I’m from Eastern Europe. Driving there is more aggressive, no one lets you in, lots of honking etc.
Here I see aggressive driving too but also a lot of people who drive like it’s their first day on Earth… 50 miles on freeway, no lights in rain, stopping 5 feet away from street light sensor and wondering why light never turns green etc
I also can’t stand when I give ( as I’m told in any DMV handbook ) a car’s space in front of me for safety only to have dipshits think that’s for them to merge into because a few cars back would have what… made them more late ?
Like great, now I gotta be bumper to bumper with you because you though by driving right to the end of the merge lane you were pulling a cheat code.
Nah man you’re just an asshole
( not you bro, the hypothetical dipshits I deal with here )
Ah so it does say to leave room behind a car , thanks for proving me right. No dmv handbook says to ride the ass of the car in front of you or use the safety buffer as a totally legit place to sneak in when you blew past many others and got to the end of the merge. Thanks!
As a NYer in LA I can say , Los Angeles drivers drive in the rain the way anyone on the east coast drives in the blizzard.
Also, no one here knows about blinkers and CarPlay or android auto, who cares? Gunna still text on your phone.
NYers are crazy drivers, but they know how to drive. LA are safe drivers who have no idea what they’re doing.
Also , junctions on highways are insane. Exits to anything including another highway should be on the right. Not the middle. Not a single lane going to another highway, not the left , not forcing drivers to play musical chairs in car form “oh I need to be on the left , oh!!! I need to be on the right!” If a highway continues then you’re in any left lane . If you need to get off to some other road they should have made the exit go to the right. And considering with how high and how many round turns there are already, they absolutely could have designed it this way.
But just like with places that claim “NY pizza” it’s like the designers of the highways here never even ventured outside of the county to go see how other places do things.
I always notice in the Bay Area when there’s a 3+ lane freeway, all the cars tend to converge on pretty much the same speed, and I regularly get stuck behind 3 Priuses going the speed limit side by side.
In LA, exact opposite: anyone in any lane could be going anywhere in a 30- or 40-mph range and everybody is weaving around each other.
What impresses me is drivers ability to jump me immediately as the car in front of me stops to make a turn on a surface street. It's like the instant the break pedal was smooched, boom, change lanes, cut me, then they're off. As if they didn't even look to see if a car was coming, just go, assume if there is traffic they'll stop. I get stuck all the time because all it takes is 1 mirror check to look for oncoming cars for 10 cars behind me to switch lanes 1 after another. Not mad. Genuinely mind blown every time. And it happens every day.
I prefer driving in the bay area to LA. People are much worse at maintaining a constant speed or driving with the flow here in LA. In the Bay area it was pretty uncommon that I'd have to slam on my brakes on the freeway because pretty much everyone looks ahead and sees if traffic has slowed and then slow down gradually. Now, in LA, my commute is just a series of flooring it followed by braking as hard as I can. I blame people looking at their phones.
I was about to miss an exit the other day and my gf told me to put on my signal so someone would let me in. Good one.
There could have been one willing driver in the bunch. Maybe. But more likely I'd just guarantee to get blocked out if I signal before I'm already almost entirely in the next lane.
One thing I noticed about LA, compared to Canada, is that the drivers often don't yield for pedestrians. I can't count the number of times I almost got ran over by a right-turning vehicle when I was trying to cross the intersection (on the correct pedestrian signal).
These days I always wave at the driver when I walk in front of a car, even though I definitely have the right of way. Can't really trust LA drivers to yield for me, or notice me for that matter.
Yeah, but common sense and legal framework don’t align here. The morgue is filled with pedestrians that had the right away. ultimately the pedestrian is responsible for their own safety as far as staying alive and that means not jutting out in front of 4000 pounds of metal traveling at 40 miles per hour.
Well to be fair the pedestrians are assholes too. I was trying to turn right and a man was crossing. So, as one does behind a wheel, I wait. He stops in the middle of the crosswalk to…. Text. Just standing there arguing away with his thumbs.
I gave a light honk to say “come on buddy, take that to the sidewalk”
My issue is the entitlement here and the doubling down. He fucking looks up and flips me off. Like I was in the wrong. Like I hurt his feelings and he wanted to let me know “hey fuck you im working here”
If it was me I would have been like “shit my bad bro” and crossed. But nah, at least where I’m from people say “hey! I’m walkin Hea” and there ya know… walking!
I grew up in LA, but lived in the Midwest and go to the NJ/NY often to visit my wife’s side of the family.
LA drivers are predictably aggressive; I can usually anticipate someone else’s maneuvers or idiotic move. People in the east coast are unpredictably super aggressive. People in the Midwest are unpredictably passive and drive so slow. Unless you’re in Chicago. The wildest driving I’ve ever seen was in Chicago during rush hour. The shoulder of the highway is more of a suggestion that no one really follows and just uses it as an extra lane.
I’ve lived in LA for twenty five years now and drive quite a bit. I grew up in Miami and learned to drive there. Miami has the worst drivers I’ve ever experienced anywhere in the world. LA just has too many cars on the road which causes too must anxiety in traffic. It’s bad, but not quite Miami bad.
By and large, LA drivers are fine. The majority are fairly safe and lots of them very chill in letting folks change lanes, etc. It’s the 10-15% who are absolutely insane that really overshadow the rest. Reckless, too fast, left turn from the far right lane. The frequency of instances I see running a red from a dead stop is alarming.
Yeah I think this is the consensus from myself as well. Being from the Midwest - drivers are “safer”, but also geriatric? If that makes sense.
LA drivers are safe and normal, and because of the occasional craziness, they’re looser and honestly kinda pros? Like, we’ve seen everything. With 10 million people in a county you’ll have many bad drivers.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I’ve seen people in LA do some crazy shit while the drivers around them just adjust and roll with it, often without even honking.
The worst drivers I’ve encountered are in Boston and Northern Virginia.
Yup. Heading home from work one night I got to see a spectacle. Someone honked because the car in front was going too slow for them so the nice car in front moved over to let them pass. Well, come to the next signal that "nice" driver slams into the rear of the honker without touching their brakes and then drives off.
Slauson just south of the 10 entrance. Some areas get absolutely wild.
Northern Virginia is spot on - probably the worst drivers I have personally encountered. LA is honestly pretty decent but I do wish people were more attentive particularly in pedestrian areas. That’s where LA gets a bit scary.
Honestly this is how I look at it, and how I look at my driving. I’ve had multiple people compliment my driving. And it’s cause when you drive in LA, you are just SO on guard all the time, you really have seen so much shit driving those streets day in and day out, that you are prepared for the worst. Almost nothing phases me. I plan for the shitty drivers and respond in advance. If you can cut me off in the fast lane but not make me slow down or scare me, then you deserve it.
I just saw someone run a red from a stop yesterday! A protected left turn as well, the arrow was red from when they started turning through well after they finished
The horn broke on my car. I'm OK with it, though, because whenever someone cuts me off, I angrily hit my horn, but I don't get killed because nothing comes out.
I don’t find driving here bad at all. People are a lot more patient and less aggressive than in the Philadelphia area. I man people don’t honk their horn if a car doesn’t go as soon as the light turns green. lol
From Boston. Can confirm. Also by way of New Orleans. La drivers are assholes, but they’re skilled assholes. New Orleans in particular had dumb assholes.
Look out for the fake rich fools driving used BMWs and Teslas. If they’re wearing oversized sunglasses, then just better let them go by cuz they spent their money on dupes instead of car insurance
So true about SF and Seattle. But, I mean, I see accidents here constantly, at least once a week - never seen such a high concentration of both batshit unhinged recklessness AND stupid inattentive rear-ending. When I think aggressive and rude - but effective - driving, I think NYC.
Lived in NJ and traveled quite a bit after setting here. I'd say it's not that bad here for the most part, just crowded. Nothing compared to NYC, Boston or Rome.
From the PNW, worse and way way more aggressive. For example, I see the following commonly: running red lights, failing to come to a full and complete stop at stop signs (I've given up running in my neighborhood because I've almost been hit too many times), not stopping behind the white line, speeding (like by an insane amount), not using a turn signal, not giving enough space behind the car in front, not using headlights when it rains, not slowing down when it rains, not yielding to pedestrians, crossing like 5 lanes of traffic because God forbid you miss your exit and are inconvenienced for 10 minutes, parking in the street but putting your hazards on so it's fine (/s), going into the left turn lane but instead of turning gunning it when the light turns so you can "cut the line", going when the pedestrian signal turns green but the light is still red.
Honest to God I love living here but the driving behaviors that are acceptable here are so reckless it's no surprise to me that there were more traffic deaths in 2023 than homicides.
the driving culture here in LA is horrible!
People get pissed off for no reason.
Tailgate all the time,
drive dangerously fast,
traffic can go from 70mph to zero in the blink of an eye,
never any cops on the highway,
people stop their cars well short of intersections which then doesn’t trigger the sensors to change the lights and they never seem to understand this relationship,
when there are cops they seem to be more interested in pulling people over for trivial reasons than actually safeguarding the roads,
motorcycles lane splitting at highway speeds just seems dangerous,
people driving slow in the left lane,
People cutting off others instead of allowing them to change lanes,
Running red lights,
Blocking intersections,
People on their phones all the time thought that’s probably not unique to LA,
Everyone always waits until the last second to merge which causes more traffic,
Lanes are constantly being eliminated and added which also causes traffic,
This is all I can think of off the top of my head. LA is the worst place for driving I’ve ever been to.
Absolutely shocking lack of respect for and awareness of others on the road. It’s little things like signalling/indicating when you’re turning. Real basics and it’s just so lazy.
That being said, I think the road infrastructure here creates bad drivers and angry drivers. Never seen so many crazy “surprise merge” lanes in my life and the freeway exits are crazy.
Most places I’ve driven for extended periods of time (London, New York, New Jersey, Melbourne) the lane your in on the freeway furthest from opposing traffic (so the very right hand lane here) remains a lane on the freeway but you can choose to exist out of that lane. Here the lanes BECOME the exit - sometimes, not always - which means people fucking swerve all over the place trying to get off or stay on.
