Well, yeah, but it’s like, “We’re not even going to *pretend * that we don’t see you/can’t figure out your intentions from your signal. We. Just. Won’t. Fucking. Let. You. In. Now deal.”
Oh, and being anvil-footed myself, I don’t have a problem with the speeding, just as long as it’s done safely. But speeding + inconsiderate of other drivers = totally not cool.
Speaking of frost, just wait until the first snowfall and everyone forgets that they actually knew how to drive in snow last year. Between the SUV drivers who think they are invincible (“I HAVE A 4X4! ICE AND SNOW MEAN NOTHING TO ME!!!”) and everyone else trying to go six kph, you might want to just stay off the roads for the first month or so.
No diggity. And every winter they combine with the slow as molasses rolling uphill old drivers who can only see about two feet in front of them and so drive by using their front bumper as a kind of Braille system. I was driving behind one fossil this morning who, I shit you not, came to a stop before making a right hand turn through a green light. (The way was completely clear and he had right of way)
The combination of Speedy McAssholes and Fraidy O’Slowfucks makes driving in Tucson a lot like playing Frogger. Zoom! Splat!
Everyone says Vegas drivers are insane. I live in Vegas, and don’t notice anything particularly crazy about them, except that they’ll try to sneak by freeway slowdowns in the emergency lane.
I normally piss and moan about Jersey drivers just as much as the next guy – and there are quite a few total jackasses out there, but…
I just spent the better part of a month with my family in Rio de Janeiro. No one had the courage to drive (and they all blamed it on “I can’t drive a stick shift” – an untrue and lame excuse), so I had the privilege and honor of driving the entire time.
There’s nothing like a month in a foreign land to make your own commute more palatable.
Let’s see…[ul][li]During the day, most folks stop at most lights.[/li][li]At night, most folks blow through most lights.[/li][li]Apparently the way you determine if a light is significant enough to respect it depends on understanding the bus routes.[/li][li]At any time, expect to have dozens of motorcycles weaving through traffic and zipping past you. Just ignore them.[/li][li]On their interstate system, you will spend much of your time passing trucks that are driving 25mph, speeding up to 80mph, and then getting stuck behind the next truck.[/li][li]It is perfectly normal for someone on a two-lane highway to pass a truck wherever they please, even if it’s on a curve and you are coming straight at them. You should simply drive on the shoulder and let them pass. Actually, if you are passing a truck and don’t have enough time, the oncoming traffic will kindly move off the road for you. No hard feelings.[/li][li]Headlights are optional at night.[/li][li]The best of all: you can perform the most buttheaded brazen maneuver in Brazilian traffic, and all you need to do is give the “thumbs up” sign and a broad grin and all is forgiven![/ul][/li]
Don’t get me wrong; my blissful enjoyment of smooth orderly Jersey traffic lasted a week. I’m back to shouting blue language at everybody now.
I was going to come in to mention Brazilian drivers in general. You didn’t mention the make your own lane factor. I’ve seen a road marked for three lanes of traffic have four lanes.
The reason that people blow through red lights at night is that it is legal. They started allowing it a few years ago because of the carjacking situation.
I don’t think I ever saw one of my cousins there signal when he was switching lanes. I don’t know if it was just my family or if no one there does.
Perhaps, but of the 6 or 7 major cities (including London) I’ve driven in, NYC (Manhattan) drivers are better than the others. Have no idea why, though.
AFAIK that’s only in the cities of São Paulo and Rio proper, and they allow you to treat a signal like a stop sign after 10pm.
I noticed that when I was in Niterói (the city across the bay from Rio), folks diligently obeyed the signals after dark, but as soon as I reached the more suburban areas, signal observance became fairly erratic after dark, as did other behaviors.
I got my license Tuesday. I only needed to take a vision test. First without my glasses. “Why bother?” I asked, “Just mark corrective lenses needed.” I was surprised about not having to take a knowledge test. Even more surprised to get a temporary license. More lack of instant gratification. 
Eh, I’m not so surprised. You’re coming from the US, where the rules of the road are pretty much the same, the road signs are pretty much the same, the layout of lanes on the road are pretty much the same. Not really any difference, road-knowledge-wise, between Colorado (or any other state) and Ontario (or any other province). Now, if you came from any place other than the US or Canada, it might be a different story, but not being intimately familiar with Ontario’s licensing and testing/retesting rules for such folks, I can’t say for sure.
But you’re getting an Ontario license. Now you can go back to Colorado for a visit, stop into a bar that has a “card everybody” policy, show them your Ontario license, and have them ask, “I don’t know if I can accept this as proper ID…where and what is ‘Ontario’?”
Don’t laugh–this actually happpened to me when I tried to get a beer at (the old) Mile High stadium during a Broncos game some years back.
A few months ago I had my vision tested to renew my driver’s licence. The clerk administering the test kept saying “No, Dear, try again.” Eventually, I passed with flying colours.
When I moved from Ontario to California I had to take a written and driving test all over again. I said to the examiner that I have spent my entire life driving in snow, blizzards, slush, sleet, rain and it was absurd to retake a driving test he agreed. But those were the rules. My husband couldn’t get car insurance unless I got a California drivers license. :dubious: Southern California has the worst drivers. I have to dodge old people in their Bentleys making right turns across three lanes.
I liked the AJC Vent blurb that said, “Turn signals are to show intention, not to ask for permission.” The trouble with Atlanta is that there are no decent secondary roads. Ponce de Leon is a perfect example of a major road that needs extensive use of eminent domain widening and new overpasses 'cause trucks have to switch to the left lane to get under the overpasses. Funeral processions use the interstate system 'cause it’s the only way to get from A to B.
If I was in Tucker and had a service call to Marietta at rush hour I’d just take a nap first 'cause I’d get there at the same time.
In Virgina a yellow light means stop. They give thousands of tickets a year to people who think it means proceed with caution. Dang fewer red light runners there.
But just so you know I have seen the single most stupid driver on the face of the earth. Found him on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel when it was still a two lane job. Passing was permitted on the 20+ mile bridge. Traffic was going 45 so I decided to pass. I floor it; Mr Army Butthole with his wife and kid on board decided to speed up and not let me back into the right lane. I should have, with the full truck load I had at the time, just pushed him off the bridge. But with a tractor-trailer headed my way I just slammed the brakes and pulled back behind him. Next attempt I passed him and car in from of him.
What, no Boston bitches? Haven’t been there in 10 years since living or commututg there for 15. I suspect it hasn’t improved even with the Big Pig.