Standards of driving in USA
Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2015 2:34 pm
Having been here for a few weeks now I have to say the driving in general is atrocious.
The reactions to everything is so late, with drivers causing stationary queues in relatively light traffic through not reacting to a situation and braking late. You can get sea sick from all the stop starts. The roads I've driven are all good out in Florida but now I'm in New York it's a different matter!
Drivers seem to use their phones all the time, even in new cars which must have Bluetooth, I'm seeing driver after driver with a phone held up to their faces on speaker phone or just texting. Everyone appears to be doing it! The road conditions are terrible with pot holes that make the UKs roads look fantastic. I can't figure out why they have no lane discipline as it just slows everyone down when you have 4 or 5 cars abreast traveling at the same speed for mile after mile! Then when gaps appear, it's like a race track with everyone heading for the gaps with no one letting you out. If you stuck your indicator on and waited, you'd be waiting for ever. You just go for it, foot to the floor and get the gap before the next person.
When I picked up the hire car and put my foot down it was quite a shock, but it turns out it's an 8 seat SUV with a 6.2l V8 and 420hp! I didn't work out why you need that much power in a people mover until I got out on the roads and headed for the gaps in the traffic. Much less power and you might as well walk as you'd be stuck all day in the same lane.
At least I haven't had a crash yet!
The reactions to everything is so late, with drivers causing stationary queues in relatively light traffic through not reacting to a situation and braking late. You can get sea sick from all the stop starts. The roads I've driven are all good out in Florida but now I'm in New York it's a different matter!
Drivers seem to use their phones all the time, even in new cars which must have Bluetooth, I'm seeing driver after driver with a phone held up to their faces on speaker phone or just texting. Everyone appears to be doing it! The road conditions are terrible with pot holes that make the UKs roads look fantastic. I can't figure out why they have no lane discipline as it just slows everyone down when you have 4 or 5 cars abreast traveling at the same speed for mile after mile! Then when gaps appear, it's like a race track with everyone heading for the gaps with no one letting you out. If you stuck your indicator on and waited, you'd be waiting for ever. You just go for it, foot to the floor and get the gap before the next person.
When I picked up the hire car and put my foot down it was quite a shock, but it turns out it's an 8 seat SUV with a 6.2l V8 and 420hp! I didn't work out why you need that much power in a people mover until I got out on the roads and headed for the gaps in the traffic. Much less power and you might as well walk as you'd be stuck all day in the same lane.
At least I haven't had a crash yet!