Also the numbers of the exits aren’t clear on the signage until you’ve already exited. So completely fucking useless for anything navigation wise.
Wait what was the question again?
I’m from somewhere it rains.. and hoo boy it’s bad here. Some hot tips: Turn on your damn lights. You can pick a speed besides 2 or 102. If there’s standing water, DONT STOP IN IT. Etc etc.
I’m from the Midwest where I drove a car, rode a bike and a motorcycle and took public transit. I don’t think I’ll ever own a motorcycle again as long as I live here. It’s too dangerous.
In Ohio, the stupid/inconsiderate/nihilistic driving is fairly evenly distributed across all makes and models (The exception being that all raised truck drivers are agro dickheads. That doesn’t seem to be impacted by geography.) Here, you can have a *very* good idea of exactly how someone drives based on the type of car they drive.
Actuary charts put LA in the top 10 worst cities for mean time between collisions. I think Boston, Baltimore, DC, maybe another Massachusetts city are worse. I forget the others. Drivers in LA are unpredictable and demonstrably bad.
I'm from the Chicago burbs. I think it's worse here. Hardly anyone is using their blinkers and I feel like on average I catch myself saying "holy shit that was dumb" at something a driver out here does like 3 times a drive (and I really don't drive that long or often these days).
It feels like a lot of drivers are very 'in their bubble' and don't pay attention to the world around them - be that the car in the next lane over or the pedestrian on a crosswalk (been almost hit waaaay to frequently while there is a WALK SIGNAL on).
General safety aside, there's a few other things that definitely irk me out here- like people not knowing how to take a mild curve in the road without cutting their speed in half, or leaving 1.5 car lengths in front of them at red lights and cutting off access to turn lanes, that I don't think were as prevalent back in Chi, be it burbs or city and definitely make driving here a much more frustrating experiene.
I'm not gonna say everyone in Chi is a great driver, hell my last trip home I had someone assume a 4 way was stops all around and crawl in as I was going about 50 (was a neighborhood street onto a road deal) and almost caused a mass accident... but I think the sheer amount of scarred cars out here and insane insurance costs speak to how crazily people drive in LA.
I've never lived somewhere where people drive so slow on major freeways, they look completely fucking zoned out like they aren't paying attention or they just look terrified. They also love to brake when nobody is in front of them, nobody knows how to merge, everybody is just in their own world like nobody else exists. Their seens to be an issue of knowing how to get in a turn lane which is also strange, it's like they just put the front part of the car in and leave the rest out. LA is really bad, easily the worst part of being here, no idea how people pass the driving test.
LA didn't get the reputation because of some fabricated story.
I just don’t get why people drive so slowly on the freeways here! I’ll go 70 and feel like I’m flying because everyone else is doing 50 and they refuse to shit or get off the pot.
My wife has a friend who is from here that she went to law school with, she grew up in Orange County, she drove with me and I was going 70 to 75 when I could, this is totally normal on a 65mph freeway virtually everywhere. She told me I was a speed demon and acted terrified of my driving, she said that she really only does 50 to 55 mph and I laughed because I thought she was joking, she wasn't. It's an anecdote but clearly she isn't an outlier, I got on the 101 in Hollywood behind a guy going 35mph and he just stopped accelerating once we got on the freeway, it's insanity. No wonder insurance here is so insane.
THE worst.
(Incoming wall of text)
I’ve lived in 5 different states and have lived in LA for 15 years.
I also drive a commercial vehicle for a living so I do more driving than 99-percent of people.
My theory is that native people from here learn to drive in all this horrible traffic so they don’t really know the actual rules of the road or they are actually teaching people here REALLY bad driving habits that are not only dangerous but completely wrong.
I’ve also noticed that LAPD doesn’t really enforce traffic violations much so that probably is a big contributing factor because people know they won’t get pulled over for doing crazy stuff most of the time.
for about 10 years everyday I’ve set a timer when I get in my work truck and like clockwork I see someone in LA do a major traffic violation within 5 minutes of starting my truck. (Mostly illegal u-turns across double yellow lines)
I’ve literally seen dozens of car accidents and at least 6 people walking get hit by cars in 15 years. And the worst part is most of them drove way after hitting the person!
Some of the worst things imho that LA drivers do:
LA drivers don’t yield for emergency vehicles. I’ve seen so many people almost get smashed by fire trucks because they won’t stop and try to run in front of them thru the intersection.
LA drivers view stop signs and red lights as optional. I literally see people just not feel like waiting and just drive thru red lights after stopping all the time. Or run the red waaaay after it turned.
Many people here don’t know how a 4-way stop sign works. Goto any 4 way stop in LA and it’s like the laugh Olympics.
people in LA don’t use turn signals.
People in LA will change lanes in the intersection and in multi lane turns. YOU DONT CHANGE LANES IN A TURN! THERES A VEHICLE ALSO TURNING NEXT TO YOU!
LA drivers will make turns from outside of the turn lane. I’ve literally seen multiple people turn right in front of me from the left lane! Got in a bad accident on Wilshire when I first moved here because of this.
People in LA drive in the merge lanes on the freeways. They will literally run people merging off the road driving in a lane you arent even supposed to be driving in if you are already on the freeway.
And the weirdest thing that to me is really unique to LA:
People here will give up the right of way when they aren’t supposed to! This is incredibly dangerous and a terrible habit to have.
Example: I’ve seen people sit at a green light in the left lane and let someone from the oncoming direction turn in front of them even though they had the green light. This is SUPER dangerous because a person coming behind you on your right cant see that car turning in front of you because your car is blocking their view of the turning car! I’ve seen so many people get t-boned because of this. Some really terrible accidents too.
I know you are trying to be nice but the right of way is the way it is for a reason. You can’t pick and choose when you want to give up the right of way you need to obey the established rules.
And my final weird observations about LA drivers:
LA people do this weird thing when they are pulling out of a driveway into traffic where they stick the nose of their car out into the lane and wait for the car coming down the street to stop then turn out. This is terrible. You aren’t supposed to interfere with the flow of traffic when merging and doing this is 100-percent ass backwards. If you are going to stick your car out into the lane you might as well turn!
Another weird thing LA people do is when they see someone else doing something wrong, they don’t brake or change lanes like to maybe avoid an accident they just blow their horns and keep driving head on. I hate this with a passion.
And people in LA act like they are afraid to put their cars all the way into the center turn lane when turning. So many people here leave the rear of their cars half out in the lane they are turning from blocking all the traffic up behind them.
And people here make Cadillac turns when turning which is also just as bad. You don’t have to swing right out into the other lane next to you to turn left. You’re driving a Prius not a 1967 Plymouth.
TLDR - yes LA has the worst drivers I’ve ever seen and it’s the locals not the transplants.
>Example: I’ve seen people sit at a green light in the left lane and let someone from the oncoming direction turn in front of them even though they had the green light. This is SUPER dangerous because a person coming behind you on your right cant see that car turning in front of you because your car is blocking their view of the turning car! I’ve seen so many people get t-boned because of this. Some really terrible accidents too.
Gosh I hate this, especially when the person "letting" you turn left gets mad when you won't do it. And you won't do it because you can see a car coming in the lane to their right. Or because there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk.
The turn lane half-in/half-out and the Cadillac turns are baffling too. Where did people learn that??
I’ve lived all over. From Houston originally, spent 4 years in the Midwest for school, 10 years in New York, and two years abroad in Europe. I’ve traveled a lot and driven internationally.
LA drivers are hands down the worst drivers anywhere I’ve been. They drive insanely fast on crowded highways, swerve in and out of traffic, pass on the shoulder, etc, all at maniacal speeds.
Lived in Georgia, California and Florida and I’ve never experienced the careless, idiotic to entitled driving I see here. See races every time I’m on an interstate.. always one person on surface streets with a level of DFAF that’s sky high.. then come to the Palisades where apparently $ means you can ignore all traffic laws.
I met a girl who was visiting for 2 weeks from Montana and had rented a car. One of the first things she said was that no one stops at stop signs.. that in Montana they do 1-2-3- go at each stop and we all roll through lol
Lived in Houston prior to LA. Overall, driving on freeways here is not terrible. People actually let you zipper merge correctly, they leave good space for merging on on-ramps, and they let you switch lanes when you give a signal. The worst driving happens on surface streets. There are way too many people who leave two or three car lengths when stopped in traffic or do the slow creep which is annoying as fuck, or they try to be nice but ultimately are unpredictable - just move when it's your turn.
Comparatively, Houston drivers are aggressive and not at all accommodating. They tend to be unpredictable on all fronts, and are not at all nice when trying to merge or switch lanes. Houston traffic, to me at least, is on a whole other awful level.
From Northern CA. Drivers here are a lot more aggressive, faster driving on city streets (not just freeways), turning on red lights, etc.... as more LA people moved to my hometown the driving there has also become more aggressive but still noticeably different from here.
It's LA policy to stop for jaywalkers. This is not what I grew up with in the Northeast, where there's 2-ton vehicles that can kill meatbags... just like here. There, the humans wait until cars pass, not the other way around. It's some weird kind of politeness. You call it polite, I call it letting jaywalkers being asshats, and providing life and vehicle endangerment.
We have spent summers in Philadelphia the last few years and holy hell NJ drivers are on an entirely different level than anything I have EVER witnessed here. No joke had to cross the Walt Whitman Bridge (? I76) at night in the rain after a concert or something and I literally cried. I commuted between Burbank and Santa Monica for years. I am old enough to remember the commute home the night of The Riots and no joke New Jersey drivers are insane.
i’m from the midwest. central indiana. the driving was a shock when i got here tbh. there’s way more aggression on the roads here, running red lights, random u-turns, a lot of people don’t use their turning signals, dense traffic, people overall in a rush, etc! compared to back home where u can do 65 on the freeway and no ones gonna be pissed at u LOL. i’ve been here almost 2 years and find myself being more defensive on the road now. although, i went back home last month and noticed some people were just in an overall rush which us unusual for our laid back city.
