Atlanta drivers = super courteous
(suggested by Carmen and Tiffany via the suggestion box)
Apparently Atlanta has among the most courteous drivers in all of America:
Minneapolis, Minnesota; Nashville, Tennessee; St. Louis, Missouri; Seattle, Washington; and Atlanta, Georgia, were rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers, who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists…Young drivers and people with long commutes were found to be the most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver. The top reactions included honking the horn, cursing or making an obscene gesture.
No distinct differences were found between male and female drivers.
I don’t know, maybe its just people complaining about drivers everywhere, but we also have a suggestion (from David) in the box talking about how people in Atlanta don’t know how to make left turns and, driving around, I’m sure all of us see some pretty incompetent driving. Especially on the connector. But maybe that’s what it is. Atlanta drivers are incompetent, but polite about it.
I am a native Minnesotan, now living in Atlanta. Is it possible that I have brought this polite driving trend with me?
You see, one person CAN change the world.
Oh, and yes, I am incompetent behind the wheel…but I always do that friendly wave after I nearly run people off the road.
CNN hometown bias? or maybe they dont consider 285 part of Atlanta proper
I saw a lady sitting at the light at 5th Street today. She was smiling, had her windows down, blinker on, looking like she was excited about driving around town. The light turned green, she waited for the traffic to clear and made her left turn on to Juniper.
Unfortunately, Juniper is one way and she’s not going the right one. As she made her way down the street everyone started honking at her. She turned and waved back, still smiling.
Maybe we’ve come to accept the bad drivers. And they have mistaken our sarcastic hand jestures and politeness.
Currently, the largest problem that I see is the number of cars that run the light just after it changes red. Next time you’re at an intersection watch.
That’s an AP wire story (notice the AP in the the beginning of the first graph) — they’re just publishing a wire story about the survey — which was conducted by “AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance”
Just remember that about 90% of people think they’re an above average driver.
I find this highly suspect. Now, Virginia and Boston may be throwing off the avergage, but my experience has been that Minnesota and Atlanta drivers have one thing in common: selfishness. Activating my turn signal is a 100% sure-thing promise that three drivers will immediately pass me on the right.
In Minnesota, my wife and I came to the conclusion that Minnesota Nice meant “You won’t mind if I just screw you this little bit will you? Oh, thank you, dear.” That is, Minnesota Nice is the expectation that others won’t call you on cheating right-of-way or not knowing how to merge with traffic.
What I prefer about Atlanta drivers is their professionalism. A little bit of assholery is going to happen. It’s inevitable on the road. Let’s just all do what we came to do and get on with our lives, eh?
Unless that means using a left-turn arrow, I guess.
This sounds like a load of malarky. You may be more likely to get cussed at in, say, Boston, but in my experience, Nashville and Atlanta are places where you are much more likely to find yourself followed home by someone you pissed off fifty miles down the interstate. You’re also more likely to get people tailgating at 80mph ten inches off your bumper. And, as per Stevo, you’re much more likely to precipitate right-lane passing by signaling. I absolutely hate driving here, much more than I ever did in Boston.
Anectodal experience to be sure, but a survey by AutoVantage is hardly scientific evidence to the contrary.