Texas drivers.. (Dallas specifically)

[mobilezen]

hogging the passing lanes as driving lanes.

not signalling when changing lanes....more like cutting you off without checking blind spots.

suv driving soccer moms who have no regard for other people on the road.

Maybe its just me but that's how Dallas drivers are to me and it doesn't even phase me when I cut people off now since they do it too. On top of that, I tap my breaks during rush hour cause I'm scared the person behind me that is about to rear end me doesn't have insurance..

[Torrey]

One of my biggest peeves is when somebody (typically SUV) pulls into the turn lane and either:

a) doesn't get all the way in the turn lane, thereby stopping traffic in the lane next to them, or

b) think they have to swing way back into your lane just to make a normal turn - this one irritates me the most because you end up having to swerve at the last moment to avoid being hit by somebody who for some reason thinks they need more room than an entire intersection can provide.

[kenw]

Dallas has no claim on the worse...when they really get bad here in Houston, we ship 'em off to Dallas.... ;)

seriously, all big cities and a lot of smaller ones have the same problems. Personally I have about a million miles under my belt all over the US (and some foreign countries), I find Texas drivers are generally some of the best. We may be aggressive, we may drive fast, but for the most part, we are pretty good.

More likely, the really bad ones aren't natives anyway....;)

My rule: My turn signal (yes I use them) isn't asking for your permission. My turn signal says I'm moving over and I don't really want you opinion on whether or not you think I have room to do so.

The left lane is for passing only. It really doesn't mean you have to be going any particular speed, just faster than those in the next (right) lane. As long as they are passing someone, they're just fine. Likewise, if you are doing 110 in the left lane and NOT passing someone, you are in the wrong.

[Hogleg 44]

Originally Posted by mobilezen

hogging the passing lanes as driving lanes.

not signalling when changing lanes....more like cutting you off without checking blind spots.

suv driving soccer moms who have no regard for other people on the road.

Maybe its just me but that's how Dallas drivers are to me and it doesn't even phase me when I cut people off now since they do it too. On top of that, I tap my breaks during rush hour cause I'm scared the person behind me that is about to rear end me doesn't have insurance..

So what else in new! I've been driving there since 1960, and that's just Dallas!
However...It's about the same story in any other city I visit!

[srwatters]

Try Boston.

Since they have junk for cars, they could care less. They make NASCAR look like its for old ladies.

What chaps my hide is that no matter where I park, or how far away from every other vehicle in the lot, some jacka$$ has to put a door ding in my car. I drove nice cars in California all my life and had a grand total of one or two dings from inconsiderate bastards. I moved here to Dallas and every vehicle I own has dings and scratches. I swear if I catch one, I'm getting the needle for killing them. Harumphf!

[jeffkohn]

I visit Dallas several times a year and it really does seem to me like there are more oblivious drivers there than in Houston, although we do have some here as well. There don't seem to be as many idiots on the tollways here though, I guess maybe the stupid drivers are also cheap-skates.

What chaps my hide is that no matter where I park, or how far away from every other vehicle in the lot, some jacka$$ has to put a door ding in my car.

Tell me about it. I don't understand why someone will choose the spot next to mine when there are dozens of empty spots nearby that they could have all to themselves.

[venchka]

Turn your cotton picking lights on!

I can't count the number if invisible cars I see early, late, rain, fog, you know the conditions I'm talking about. And NO lights on!

Turn them on. Leave them on. I've been driving with my lights on ALL THE TIME! for a couple decades. Folks can actually SEE you better.

[pippin]

Originally Posted by venchka

Turn your cotton picking lights on!

I can't count the number if invisible cars I see early, late, rain, fog, you know the conditions I'm talking about. And NO lights on!

Turn them on. Leave them on. I've been driving with my lights on ALL THE TIME! for a couple decades. Folks can actually SEE you better.

mine turn on automatically

[Toad]

People driving with their brights on, and people that park diagonally in a parking lot taking up 3 to 6 spots. I'd love to shoot out all the brights, and use a bulldozer to straighten all the crooked parkers.
Toad

[Cope]

I am 59 years old, a Houston native, and I can remember when we actually had courteous drivers.

[metagore]

What bugs me?..... Two semi's on a two lane interstate, one passing the other and only moving .0000001 mph faster than the truck he's passing. Of course they usually loose ground going up hill and have to start all over again once they get to the top. Meanwhile, there's about 100 other cars that have piled up behind them waiting to pass both of them.

City driving is always an experience... people are just too damn busy fixing their makeup, talking on their phones, and stuffing their face with fast food to be concerned with the actual 'driving' part of it.

[mobilezen]

I wonder what has gotten into people lately that they are so rushed to get from place to place and not even realize that there are people around. *sigh*

[Breezy]

well I must say that the people who live here in corpus must not be natives then cause they can't drive for crap!!
We have been stationed all over the US and have never seen people this bad lol. Our trip to Dallas was way smoother than the everyday drives here.

Oh and not every state has the "left lane is only for passing" law ;)
Where we came from it was just the fast lane :P
So when dh got pulled in AZ for it (driving cross country for a duty transfer) we had NO CLUE, we hadn't even seen a sign for lol

[pippin]

I just drive like everyone's out to get me...

course, I DID get a speeding ticket on I20 a month ago.....

[Stephen H]

Using the left lane only for passing is great...until you realize that the freeways have left-hand onramps, left-hand exits, left-hand Y's. There are times you can be tooling along in the middle lane, pass a Y, and now you're in the left lane. And two miles up, you need to exit left.

One of my pet peeves, which seems to be getting worse, is that no one wants to merge from an on-ramp. They want to pass everyone, then merge in front of them.

Every once in a while, I'll get someone behind me (while driving in a middle lane) that doesn't realize there are multiple lanes in the freeway, thus enabling one to pass. They'll get right behind you for 10 minutes, then finally roar around 30 MPH faster than you were going like it just didn't dawn on them earlier that they could do that.

There are some poorly designed roads and markings in the area. For example- you have both left and right exits. The signs will warn you of an upcoming junction, but won't tell you which lane you need to be in- why not just say, "I-30- Left Lane"?

Hwy 360 and I-30 are two of the major freeways in the area. They cross each other. How do you get from one ot the other? Exit one freeway, wait at a couple of traffic lights, and get on the other (after making a cloverleaf or two). And there are some real sucker-lanes in there, too- you have to psychically know what lane to be in, the signs don't tell you that.

To go from Loop 12 to 183, trucks have to make a sharp cloverleaf coming uphill, then the lane they find themselves in immediately re-exits onto the other cloverleaf, so they have to merge left. Result: Loaded trucks going 10 MPH trying to merge into freeway traffic. Not a traffic engineer's brighter moment.

We still have some kamikaze onramps in the area- and I saw one in Houston this evening, so we don't have a monopoly.

One of my pet peeves in Houston has been sort of fixed. It used to be that when you came north on I-45, new lanes kept merging in from the left, while the right lanes kept turning into must-exit lanes. So just to stay on the same freeway, you had to keep changing lanes.