Interesting Study on Drivers....Good and Bad.

[BlueJazz]

This 3 year study was done by a western state and included 4 states.

Sorry I can't provide a link but it's a private Government site. (My Friend)

..And of course, these facts don't apply to everyone...nevertheless...

Fact One: 18% of drivers cause 87% of traffic problems and traffic slowdowns.
(You know the ones...they change lanes and don't "GO" ..They accelerate so slowly
that other vehicles, in the rear, catch red lights. They almost stop to turn..etc...

One rather "piss you off fact"...If these 18% did not drive, the average motorist
would save (at current fuel prices) $210.00 per year.

Other weird facts:

Worst drivers: Ones that drive "Box Vans" (like the Ford econoline van)
Best Drivers: Pick-up trucks

Married folks tend to drive safer then unmarried people BUT tend to "hold-up"
traffic more.

Young Women are catching up (Quickly!) with the most unsafe drivers...
You guessed it..Young Men.


I'm not very surprised at these facts although I underestimated the costs of
"Pokey drivers"

[LisaM]

1. Who funded this study? GMC?

Get a pickup truck and drive fast!!!!

[BlueJazz]

6. No...Not Faster but don't "Get in the Way" of other drivers.

[AndyA]

2. Best Drivers: Pick-up trucks. They need to come to Oklahoma!

Pick-up drivers are the absolute WORST!

After soccer Mom's in Hummers.

And people in Mini-Vans.

And punks in foreign cars with wild graphics, big loud mufflers, etc.

Oh, hell, EVERYONE in Oklahoma is a bad driver. Especially pick-ups.

[seriousstan]

15. Absolute WORST would indicate there are none worse.

They can therefore be "after" no other group.

[AndyA]

18. Lighten up, seriousstan. I was being sarcastic.

Pick-up drivers are the worst, bar none. I promise.

[Book Lover]

3. Who did this study?

What states were studied? I'm sorry, but I need more info to go on!

[BlueJazz]

7. California and Oregon, Washington, Nevada

[Book Lover]

9. Thank you

Being a California driver, I would agree with some of what your report, but now I am even more curious to read the whole thing! Thanks for posting.

[LisaM]

14. Washington? Ha ha ha ha ha.

Washington has the worst drivers I've ever seen and a lot of it has to do with the fact that they are all chronic lane changers. PICK A LANE AND STAY IN IT, for God's sake!!! I feel like we're going to a NASCAR rally in the morning. It has nothing to do with changing lanes and driving slowly. It has to do with changing lanes, changing lanes again, and changing lanes again.

I can't imagine that pickup drivers are the best - it's just got to be a relative thing, because the SUV drivers are so bad.

[BlueJazz]

20. You Know...What probably "Skewed" the results are the fact that..

...a LOT of businesses have pick-ups and put a lot of miles on them
and maybe with all the miles driven with X amount of accidents they are
the safest???


Just grabbing straws.. :)

[SeattleVet]

23. For some reason, Seattle area drivers have this 'left-lane' fetish.

They have to cross all the lanes of traffic as quickly as possible to get to the far left lane, so they can plug along slower than the traffic in the lanes they just cut across. I saw a guy a couple of weeks ago getting onto Aurora Avenue near the Battery Street tunnel, from one of the sidestreets. He made the right turn from the sidestreet (Thomas? Aloha?) into the left lane on Aurora. He pulled out so quickly, swung so wide, and turned into the lane so sharply that he damn near hit the Jersey barrier. Then he promptly hit his brakes because there is that slight curve at the tunnel entrance (and everyone here knows that you have to slow down all the way through every curve or ride the brakes down every hill).

[LisaM]

25. Well, to be fair, there are a lot of exits on the left

which may account for some of the left-lane driving. And you have no chance of getting over there is you don't get in the left lane way ahead of time, with everyone else criss-crossing all the time.

[SeattleVet]

32. Nah - a good portion of them slam all the way over to the left, only to

take the very next exit, on the right, after having to cut across all the lanes of traffic again.

I think I may have finally figured out the turn signal thing around here - if it's on, it's probably because the driver got their sleeve caught on it and turned it on while they were turning or changing lanes.

I love watching the car that was just in front of me when it winds all over the road, hitting every lane and trying to get past everyone, only to wind up either right in front of me again or losing ground and winding up behind me. If they had stayed in the original lane they would be exactly where they are now, without all of the dodging and weaving.

[LisaM]

33. I know it! Why don't they stay put?

We take the express lanes in in the morning, and one of the biggest bothers is the huge trucks from BC barrelling through with little regard for the commuting traffic. Thanks, NAFTA!

