Obviously ether, you've never driven in Seattle. Jacka**es with NPR stickers all over their Subaru Outbacks going 45 in the left lane, while text messaging with their right hand/drinking a grande soy chai latte with their left...

ether, man, i've lived here all my life, and it still drives me crazy, and i-75 has got to be the worst. i take the approach of stay in the middle lane and get used to using all your mirrors cause you never know when someone is going to be passing on your right at 85 mph.

btw glad to hear you're still in michigan. have you made it to the gpcl yet?

Nah dude. Lubbock is where its at. I'd say 40% are old people coming to town from their farms to go to the doctor or the mall. 40% are students from Dallas or Houston who think they're still on the freeway in Dallas or Houston. And the Last 20% are Lubbock soccer moms with suburbans, big hair, and soccer stickers for all their children. The soccer moms are the worst because appearantly they haven't conquered the task of driving and talking on a cell phone. Personally I find driving and talking on a cell phone right up there with walking and breathing. It's almost as hard as reading and chewing gum.

I take it you have never been to Italy? Where you can easily do 120mph on the autostrada and find yourself being passed on the right side by a Fiat Uno (signaling left) with a trailer, with an unsecured boat on it, gesturing to you that you're an idiot for driving around with the headlights lit, hehe.

I confess to hanging out in the left lane a lot. It's the lane in which I'm most likely to be able to drive the speed I want without getting stuck behind a slow driver or having to constantly speed up/slow down to allow for merging traffic. I'm not an especially fast driver - I only go about 10 over the speed limit - but I like to pick one consistent speed and stick with it. I don't feel this is inconsiderate and generally don't feel any compunctions about doing it.

you're the kind of person i pass in the right lane.

i agree, michigan drivers are a bunch of arrogant fatasses who refuse to believe that anyone other than themselves matters when they're in their over-sized suv's (i.e., cars that are built for fat asses). i find it amazing the fatalities aren't a daily ocurrance on the michigan freeways. that's probably the biggest reason that i've renounced cars (at least when i'm in michigan)

apparently turn signals are illegal in ky.

or maybe it's just that people are afraid that if they let you know what they're doing, you'll squeeze them out.

This is the home of the American automobile. I would shoot from the hip and guess the highway infrastructure has on average 8-10 lanes; I’m talking huge expansive concrete and asphalt freeways that litter the landscape! You might think these people would know something about flow and traffic patterns.

IMO most Italians drive equally like bats out of hell – and that's not always a bad thing. I've driven all over Texas. Believe me; they don't even come close to touching the ineptitude of Detroit Suburbanites. J- I know you're from the area so I don't truly mean to slam your brethren. It's just drives me bonkers (pun intended); especially now that I have to fight with the other suburbanites for road space during commutes. lars and puddles, I hear ya.

Two words: New Jersey.

Thank you.

In Michigan people drive 90 mph and pass on the right shoulder. In Ohio, they drive 40 in the far left lane. I prefer Michigan.

indianapolis has a shortfall of caish. all the city would have to do to make it up is to set some of their cops at intersections and ticket every person who runs the light. revenues would soar...

ether...didn't you post a few years ago re. moving to the detroit area to go to cranbrook, and then that you found a place just north of downtwon royal oak...i live on catalpa dr nearby...

the problem in michigan is that you either have people who believe in driving very agressively or people who believe driving way below the speed limit is always safe...

on a side note, the usa is the only country i've ever been to where people will drive below the speed limit when the road is clear...it drives me insane...

what's your hurry, man?

the real problem is everyone thinks their driving style is right.

Some of my biggest pet peeves are selfish drivers.

What about those left lane drivers who "pass" while going .3 mph faster than the car they are passing and take 3 minutes to do it? It's a system people, you can break your cruise.

Or the dipshits who ride their brakes all the way down the steep curvy grades. Downshift and you could just cruise, but no, Hummer from Arizona, you made ME ride my brakes all 3 miles downhill because you don't know how to drive on a grade.

