I would have to disagree with that - the average human only has so much concentration, and splitting it between two tasks is invariably going to reduce the attention given to both. And for the record, there is no difference between the level of distraction for drivers driving when talking on hand-held cellphones or hands-free models.
Here in Calgary, our drivers are aggressive and incompetent. Everybody wants to get everywhere fast and everyone else should get out of their way, but they also don’t know the rules of the road or simply how to drive very well. As you can imagine, this is not a good combination.
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### Author:  [@Syntropy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Syntropy)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/10 "2006-06-10T18:36:34Z")
The San Francisco Bay Area. The only place in the US where people _forget how to drive in the rain_. And I’m not talking, it’s been a good six months since it’s rained, they forgot how. I mean, it rained 42 out of 44 days this spring. It cleared up for a week and a half. In that time, people forgot how to freakin drive in the rain. Again.
Road rage, no turn signals, trying to bypass a quarter mile back up then not understanding why no one will let you in, weaving in and out of lanes, going 2 miles an hour over th speed limit in the fast lane, exiting across four lanes of traffic in the space of about 50 yards…you know. Same’s in New Jersey.
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### Author:  [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/11 "2006-06-10T19:21:15Z")
Boise, Idaho should be dubbed the red-light runner capital of the world, at least if my recent observations are any indication. I’ll admit to pushing my luck on some yellow lights that are red before I’ve cleared the intersection, but what I see are drivers who haven’t even entered the intersection yet and the light has already turned red. Green means go, but only after you look both ways and then look again, just to be sure.
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### Author:  [@Bobotheoptimist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bobotheoptimist)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/12 "2006-06-10T19:41:43Z")
Denver drivers are… angry. I blame it mostly on the number of out-of-staters, you mix some New York drivers with some LA drivers and throw in a bunch of Texans, some Bostonians, Chicagoanite and a weirdly high number of Minnesotans with us 10 remaining natives, and you’re going to have some troubles.
Angry sums it up.
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### Author:  [@Nightsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightsong)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2006, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/13 "2006-06-10T23:00:56Z")
Memphis…
Let me put it this way. Two out of the three driver’s testing stations (dunno about the one near the airport) basically test you on your ability to make right hand turns, stay in your own lane, come to a stop, and go again.
That’s it. :eek:
This, of course, assumes that my fellow drivers on the road ever bothered to get a legal license to begin with. :dubious:
Plus, there seems to be the prevailing attitude that traffic laws are merely suggestions. It didn’t suprise me to see [this](http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2001-17.html) on the Darwin Awards website.
* * *
\<\< The journey of a thousand miles begins with a broken fan belt and a leaky tire. \>\>
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### Author:  [@pullin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pullin)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2006, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/14 "2006-06-11T01:18:42Z")
> [@featherlou](#):
>
> I would have to disagree with that - the average human only has so much concentration, and splitting it between two tasks is invariably going to reduce the attention given to both. And for the record, there is no difference between the level of distraction for drivers driving when talking on hand-held cellphones or hands-free models.
Then why have death rates in automobiles continued to [fall](http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2004.pdf) [[nhtsa.gov](http://nhtsa.gov)], even after the introduction of the cell phone?
From the NHTSA article [emphasis mine]…
Fatal crashes decreased slightly (0.6 percent) from 2003 to 2004, and the fatality rate dropped to a **new historic low of 1.44 fatalities per 100 million** vehicle miles of travel in 2004.
The injury rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel decreased by 6.0 percent from 2003 to 2004.
The occupant fatality rate (including motorcycle riders) per 100,000 population, which declined by 22.7 percent from 1975 to 1992, decreased by 1.9 percent from 1992 to 2004.
The occupant injury rate (including motorcycle riders) per 100,000 population, which declined by 13.6 percent from 1988 to 1992, decreased by 20.3 percent from 1992 to 2004.