[emcguffie]

4. In New Jersey --

-- the worst drivers do something I never saw in the south. They swing way out to the left to make a right turn. Cross right over to the middle of the road, to turn right. As if they're driving a huge rig. And of course some of them swing over to the right side of the road to turn left. What are they thinking? "Can I cause an accident like this?"

And a lot of drivers don't know what to do at 4-way stop signs, either.

[tech3149]

16. I had more of a problem with some motorcycles on the GSP

Not many people are sharp enough to catch a motorcycle closing at 80mph weaving in and out of traffic.

[Initech]

5. "Best Drivers: Pick-up trucks" Whaaaaaaaa?

It's often been my experience that pickup drivers (especially those that own white Fords, especially) are among the worst drivers in California.

[BlueJazz]

8. I would have thought that but maybe we just remember the shitty ones...

[Initech]

11. Yup. Worst drivers in CA - white Fords and black Mercedes

There's no two ways about it.

[Nobody]

24. In the suburb I where I grew up red cars were cop magnets

My first car was red. The cops would ride your bumper trying to get you to speed and then ticket you if you did. They'd follow you around until you pulled into a driveway or parking lot. My cousin, also a red car driver, had it even worse: he was young, male, and driving a red car. He was ticketed because he had fuzzy dice hanging from his read view mirror. The dice in question were not that big and did not cause an obstruction. A tall person in the back seat would have been more of an obstruction.

It was only about 20 years ago that this suburb finally repealed the requirement that the cops each write X number of tickets per month minimum.

[david_vincent]

10. My reaction too

are you KIDDING me? Pickup drivers are the best???? I flat out deny it. I've driven all over this great land, and pickup drivers are notably among the very worst. And for those of you who might be curious, my daily vehicle is a pickup truck.

[BlueJazz]

12. As I said...I felt that hard to believe but maybe we just encounter the

.."Pricks"

Not You..Of Course.....

[Greyhound]

13. No surprise here.

I used to have a view of the 101 from the south balcony and, while enjoying my morning coffee and cigarette, I would watch the ever-present idiots cause exactly the same slow down nearly every day.

It goes like this; traffic is heavy but moving consistently when, one moran would cut across all the lanes from the Bronson on-ramp to get into the "fast" #1 lane (which incidentally, is usually the slowest over any distance due to everybody trying to crowd into it), this causes people to tap their brakes and the chain reaction just goes right down the line and in about 45 seconds, a full-stop jam is born.

[BlueJazz]

19. Geez..I'll bet that something to see from a height. nt

[Greyhound]

26. I really miss my old house in the hills, moving was stupid.

Even with the traffic and the idiots and "beautiful people" it was light years better than here. Damn.

[ThomWV]

17. "Private Government Site"??????? What Does That Mean?

I am interested in any clearly unclassified Government web site, presumably paid for by taxes, that is not available to the public.

[BlueJazz]

21. That's what my friend says....If I tell you anymore I'll...

..have to shoot myself.

No..Actually..I think it's for Law officers only..but I'll ask him when I see him again.

[BlueJazz]

22. dupe

[Jazz2006]

27. Pokey drivers are the worst :) n/t

[KansDem]

31. I agree...

They seem to crawl to a stop before making a right turn at an intersection or into a parking lot, even though they have the right-of-war. And I swear I can see little question marks appearing above the roofs of their cars as they do this...

[ComerPerro]

28. I've finally perfected that move, screwing someone over at a light

people here have been doing it to me for years.

Drive just slow enough so that you catch the stale yellow, and they are stuck behind the red.

You gotta go like 10 under to pull it off, and you gotta have really good timing.

But its funny as hell.

[Straight Shooter]

29. The faster someone pulls out in front of you, the slower they then drive.

It's like some weird law of inverse proportion. Punch it from the side street, get in front of traffic and then just poke along like they've got all day.

There are so many pickup trucks here, I can't address if they are the worst drivers. :shrug:

[Catherine Vincent]

30. Best drivers are pick up truck drivers?

My ass. Not in Texas. There was a guy in a pick up truck behind me the other day that apparently, got upset because I gave the right of way to a few cars that HAD the green arrow to turn (across from me). Once it came clear for me to turn right, this jackass honks his horn, I guess I wasn't fast enough for him. Then I turn in the far left lane because I was going to make a quick turn into a gas station. Apparently he was going to floor it in the left lane to pass me up but I got in the way. So he quickly turned in the right lane and as he passed my car up, my niece said he gave us the finger. I didn't see it but she said he did. I am sure he was probably a conservative Bush supporter. I know the type.