My gut sense is that drivers in Houston and Los Angeles are aggressive but (generally!) law-abiding, whereas a significant portion of drivers on the North and South Shore of eastern MA simply do not believe that certain traffic laws - stop signs, red lights, one-way roads - apply to them. - ThreadSky

johnperich.com • 530 days ago

My gut sense is that drivers in Houston and Los Angeles are aggressive but (generally!) law-abiding, whereas a significant portion of drivers on the North and South Shore of eastern MA simply do not believe that certain traffic laws - stop signs, red lights, one-way roads - apply to them.

Reposted from cait

everyone thinks their local drivers are the worst but they are wrong. it is massachusetts. i have lived in TX and CA (north and south) and drivers in MA are just. they're like another species

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bonestudent.ing•529 days ago

I live in Houston and they definitely aren't. Stop signs and stop lights are only suggestions, turn signals are considered a challenge, and wrong-way accidents on freeways are shockingly common. Plus the fake plates. So many people with fake paper plates.

johnperich.com•529 days ago

Paper plates is definitely a new one on me.

aahabershaw.bsky.social•530 days ago

Boston is extremely bad, but some percentage of that is roads and traffic laws that actively *don't make sense.*

For this reason, I don't think we should give the good people of New Jersey and Washington DC a complete pass. They're awful with fewer excuses.

aahabershaw.bsky.social•530 days ago

Like, by way of example, there is a street in my neighborhood that is not exactly straight - to drive down it, you would need to make a quick right/left on another road, BUT that road is a one-way going the wrong direction.

Pisses me off when people make that turn, but can I blame them?

munocard.bsky.social•530 days ago

The speed limit on most freeways in Houston is “Go Faster”. That said, I really wish we had better mass transit here.

johnperich.com•530 days ago

e.g., if you're doing less than 80 on the Katy Freeway (Houston), the drivers behind you will let you hear it. But I get the impression there are *fewer* drivers who get on the Katy going the entirely *wrong direction*. Whereas:

johnperich.com•530 days ago

although, having said that:

cait.bsky.social•530 days ago

i see someone turn right on a "no right on red" every single day of my life to the point where i asked my husband (revere local) if it means something different up here

cjlemire.com•530 days ago

In Revere those signs are more like suggestions

joemagician.bsky.social•530 days ago

There's definitely tension here being first in line at a no right on red. Will someone honk? Will they drive around while calling me a jackass while pouring Dunkin down their gaping maw? Who knows!

kayzee1012.bsky.social•530 days ago

I get beeped at all the time at a stoplight by my house when I don’t turn on red (sign is right there!!). My 14yo has started yelling out the window at people.

johnperich.com•530 days ago

not only have I seen this happen, I've had drivers behind me LEAN on the horn when I wait at a "no turn on red".

skleinedler.bsky.social•530 days ago

on occasion, people on my left will turn right on red in front of me (I'm not making this up)

sporksticks.bsky.social•530 days ago

That’s happened so many times that I’m considering getting a laser pointer to clue them in as to why I’m not moving

thatweissguy.bsky.social•530 days ago

Cowpaths turned into roads, almost no central planning, weather that turns on a time, and the continued insistence on basing "needed travel time" on distance rather than traffic factors have all shaped a social Darwinist Road Warrior mentality, even before you get your learner's permit.

thatweissguy.bsky.social•530 days ago

Protip from a native: The most dangerous moment to drive in the region is the first few minutes after getting clear of a traffic back-up.

All that banked rageahol gets converted into nitrous and a deathwish.

prenerk.bsky.social•530 days ago

On the island of Montreal, the drivers are so bad, every stoplight is a no right on red by law. Not that even slows them down for a second.

tinydonkey.bsky.social•530 days ago

It is wild that north Americans can go through a red light *at all*. It should just not be allowed.

johnperich.com•530 days ago

the law is what we decide it is. We make the road by walking ... er, driving.

prenerk.bsky.social•530 days ago

Quebec drivers fear no laws, not even the laws of physics

dirtbaglexi.bsky.social•530 days ago

It's crazy how different Western MA is from Eastern MA in terms of driving. Honorable mention to CT and the Maine Turnpike in terms of insane drivers.

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