Traffic laws.. they're simple things that are apparently soooo difficult for people to grasp. Yield. Nobody knows how to do it or what it means yet you see yield signs everywhere.
When someone sees yield.. they go right ahead as if they're the only ones on the road. When there's a cop on the corner they come to a complete stop.

Yield and stop are different. Stop means stop. It doesn't mean you go through if it's clear. It means you stop. The US is a right side country so naturally when making a right hand turn you yield to the person on your left. If you have a solid green light and not green arrow for left turn, you yield to oncoming traffic. Now at a 4 way intersection.. people are still illiterate. It's easy.. yield to the person on your left. Hmm.. ok.. the person on my right went, now it's my turn. The person on my right went, now it's his turn, now the left guy's turn, now my turn. But still, American drivers still can't figure out that out.. even after driver's ed..

Most Americans are just idiots.

But.. our DOTs still haven't managed to figure out that roundabouts are safer and idiotproof.. nevermind they're only idiotproof in europe I'm well sure.

Now.. stop lights.. green doesn't mean stop, and red doesn't mean go through before the other light turns green!

I hate when people go through a intersection when its green and then get caught in the middle of the intersection becuase of traffic on the other side. Then I can't go across!

mayorm wrote:I hate when people go through a intersection when its green and then get caught in the middle of the intersection becuase of traffic on the other side.

that's only because americans can't understand the complexities of driving (or THEIR OWN SOCIETY)... that or they don't have common courtesy.. or a brain to be able to use it.
there isn't a word in the english language to describe the stupidity of the average american.. calling them idiots makes the actual idiots look like geniuses.

There are way too many drivers out there without any common sense. I hate it because it makes things stressful for the drivers who do actually care about what the law says, but if there is a law out there, somebody's bound to break it. That's just the way the world works.

It can't be that because it's american and american only. From what i've observed, europeans are actually much better drivers than americans, but that probably has something to do with it being europe more than likely.

Sounds like you've spent too much time in New York

Cheeseguy wrote:It can't be that because it's american and american only. From what i've observed, europeans are actually much better drivers than americans, but that probably has something to do with it being europe more than likely.

Europ has enough idiots on the road as well. They might be more careful @ intersections, but..... as soon as it comes to the word 'stop' uhm well....

Just an example: At a small Railroad crossing in Austria they've installed a camera which takes a pic of everyone to ignore the red light. They've caught 190 drivers ignoring the red light within a period lasting from mid april to mid june 2012. Note This is a SIDE ROAD and they've ignored he stoplights of a RR CROSSING.

And as another example: Just look at a typical southern-italian intersection with traffic lights. The traffic lights show the colours they like and the drivers drive whenever they like.

just 190? in the US that'd be about 300 or maybe more..
nearly half of the people at level crossings here try to go past them, even when the gates are down, and the train has sounded its horn and is approaching

Cheeseguy wrote:just 190? in the US that'd be about 300 or maybe more..
nearly half of the people at level crossings here try to go past them, even when the gates are down, and the train has sounded its horn and is approaching

Does US have RR crossing with regular trains aproaching with speeds up to 100 mph? We do.

In some areas the trains actually do get up to 100 mph. The freight trains here usually run about 70-80 mph in rural areas and 30 in urban.. only so slow because they're often up to 100 cars long..

Skimbo wrote:

Cheeseguy wrote:just 190? in the US that'd be about 300 or maybe more..
nearly half of the people at level crossings here try to go past them, even when the gates are down, and the train has sounded its horn and is approaching

Does US have RR crossing with regular trains aproaching with speeds up to 100 mph? We do.

On the east coast only

K50 wrote:

Skimbo wrote:

Cheeseguy wrote:just 190? in the US that'd be about 300 or maybe more..
nearly half of the people at level crossings here try to go past them, even when the gates are down, and the train has sounded its horn and is approaching

Does US have RR crossing with regular trains aproaching with speeds up to 100 mph? We do.

On the east coast only

soon to be the west coast too
link

When I was in the US I observed the behaviour that Cheeseguy described, however I'm not sure if it's any worse than drivers in Eastern Europe and/or Southern Europe (mediterranean). However, I can say for sure that Scandinavian drivers generally are among the best in the world, excluding drivers in Stockholm, Oslo and Copenhagen. I find traffic here to be very relaxed and not very aggressive. Some people still don't know how to drive a roundabout though.

If you want a grip of Swedish driving, here's a driving video I've made. (Watch in HD )

good driving all around riiga.. you seem to be much better than the unthinking americans who are all in a hurry.. but I guess that's typical of sweden

Cheeseguy wrote:good driving all around riiga.. you seem to be much better than the unthinking americans who are all in a hurry.. but I guess that's typical of sweden

We do have your fair share of drives that are "in a hurry", but they're mostly found on motorways, in major cities and the inner parts of Norrland.

Here in America, you can't go anywhere without someone in a hurry cutting you off, going some 25 MPH above the speed limit. It just makes it harder for those of us who do actually drive the speed limit and obey traffic laws.

I had an experience with someone cutting me off today. I was beyond pissed. Whenever someone cuts me off I always look forward to honking and waving whenever I pass them when they're in a roadside ditch

Honestly though fast drivers* aren't as much of a problem as drivers who aren't paying attention, like that jackwagon not seeing that the other lane ended and I'm right there, or (god forbid) people who are texting and don't see that there's traffic ahead until they've already eaten their airbag. I commute in traffic and rain five days a week and I do go over the speed limit by 5 to 10 miles per hour without really thinking about it, but I'm alert and I get to where I'm going in one piece in good time. Win win

*But not too fast... once you're 20 mph above the limit you are probably some kind of a problem.

Driving in snow.. water is different than snow.. and snow never lasts long in texas.

That being said.. all the freaking idiots slowing down.. yes, it's snowing, but it's not even sticking to the ground, it's melting...

This is the native texans.. people like me from Colorado can tell snow from water and know when to slow down.. like if ice is forming.. which in texas would be thin ice along the curbs which isn't too bad

(yes, this was from last winter...)

Good thing most people here know how to drive in snow. It's only the Stockholmers that seem very surprised (every year!) when it starts snowing in November, and they "haven't had time" to put on winter tires yet!

No need for winter tires here.
And if its one of those years (usually only one a decade) where more than 6 inches of snow falls and the roads are iced over completely then four wheel drive and going 20 below the speed limit is usually all you need.

In Colorado though winter tires are advisable for sure, seeing how up to 2 feet of snow can fall overnight up there..