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Bay Area drivers...
.... are the worst I've ever encountered. I have been told that India and Israel are far worse, but I've not been to either place.
Adam and I routinely lament the selfish, aggressive driving here. Defensive driving is one thing, being unsafe is entirely another. There seems to be a mentality of scarcity surrounding driving here. Like, if they don't GO RIGHT NOW they'll never go. Ever. Which is impatient and incorrect.
Examples: people routinely turn left in intersections after the light has turned red, thereby preventing others from effectively getting through their lights. This is frustrating, but not as unsafe as many other manoevers. In the last two days, Adam and I have had daily reminders of such problems. I shall detail them, in my frustration, from least unsafe to most unsafe:
*Coming home from work today, at the Claremont/Telegraph intersection, an SUV decided that it MUST get through the intersection to the other side, even though the lane ahead was full and he was now blocking half the intersection. Cars had to go around him and we could not turn left. This happens a lot, as people will not wait for the lanes ahead to clear out. It's frustrating, but not the most unsafe.
*Going to work this morning, 42nd and Telegraph, a lighted intersection with almost no traffic heading along 42nd. However, a car going that way decided not bother with the red light and literally just ran right through.... this was not a stale red. It just ran straight through as we were headed along Telegraph on green. The police car on the street decided to ignore it.
*Going to work, yesterday. We navigate a slow series of 3 and 4 way stop signs to get to our little nonprofit. It's tedious, filled with loads of pedestrians and cars on a small two lane road. Many people routinely pull into intersections in an effort to "get through them" only to block traffic in the opposite direction. Annoying but not ultimately unsafe. However, at the last intersection, a 3 way stop (Piedmont and Bancroft), Adam and I (in the passenger seat) were set to turn left. Every car takes its turn, right? The car opposite us takes its turn, we start turning left and the next car opposite us decides it doesn't need to wait its turn but can follow the first car through. Except we're in the way. I was 20 ft from being t-boned. By Robert fucking Alter. Adam recognized him - he's a world renowned Biblical translator and literary criticism guy who teaches at UCBerkeley (and does some work for our nonprofit too). And he drives a little red Miata, just so you can watch out for him. I am so glad he hit the brakes, but it shook me up.
I am just amazed at people's self-importance and carelessness. As if our appointments are REALLY so important that other people's safety is inconsequential. At some point I am going to have to just accept that people around here SUCK at driving, so as to save myself the daily frustration and "oh my god, did you SEE that?!"
Ai yi yi.
Adam and I routinely lament the selfish, aggressive driving here. Defensive driving is one thing, being unsafe is entirely another. There seems to be a mentality of scarcity surrounding driving here. Like, if they don't GO RIGHT NOW they'll never go. Ever. Which is impatient and incorrect.
Examples: people routinely turn left in intersections after the light has turned red, thereby preventing others from effectively getting through their lights. This is frustrating, but not as unsafe as many other manoevers. In the last two days, Adam and I have had daily reminders of such problems. I shall detail them, in my frustration, from least unsafe to most unsafe:
*Coming home from work today, at the Claremont/Telegraph intersection, an SUV decided that it MUST get through the intersection to the other side, even though the lane ahead was full and he was now blocking half the intersection. Cars had to go around him and we could not turn left. This happens a lot, as people will not wait for the lanes ahead to clear out. It's frustrating, but not the most unsafe.
*Going to work this morning, 42nd and Telegraph, a lighted intersection with almost no traffic heading along 42nd. However, a car going that way decided not bother with the red light and literally just ran right through.... this was not a stale red. It just ran straight through as we were headed along Telegraph on green. The police car on the street decided to ignore it.
*Going to work, yesterday. We navigate a slow series of 3 and 4 way stop signs to get to our little nonprofit. It's tedious, filled with loads of pedestrians and cars on a small two lane road. Many people routinely pull into intersections in an effort to "get through them" only to block traffic in the opposite direction. Annoying but not ultimately unsafe. However, at the last intersection, a 3 way stop (Piedmont and Bancroft), Adam and I (in the passenger seat) were set to turn left. Every car takes its turn, right? The car opposite us takes its turn, we start turning left and the next car opposite us decides it doesn't need to wait its turn but can follow the first car through. Except we're in the way. I was 20 ft from being t-boned. By Robert fucking Alter. Adam recognized him - he's a world renowned Biblical translator and literary criticism guy who teaches at UCBerkeley (and does some work for our nonprofit too). And he drives a little red Miata, just so you can watch out for him. I am so glad he hit the brakes, but it shook me up.
I am just amazed at people's self-importance and carelessness. As if our appointments are REALLY so important that other people's safety is inconsequential. At some point I am going to have to just accept that people around here SUCK at driving, so as to save myself the daily frustration and "oh my god, did you SEE that?!"
Ai yi yi.
You've never been to Boston.
Re: You've never been to Boston.
Also seemed like the lines in middle of road were something used to line up with your hood ornament or something.
That being said - yea, Bay Area drivers can be rough to deal with, too. They do rush around a lot, and get very centered on themselves. Ever seen the people driving up 280 putting on make up, or with newspapers spread out over the steering wheel?
I hate driving in San Francisco. But what I also hate is that it seemed a lot easier if I let myself fall into aggressive driving mode myself...
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