wasclywabbit wrote:One thing to keep in mind that pedestrians ALWAYS have the right of way whether they are breaking the law or not.

ummm... I have no answer for this. You must be a Denver driver! Or you're hanging out with Pete... Just kidding Pete.

Agreed. There are bad drivers everywhere, but the Colorado "entitlement" drives me nuts. It's like they own the road... absolutely no courtesy whatsoever.

I let you over, I get a wave. If your merging at a slower speed, I get over. Tailgating is a big no-no, as is cutting people off. And when you give someone the bird, they should own it. Not act like you were the one who cut them off.

Larry, I love that photo. I think I saw her in Breckenridge the other day... See her tattoo? I bet its an Av's logo. Or a star. Or a dolphin (that will some day be a killer whale). Might as well be a target.

Yes, it's all rather funny and laughable, but the "serious side" is that there's people out there who actually DO own the road! At least, they own the roads inside their minds..

I've been "cut off" everywhere I've driven, EVEN in SE Asia. Actually, it does NO GOOD to get angry about it.

But, there's nothing wrong with venting.

You'd never get anywhere sometimes if you didn't just try to drive through. Jaywalking is so bad it's continuous. Once I was driving at an intersection and streams of people just kept coming. I had to wait through three green lights as it never stopped. Normal day on the mall. They posted some officers as it was getting so bad, even with them clearly there the morons would go across on a red light. They refused to make arrests, just shouted at this one jerk. He complied, and went back from the middle of the street from where he was going to the sidewalk. No ticket. Then back to normal, everyone crossing as they felt like it.

lcarreau wrote:

Texting while driving is illegal in EVERY state and has been enacted since before cell phones were invented. Passing a new law that changes nothing from the previous law was a bogus political move that just wasted more tax dollars while not making roads any safer.

As for Denver drivers, everywhere in the world has the "Worst Drivers I've Ever Seen." People just love to bitch about how bad things are where they live. Truth is, there are shitty drivers everywhere.

mconnell wrote:As for Denver drivers, everywhere in the world has the "Worst Drivers I've Ever Seen." People just love to bitch about how bad things are where they live. Truth is, there are shitty drivers everywhere.

You're exactly right. I am bitching. Because there are substantially MORE shitty drivers here in Denver than everywhere I've ever driven before. And I've driven a lot. Once drove a rickshaw in Bangkok and a donkey in Honduras. Rode an elephant too in India and crashed a scooter into a restaurant in Belgium. And I can safely say (whether its NYC, Boston, DC, LA, OC, Hotlanta, Seattle, Texas, Detroit, or wherever) that Denver drivers are the WORST.

Well, yes, being tailgated at 80mph on I25 coming into Denver is a bit disconcerting.

But if you really want some fun try heading west on I70 on a Friday night with an under powered vehicle for the long steep hills. All the 4x4's pulling their toys on trailers will blast by and you better hit the slow lane with the semi's or the wrath of Denver will be upon you.

I haven't been in any major U.S. city, East, West, or in between, where the roads aren't just as the OP describes. It's the result of too many people, too many cars, and everyone getting frustrated and being in a damn hurry, plus the typical self-centered behavior too many people exhibit (yapping and texting, for instance). Just too many people.

Seattle, the SF area, Vegas, Denver, Phoenix, Albuquerque, Indy, New York, all of eastern Jersey, D.C., Atlanta, Minneapolis, Miami...those are the big cities I've done much driving in or through.

Personally, I find Las Vegas to be the worst by far, and driving on I-15 there actually scares me. You've got tourists, retirees, foreigners who haven't been here long, and then the typical assortment of locals all mixed together.

The fewer the people, the less congested the roads and the more courteous the drivers. Same story all over.

Edit: Salt Lake has never seemed that bad to me.

Bob Sihler wrote:Edit: Salt Lake has never seemed that bad to me.

I visit SLC at least once (often twice) per month for business. I call the driving there "Every Saint for Himself," yet the truth is, as indicated by many in the thread, there are good drivers and bad drivers all over the place. I often travel domestically every week for business, sometimes to multiple cities in one week. Every city has their fair mix of tailgaters, left-lane hogs, folks that pass on the right, people who don't know how to merge in - or let others merge, folks who run red lights, folks who slam their brakes on at yellow lights, road ragers, jerks, wildlife gawkers, smart phone texters, etc.

Anecdotal example: Last week I was in Boston, which is supposed to be home to efficiently aggressive drivers. Twice in just three days I had drivers STOP when merging into traffic on the freeway...even though they could fit a freight train into the window in the right-most lane they were trying to enter. Welcome to Boston, welcome to...any other major US city. Same thing, different city.

sarah.simon wrote:Anecdotal example: Last week I was in Boston, which is supposed to be home to efficiently aggressive drivers. Twice in just three days I had drivers STOP when merging into traffic on the freeway...

They must have been tourists from Denver.

Bob Sihler wrote:

sarah.simon wrote:Anecdotal example: Last week I was in Boston, which is supposed to be home to efficiently aggressive drivers. Twice in just three days I had drivers STOP when merging into traffic on the freeway...

They must have been tourists from Denver.

Bob, you might be right. No, seriously.

My own experience (and statistics) SUGGEST that driving in traffic can be a.. REAL BEAR:

Fletch wrote:crashed a scooter into a restaurant in Belgium.

Now that sounds like a good story!!

Fletch wrote:crashed a scooter into a restaurant in Belgium.

Sounds like since you moved there, the quality of the drivers in Denver has certainly dropped.

I personally hate driving in Denver, I just don't see it being any worse than any of the other big cities I've driven through in the US.