& I Thought...

[tony barnhill]

...Huntsville, AL drivers were the worst possible!

From the NY Times:

"Recently, Allstate ranked the safety of drivers in nearly 200 American cities. Rankings were based on the average number of years drivers went without an accident, no matter where they drove (the national average is 10 years). Data were based on the company's property damage claims from January 2003 to December 2004 and exclude cities in Massachusetts, where Allstate does not operate.

THE TEN SAFEST CITIES

1. Sioux Falls, S.D. -- 14.3*
2. Fort Collins, Colo. -- 13.2
Cedar Rapids, Iowa -- 13.2
4. Huntsville, Ala. -- 12.8
5. Chattanooga, Tenn. -- 12.7
6. Knoxville, Tenn. -- 12.6
Des Moines -- 12.6
8. Milwaukee -- 12.5
9. Colorado Springs -- 12.3
Warren, Mich. -- 12.3

AND THE MOST UNSAFE

1. Newark -- 5.0
2. Washington -- 5.1
3. Elizabeth, N.J. -- 5.4
4. Alexandria, Va.-- 5.7
5. Arlington, Va. -- 6.0
6. Glendale, Calif. -- 6.1
7. Jersey City -- 6.2
8. Paterson, N.J. -- 6.5
San Francisco -- 6.5
Baltimore -- 6.5

*Years between accidents"

https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E06E6D71031F93BA25755C0A9609C8B63

 

[tomshobby]

Have had two accidents. Both were avoiding a head-on by another car in my lane. Last was in 1968. Last Saturday when Shirley and I had the TR6 out we nearly had another when a semi came around a corner about 2/3 of the way in our lane. I was looking for an escape route when he finally pulled back into his own lane. I did indicate my opinion of his driving.

 

[DaveatMoon]

"Accidents" is a relative term. I did 3 years in Iowa as a graduate student, where the roads are all straight as arrows and there's little there to hit.

Did you notice how most of the "good driver" cities are all in or near Iowa?

My 3 housemates were all natives. One day they were all talking about the times they "put their car in the ditch" learning to drive and/or by mistake. They could not understand why I was so incredulous.

<span style="font-style: italic">"Well, what. Like you never drove off the road when you were driving."

"No, not even once."

"Really, like you never went in the ditch!"

"We didn't have ditches. We had telephone poles, street lamps, and pedestrians on the sidewalk."

"Oh."</span>

These were all college students between 21 and 26 years old.

 

[aeronca65t]

Oh well. NJ has 4 out of 10 cities on the "bad" list. All those places are less than an hour from me.


As we like to say here: <span style="font-style: italic">New Jersey: Where only the strong survive.</span>

But also: <span style="font-style: italic">Welcome to New Jersey!....*now* go home! </span>


<span style="font-style: italic">"Data were based on the company's property damage claims."</span>

Yes, especially in Newark. Newark, NJ is the stolen-car capital of the planet and when your car disappears, the property damage claim is at its maximum.

When one of my brothers was at NJIT (in Newark), he left his car parked (legally) in a student parking lot one weekend. When he came back to get it on Monday, there was a homeless guy sleeping in it. The way it smelled, he would have preferred it to be stolen.

A lot of my engineering students tranfer to NJIT after they finish at our communtiy college. If they have a nice car and intend to commute, they usually buy an old beater as a "Newark car".

 

[aerog]

<span style="font-style: italic">"Well, what. Like you never drove off the road when you were driving."</span>

The simple fact that <span style="font-style: italic">any</span> supposedly intelligent driver actually thinks it's <span style="font-style: italic">normal</span> to run off the road is a scary thought.

I've had one accident: a careless driver in a pick-up truck rear-ended me because he never bothered to look where he was going. That was here in Florida, where the roads are massively boring and straight most of the time.

 

[DaveatMoon]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]The simple fact that any supposedly intelligent driver actually thinks it's normal to run off the road is a scary thought.[/QUOTE]
Try <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">3</span></span>, and your car shares a driveway with them! :eeek:

 

[tomshobby]

Shirley and I were driving south of Dallas on the interstate a few years ago. There was a traffic blockage ahead and a dozen or so cars and trucks simply drove off the road and to a frontage road about 1/8 mile away. We followed and thought it was pretty cool. Later was talking to my uncle from Rockport and he said that is just a normal "Texas bypass".

 

[aerog]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:]The simple fact that any supposedly intelligent driver actually thinks it's normal to run off the road is a scary thought.

Try <span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="text-decoration: underline">3</span></span>, and your car shares a driveway with them! :eeek: [/QUOTE]

Yup - scary!

 

[JamesWilson]

Oh well. NJ has 4 out of 10 cities on the "bad" list.

And another 4 are in and around Washington, D.C.

Government workers? .... or is that "political" comment?