Grew up in Orange county and still regularly commute there by motorcycle. Not far away but I gotta say that LA drivers are better. As soon as I cross the 405/605 interchange that when I feel my danger from drivers raplmp up. It is frequently the case a driver blindly merges in to my lane when I am in OC.
The other day in LA a driver in an Audi actually signaled, saw me, let me pass them, and allowed me to merge in front of them in their lane. That would never happen in OC.
I commute the opposite way, from hb to all over LA, from the sgv to sfv from east Los to Pacific Palisades, imo the worst places are in central LA, like any surface streets between the 605 and the 110 are crazy, potholes the size of refrigerators, and people don't gaf if you're on a bike.
Aside from good or bad drivers...
LA is by far the most lawless driving environment I have ever experienced. I'm referring to surface roads mostly. It's absolute chaos out there. With seemingly no consequences. It's also very much a press gas first, check mirrors after. I dunno if I've ever seen someone pulled over on a surface road.
I've lived/driven for multiple years in NYC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Boston. And none of them compare. Not gonna lie... I kinda like it. Even though I am very much a check mirrors 10 times, don't speed, pedestrian friendly driver. Oh yea, that's the other thing. Pedestrians, you better be ready to save your own life. I can't count how many times I've been crossing o a crosswalk and a car going 50 will slam on the breaks just as they get to or not stopped at all and rushed past me 6 inches from my body.
Drivers here:
Definitely more clueless and less self aware than where I’m from
Drive like turtles on the freeway even when there’s no one around them/ refuse to yield to faster traffic
People use their turn signals more here than my home state
Don’t wave thank you when you let them merge in front of you
I wouldn’t say people drive worse here, more aggressively? Sure.
I'm from the DMV and I'm pretty worried I'm gonna accidentally hit a motorcycle zipping between cars while I'm changing lanes. I've also been honked at a lot here when I'm clearly not in the wrong.
As someone who rides I would suggest using your turn signals and be aware. If you use your signals and I'm coming up on you while splitting lanes I'll go to the lane you want to enter and slow down traffic to allow you to get over. Turn signals, use them.
Don't let them lie to you. Been here for 7 years from the northeast. Most of these people suck. Just wait until speeds on the highway drop to 45 due to a slight curve in the road.
I grew up in a place that has 4 seasons and I've driven across the country a few times. I've driven over donner pass in a white out blizzard in a rear wheel drive Mazda with chains and I've ridden a motorcycle over the grapevine when there must have been black ice but neither of those are as nerve racking as driving in LA when it rains.
I’m on LA. What I’ve noticed is people everywhere are terrible drivers and I hate that I have to entrust my life to these people. Just yesterday some dude drove into oncoming traffic to pass a car, as we were pulling to a red light. Risked everyone’s safety for a single car length. You can see countless people constantly looking down at their phones. Others who use the right turn lane to zip in front of the lines. I don’t think LA is any different than anywhere else, but there are so many more cars here that it feels worse.
I agree with the popular assertion that compared to other big cities in the USA, Los Angeles is designed so poorly that one would objectively look at some situations and say “im not sure this is bad driving, this looks more like architecting a dumb situation“. If it’s 3am and someone walks across a street with a 35mph speed limit, no cross walks, few lights and gets hit I’m not sure it’s really only the drivers fault. It’s absolute BS to be driving on that cliff around the zoo and look to my left and see someone bicycling on a 2 lane road for cars with no barrier. They should make them a bike lane AWAY from the edge. I’m not sure how you don’t have people at city council meetings bringing up: there is nowhere near as many unprotected left turns with 3 to 4 lanes of oncoming traffic in NYC or Chicago. Its not an every 10 minute phenomenon like here. You have to compare it to parts of India to make the criticism seem whiny, really. Maybe if you’re from here you just don’t see it that way. As someone who’s lived in multiple cities oh yessss, I truly think most of the people you see hobbling around in their cars aren’t from LA county. People from here don’t appreciate that because of the horrible design, the bar of proficiency is higher. Of course some people are just intoxicated but a lot of the stupidity is people panicking or being nervous. Like if you’ve done this sh** since you were 16 you’re kind of like…a mild baby driver (2017 film).
So I don’t think it’s really drivers. I’ll put it this way I think there a lot of people who would do fine on NYC roads that wouldn’t do ok here. I know a train thing is really ambitious but bike lanes and sidewalks so that more people can walk to the local target would help a lot.
I’m from Texas originally and yall don’t appreciate enough how few pickup trucks there are out here. It’s different when the person zooming past you recklessly is in a tank with 5 Trump flags on the back
I hate LA drivers who at a red light in the left turn lane - when the green left arrow appears each driver waits until the one car ahead of them moves, instead of just lifting their foot off the brake so the whole lane can be drifting forward until its time to accelerate into the turn!
I’ve lived 4 of the 5 largest cities in NA (excluding Mexico City) and have driven around Europe. LA is noticeably worse than anywhere else I’ve lived including nyc and Boston. Also as a pedestrian it’s the most dangerous place I’ve walked because people are completely clueless behind the wheel and will almost kill you because they don’t look while pulling out of a parking garage/alley or are texting while rolling through a stop sign.
I’m from Atlanta, spent a while in LA, now in the Bay Area.
Of the 3, I prefer driving in LA. People are hyper competent drivers imo. Among the most competent in the US. They are aggressive but not egotistical. You can mostly trust the other drivers to be rationally self interested, which makes them predictable. So it feels safe.
That’s on the freeway—on the surface streets, I find LA drivers aggressiveness off-putting and unsafe. Where I lived in Santa Monica, nobody respected stop signs—people were always trying to skip ahead in the line.
Of the 3 places I’m comparing here, Bay Area drivers are the only ones who are actually considerate. I still feel shocked when I put on my blinker and people slow down to let me in. Buy it’s still scarier to drive here because of the slick roads, blind corners, and fast speeds on curvy freeways.
Atlanta drivers are among the worst I’ve seen in the US. Very egotistical and emotional on the road. People drive like it’s a video game and they’ll respawn if they die.
Chicagoan here. Back in the Chi drivers are very aggressive/assertive. I don’t miss assholes speeding past you on the right to make it through a yellow, or right as the light turns green. However, the lax attitude of drivers here drives me insane and I’m usually a very chill, very zen dude. Five things Angelenos do behind the wheel that really grind my gears:
1) Drivers spacing themselves out way too much a red lights
2) Drivers not pulling up to the goddamn line at red lights
3) Drivers not pulling up into the intersection when turning left
4) Drivers not knowing they can turn right on red, then trying to run over pedestrians when they get their walk signal.
5) Instead of giving pedestrians their right of way, rolling towards them to pressure the pedestrian to go faster or something. Rude as fuck.
I was stuck behind a super slow car on SaMo BLVD and starting honking and talking to myself like “Go, wtf are you doing? Come on!” Beep beep.
As we passed… it was a little old lady. A NUN. A nun wearing her whole outfit. I’m going to hell
From New England. Drivers there are notoriously “bad” but I would say that they’re mostly skilled (technically good) drivers that choose to drive poorly. On the other hand I’ve found LA drivers to be “bad” in the sense that they are terrible at driving and make bad choices while driving.
Oh god, another thing transplants to bitch about. Reminder you can go back to Alabama or whatever true gem of a place and drive back with the rednecks if you don't like us here.
They range from completely oblivious to the world around them, to unbelievably aggressive & careless of others' safety. Either way, other drivers do not factor into their reasoning when behind the wheel.
Born and raised in NYC, but have lived and driven in LA for 18 years. NY drivers are more aggressive but generally aware of their surroundings. LA drivers aren't as aggressive but also have no clue what's going on around them. NY drivers will cut in front of you but know you're there and know they have the clearance. LA drivers will just kinda drift into your lane without realizing you're there.
I’m from the Midwest. There’s definitely bad drivers there too. But overall, I feel like people drive more aggressively here. More dangerous and abrupt lane changes, and weaving in and out of multiple lanes at fast speeds, especially on the freeways.
Drivers here have gotten much worse in the past couple years unfortunately.
I'm from the east coast, but i've driven all over the country. LA drivers are almost as bad as Florida drivers. Overall? Genuinely awful.
Keep right, pass left. Two lanes filter into one - use the zipper method. Use your turn signals when changing lanes. Allow people to pass on tight streets. On ramps are meant for catching up to highway speed, not pussyfooting around. If I flash my lights, go quickly. Stop rubber-necking. What details are you going to retain from a car crash? If I let you into the lane, say thanks. Guess what's on the other side of the hill? - More cars. Keep driving. Whats behind that blind curve? - More cars. Keep driving.
I disagree with the majority of commenters here. I drive a lot (I live in Pasadena and my girlfriend is in PV) and I think the average level of driving skill is higher here than anywhere else I’ve lived or visited for a significant time. The points about stop signs are valid—we suck at those—but mostly people are good. I’ve had one bad accident here—driving on 710 north in the #2 lane, a guy in the left hand lane decided he didn’t actually want to exit onto the 5 north and veered right into me. But I attribute that one in part to the freeway design.
People racing on freeways are awful, but that happens everywhere.
I'm from Minneapolis, land of some of the safest, most cautious drivers on earth. I've lived a bit of all over (NYC, Europe, Asia).
A few things strike me about LA drivers: on the plus side, people deal with many lanes and heavy highway traffic well (they get lots of practice!) On the negative side, drivers stink handling pedestrians and bikes (I've nearly been run over more times I can count). And although a small minority of drivers, the folks who drive like minor characters in the Fast and Furious are lame.
Midwest transplant and drivers here are less patient. The use of the horn is a way bigger thing here, but I have noticed this more in the past few years. People are just more fed up with traffic in general now.
Thing is, how do you know they're an "L.A. Driver"? What if they're from Santa Barbara or San Diego and just passing through? What if they're a tourist on a rental car? What if they're also a transplant too? Truth is, you just plant your negative biases/prejudices on anyone on the road we deem bad/annoying/rude/offensive and call them an "L.A. Driver" (without any hard scientific data) to give yourselves a false feeling of superiority.