With all due respect featherlou, I don’t think cellphones are the dangerous bugaboo that everyone wants to believe.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2006, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/15 "2006-06-11T12:49:52Z")
The tourists, pretty bad. Lost, driving rental cars in snow. They are called gapers. Or tourons. The will stop in the middle of the road to take a picture of these unusuall landscape features we have around here called mountains.
The locals are pretty good but get impatiant with the tourists
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### Author:  [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2006, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/16 "2006-06-11T14:43:16Z")
On the whole, they’re pretty good around here, with two exceptions.
One – we have an ungodly amount of senior citizen developments in the area. You quickly learn to avoid the cars that seem to be driven by a floating hat.
Two is a summer problem – the New Yorkers spending the weekend down the shore. The problem isn’t so much their driving as their cars. I’ve long suspected that in order to pass inspection up there, your vehicle must have its blinkers removed.
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### Author:  [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2006, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/17 "2006-06-11T15:42:43Z")
> [@pullin](#):
>
> Then why have death rates in automobiles continued to [fall](http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-30/NCSA/TSFAnn/TSF2004.pdf) [[nhtsa.gov](http://nhtsa.gov)], even after the introduction of the cell phone?.
More safety features in cars? Or more people are wearing their seatbelts? I don’t know for sure but these are possible explanations for the decrease in fatalities in car crashes.
As for the questions, all drivers everywhere are terrible. 😉
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### Author:  [@Mayo\_Speaks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mayo_Speaks)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2006, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/18 "2006-06-11T23:32:20Z")
> [@Nightsong](#):
>
> It didn’t suprise me to see [this](http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2001-17.html) on the Darwin Awards website.
That’s the funniest thing I’ve read all month.
Here in **Louisville, Kentucky** , there are only about a dozen drivers who believe in tun signals or stopping for yellow lights. And when people switch lanes, they just sort of drift from lane to lane. It’s very graceful, but serves the purpose of having the driver taking up two lanes for far longer than is necessary.
But Louisville makes me appreciate my hometown: the turn signal capital of Kentucky. People signal in _parking lots_, for Pete’s sake. _sighs wistfully_
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### Author:  [@Landshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Landshark)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2006, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/19 "2006-06-12T00:43:57Z")
> [@Maureen](#):
>
> The San Francisco Bay Area. The only place in the US where people _forget how to drive in the rain_. And I’m not talking, it’s been a good six months since it’s rained, they forgot how. I mean, it rained 42 out of 44 days this spring. It cleared up for a week and a half. In that time, people forgot how to freakin drive in the rain. Again.
Trust me, the same is true in San Diego. I’ll never cease to be amazed by the sight of cars on a freeway blowing past me during a downpour at what must be at _least_ 70 MPH. And of course the rate at which accidents occur during any rain goes straight through the roof.
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### Author:  [@MizGrand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MizGrand)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2006, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-are-the-drivers-in-your-area/360178/20 "2006-06-12T11:50:31Z")
> [@Landshark](#):
>
> Trust me, the same is true in San Diego. **I’ll never cease to be amazed by the sight of cars on a freeway blowing past me during a downpour at what must be at _least_ 70 MPH**. And of course the rate at which accidents occur during any rain goes straight through the roof.
_emphasis mine_
No, no, I don’t think **that’s** what our problem is here. Here, the people slow down to 35 on the freeway. Complete opposite, IME. Dry weather finds people on E/W-580 going well over 80 mph. No problem, whoosh, they fly by. But once there’s a drizzle on the asphalt these same people seemingly can’t even see through their windshields. They “forget” how to signal while changing lanes and even when approaching a line of traffic 5 miles long can’t remember to use the indicator to let anyone know where they intend to merge. Oh, oh, yes, and people do hop the lines on the freeway to get in the onramp traffic to get ahead of maybe five cars. Thanks for _that_ asshat maneuver, driver. Yes, no wonder I don’t want to let you back into the lane since I saw you six cars ago. Jerk!
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