Okay, so I've briefly touched on why Idahoans absolutely suck at driving. And when I say briefly I mean it. There are so much more bad driving habits that I can talk about, but I'll keep it simple for now. But amongst all this horrid drivng there derrives one big question. WHY? Everything has a reason, but why is it that Idahoans cannot figure out how to accomplish the simple task of driving correctly.
I've discussed this thoroughly with my father over the past 10 years. The main and simple conclusion is the fact that most Idahoans are used to driving on two-lane roads. Large urban 4-lane roads have only been common in Idaho in the last 10 years or so. That leaves most Idaho drivers that are used to driving one two lane roads. About 55% of the population is over 30 years of age, but only 1/3rd of the remaining population can drive. There is approx 20% of the population that is used to driving on four-lane roads, but who were they taught by? They were taught by the same people that are used to driving on two lane roads.
Its almost like reverse evolution. The same teachings just keep being handed down, and no one learns anything new. Which further reduces the 20% of young new drivers to, lets say, a good 10% of good drivers. So 10% of good drivers fill the roads, but we can also add in others who have moved to Idaho from other states and do know how to drive. This knocks up the percentage to about 15%. Add these together and 25% of the population knows how to drive correctly.
Keep in mind that this is all in theory and none of these percentages are factual. Sadly, there have been no actual surveys on how well people drive. Its all opinionated.
Even with this opinionation I feel that these numbers are fairly accurate, and if you've driven the streets of Idaho, you should agree with me.
After a while, the good driver percentage will rise thanks to others moving in from out-of-state, and people will start to learn by the driving example of other good drivers, and start to drive better themselves. How long this will take I'm not sure, but hopefully it will expand faster than I expect it to.
Idaho populations statistics:
http://cityinfo.local.com/zip-code-information/idaho-population
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
What Others Think
Idaho Blows:
http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=idaho_blows
"If you see some dipshit holding up traffic for miles, there's a good chance that the driver is from Idaho...Idaho is possibly the only state in the union that actively makes its residents become shitty drivers because of how uninteresting it is."
Texting While Driving: (language)
http://gizmodo.com/5249679/texting-while-driving-is-becoming-ridiculous
"Anyways, I live in Idaho. And everyone who lives in this state F***ING SUCKS at driving."
Driving in Idaho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuw6lEPZTD0
"Speed: 50mph. Speed Limit: 60mph. Frustration: High"
http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=idaho_blows
"If you see some dipshit holding up traffic for miles, there's a good chance that the driver is from Idaho...Idaho is possibly the only state in the union that actively makes its residents become shitty drivers because of how uninteresting it is."
Texting While Driving: (language)
http://gizmodo.com/5249679/texting-while-driving-is-becoming-ridiculous
"Anyways, I live in Idaho. And everyone who lives in this state F***ING SUCKS at driving."
Driving in Idaho:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuw6lEPZTD0
"Speed: 50mph. Speed Limit: 60mph. Frustration: High"
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
The Problem
Idaho drivers. What is the deal? I have never been to a state where just about every person on the road collectively drives under the speed limit. UNDER! And its not just 5 miles an hour under the speed limit, it's typically 15-20 miles under. But I'm not quite sure if its completely intentional. I think peple just like going 35mph ALL THE TIME. Sometimes i will be stuck behind someone going 40 in a 55, then the speed limit willl drop down to 30...and they'll still be going 40. Are they just ignorant, are they trying to confuse me just to piss me off, or is their cruise control stuck? I honestly just don't know anymore.
In addition to never going the speed limit, no one knows the difference between the fast lane and the slow lane, and don't even get me started on the Two-Way-Turn-Lane (aka the Median). The right lane is for slower traffic, and the left lane is for passing that slower traffic. Once you pass that traffic in the right lane, you're supposed to get into the right lane to let any traffic faster than you pass. But no, not only do Idaho drivers not distinguish a difference between the two lanes, they love to create the moving roadblock. Idaho is famous for the 'moving roadblock', literally. Screw "Famous Potatoes", our license plates should say "Famous Moving Roadblockers".