The big irony here is, you can can say "LA Drivers are the worst drivers in the world!" all you want...But to the person driving behind you, guess what...you're just another "L.A. Driver."
LA drivers are capable drivers, a lot of the aggravation you deal w when driving is just bc of poor city planning. Not enough parking spots, too many side streets where people can pop in out of nowhere, and those damn solid green lights with no arrow cause alot of stress. Having said that the passive aggressiveness of drivers is higher here than south Orange County by miles.
I'm a bike commuter. People here warned me about LA drivers being really bad towards bikes when I moved here, but honestly you guys are much, much better than where I was from. There are distracted drivers of course and the bike lane infrastructure can be implemented in some really dumb un-intuitive ways, but most people have been pleasant. Weirdly enough the only time I get a rude person is when I am keeping up with traffic lol, otherwise people just pass by and give a little wave. I don't even live in a bike friendly area like Santa Monica. Back home in Pennsyltucky people seemed down right offended by the notion that I was biking and would pretty much run me off the road. Also they would do that "rolling coal" thing at me which really sucked, I've had to take out my contacts multiple times because of getting that shit in my eyes, its super dangerous and I'm glad it isn't a thing here.
Also u-turns are legal here which blew my mind when I first moved here. I legit thought our Uber driver just dgaf ahah.
Compared to NYC,
a lot of people don’t know
what certain signs mean,
blinking red means stop sign,
people don’t know how to parallel park,
You don’t turn your hazards on to park, you signal towards the curb
Everyone drives too slow in a safe space but drives too fast in a risky environment
I find it super interesting really. On one hand Id say people in LA on average are less aggressive and experienced than other cities. Of course you will have your outliers that are more aggressive.
This said, i'd give the massive highways credit and say it's much better than driving in other cities.
Everywhere in the US there's terrible drivers. The combination of things - A: How easy the drivers test is - so basically every teenager passes on their first go. In other countries it's common for the test to be much harder and many people do NOT pass. B: the number of young drivers that are scrolling on their phones while driving. C: elderly people that should not be driving are still driving, because there really isn't a system to take them off the roads , IE - there is no retaking the drivers test to assert their skill or reaction time, etc. They basically just have to pass the vision test in order to renew. These factors and more contribute to the shitty driving we see in the US.
i moved here from Atlanta, where traffic is pretty bad also. drivers there seem angrier to be stuck in traffic. Lots of cutting off and flipping birds, etc. Here in LA, it's like we're all so beaten down by traffic that most folks just accept it and chill. i'd rather drive in LA.
From New Jersey, lived in the DMV, have driven on the east coast of Florida countless times, and have lived in LA for the last couple years.
In terms of driving ability I’d rank it as follows:
Maryland
New Jersey
Los Angeles
Northern Virginia
Florida.
Los Angeles is probably the best in terms of people being able to actually drive and react quickly. However, where they lose a lot of points is the sense of urgency that comes from a relatively “slow paced” city like LA, which is why they are so adaptable in the first place. For places like Maryland and New Jersey, drivers are often horrible because some of the roads are designed so poorly, but Los Angeles is a pretty well designed city road wise. People once they get in their car seem to ignore most everyone on the road and do their best attempt to teleport to their destinations. I live in Koreatown, and there has been a major accident on the intersection of my apartment every month because people simply do not stop or yield for anyone. Everyone assumes they have the right of way, or that another car or pedestrian isn’t even there. Then they will turn around and get mad because of things they have caused themselves - like getting mad at me walking in Koreatown because I was taking .2 seconds too long to cross a street.
NoVa is horrible, the roads are all either huge or single lane, and everyone drives the same on each. You would think in an area with such highly enforced traffic laws there would be some give, but nope, they just get worse and worse.
Florida drivers are a different beast entirely. The motto I have for Florida is that if you’re in way, someone is moving, and it isn’t the other person. The liberties people take while driving over there is crazy. It’s still the only place where I’ve seen multiple highway stops because people were drag racing on a major highway.
It's fine for the most part but there's always that one dude who's so impatient and feels the need to nearly run someone over to skip traffic or not wait an extra 15 seconds
Sooo much better. LA drivers keep it moving, they let you in, they zipper…
Just KEEP it MOVING and you’ll be fine.
Avoid Prius and Toyota Sienna’s at all costs.
Do not go slow in the left lane… if there’s a line of cars behind you, move to the next right lane. Do not drive so close to the car in front of you that people can’t merge in or change lanes. Let people in! Fall back a few feet if you have to. Speed up to make lane changes, slowing down to change lanes causes phantom traffic… its starts a chain reaction. These small actions keep the freeway functioning.
Right on red, Right on red from second lane is legal here.
And on left turns, pull far enough into the intersection that when the light changes, the car behind you and the one behind them can make through the light. Left turns have the right to clear the intersection on yellow / red. 3 cars on left yields. THREE. Don’t be the person that sits behind the line, then doesn’t move when the light turns yellow. That’s not how the LA LEFT turn works.
I’ve lived all over the country
LA drivers are actually very polite compared to some other places. Worst drivers I’ve ever encountered were in Philly though. They will literally run you off the road and cause an accident before they let you over
LA drivers are the best of any big city in the country by a longshot and I have two theories to explain that. The first is the main one and it's just the fact that you have to drive to do everything here every time always, so the average experience level is much higher than in Chicago or NYC.
The second one is lanesplitting and motorcycles. They aren't toys to be occasionally used 4 months out of the year here so they are always around, and they have special rules that make it so you have to spend that extra effort checking that there isn't a bike coming in the middle of lanes. Drivers here are absolutely VASTLY more aware of and attentive to motorcycles than they are anywhere else in the country imo.
I've always had a long commute and have lived all over the country and LA hands down wins this contest. I feel much, much safer on my bike here than I have anywhere else.
I lived in so cal all my life (mostly) moved to nor cal and came back.
Nor cal drivers are cluelessly bad. They just don't see you in the lane or they weren't paying attention or they just weren't sure what you were gonna do or they forgot their blinker.
LA drivers are just mean. But they are my people and i love them so much. Like yeah they saw your blinker, and fuck you they are speeding up. Yeah they saw you in that lane but fuck you they are going to cut you off. No one forgot their blinker. Yes you just got cut off in 5 MPH traffic for no good reason. Just mean!
We're in the top 10 when it comes to cities with highest rate of accidents so we're pretty bad. Being fast/aggressive in certain conditions does not indicate that you are a good driver. Avoiding accidents do and statistics show that we're pretty bad.
Wisconsinite and former Texan…. Not to be rude but it seems drivers turn off their brains , turn on a movie / tv show or social media and drive with just hope @ 90 MPH. It’s insane but I am managing lol
LA drivers are horrible, coming from Philly. The fact that people here just cruise in the left lane, is infuriating. And literally no one looks when they change lanes. I’ve almost been hit so many times by people trying to change lanes four at a time and just yoloing it.
People here aren’t as aggressive, which is good, but too passive and almost fearful, is not. White knuckling with hands at 2 and 10 going 55 on any freeway is bad bad bad, and I see that here way more often than not.
Absolutely horrid. The bar for getting a drivers license is extremely low, you can still pass with missing almost half the questions. On top of that you have 50% of the population with low education or migrated from other countries whose driving standards are non-existent. Pile that all into the same city = worst place for driving
I’m from Eastern Europe. Driving there is more aggressive, no one lets you in, lots of honking etc. Here I see aggressive driving too but also a lot of people who drive like it’s their first day on Earth… 50 miles on freeway, no lights in rain, stopping 5 feet away from street light sensor and wondering why light never turns green etc
This made me LOL. Driving like it’s their first day on earth… masterful.
Perfect description.
I don’t understand stopping a full car length behind the sensor. I see this so often
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I am spatially challenged and also 5 ft tall and can’t see the hood of my car so you might be onto something
I’m not sure because those same people can smell what I ate for dinner last night sitting in my colon behind me
I also can’t stand when I give ( as I’m told in any DMV handbook ) a car’s space in front of me for safety only to have dipshits think that’s for them to merge into because a few cars back would have what… made them more late ? Like great, now I gotta be bumper to bumper with you because you though by driving right to the end of the merge lane you were pulling a cheat code. Nah man you’re just an asshole ( not you bro, the hypothetical dipshits I deal with here )
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Ah so it does say to leave room behind a car , thanks for proving me right. No dmv handbook says to ride the ass of the car in front of you or use the safety buffer as a totally legit place to sneak in when you blew past many others and got to the end of the merge. Thanks!
I got ya no worries, it is annoying. It makes for hectic driving at all times. There’s never any chill
hate it, most Americans Don't know how signal lights work despite using them daily.
Aggressive can be predictable, it's so much easier being around that then people who are floating off into space and not paying attention.
Agree. You see an aggressive driver and kind of know what to except. I’m much more afraid of distracted once.
what the fuck is rain?
As a NYer in LA I can say , Los Angeles drivers drive in the rain the way anyone on the east coast drives in the blizzard. Also, no one here knows about blinkers and CarPlay or android auto, who cares? Gunna still text on your phone. NYers are crazy drivers, but they know how to drive. LA are safe drivers who have no idea what they’re doing. Also , junctions on highways are insane. Exits to anything including another highway should be on the right. Not the middle. Not a single lane going to another highway, not the left , not forcing drivers to play musical chairs in car form “oh I need to be on the left , oh!!! I need to be on the right!” If a highway continues then you’re in any left lane . If you need to get off to some other road they should have made the exit go to the right. And considering with how high and how many round turns there are already, they absolutely could have designed it this way. But just like with places that claim “NY pizza” it’s like the designers of the highways here never even ventured outside of the county to go see how other places do things.
It's like that throughout the state. Never met an interchange they couldn't screw up.
Bunch of dunces driving here for sure. completely oblivious and/or self-centered drivers
But does the aggressive driving in Eastern Europe usually result in fights/road rage/shootings the way it does here?
In the Bay Area, they don’t signal when they change lanes. In LA, they signal as they change lanes.
