DMV drivers are bad, they’ll drive like they’re straight out of Mad Max
New York drivers are assholes, they will make your life worse if it makes theirs better
Boston drivers are actively malicious. They’re slamming the defect button on the prisoner’s dilemma every time
Wgen I first moved to MA, I was in awe. It was chaos, but...organized? Everyone drives like shit, and they expect it from everyone else, so they can drive/maneuver accordingly.
Boston drivers aren’t bad drivers. Boston roads are evil roads and we’ve all learned to survive.
“You’re entering on the left of a four lane highway during rush hour and your exit is in a half mile on the right. If you miss this you’ll be half way to the cape before the next exit. Good luck.”
And then there’s Google Maps, which used to route people to Storrow when there was just absolutely no reason to. Going from Back Bay to South End does not require Storrow.
And while I’m complaining, Apple Maps would give up every time I entered a crazy intersection. It would just clear the map and start “rerouting to destination.”
Waze didn’t do that, but Waze did actively find every unprotected left between me and anywhere.
I still regularly remember driving on Storrow Drive and having somebody pull up next to us, maintain speed, lean out their window, and start hitting our car.
Had a friend who cycled around the harvard area tell the story of nearly getting forced off the road by a car, biking hard to catch up, and spitefully banging on the trunk to get the driver’s attention so he could flip them off
NY/NJ drivers are aggressive, but predictable. Everyone drives with the expectation that everyone around them is also aggressive.
Which is not NEARLY as dangerous as flat-out deranged/not-paying-attention driving, which is Boston’s specialty.
In Dallas, we joke that the best defensive driving is offensive driving.
I've had multiple Uber drivers say they moved here from NYC and are surprised at how reckless and aggressive the drivers here are. According to them, NYC is controlled chaos, but people here are just stupid.
There was also a period where three people drove into my mom's car while she was just sitting there. One time, someone was making a left turn without a light, got cold feet, put the car in reverse, and ran into her. Another time, someone backed out of a parking space without looking, right into her.
Also just a matter of capacity for chaos. NYC drivers do annoying shit but it’s like cutting you off to make a left turn across 3 lanes at 5 mph—annoying AF and wastes a light cycle but you’ll live.
Boston drivers will fly up from behind at 90mph then cut in front w no signal for no reason
I want to defend NYC drivers — they’ll do insane things because they want to, and why shouldn’t they, but they’ll also usually accommodate you if you want to do an insane thing. It’s cooperative chaos.