I was visiting friends near Detriot and I did notice that they were all over the place. They were going too slow on (what I thought was) the fast lane and they would change lanes for no reason.
And the other thing was turning on a red light! What is that about?!?! It was OK for a car to turn, say, left even if the light was red as long as there were no cars coming. Now that is crazy!

uh, in New Jersey we know how to drive. try Pennsyltuckey, those wing-nuts never, ever, NEVER move out of the left hand lane - and will drive 20 mph under the speed limit. in Iowa, they are crazy because a blizzard can blow across interstate 35 and they'll still drive 55-60 mph.

jafidler, your wisdom knows no bounds. i'm almost always in a hurry (but i'm not always sure why). maybe something having to do with being a nascar (ala Cale Yarborough) fan as a kid.

simples, i'm on hawthorn east of of main! gimme a shout sometime. we can grab a beer.

there is no need to be in the fast lane if you are going only 10mph over the limit. get over and stay over. 10mph over is not "fast"!

One day I want to write "Drivers Etiquitte: A Guide to Driving America's Highways". I'll have it published and make a million dollars.

it's not really about fast or slow. it's drive right pass left. so long as there is room in the right lanes, you really shouldn't be in the far left for anything other than passing... that way regardless of speed, everyone can benifit from the far left.

Seattle drivers are pretty damn bad. They drive below the speed limit, afraid to use a horn, and the best is when they slow down, stop, and give another car the right away when they already have it.

u-turns are illegal in ohio as well

dml is right.

i thought florida was bad until i came to seattle.
seriously, i think drivers here are the most self absorbed idiots ever.
i want a ramming bar on my car to nudge the idiots off the road who can't get a clue. clowns and space cadets, that seems to be seattle.

it's even better once it starts to rain - wtf? it rains 1/2 the year. why the f*ck can't you go faster than 35 mph in the rain?

i saw this bumper sticker that said "i drive as bad as you do"

I lived in Michigan for most of my life, drivers in Las Vegas are much worse in my opinion.

I'm convinced Boston drivers are insane. There's a reason they are called "Massholes". I saw a guy honking at the car in front of him because the light was green. Too bad the first guy's car had serious black smoke coming from under the hood. Also the people who block the intersection really piss me off. They make it worse by looking at you with the "What? It's your problem" look.

On a side note. I think the drive right, pass left rule needs to be recognized and enforced while walking and on escalators. I HATE people who stand on the left so you can't pass.

i am a reformed speeder, one too many speeding tickets, but i tend to still drive in the middle lane rather than the slow lane. the problem with the slow lane is that you have merging traffic coming in from the on-ramps. it's unsafe to be changing lanes all the time to let these cars merge on to the highway. city highway driving - the right lane for merging traffic, middle lane for average speed traffic, left lane to pass - simple formula, learn it well.

"drive right pass left"...i heard that there is a law in michigan which states that technically, you can not drive in the left lane for more than 2 miles, as it's a passing lane, and you should complete your passing in less than 2 miles...don't know if it's true, but i know it's not enforced...

I would probably have more speeding tickets if these people did let me have free reign of the far left lane. So possibly I should be thankful for their ineptitude?

It's also obvious when the traffic is bumper to bumper, the left lane must be used... but IMO it's reserved for the "faster" traffic. not some yahoo doing 40 when the speed limit is 65. And usually at the beginning of every backed up lane of traffic there's someone driving where they shouldn't be.

slow drivers in the left lane cause congestion that causes traffic jams.