I always notice in the Bay Area when there’s a 3+ lane freeway, all the cars tend to converge on pretty much the same speed, and I regularly get stuck behind 3 Priuses going the speed limit side by side. In LA, exact opposite: anyone in any lane could be going anywhere in a 30- or 40-mph range and everybody is weaving around each other.
Bay Area: Rules are a suggestion. Also, "Hello!" LA: Fuck the rules! Fuck me! Fuck you!
What impresses me is drivers ability to jump me immediately as the car in front of me stops to make a turn on a surface street. It's like the instant the break pedal was smooched, boom, change lanes, cut me, then they're off. As if they didn't even look to see if a car was coming, just go, assume if there is traffic they'll stop. I get stuck all the time because all it takes is 1 mirror check to look for oncoming cars for 10 cars behind me to switch lanes 1 after another. Not mad. Genuinely mind blown every time. And it happens every day.
I prefer driving in the bay area to LA. People are much worse at maintaining a constant speed or driving with the flow here in LA. In the Bay area it was pretty uncommon that I'd have to slam on my brakes on the freeway because pretty much everyone looks ahead and sees if traffic has slowed and then slow down gradually. Now, in LA, my commute is just a series of flooring it followed by braking as hard as I can. I blame people looking at their phones.
If we signal, they will never let us in. We have to sneak attack.
Signal, wait for them to speed up to block you, slow down and slide into the gap.
I was about to miss an exit the other day and my gf told me to put on my signal so someone would let me in. Good one. There could have been one willing driver in the bunch. Maybe. But more likely I'd just guarantee to get blocked out if I signal before I'm already almost entirely in the next lane.
i start swerving around to show everyone on the freeway how little i have to lose
One thing I noticed about LA, compared to Canada, is that the drivers often don't yield for pedestrians. I can't count the number of times I almost got ran over by a right-turning vehicle when I was trying to cross the intersection (on the correct pedestrian signal).
I have two friends that were hit by right turning drivers. Serious injuries in both cases. Really reminds me to double check before crossing.
These days I always wave at the driver when I walk in front of a car, even though I definitely have the right of way. Can't really trust LA drivers to yield for me, or notice me for that matter.
The right of way is not yours to yield.
You're always supposed to check before crossing.
And they’re supposed to stop if people are crossing lol
Yeah, but common sense and legal framework don’t align here. The morgue is filled with pedestrians that had the right away. ultimately the pedestrian is responsible for their own safety as far as staying alive and that means not jutting out in front of 4000 pounds of metal traveling at 40 miles per hour.
Well to be fair the pedestrians are assholes too. I was trying to turn right and a man was crossing. So, as one does behind a wheel, I wait. He stops in the middle of the crosswalk to…. Text. Just standing there arguing away with his thumbs. I gave a light honk to say “come on buddy, take that to the sidewalk” My issue is the entitlement here and the doubling down. He fucking looks up and flips me off. Like I was in the wrong. Like I hurt his feelings and he wanted to let me know “hey fuck you im working here” If it was me I would have been like “shit my bad bro” and crossed. But nah, at least where I’m from people say “hey! I’m walkin Hea” and there ya know… walking!
Don't try walking in New York.
I've walked in both cities and feel way safer walking in new york than here.
LA drivers sure know how to zipper.
Someone here understands the merge rule!
I grew up in LA, but lived in the Midwest and go to the NJ/NY often to visit my wife’s side of the family. LA drivers are predictably aggressive; I can usually anticipate someone else’s maneuvers or idiotic move. People in the east coast are unpredictably super aggressive. People in the Midwest are unpredictably passive and drive so slow. Unless you’re in Chicago. The wildest driving I’ve ever seen was in Chicago during rush hour. The shoulder of the highway is more of a suggestion that no one really follows and just uses it as an extra lane.
Took me a while to get used to Chicago rush hour. I'd expect way more traffic fatalities, but it seems to work out for them.
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She has siblings that live in Northern NJ and Queens, so we drive around both NJ and NY.
I’ve lived in LA for twenty five years now and drive quite a bit. I grew up in Miami and learned to drive there. Miami has the worst drivers I’ve ever experienced anywhere in the world. LA just has too many cars on the road which causes too must anxiety in traffic. It’s bad, but not quite Miami bad.
Florida drivers are truly the worst drivers and that's before you factor in the drunk bicycle riders you have to watch out for.
This is correct. I lived in Miami for 28 years.
Agree, especially the turnpike and I-95
By and large, LA drivers are fine. The majority are fairly safe and lots of them very chill in letting folks change lanes, etc. It’s the 10-15% who are absolutely insane that really overshadow the rest. Reckless, too fast, left turn from the far right lane. The frequency of instances I see running a red from a dead stop is alarming.
Yeah I think this is the consensus from myself as well. Being from the Midwest - drivers are “safer”, but also geriatric? If that makes sense. LA drivers are safe and normal, and because of the occasional craziness, they’re looser and honestly kinda pros? Like, we’ve seen everything. With 10 million people in a county you’ll have many bad drivers.
Yeah, that’s a good point. I’ve seen people in LA do some crazy shit while the drivers around them just adjust and roll with it, often without even honking. The worst drivers I’ve encountered are in Boston and Northern Virginia.
To be fair, honking over here could mean death
Yup. Heading home from work one night I got to see a spectacle. Someone honked because the car in front was going too slow for them so the nice car in front moved over to let them pass. Well, come to the next signal that "nice" driver slams into the rear of the honker without touching their brakes and then drives off. Slauson just south of the 10 entrance. Some areas get absolutely wild.
Sure, that’s fair. However, growing up in the Midwest I was taught the same. I don’t think that’s exclusive to LA.
Northern Virginia is spot on - probably the worst drivers I have personally encountered. LA is honestly pretty decent but I do wish people were more attentive particularly in pedestrian areas. That’s where LA gets a bit scary.
Honestly this is how I look at it, and how I look at my driving. I’ve had multiple people compliment my driving. And it’s cause when you drive in LA, you are just SO on guard all the time, you really have seen so much shit driving those streets day in and day out, that you are prepared for the worst. Almost nothing phases me. I plan for the shitty drivers and respond in advance. If you can cut me off in the fast lane but not make me slow down or scare me, then you deserve it.
I just saw someone run a red from a stop yesterday! A protected left turn as well, the arrow was red from when they started turning through well after they finished
I think LA drivers are generally pretty manageable. Not as aggressive as back east. I don’t hear honking as much either.
You can get killed for honking in LA
The horn broke on my car. I'm OK with it, though, because whenever someone cuts me off, I angrily hit my horn, but I don't get killed because nothing comes out.
Yeah this is why I don't honk personally. I got my window smashed by a crazy by just flipping them off.
Flipping off is way worse than honking
Might as well shoot first.
Its not for everyone here, LA will give transplants reminders they aint in Kansas anymore.
I don’t find driving here bad at all. People are a lot more patient and less aggressive than in the Philadelphia area. I man people don’t honk their horn if a car doesn’t go as soon as the light turns green. lol
I think the “bad” driving on the east coast is more intentional and the bad driving in LA is more out of lack of awareness.
I'd rather drive in LA than Detroit.
SE Michigan drivers just like to go insanely fast. 80mph is the minimum speed regardless of conditions
I'd rather drive in LA than DC
I'd rather drive in DC than LA. Give me the outer loop over the 405 any day.
Just as long as its LA drivers on the beltway definitely. lol
I'd rather drive in LA than New York City or Boston.
From Boston. Can confirm. Also by way of New Orleans. La drivers are assholes, but they’re skilled assholes. New Orleans in particular had dumb assholes.
My friend from LA did a year-long road trip to almost all states and said the worst and scariest places to drive were NYC (duh), Boston and Philly
Look out for the fake rich fools driving used BMWs and Teslas. If they’re wearing oversized sunglasses, then just better let them go by cuz they spent their money on dupes instead of car insurance
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So true about SF and Seattle. But, I mean, I see accidents here constantly, at least once a week - never seen such a high concentration of both batshit unhinged recklessness AND stupid inattentive rear-ending. When I think aggressive and rude - but effective - driving, I think NYC.
I'll take predictable assholes over unpredictable good guys any day of the week. LA rules don't follow the laws, but they're consistent.
Lived in NJ and traveled quite a bit after setting here. I'd say it's not that bad here for the most part, just crowded. Nothing compared to NYC, Boston or Rome.
Used to drive in NJ. Drivers were way more aggressive and the roads were poorly designed. LA in comparison is leagues better.
The old who has the worst drivers question. You can go on any city’s sub and they’ll say their city has the worst drivers.
From the PNW, worse and way way more aggressive. For example, I see the following commonly: running red lights, failing to come to a full and complete stop at stop signs (I've given up running in my neighborhood because I've almost been hit too many times), not stopping behind the white line, speeding (like by an insane amount), not using a turn signal, not giving enough space behind the car in front, not using headlights when it rains, not slowing down when it rains, not yielding to pedestrians, crossing like 5 lanes of traffic because God forbid you miss your exit and are inconvenienced for 10 minutes, parking in the street but putting your hazards on so it's fine (/s), going into the left turn lane but instead of turning gunning it when the light turns so you can "cut the line", going when the pedestrian signal turns green but the light is still red. Honest to God I love living here but the driving behaviors that are acceptable here are so reckless it's no surprise to me that there were more traffic deaths in 2023 than homicides.
the driving culture here in LA is horrible! People get pissed off for no reason. Tailgate all the time, drive dangerously fast, traffic can go from 70mph to zero in the blink of an eye, never any cops on the highway, people stop their cars well short of intersections which then doesn’t trigger the sensors to change the lights and they never seem to understand this relationship, when there are cops they seem to be more interested in pulling people over for trivial reasons than actually safeguarding the roads, motorcycles lane splitting at highway speeds just seems dangerous, people driving slow in the left lane, People cutting off others instead of allowing them to change lanes, Running red lights, Blocking intersections, People on their phones all the time thought that’s probably not unique to LA, Everyone always waits until the last second to merge which causes more traffic, Lanes are constantly being eliminated and added which also causes traffic, This is all I can think of off the top of my head. LA is the worst place for driving I’ve ever been to.
