Even if we had perfect roads designed for bikes, pedestrians and cars -- the wetware is still a huge weak link. I suspect enforcement is down as well. Where I live drivers routinely blow off pedestrians in the cross walks even when a police car is present. No one seems to recall how to negotiate a traffic circle, (yield to vehicles already in the circle and keep right). Why are drivers so stupid?
Some highlights of the study:
...one out of five drivers doesn't know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, and one out of three drivers speeds up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are present.
One out of 10 drivers regularly exceeds the speed limit by 11 or more miles per hour...
Drivers not only lack basic road knowledge, but exhibit dangerous driving behavior as well.
According to the study, many drivers find basic practices, such as merging and interpreting road signs, difficult.
galen_52657
05-27-05, 09:49 AM
Considering the U.S. is populated by more borderline retards per square mile than any other place in the world and that the northeast is more densly populated than the rest of the country, why would anyone find this conclusion unreasonable?
Dr. Moto
05-27-05, 09:53 AM
Considering the U.S. is populated by more borderline retards per square mile than any other place in the world
Can you cite a source for this assertion?
Dr. Moto
05-27-05, 10:02 AM
I have a couple of problems with this study. First, they surveyed only 5,000 people. Assuming an equal number from each state, that's only 100 people per state. That's hardly a representative sample. Second, they cite results by age group (drivers between 18-24 show propensity for speeding), meaning their statistical samples are even smaller still. Third, the range between the "best" average state score (89) and the "worst" (77) is a whopping twelve points. Finally, they don't make any allowance for rural vs. urban areas, which, while it shouldn't influence driver knowledge, definitely influences driver behavior.
I'm not necessarily disagreeing with the results, just the methods. This looks like sloppy science to me.
Of course, the same site also calls the 27-mpg Lexus RX-400H a "green machine" that "lets you lecture neighbors on their gas-guzzling, globe-warming cars." You mean like my 10-year-old Honda that gets 36 mpg?
cruentus
05-27-05, 10:06 AM
I don't know if New Jersey has the stupidest drivers in the USA, but we certainly have the most vicious, hate filled drivers.
suntreader
05-27-05, 10:51 AM
Considering the U.S. is populated by more borderline retards per square mile than any other place in the world
That's quite a generalization. Perhaps you would be happier living somewhere else.
thechrisproject
05-27-05, 11:22 AM
Considering the U.S. is populated by more borderline retards per square mile than any other place in the world and that the northeast is more densly populated than the rest of the country, why would anyone find this conclusion unreasonable?
We're talking average scores, not aggregate. But I suppose you've proved your own point.
galen_52657
05-27-05, 11:27 AM
Can you cite a source for this assertion?
Sure, the last Presidential election
bennyk
05-27-05, 11:36 AM
Considering the U.S. is populated by more borderline retards per square mile than any other place in the world and that the northeast is more densly populated than the rest of the country, why would anyone find this conclusion unreasonable?
this assumption would make the ratio of "borderline retards" lower in the northeast than in less-densely populated parts of the country. do you see why?
for the record i agree that drivers in the northeast are terrible.
i also agree with your point regarding the election. :rolleyes:
bk
galen_52657
05-27-05, 11:53 AM
That's quite a generalization. Perhaps you would be happier living somewhere else.
Not Myrtle Beach. I stopped there 2 weekends ago. It was 'Hog Week' or something. More semi-retarded, beer bellied, Hog ridding fools without helmets per square mile than any place other than Daytona Beach. I thougth I was stuck on some "B" movie set for a remake of Rebel Without a Cause....
galen_52657
05-27-05, 11:55 AM
this assumption would make the ratio of "borderline retards" lower in the northeast than in less-densely populated parts of the country. do you see why?
No, you can 'splain it to me...
webist
05-27-05, 11:56 AM
An insurance institute validates the obvious, probably in support of raising rates in the most densely populated parts of the country. CNN reworks the study results and repeats a statement of the obvious. Because it is stated by CNN, we foolishly look at it as though it is news rather than entertainment, CNN's real business. In several months customers in the NE who see a rate increase will be handed a copy of the "News" article as justification.
Would any of us have read the article if the headline said "A Lot of Folks Got the Answers Right?"
One last thought. I expect I'd pass the test if I took it. However, I would be far more likely to turn down the survey and hang up on the caller.
bikebuddha
05-27-05, 12:18 PM
Trust me, as someone who has been all across this great country the Northeast has nothing on the South. I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that Atlanta has the worst drivers of any industrialized nation.
genec
05-27-05, 12:18 PM
OK I ran into my share this morning.... Certainly they need to be filed under the "they will do just about anything" column.
At one intersection, while waiting at a double left turn, while the light was still red, the motorist (read: clown) to my left suddenly took off, across all lanes of traffic and made a right turn. Let me paint that picture again... He went from an inside left only lane across to make a right turn against the light. Just barely missed an oncoming car.
Idiot number 2. (and this was in the space of only 30 minutes) I have to go way wide at this particular intersection that is flooded, and has been for about a year... while construction has lingered on for the last 3 years (sigh). At any rate, I go wide, as does the cyclist right behind me, to make the right turn, and as we negotiate the slipperly wet broken up road, we both look up to see this woman bearing down at us, ON THE WRONG SIDE OF THE STREET! Now mind you, this is a divided roadway... so somewhere along the way, she had to get on the wrong side of the center barrier and then continued on... toward the flooded area.
Of course the flooded area brings on it's own wackiness... But I have almost gotten used to it and how some idiots can or cannot handle it... it is somewhat humorous to watch, honestly.