If you're not aware of what a moving roadblock is, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about in just a minute. A moving roadblock is where two people travel down a double-lane road and drive right next to eachother going the exact same speed limit. Its like a staring contest between two cars where the first one to move in front of the other loses. They will just drive there side by side for miles without the acknowledgement of any backed up traffic behind them. And that is a moving roadblock my friends. Only in Idaho will you find such a thing.
Now for my favorite topic, the TWTL (Two-Way-Turn-:Lane). Apparently what happened is that someone came to this state from another state and implemented to TWTL into our roads...and no one knew what the hell to do with it. To use a TWTL you acknowledge a left turn you will be making up ahead, you get into the TWTL and then slow down, wait for traffic to clear, and then cross the road. What Idahoans do is slow down in their lane, almost to a halt, and then get into the TWTL right before their turn. And then of course, once inside the lane they must wait for a 5-minute traffic break to cross, because apparently they think their car is about as fast as a turtle.
But wait! There's more! TWTL are also used to merge into a lane from a side road you just turned off of. To properly exectute a TWTL merge, you pull into the TWTL, move up one or two car lengths and then stop. Keeping an eye behind you for an opening, you wait until you see a spot you can merge into, once you see this opening you start to accelerate and reach the opening at about the same time you match the merging traffic's speed. You should know your car well enought to judge this time and distance pretty well. Now here is how an Idaho drivers does this. They pull into the median and just start driving alongside traffic...going about 5 or 10 mph. They will just keep driving at this rate of speed (sometimes for a mile or so) until they see an opening right next to them, and then they floor it to get into traffic. What this does is back up traffic trying to use the median, and once they floor it, they don't actually have enough time to get into the available opening so the lane they are merging into has to slam on their brakes so this person can merge.
So there it is. Idaho drivers suck at driving. I think eveyone needs to retake a driving test every ten years, but thats just my honest opinion.
Stay tuned for my next post "The Reason"
In addition to never going the speed limit, no one knows the difference between the fast lane and the slow lane, and don't even get me started on the Two-Way-Turn-Lane (aka the Median). The right lane is for slower traffic, and the left lane is for passing that slower traffic. Once you pass that traffic in the right lane, you're supposed to get into the right lane to let any traffic faster than you pass. But no, not only do Idaho drivers not distinguish a difference between the two lanes, they love to create the moving roadblock. Idaho is famous for the 'moving roadblock', literally. Screw "Famous Potatoes", our license plates should say "Famous Moving Roadblockers".
Now for my favorite topic, the TWTL (Two-Way-Turn-:Lane). Apparently what happened is that someone came to this state from another state and implemented to TWTL into our roads...and no one knew what the hell to do with it. To use a TWTL you acknowledge a left turn you will be making up ahead, you get into the TWTL and then slow down, wait for traffic to clear, and then cross the road. What Idahoans do is slow down in their lane, almost to a halt, and then get into the TWTL right before their turn. And then of course, once inside the lane they must wait for a 5-minute traffic break to cross, because apparently they think their car is about as fast as a turtle.
But wait! There's more! TWTL are also used to merge into a lane from a side road you just turned off of. To properly exectute a TWTL merge, you pull into the TWTL, move up one or two car lengths and then stop. Keeping an eye behind you for an opening, you wait until you see a spot you can merge into, once you see this opening you start to accelerate and reach the opening at about the same time you match the merging traffic's speed. You should know your car well enought to judge this time and distance pretty well. Now here is how an Idaho drivers does this. They pull into the median and just start driving alongside traffic...going about 5 or 10 mph. They will just keep driving at this rate of speed (sometimes for a mile or so) until they see an opening right next to them, and then they floor it to get into traffic. What this does is back up traffic trying to use the median, and once they floor it, they don't actually have enough time to get into the available opening so the lane they are merging into has to slam on their brakes so this person can merge.
So there it is. Idaho drivers suck at driving. I think eveyone needs to retake a driving test every ten years, but thats just my honest opinion.
Stay tuned for my next post "The Reason"
Friday, October 22, 2010
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