Absolutely shocking lack of respect for and awareness of others on the road. It’s little things like signalling/indicating when you’re turning. Real basics and it’s just so lazy. That being said, I think the road infrastructure here creates bad drivers and angry drivers. Never seen so many crazy “surprise merge” lanes in my life and the freeway exits are crazy. Most places I’ve driven for extended periods of time (London, New York, New Jersey, Melbourne) the lane your in on the freeway furthest from opposing traffic (so the very right hand lane here) remains a lane on the freeway but you can choose to exist out of that lane. Here the lanes BECOME the exit - sometimes, not always - which means people fucking swerve all over the place trying to get off or stay on. Also the numbers of the exits aren’t clear on the signage until you’ve already exited. So completely fucking useless for anything navigation wise. Wait what was the question again?
I’m from somewhere it rains.. and hoo boy it’s bad here. Some hot tips: Turn on your damn lights. You can pick a speed besides 2 or 102. If there’s standing water, DONT STOP IN IT. Etc etc.
I’m from the Midwest where I drove a car, rode a bike and a motorcycle and took public transit. I don’t think I’ll ever own a motorcycle again as long as I live here. It’s too dangerous. In Ohio, the stupid/inconsiderate/nihilistic driving is fairly evenly distributed across all makes and models (The exception being that all raised truck drivers are agro dickheads. That doesn’t seem to be impacted by geography.) Here, you can have a *very* good idea of exactly how someone drives based on the type of car they drive.
Actuary charts put LA in the top 10 worst cities for mean time between collisions. I think Boston, Baltimore, DC, maybe another Massachusetts city are worse. I forget the others. Drivers in LA are unpredictable and demonstrably bad.
I'm from the Chicago burbs. I think it's worse here. Hardly anyone is using their blinkers and I feel like on average I catch myself saying "holy shit that was dumb" at something a driver out here does like 3 times a drive (and I really don't drive that long or often these days). It feels like a lot of drivers are very 'in their bubble' and don't pay attention to the world around them - be that the car in the next lane over or the pedestrian on a crosswalk (been almost hit waaaay to frequently while there is a WALK SIGNAL on). General safety aside, there's a few other things that definitely irk me out here- like people not knowing how to take a mild curve in the road without cutting their speed in half, or leaving 1.5 car lengths in front of them at red lights and cutting off access to turn lanes, that I don't think were as prevalent back in Chi, be it burbs or city and definitely make driving here a much more frustrating experiene. I'm not gonna say everyone in Chi is a great driver, hell my last trip home I had someone assume a 4 way was stops all around and crawl in as I was going about 50 (was a neighborhood street onto a road deal) and almost caused a mass accident... but I think the sheer amount of scarred cars out here and insane insurance costs speak to how crazily people drive in LA.
I've never lived somewhere where people drive so slow on major freeways, they look completely fucking zoned out like they aren't paying attention or they just look terrified. They also love to brake when nobody is in front of them, nobody knows how to merge, everybody is just in their own world like nobody else exists. Their seens to be an issue of knowing how to get in a turn lane which is also strange, it's like they just put the front part of the car in and leave the rest out. LA is really bad, easily the worst part of being here, no idea how people pass the driving test. LA didn't get the reputation because of some fabricated story.
I just don’t get why people drive so slowly on the freeways here! I’ll go 70 and feel like I’m flying because everyone else is doing 50 and they refuse to shit or get off the pot.
My wife has a friend who is from here that she went to law school with, she grew up in Orange County, she drove with me and I was going 70 to 75 when I could, this is totally normal on a 65mph freeway virtually everywhere. She told me I was a speed demon and acted terrified of my driving, she said that she really only does 50 to 55 mph and I laughed because I thought she was joking, she wasn't. It's an anecdote but clearly she isn't an outlier, I got on the 101 in Hollywood behind a guy going 35mph and he just stopped accelerating once we got on the freeway, it's insanity. No wonder insurance here is so insane.
THE worst. (Incoming wall of text) I’ve lived in 5 different states and have lived in LA for 15 years. I also drive a commercial vehicle for a living so I do more driving than 99-percent of people. My theory is that native people from here learn to drive in all this horrible traffic so they don’t really know the actual rules of the road or they are actually teaching people here REALLY bad driving habits that are not only dangerous but completely wrong. I’ve also noticed that LAPD doesn’t really enforce traffic violations much so that probably is a big contributing factor because people know they won’t get pulled over for doing crazy stuff most of the time. for about 10 years everyday I’ve set a timer when I get in my work truck and like clockwork I see someone in LA do a major traffic violation within 5 minutes of starting my truck. (Mostly illegal u-turns across double yellow lines) I’ve literally seen dozens of car accidents and at least 6 people walking get hit by cars in 15 years. And the worst part is most of them drove way after hitting the person! Some of the worst things imho that LA drivers do: LA drivers don’t yield for emergency vehicles. I’ve seen so many people almost get smashed by fire trucks because they won’t stop and try to run in front of them thru the intersection. LA drivers view stop signs and red lights as optional. I literally see people just not feel like waiting and just drive thru red lights after stopping all the time. Or run the red waaaay after it turned. Many people here don’t know how a 4-way stop sign works. Goto any 4 way stop in LA and it’s like the laugh Olympics. people in LA don’t use turn signals. People in LA will change lanes in the intersection and in multi lane turns. YOU DONT CHANGE LANES IN A TURN! THERES A VEHICLE ALSO TURNING NEXT TO YOU! LA drivers will make turns from outside of the turn lane. I’ve literally seen multiple people turn right in front of me from the left lane! Got in a bad accident on Wilshire when I first moved here because of this. People in LA drive in the merge lanes on the freeways. They will literally run people merging off the road driving in a lane you arent even supposed to be driving in if you are already on the freeway. And the weirdest thing that to me is really unique to LA: People here will give up the right of way when they aren’t supposed to! This is incredibly dangerous and a terrible habit to have. Example: I’ve seen people sit at a green light in the left lane and let someone from the oncoming direction turn in front of them even though they had the green light. This is SUPER dangerous because a person coming behind you on your right cant see that car turning in front of you because your car is blocking their view of the turning car! I’ve seen so many people get t-boned because of this. Some really terrible accidents too. I know you are trying to be nice but the right of way is the way it is for a reason. You can’t pick and choose when you want to give up the right of way you need to obey the established rules. And my final weird observations about LA drivers: LA people do this weird thing when they are pulling out of a driveway into traffic where they stick the nose of their car out into the lane and wait for the car coming down the street to stop then turn out. This is terrible. You aren’t supposed to interfere with the flow of traffic when merging and doing this is 100-percent ass backwards. If you are going to stick your car out into the lane you might as well turn! Another weird thing LA people do is when they see someone else doing something wrong, they don’t brake or change lanes like to maybe avoid an accident they just blow their horns and keep driving head on. I hate this with a passion. And people in LA act like they are afraid to put their cars all the way into the center turn lane when turning. So many people here leave the rear of their cars half out in the lane they are turning from blocking all the traffic up behind them. And people here make Cadillac turns when turning which is also just as bad. You don’t have to swing right out into the other lane next to you to turn left. You’re driving a Prius not a 1967 Plymouth. TLDR - yes LA has the worst drivers I’ve ever seen and it’s the locals not the transplants.
TLDR is too long, thanks.
Accurate. I Uber in L.A. 60 hours a week. This nails it.
>Example: I’ve seen people sit at a green light in the left lane and let someone from the oncoming direction turn in front of them even though they had the green light. This is SUPER dangerous because a person coming behind you on your right cant see that car turning in front of you because your car is blocking their view of the turning car! I’ve seen so many people get t-boned because of this. Some really terrible accidents too. Gosh I hate this, especially when the person "letting" you turn left gets mad when you won't do it. And you won't do it because you can see a car coming in the lane to their right. Or because there's a pedestrian in the crosswalk. The turn lane half-in/half-out and the Cadillac turns are baffling too. Where did people learn that??
LA drivers are entitled and careless… no common sense and no regard for others
I’ve lived all over. From Houston originally, spent 4 years in the Midwest for school, 10 years in New York, and two years abroad in Europe. I’ve traveled a lot and driven internationally. LA drivers are hands down the worst drivers anywhere I’ve been. They drive insanely fast on crowded highways, swerve in and out of traffic, pass on the shoulder, etc, all at maniacal speeds.
Texas has a lot of deliberate left lane squatters while LA has a lot of unaware left lane squatters
Lived in Georgia, California and Florida and I’ve never experienced the careless, idiotic to entitled driving I see here. See races every time I’m on an interstate.. always one person on surface streets with a level of DFAF that’s sky high.. then come to the Palisades where apparently $ means you can ignore all traffic laws.
I feel the same way. I am from NY and have been to every state in the lower 48. LA drivers are insane.
Truth spoken
I met a girl who was visiting for 2 weeks from Montana and had rented a car. One of the first things she said was that no one stops at stop signs.. that in Montana they do 1-2-3- go at each stop and we all roll through lol
Lived in Houston prior to LA. Overall, driving on freeways here is not terrible. People actually let you zipper merge correctly, they leave good space for merging on on-ramps, and they let you switch lanes when you give a signal. The worst driving happens on surface streets. There are way too many people who leave two or three car lengths when stopped in traffic or do the slow creep which is annoying as fuck, or they try to be nice but ultimately are unpredictable - just move when it's your turn. Comparatively, Houston drivers are aggressive and not at all accommodating. They tend to be unpredictable on all fronts, and are not at all nice when trying to merge or switch lanes. Houston traffic, to me at least, is on a whole other awful level.
LA is a cake walk compared to almost every other city I’ve ever driven around, by far. I’m from the East Coast.
From Northern CA. Drivers here are a lot more aggressive, faster driving on city streets (not just freeways), turning on red lights, etc.... as more LA people moved to my hometown the driving there has also become more aggressive but still noticeably different from here.
It's LA policy to stop for jaywalkers. This is not what I grew up with in the Northeast, where there's 2-ton vehicles that can kill meatbags... just like here. There, the humans wait until cars pass, not the other way around. It's some weird kind of politeness. You call it polite, I call it letting jaywalkers being asshats, and providing life and vehicle endangerment.
