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Thoughts on Driving

Category: Life

Published on Sunday, 16 May 2010 05:00

Written by Paul Roy

When I am driving around in my tow truck, I am often asked various questions. The most asked question I receive is “Which state has the worst drivers?” Wait, I take that back, that is the second most asked question, the first is usually “Where did you learn how to drive?”

Unfortunately there really isn’t a good answer to the question of who has the worst drivers. Each state has its own distinct style. Since I spend most of my time in the northeast, I will list each state and let you know exactly what you are likely to come across on the interstates of the region and how to identify where a vehicle might be from.

Connecticut – CT drivers all seem to have gone to the same driving school, the school of unpredictable, and I believe they have been taught two things. First, they have been taught to never use their directional signals, whether it is to change lanes or make a turn. In fact I think they were probably reprimanded on this when they took their driving test. The second thing I believe they were taught is when driving in good weather always go at least 10 miles per hour over the speed limit and in inclement weather go at least 10 miles per hour under the speed limit. The interesting thing is their definition of adverse conditions is much different than yours or mine, it is the exact opposite. For example if there are blizzard conditions, then they go the 10 MPH slower than the posted limit. If there is light rain, they will go 30 MPH slower.

Rhode Island – Rhode Islanders are an interesting lot. Their main driving fault is they love to play what I call “beat the truck.” This is when they see a truck in front of them; they have to get ahead of it at all costs. If they are merging onto an interstate highway, they will speed up so they will get in front of the truck, no matter how close the truck is to them on the ramp. And since trucks cannot always move over to the left this can have disastrous consequences. They will also do the opposite, if a truck is trying to get onto an interstate, they will not move into the left lane if it is clear but they will speed up to make certain the truck is not in front of them. They will also never let a truck pass them, If they are going 55 MPH in a 65 MPH zone and the truck tries to pass them, they will speed up so as to stay in front of the truck. As soon as the truck pulls behind them, they will again slow down to 55.

Maine – Ah, Mainers. There are two ways to know when there is a Mainer in front of you. they will always be in the left lane going at least 10 MPH slower than the speed limit although it can be as much as 20. And when you see a vehicle in front of you, either a pick-​up truck, or an old rusty American-​made car pulling a homemade trailer, both of which (trailer or pick-​up) are loaded with assorted furniture, tractor parts, tires, boat pieces, rusted metal, you can be pretty certain that vehicle will have Maine plates on it. (An interesting side note here: occasionally you can be fooled and it will be someone from Texas, if that is the case they are probably moving to Maine.)

Vermont – Vermonters can usually be determined by a hazy cloud of smoke in the inside of the car and various bumper stickers proclaiming their political leanings and environmental beliefs attached to their bumpers.

New Hampshire – I have to say people from New Hampshire don’t seem to have a distinct style of driving. That detail may or may not have to do with the fact that the rest areas on the interstates in New Hampshire all have State Liquor stores in them. Not making any accusations here, just stating what I see.

New Jersey – Speed, speed, speed.

Massachusetts – Historically Massachusetts has the reputation as having the worst drivers anywhere, but as one who spends most of my time driving in the Bay State, I don’t agree. Yes, they are bad, but they are predictably bad, unlike say, Connecticut where you never know what they will do. At least in MA you can pretty much predict who will cut you off, who will stop short in front of you and who won’t be paying attention to you. You also know how people will drive in certain areas of the state or in certain types of weather. This will be the subject for a later blog entry.

New York – Now some of you may find this hard to believe but I love to drive in New York. Yes, they drive fast, and they love to tailgate but they are extremely predictable and believe it or not, safe drivers. If you don’t believe me take a ride on the Long Island Expressway at rush hour (rush two and half hours is more like it). I still recall the first time I had the pleasure of doing this and I was amazed that people could drive 75 MPH literally six inches from the car in front of them, four lanes wide and there are very rarely any accidents. Why aren’t there? Because everyone knows what the other person is going to do, unlike the drivers in CT.

So in conclusion, I really don’t think that you can classify any one state of having worse drivers than another, basically they all s***, well except for those tow truck drivers that is.

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