but it would involve offending both political and religious sensibilities, and that is not allowed here. Let’s just say there’s a lot mo-more to the picture than I am willing/able to elaborate.

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I share your view.

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I was thinking something else, but they’re both tiny.

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My personal favorite is the truck that jumps into the left lane to pass another truck…right when there are cars approaching in the left lane. Then they proceed to go 60.05 mph to pass the other truck going 60.02 mph…then they come to a hill.

A close second is the guy in the left lane that refuses to go at least the speed limit.

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Aggression and impatience are significant issues in our state. Saw a near accident last night in a parking lot where a pickup was trying to slowly and carefully make a wide turn into a parking spot (perpendicular parking). As he’s starting the turn, the driver of a car behind him guns it and flies past the truck on the side he is starting to turn into. Not really a passing lane there that he was using.

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I also noticed people don’t tuck over to the left hand side of the road against the dividing line, allowing people to go right on red
If they have to wait for a light and intersection, it would seem to be common courtesy not to clog the entire lane and allow one, two, three or four cars that want to bang a right turn be able to do that… But time and time again one has to wait

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I hate that, which my family has always referred to as the Utah Block:

three cars, in each of the available three lanes on the freeway, perfectly abreast, going exactly the same speed, and refusing to let anyone pass.

I’ve always wondered if these people actually know each other and are doing it as a prank.

Now, someone said in this thread that Utah drivers are the worst anywhere; I believed that until I spent a decade commuting to south Florida (Miami/Fort Lauderdale area) and driving the freeways there. Utah is not even a close second.

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Reading the latest comments on this revived topic, I need to recommend my latest YouTube guilty pleasure: Idiots in Cars. So many of the wrecks they document come from things described above, but usually it’s excess speed and trying to squeeze one’s way between a closing gap, usually taking out three or four innocent victims in the process. My recent favorite, however, was the Ferrari owner who clearly has more money than sense, stomping on the gas on a really wet freeway on-ramp only to hit a deeper puddle, hydroplane, spin sideways, then tear the front end off the car when it hit an overpass column.

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If I ever bought a Ferrari, I would also have the money to rent the track and take lessons on how to drive a Ferrari - not kill yourself or someone else too…

LOL! Our wives should take a short road trip together some time for about 50 miles and see If they think end the journey secretly wondering if they are married to the same man. :slight_smile:

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Yeah and Ferraris tear REALLY easily…

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Here’s one that I see more than I want to and it happened again today. I was traveling southbound on Highland Dr and came to the intersection with Simpson Ave. Traffic is fairly mild and the light is green. The car in front of me stops at the intersection to wave a northbound car turning left through. We had the green light! Why do people do this? I know they probably think they are being kind or something but it makes no sense and when it’s on a 2 lane road it’s dangerous.

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The Utah Block is something I never saw in California. Drivers there can be pretty bad, but there is still a general sense that we’re all in this together and need to be reasonably aware of one another. That culture has faded significantly over the last 4 decades, but it is still there when Rocker isn’t driving in the state.

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Typically when I see a Utah block on I-15 coming from southern Utah, the person in the left lane has either California or Idaho license plates.

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Could be. Maybe California drivers are used to filling all the lanes because there are so many cars on the road.

I honestly don’t have enough laughing emojis in my account to respond to this.

California drivers have the worst lane discipline anywhere.

THE

WORST.

As an example drive northbound on US 101 from Ventura to Santa Barbara. There’s a stretch there that goes from 3 lanes to 2. On that stretch, stay in the right lane (as you’re supposed to do) and pass 50 cars in the left lane. I’m not exaggerating because I’ve done it. Multiple times.

California drivers think they are awesome. They are not. Rain.

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As a cyclist, this is a GIANT pet peeve for me. I am constantly stopping at intersections (especially in the Avenues) where I am required to stop because I have a stop sign, only to have someone approach the intersection on the cross street direction who DOES NOT have a stop sign, slam on their brakes, stop, and wave me through. I always refuse to go, because people coming from the opposite direction on the cross street, again, without a stop sign, won’t stop, nor should they, and will run me over.

Had this happen once on 9th Ave and B street, and the woman who stopped and waved me through was coming down B street, and almost got rear ended because the people in the next several cars behind her were not expecting her to stop.

It is truly wonderful that some people are so thoughtful, but as stated above, it is dangerous, and their thoughtfulness will get someone killed.

There is a long history of well thought out rules for managing the right of way on roads, all of which were taught thoroughly decades ago when I was a new driver. Everyone needs to be safe and courteous and simply implement them.

Rant over.

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I can’t speak to the driving in the Philistine outer counties. I’m just talking about L.A., Orange and San Diego Counties, where I drove daily for 36 years (and still drive 3-5 days each month). As I said it’s deteriorated a lot since 1981 when I first got there.

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I’ll invite all y’all to NC, especially the the 2 extreme sides if you want really crap drivers. The bigger cities have big city driving issues. Get into rural NC, western or eastern and the idiot bridages are out en masse; aggessive and inattentative.

Don’t get me started on the non-driving riding into traffic idiot cycists, that are asking to be hit by crossing traffic because those riders are not expected to be on the INCORRECT side of the road. Invariably they’re dressed in black. As a cyclist, USAC official, and motorcyclist those riders drive me bat ■■■■ crazy due to their stupidy and willful lack of desire to ride on the correct side of the road.

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My rural experiences are quite different than yours; we have a summer house (old farm really) in Paris, Idaho, about 10 miles north of the northern shore of Bear Lake. All of the Locals are so laid back, and cautious, I cycle up there all the time and never worry.

There is a narrow two lane highway between towns, with no shoulder to speak of on either side, and the locals will slow WAY down, and swing WAY wide to allow me space. If there is a lot of traffic coming the other way (which is rare) I’ve had people literally stop and wait to pass when it is safe.

No one is ever talking on a phone, and everyone generally waves, as they pass in either direction. It’s a different world than the one in which most of us live.

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