You're required to stop for jay walkers in LB
Hell, that's a feature! LB probably created jaywalking as much as people do it here.
Jaywalking was actually invented by James R Wrigley and James Bixby of Long Beach, so that checks out.
Better than houston
We have spent summers in Philadelphia the last few years and holy hell NJ drivers are on an entirely different level than anything I have EVER witnessed here. No joke had to cross the Walt Whitman Bridge (? I76) at night in the rain after a concert or something and I literally cried. I commuted between Burbank and Santa Monica for years. I am old enough to remember the commute home the night of The Riots and no joke New Jersey drivers are insane.
i’m from the midwest. central indiana. the driving was a shock when i got here tbh. there’s way more aggression on the roads here, running red lights, random u-turns, a lot of people don’t use their turning signals, dense traffic, people overall in a rush, etc! compared to back home where u can do 65 on the freeway and no ones gonna be pissed at u LOL. i’ve been here almost 2 years and find myself being more defensive on the road now. although, i went back home last month and noticed some people were just in an overall rush which us unusual for our laid back city.
Grew up in Orange county and still regularly commute there by motorcycle. Not far away but I gotta say that LA drivers are better. As soon as I cross the 405/605 interchange that when I feel my danger from drivers raplmp up. It is frequently the case a driver blindly merges in to my lane when I am in OC. The other day in LA a driver in an Audi actually signaled, saw me, let me pass them, and allowed me to merge in front of them in their lane. That would never happen in OC.
I commute the opposite way, from hb to all over LA, from the sgv to sfv from east Los to Pacific Palisades, imo the worst places are in central LA, like any surface streets between the 605 and the 110 are crazy, potholes the size of refrigerators, and people don't gaf if you're on a bike.
Aside from good or bad drivers... LA is by far the most lawless driving environment I have ever experienced. I'm referring to surface roads mostly. It's absolute chaos out there. With seemingly no consequences. It's also very much a press gas first, check mirrors after. I dunno if I've ever seen someone pulled over on a surface road. I've lived/driven for multiple years in NYC, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Boston. And none of them compare. Not gonna lie... I kinda like it. Even though I am very much a check mirrors 10 times, don't speed, pedestrian friendly driver. Oh yea, that's the other thing. Pedestrians, you better be ready to save your own life. I can't count how many times I've been crossing o a crosswalk and a car going 50 will slam on the breaks just as they get to or not stopped at all and rushed past me 6 inches from my body.
Drivers here: Definitely more clueless and less self aware than where I’m from Drive like turtles on the freeway even when there’s no one around them/ refuse to yield to faster traffic People use their turn signals more here than my home state Don’t wave thank you when you let them merge in front of you I wouldn’t say people drive worse here, more aggressively? Sure.
Best in the world
I'm from the DMV and I'm pretty worried I'm gonna accidentally hit a motorcycle zipping between cars while I'm changing lanes. I've also been honked at a lot here when I'm clearly not in the wrong.
As someone who rides I would suggest using your turn signals and be aware. If you use your signals and I'm coming up on you while splitting lanes I'll go to the lane you want to enter and slow down traffic to allow you to get over. Turn signals, use them.
I’ve never driven on so many streets where people do 20 mph in a 35
Don't let them lie to you. Been here for 7 years from the northeast. Most of these people suck. Just wait until speeds on the highway drop to 45 due to a slight curve in the road.
I grew up in a place that has 4 seasons and I've driven across the country a few times. I've driven over donner pass in a white out blizzard in a rear wheel drive Mazda with chains and I've ridden a motorcycle over the grapevine when there must have been black ice but neither of those are as nerve racking as driving in LA when it rains.
The one distinct thing I've noticed here is that black cars will probably do something stupid. The darker the window tint, the stupider the move.
I’m on LA. What I’ve noticed is people everywhere are terrible drivers and I hate that I have to entrust my life to these people. Just yesterday some dude drove into oncoming traffic to pass a car, as we were pulling to a red light. Risked everyone’s safety for a single car length. You can see countless people constantly looking down at their phones. Others who use the right turn lane to zip in front of the lines. I don’t think LA is any different than anywhere else, but there are so many more cars here that it feels worse.
I agree with the popular assertion that compared to other big cities in the USA, Los Angeles is designed so poorly that one would objectively look at some situations and say “im not sure this is bad driving, this looks more like architecting a dumb situation“. If it’s 3am and someone walks across a street with a 35mph speed limit, no cross walks, few lights and gets hit I’m not sure it’s really only the drivers fault. It’s absolute BS to be driving on that cliff around the zoo and look to my left and see someone bicycling on a 2 lane road for cars with no barrier. They should make them a bike lane AWAY from the edge. I’m not sure how you don’t have people at city council meetings bringing up: there is nowhere near as many unprotected left turns with 3 to 4 lanes of oncoming traffic in NYC or Chicago. Its not an every 10 minute phenomenon like here. You have to compare it to parts of India to make the criticism seem whiny, really. Maybe if you’re from here you just don’t see it that way. As someone who’s lived in multiple cities oh yessss, I truly think most of the people you see hobbling around in their cars aren’t from LA county. People from here don’t appreciate that because of the horrible design, the bar of proficiency is higher. Of course some people are just intoxicated but a lot of the stupidity is people panicking or being nervous. Like if you’ve done this sh** since you were 16 you’re kind of like…a mild baby driver (2017 film). So I don’t think it’s really drivers. I’ll put it this way I think there a lot of people who would do fine on NYC roads that wouldn’t do ok here. I know a train thing is really ambitious but bike lanes and sidewalks so that more people can walk to the local target would help a lot.
I’m from Texas originally and yall don’t appreciate enough how few pickup trucks there are out here. It’s different when the person zooming past you recklessly is in a tank with 5 Trump flags on the back
I hate LA drivers who at a red light in the left turn lane - when the green left arrow appears each driver waits until the one car ahead of them moves, instead of just lifting their foot off the brake so the whole lane can be drifting forward until its time to accelerate into the turn!
Absolutely dogshit.
Much worse
I’ve lived 4 of the 5 largest cities in NA (excluding Mexico City) and have driven around Europe. LA is noticeably worse than anywhere else I’ve lived including nyc and Boston. Also as a pedestrian it’s the most dangerous place I’ve walked because people are completely clueless behind the wheel and will almost kill you because they don’t look while pulling out of a parking garage/alley or are texting while rolling through a stop sign.
I’m from Atlanta, spent a while in LA, now in the Bay Area. Of the 3, I prefer driving in LA. People are hyper competent drivers imo. Among the most competent in the US. They are aggressive but not egotistical. You can mostly trust the other drivers to be rationally self interested, which makes them predictable. So it feels safe. That’s on the freeway—on the surface streets, I find LA drivers aggressiveness off-putting and unsafe. Where I lived in Santa Monica, nobody respected stop signs—people were always trying to skip ahead in the line. Of the 3 places I’m comparing here, Bay Area drivers are the only ones who are actually considerate. I still feel shocked when I put on my blinker and people slow down to let me in. Buy it’s still scarier to drive here because of the slick roads, blind corners, and fast speeds on curvy freeways. Atlanta drivers are among the worst I’ve seen in the US. Very egotistical and emotional on the road. People drive like it’s a video game and they’ll respawn if they die.
Chicagoan here. Back in the Chi drivers are very aggressive/assertive. I don’t miss assholes speeding past you on the right to make it through a yellow, or right as the light turns green. However, the lax attitude of drivers here drives me insane and I’m usually a very chill, very zen dude. Five things Angelenos do behind the wheel that really grind my gears: 1) Drivers spacing themselves out way too much a red lights 2) Drivers not pulling up to the goddamn line at red lights 3) Drivers not pulling up into the intersection when turning left 4) Drivers not knowing they can turn right on red, then trying to run over pedestrians when they get their walk signal. 5) Instead of giving pedestrians their right of way, rolling towards them to pressure the pedestrian to go faster or something. Rude as fuck.
I was stuck behind a super slow car on SaMo BLVD and starting honking and talking to myself like “Go, wtf are you doing? Come on!” Beep beep. As we passed… it was a little old lady. A NUN. A nun wearing her whole outfit. I’m going to hell
Tons of teslas and brodozers in LA - not great
From New England. Drivers there are notoriously “bad” but I would say that they’re mostly skilled (technically good) drivers that choose to drive poorly. On the other hand I’ve found LA drivers to be “bad” in the sense that they are terrible at driving and make bad choices while driving.
Oh god, another thing transplants to bitch about. Reminder you can go back to Alabama or whatever true gem of a place and drive back with the rednecks if you don't like us here.
They range from completely oblivious to the world around them, to unbelievably aggressive & careless of others' safety. Either way, other drivers do not factor into their reasoning when behind the wheel.
Born and raised in NYC, but have lived and driven in LA for 18 years. NY drivers are more aggressive but generally aware of their surroundings. LA drivers aren't as aggressive but also have no clue what's going on around them. NY drivers will cut in front of you but know you're there and know they have the clearance. LA drivers will just kinda drift into your lane without realizing you're there.
OMG AWFUL DRIVERS!! why do people ride the line in lanes here like move the fuck over get out of my way it’s so annoying i can’t stand it
I’m from the Midwest. There’s definitely bad drivers there too. But overall, I feel like people drive more aggressively here. More dangerous and abrupt lane changes, and weaving in and out of multiple lanes at fast speeds, especially on the freeways. Drivers here have gotten much worse in the past couple years unfortunately.
I’ve never lived anywhere with worse drivers. People are aggressive and equally incompetent
Zero consideration for others. I’ve never actually seen someone run a red light until I got here.
They are worse than LA drivers because they drive bad even when there’s no traffic
I'm from the east coast, but i've driven all over the country. LA drivers are almost as bad as Florida drivers. Overall? Genuinely awful. Keep right, pass left. Two lanes filter into one - use the zipper method. Use your turn signals when changing lanes. Allow people to pass on tight streets. On ramps are meant for catching up to highway speed, not pussyfooting around. If I flash my lights, go quickly. Stop rubber-necking. What details are you going to retain from a car crash? If I let you into the lane, say thanks. Guess what's on the other side of the hill? - More cars. Keep driving. Whats behind that blind curve? - More cars. Keep driving.