I'll second THEaquino's claim about boston. Growing up around there I always did everything I could to avoid driving through it because it was terrifying. A lot of it was the Big Dig, so every time I went through the city, the route was different, poorly marked, and ridiculously confusing. Boston drivers have to be some of the most impatient and aggressive ones out there, so god forbid you make a wrong turn, need to switch lanes at the last minute, or slow down to see the name of the street your approaching. The person behind you, likely fired up from what ever sports game is on WEEI, will get a heavy hand on the horn and have some nice words on you.
Storrow Drive was also one of the worst, people going 80 through hairpin turns under bridges laying on their horns.

so this dude on the indiana pacers gets pulled over for changing lanes without signalling(wtf? is up with that one) in his escalade and gets arrested because a. he had no drivers license b. he had an expired plate c. there was a blunt in his ashtray and d. one of his passengers had an unlicensed handgun that was reported stolen. brilliant.

I love the signs in Michigan which adivise not to pass when oncomming traffic is present

gotta watch out for the potholes in michigan..... cant fuk up the 20's on the vette.......

b

when i was 18 my buddy and i were out on a double date with a pair of 15 year old girlies. we had a bunch of beer in the car and got pulled over in michiganistan. we were just driving down a country road and this cop was comin the other way with his radar on. well he pulled us over and i got out of the car and walked toward his. this of course is not done in this day and age but i told him we were lost and blahblah blah and he didnt even look in the car. and didnt give me a ticket either. plus later that night after droppin off the chickies in michigan city indianastan, i got pulled over again for speeding cuz my friend worked the graveyard shift at boise cascade. well, i didnt get a ticket then either. good times.

It's not how fast you're going; speed has nothing to do with it. The important thing is to be in front.

Here, sometimes you can turn left as soon as the light goes green. Works best in large intersections where the oncoming traffic takes a second to get up there. I have taken this liberty just a few times, but have actually been GIVEN it more often.

vado

you still date 15 yr olds?

i was just up in detroit and i have to say, there are some crazy drivers. but i still think it's better than down here in fla. where old people like to sit in the left lane and they don't believe in highways without tolls.

j, I was going to try and avoid the whole ass-backwards Michigan Left discussion, but since you brought it up... It's the most ass-backwards traffic maneuver I've ever had the opportunity to participate in. That sign (image) actually makes it look like there is some logic behind the madness.

i really, really hated driving in michigan. i lived in boston for nearly three years and found the drivers there to be much more polite and conscientious of others on the road. in michigan (probably because there are fucking freeways all over the damn place) everybody drives with an attitude like it's their own personal road and it's your fault for being there too. absolutely zero sense of shared public space

when i returned to michigan after leaving boston i happily renounced my car and made due with the wolverine state's pathetic public transit options...but i felt that was simply better choice my own well-being.

of course, now that i live in the caribbean, i drive on the left side of the road and usually have a beer in hand.

so i grew up in boston and lived there for seven years after school..
i think what's been said is partially true..but i don't really know
about all the horn honking...it's not something i remember as
being all that prevelant.

i do love driving there though...i thihnk it teaches some of the
best driving tendencies because if you're semi intelligent you learn
to drive offensively and defensively so that you can drive anywhere.

what was said about storrow drive is also true...although it's not
really possible to drive 80 i don't think...there's just no place for
cops to hide...really only two places heading into the city...one
or so going out..so once you're past those places you're fine.

damn i miss driving.

i also learned to drive on 95 in rush hour...now that was
terrifying.

yea lars I was definitely adding some exaggeration there for dramatic effect, but the no breakdown lane and no patrolling definitely encourage fast driving on sturrow, even when keeping with the majority of traffic i remember times when i didn't think my car was going to make it through some of those turns at those speeds in one piece. I grew up in gloucester, where the worst thing I had to deal with was the rotaries at the end of 128, so going into boston was always overwhelming.

i agree about the offensive/defensive, it was probably less horn honking and more of an aggressive attitude that all drivers seemed to posses, there was no mercy for mistakes.

i like the way people drive in detroilet. i never had any problems, and hey, those drivers get things done. i realized the purpose of my grand am when driving in detroit; it is made for that environment.

flat, wide roads = driving fast

whats the freeway north of town with all the tunnels and curves on it? that's my fave.

375 and the lodge.... if you are downtown

b