It takes all kinds...
djbrod
05-27-05, 12:31 PM
They're everywhere. I doesn't matter how many are in one area, it only takes one to ruin your day.
flyingCoyote
05-27-05, 12:54 PM
Sure, the last Presidential election
1 in 6 Americans voted for traitor Bush, and most of those did so because they had been lied to. Very few real conservatives would support the guy if they knew the full story, and a lot of people voted against Kerry, which is kind of understandable.
So all that shows is that a fraction of Americans might be gullible, or too busy to look deeper than the propaganda spewings of Fox News...but that does not make them stupid, or evil.
EarlT
05-27-05, 01:29 PM
Trust me, as someone who has been all across this great country the Northeast has nothing on the South. I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that Atlanta has the worst drivers on any industrialized nation.
I am sure not going to argue with your declaration af Atlanta being worst, but Dallas is really close.
Hearing about mid-atlantic scares me, though. Supposed to be moving there soon.
Still, i lived in Seattle for 30 years and thought drivers sucked there too, i guess they (bad drivers) are, in fact, everywhere.
Portland, Or was pretty good.
suntreader
05-27-05, 01:55 PM
Not Myrtle Beach. I stopped there 2 weekends ago. It was 'Hog Week' or something. More semi-retarded, beer bellied, Hog ridding fools without helmets per square mile than any place other than Daytona Beach. I thougth I was stuck on some "B" movie set for a remake of Rebel Without a Cause....
Are you assuming that all those bikers are from Myrtle Beach? The majority are from the northern states. All of this year's fatalities were northerners.
The great majority of Myrtle Beach locals would be glad to see the bikers leave and never come back.
cruentus
05-27-05, 02:20 PM
1 in 6 Americans voted for traitor Bush, and most of those did so because they had been lied to. Very few real conservatives would support the guy if they knew the full story, and a lot of people voted against Kerry, which is kind of understandable.
Yup, today there are no conservatives in American politics. Fact is the we don't even have a two party system anymore. The Democraps and Ratpublicans are really only different sides of the same coin.
Even if we had perfect roads designed for bikes, pedestrians and cars -- the wetware is still a huge weak link. I suspect enforcement is down as well. Where I live drivers routinely blow off pedestrians in the cross walks even when a police car is present. No one seems to recall how to negotiate a traffic circle, (yield to vehicles already in the circle and keep right). Why are drivers so stupid?
Some highlights of the study:
...one out of five drivers doesn't know that a pedestrian in a crosswalk has the right of way, and one out of three drivers speeds up to make a yellow light, even when pedestrians are present.
One out of 10 drivers regularly exceeds the speed limit by 11 or more miles per hour...
Drivers not only lack basic road knowledge, but exhibit dangerous driving behavior as well.
According to the study, many drivers find basic practices, such as merging and interpreting road signs, difficult.
Great timing of the atricle... This happened to me today in MA... http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=109898
CB HI
05-27-05, 02:34 PM
Trust me, as someone who has been all across this great country the Northeast has nothing on the South. I'm going to go out on a limb and declare that Atlanta has the worst drivers of any industrialized nation.
I also have been all across this great country. For worst cycling cities based on bad drivers, I vote:
Washington DC #1
Honolulu #2
Atlanta or NYC #s 3 & 4
They still have not learned what a turn signal is for here in Hawaii.
I also noted that Hawaii was not included in the survey. I guess the insurance industry "Could not handle the Truth".
ctyler
05-27-05, 02:36 PM
They're everywhere. I doesn't matter how many are in one area, it only takes one to ruin your day.
You're correct. They're here in southern Wisconsin as well.
CB HI
05-27-05, 02:45 PM
Great timing of the atricle... This happened to me today in MA... http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=109898
I had 3 idiots drivers do stupid things this week. That, along with this thread prompted me to check the moon's phase. Sure enough, full moon was this week.
2manybikes
05-27-05, 03:01 PM
When I am driving I always have to slow to let the on ramp drivers fly onto the main road without knowing how to merge or looking. I can not remember anyone merging except me in the last year.
Not long ago I had to slow to almost a stop to merge into traffic and the driver behind me was beeping for me to go into the traffic. I have also have people blow the horn at me for stopping at a stop sign. Idiots are everywhere.
In Boston a flock of geese was trying to walk across an intersection and I stopped to let them go. About 10 people wanted to kill me. They went around me, blew the horns at the geese and just about hit them. A pedestrian went into the road in front of me and herded them back off the road. They would have been hit many, many, times.
randya
05-27-05, 04:55 PM
That's quite a generalization. Perhaps you would be happier living somewhere else.
America, Love it or Leave it! :rolleyes:
I don't know about borderline retards, but there are certainly more selfish fat POS here in the US than anywhere else I've lived or traveled.
randya
05-27-05, 04:58 PM
The great majority of Myrtle Beach locals would be glad to see the bikers leave and never come back.
They can badmouth the bikers all they want, but they love the money they spend!
suntreader
05-27-05, 08:07 PM
They can badmouth the bikers all they want, but they love the money they spend!
Unfortunately, you don't know what you're talking about.
Before the bikers started coming, the month of May used to be the second greatest income-producing month of the year. Now it is equivalent to February (a very slow month) because the families who came here previously want nothing to do with the bikers and their ways.
Only a fraction of the money remains in Myrtle Beach. Very little of it is spent in places that benefit the city at large or its citizens. There is little or no net gain, and the crime and deaths take a tremendous toll.
The greatest impact is upon the people who can least afford the economic loss: the working poor, restaurant and hotel workers, landscapers, etc. They really suffer during this time.
TCNJCyclist
05-28-05, 07:06 AM
I don't know if New Jersey has the stupidest drivers in the USA, but we certainly have the most vicious, hate filled drivers.
Agreed.
I'm in central Jersey and riding is always interesting. Yesterday I saw a guy on a 4-lane street (2 in each direction) make a left turn from the right-hand lane, with someone coming up behind him in the other lane.