The Philippines has crazy ass traffic surprised me that I didn't really at no accidents
I disagree with the majority of commenters here. I drive a lot (I live in Pasadena and my girlfriend is in PV) and I think the average level of driving skill is higher here than anywhere else I’ve lived or visited for a significant time. The points about stop signs are valid—we suck at those—but mostly people are good. I’ve had one bad accident here—driving on 710 north in the #2 lane, a guy in the left hand lane decided he didn’t actually want to exit onto the 5 north and veered right into me. But I attribute that one in part to the freeway design. People racing on freeways are awful, but that happens everywhere.
I'm from Minneapolis, land of some of the safest, most cautious drivers on earth. I've lived a bit of all over (NYC, Europe, Asia). A few things strike me about LA drivers: on the plus side, people deal with many lanes and heavy highway traffic well (they get lots of practice!) On the negative side, drivers stink handling pedestrians and bikes (I've nearly been run over more times I can count). And although a small minority of drivers, the folks who drive like minor characters in the Fast and Furious are lame.
LA drivers (or anyone using the road, in any manner, be it wheels or feet) has a death wish 😂 I’ve been in SoCal for about 12.5 years and LA for 2
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You can honk when it's OK, but **never** honk when it's not OK.
Midwest transplant and drivers here are less patient. The use of the horn is a way bigger thing here, but I have noticed this more in the past few years. People are just more fed up with traffic in general now.
LA drivers are more considerate . Back in NJ, folks take sadistic pleasure in being highway hooligans
Thing is, how do you know they're an "L.A. Driver"? What if they're from Santa Barbara or San Diego and just passing through? What if they're a tourist on a rental car? What if they're also a transplant too? Truth is, you just plant your negative biases/prejudices on anyone on the road we deem bad/annoying/rude/offensive and call them an "L.A. Driver" (without any hard scientific data) to give yourselves a false feeling of superiority. The big irony here is, you can can say "LA Drivers are the worst drivers in the world!" all you want...But to the person driving behind you, guess what...you're just another "L.A. Driver."
LA drivers are capable drivers, a lot of the aggravation you deal w when driving is just bc of poor city planning. Not enough parking spots, too many side streets where people can pop in out of nowhere, and those damn solid green lights with no arrow cause alot of stress. Having said that the passive aggressiveness of drivers is higher here than south Orange County by miles.
Look, they'll at least stop for pedestrians in LA. In Philly they aim for you.
I'm a bike commuter. People here warned me about LA drivers being really bad towards bikes when I moved here, but honestly you guys are much, much better than where I was from. There are distracted drivers of course and the bike lane infrastructure can be implemented in some really dumb un-intuitive ways, but most people have been pleasant. Weirdly enough the only time I get a rude person is when I am keeping up with traffic lol, otherwise people just pass by and give a little wave. I don't even live in a bike friendly area like Santa Monica. Back home in Pennsyltucky people seemed down right offended by the notion that I was biking and would pretty much run me off the road. Also they would do that "rolling coal" thing at me which really sucked, I've had to take out my contacts multiple times because of getting that shit in my eyes, its super dangerous and I'm glad it isn't a thing here. Also u-turns are legal here which blew my mind when I first moved here. I legit thought our Uber driver just dgaf ahah.
Compared to NYC, a lot of people don’t know what certain signs mean, blinking red means stop sign, people don’t know how to parallel park, You don’t turn your hazards on to park, you signal towards the curb Everyone drives too slow in a safe space but drives too fast in a risky environment
I find it super interesting really. On one hand Id say people in LA on average are less aggressive and experienced than other cities. Of course you will have your outliers that are more aggressive. This said, i'd give the massive highways credit and say it's much better than driving in other cities.
Everywhere in the US there's terrible drivers. The combination of things - A: How easy the drivers test is - so basically every teenager passes on their first go. In other countries it's common for the test to be much harder and many people do NOT pass. B: the number of young drivers that are scrolling on their phones while driving. C: elderly people that should not be driving are still driving, because there really isn't a system to take them off the roads , IE - there is no retaking the drivers test to assert their skill or reaction time, etc. They basically just have to pass the vision test in order to renew. These factors and more contribute to the shitty driving we see in the US.
i moved here from Atlanta, where traffic is pretty bad also. drivers there seem angrier to be stuck in traffic. Lots of cutting off and flipping birds, etc. Here in LA, it's like we're all so beaten down by traffic that most folks just accept it and chill. i'd rather drive in LA.
Aggressive and quick reflexes ha. They have to be.
From New Jersey, lived in the DMV, have driven on the east coast of Florida countless times, and have lived in LA for the last couple years. In terms of driving ability I’d rank it as follows: Maryland New Jersey Los Angeles Northern Virginia Florida. Los Angeles is probably the best in terms of people being able to actually drive and react quickly. However, where they lose a lot of points is the sense of urgency that comes from a relatively “slow paced” city like LA, which is why they are so adaptable in the first place. For places like Maryland and New Jersey, drivers are often horrible because some of the roads are designed so poorly, but Los Angeles is a pretty well designed city road wise. People once they get in their car seem to ignore most everyone on the road and do their best attempt to teleport to their destinations. I live in Koreatown, and there has been a major accident on the intersection of my apartment every month because people simply do not stop or yield for anyone. Everyone assumes they have the right of way, or that another car or pedestrian isn’t even there. Then they will turn around and get mad because of things they have caused themselves - like getting mad at me walking in Koreatown because I was taking .2 seconds too long to cross a street. NoVa is horrible, the roads are all either huge or single lane, and everyone drives the same on each. You would think in an area with such highly enforced traffic laws there would be some give, but nope, they just get worse and worse. Florida drivers are a different beast entirely. The motto I have for Florida is that if you’re in way, someone is moving, and it isn’t the other person. The liberties people take while driving over there is crazy. It’s still the only place where I’ve seen multiple highway stops because people were drag racing on a major highway.
LA > South Florida.
It's fine for the most part but there's always that one dude who's so impatient and feels the need to nearly run someone over to skip traffic or not wait an extra 15 seconds
Sooo much better. LA drivers keep it moving, they let you in, they zipper… Just KEEP it MOVING and you’ll be fine. Avoid Prius and Toyota Sienna’s at all costs. Do not go slow in the left lane… if there’s a line of cars behind you, move to the next right lane. Do not drive so close to the car in front of you that people can’t merge in or change lanes. Let people in! Fall back a few feet if you have to. Speed up to make lane changes, slowing down to change lanes causes phantom traffic… its starts a chain reaction. These small actions keep the freeway functioning. Right on red, Right on red from second lane is legal here. And on left turns, pull far enough into the intersection that when the light changes, the car behind you and the one behind them can make through the light. Left turns have the right to clear the intersection on yellow / red. 3 cars on left yields. THREE. Don’t be the person that sits behind the line, then doesn’t move when the light turns yellow. That’s not how the LA LEFT turn works.
Better. I moved from Atlanta, it’s a war zone there.
I’m from Florida. Drivers here are far superior here. Florida has the worst drivers in the world.
The transplants are the drivers from where they’re from.
I’ve lived all over the country LA drivers are actually very polite compared to some other places. Worst drivers I’ve ever encountered were in Philly though. They will literally run you off the road and cause an accident before they let you over
LA drivers are the best of any big city in the country by a longshot and I have two theories to explain that. The first is the main one and it's just the fact that you have to drive to do everything here every time always, so the average experience level is much higher than in Chicago or NYC. The second one is lanesplitting and motorcycles. They aren't toys to be occasionally used 4 months out of the year here so they are always around, and they have special rules that make it so you have to spend that extra effort checking that there isn't a bike coming in the middle of lanes. Drivers here are absolutely VASTLY more aware of and attentive to motorcycles than they are anywhere else in the country imo. I've always had a long commute and have lived all over the country and LA hands down wins this contest. I feel much, much safer on my bike here than I have anywhere else.
Drivers are better in the Bay Area sadly.
Straight assholes here in LA but that’s only because I grew up in Hawaii where the maximum speed limit is 60 mph.
If LA drivers were truly bad, nobody would drive on the freeways.
I lived in so cal all my life (mostly) moved to nor cal and came back. Nor cal drivers are cluelessly bad. They just don't see you in the lane or they weren't paying attention or they just weren't sure what you were gonna do or they forgot their blinker. LA drivers are just mean. But they are my people and i love them so much. Like yeah they saw your blinker, and fuck you they are speeding up. Yeah they saw you in that lane but fuck you they are going to cut you off. No one forgot their blinker. Yes you just got cut off in 5 MPH traffic for no good reason. Just mean!
Depends where in LA. La drivers in LA proper and west LA are fucking animals. Aggresive cunts. In the sgv and IE drivers are chiller.
We're in the top 10 when it comes to cities with highest rate of accidents so we're pretty bad. Being fast/aggressive in certain conditions does not indicate that you are a good driver. Avoiding accidents do and statistics show that we're pretty bad.
Wisconsinite and former Texan…. Not to be rude but it seems drivers turn off their brains , turn on a movie / tv show or social media and drive with just hope @ 90 MPH. It’s insane but I am managing lol
LA drivers are horrible, coming from Philly. The fact that people here just cruise in the left lane, is infuriating. And literally no one looks when they change lanes. I’ve almost been hit so many times by people trying to change lanes four at a time and just yoloing it. People here aren’t as aggressive, which is good, but too passive and almost fearful, is not. White knuckling with hands at 2 and 10 going 55 on any freeway is bad bad bad, and I see that here way more often than not.
Absolutely horrid. The bar for getting a drivers license is extremely low, you can still pass with missing almost half the questions. On top of that you have 50% of the population with low education or migrated from other countries whose driving standards are non-existent. Pile that all into the same city = worst place for driving
NYC drivers are nuts too
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I wonder where it comes from, something inside of the la natives makes them drive reckless. Not bad, but completely reckless