 

[tony barnhill]

Several years ago, my daughter (a young lawyer in her first new car) was driving one night on a curvy, wet road where lots of wet leaves had been washed onto the pavement...she lost control & skidded into a nearby ditch large enough to lay the car over on the driver side & was momentarily knocked unconscious.......when she awoke, the first thing she saw were several nuns holding the passenger door open & a priest reaching down into the car to help her out.....she later told me her first thought was, <span style="font-style: italic">"Oh no! I'm dead and Dad was right."</span>

hehehehehe.....when she reached adulthood, she chose the Episcopal Church instead of the Catholic (even after a youth spent in parochial schools) as her religious home (Mickey's happy!)....actually, she had lost control of her car in front of a nunnery and they were the first on the scene.

I told her it was a sign....hehehehe

 

[judow]

:banana: I didn't see anything in New Mexico but ... I drive the roads here and I think they are just as bad or good as any other state. I will say that the condition of the roads for the most part are much better than that of New England. IMHO

 

[swift6]

Well I live in Fort Collins, #2 on the safe list, and can say that it is a fairly safe city to drive in. Mind you we have our fair share of idiots behind the wheel though. Having friends and relatives on the local police force, paramedic and fire department etc... I get to hear about quite a few of the nasty accidents. When I first heard this report I thought, If Fort Collins is #2 safest then some of the bad cities must be REALLy bad.

 

[RonMacPherson]

Defensive Driving!

A necessity here on Oahu... We have a fair number of immigrants who are behind the wheels of cars... I won't call them driving cars, more operating them.

Seems like they get their relatives to take most of the "tests" for them at the DMV... Plus there are a fair number who don't have licenses.

Good thing I spent time in Rome and Paris when younger. Learned that you need to keep your peripheral vision active and your reflexes working..

 

[tony barnhill]

Paris...have you ever tried to get from the inside lane of the round-about at the Arc de Triomphe onto Champs-Élysées?

 

[JamesWilson]

Paris...have you ever tried to get from the inside lane of the round-about at the Arc de Triomphe onto Champs-Élysées?

Great thing about such roundabouts is that if you miss it the first time...

there's a second...

and a third...

and...

well, you'll get there eventually.

 

[Roger]

Paris...have you ever tried to get from the inside lane of the round-about at the Arc de Triomphe onto Champs-Élysées?

Many times, we used to come into town via Porte Maillot. You take your courage in both hands and go!

 

[Steve]

Driving around the centre of Birmingham (UK) takes some beating.....

 

[waltesefalcon]

I got rear ended once at a traffic light by a student driver. Bet he failed that year.

 

[bugimike]

I am shocked! No place in Fl. made the worst list...hard to believe!!

 

[JamesWilson]

Oh well. NJ has 4 out of 10 cities on the "bad" list. All those places are less than an hour from me.

Something I just found that's amusing:

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:] Basic Rules For Driving In New Jersey:

A right lane construction closure is just a game to see how many people can cut in line by passing you on the right as you sit in the left lane waiting for the same jerks to squeeze their way back in before hitting the construction barrels.
Turn signals are just clues as to your next move in road battle so never use them.
Under no circumstances should you leave a safe distance between you and the car in front of you no matter how fast you're going. If you do, the space will be filled in by somebody else putting you in an even more dangerous situation.
The faster you drive through a red light, the smaller the chance you have of getting hit.
Never get in the way of a car that needs extensive body work.
Braking is to be done as hard and late as possible to insure that your antilock braking system kicks in to give you a nice relaxing foot massage as the brake pedal pulsates.
Construction signs tell you about road closures immediately after you pass the exit but before the traffic begins to back up.
The electronic traffic warning system signs are not there to provide useful information; they're just to make the Turnpike look progressive.
Never pass on the left when you can pass on the right. It's a good way to scare people entering the highway.
Speed limits are arbitrary figures to make NJ look as if it conforms with other state policies; these are given only as suggestions and are readily enforceable.
Just because you're in the left lane and have no room to speed up or move over doesn't mean that the driver flashing his high beams behind you doesn't think he can go faster in your spot.
Please remember that there is no such thing as a shortcut during rush-hour traffic on the Garden State Parkway.
Always slow down and rubberneck when you see an accident or even a person changing a tire. If you're lucky, you may see the unwitting breakdown victim get mugged.
Learn to swerve abruptly. NJ is the home of the high-speed slalom driving thanks to NJDOT, who put potholes in key locations to test drivers' reflexes and keep them on their toes.
It is traditional in NJ to honk your horn at cars that don't move the instant the light changes. The state is founded upon such traditions.
Seeking eye contact with another driver revokes your right of way.
All unmarked exits on the Parkway lead to downtown Newark.
JERSEY DRIVING - GOTTA LOVE THE CHALLENGE!
[/QUOTE]