Henry, I think the rude driving you see is not so much American as particular to certain large metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Unfortunately, we see these impatient drivers here in Massachusetts too: we call them Massholes, and they comprise an outright majority of all drivers, or so it seems sometimes. But you find many fewer of them in the Midwest and the South. (I don't know about the West Coast.)
P.S. I am greatly enjoying your feuilletons on seeing America with the British eyes, and have forwarded several of them to friends and family. Please keep them coming!
Nope, I live in Nashville and everything he mentions is pretty standard here, as well. Americans are not trained to drive like they are in European countries, and I do think along with that comes a laxity where safety and others are concerned.
It's funny because I'm a Northern Virginian living in England and I find the driving here particularly anxiety-provoking. But that's because I'm primarily driving in central London or on the narrowest of country lanes on my way to random national trust sites, getting overtaken at 60 miles an hour (which is the legal limit!) while I scratch against the hedges trying desperately not to lose a side mirror.
There’s a really wonderful used/antiquarian bookstore in Reston – I’ll have to look it up for you. And I should put antiquarian in quotes because where you’re from that would mean something the age of the Magna Carta, whereas here a first edition of The Waves would make the cut.
So much of the good food to be had in the US is in restaurants tucked into strip malls; much of the good shopping too. Driving to them can be hazardous because I think US drivers are in general, pretty terrible. We are more distracted and have fewer skills.
My drivers license road test in Tennessee consisted of leaving the parking lot of the facility, which was on the corner of the block, taking a right turn, immediately pulling back into the other entrance of the parking lot, and then pulling up to the curb at the entrance of the building to let the tester out of the car.
This was in Memphis in the late 1990s. You did need to take a written test to show you knew that red light means stop, green light means go, etc. I believe that the governing logic was that if you had a car you should be able to drive as a general matter.
It really is crazy driving out there! I will say, Maine has a stringent driving test. They fail over half of their applicants. My daughter failed her first test as did several of her friends and one of her friends failed twice before finally passing. They also made them watch the gorey crash scenes videos. I am grateful that they take it so seriously. That being said, Mainers still don't seem to know what a blinker is for! When I drive in Boston I am stunned how people are perpetually laying on the horn because they seem to be frustrated to be stuck in traffic. I love that phrase, "pipping on the horn!" It sounds so much more quaint and less aggressive! Stay safe! Avoid the left hand turns! And oh, the pitiful state of littles sucked into the abyss of the digital vampire! C'mon adults, get the kids off the black rectangle black holes! It's rotting their brains.
Never turn left. Just turn right and go down and find someplace to turn around.
It’s different in different parts of the country but generally nowhere in the US are the drivers as skilled as the U.K. The driving test is too easy. At 16, I would have failed if they’d made me parallel park or back around a curve. I still can’t back into a parking space safely (except probably with a small car - but I drive a huge SUV).
This is why I am terrified about my oldest getting his license next year...it's not that I don't trust him, but that I don't trust anybody else...(we're in NJ so as you can imagine it's just as bad, if not worse, than VA...)
Please keep in mind that Northern Virginia could be the worst part of America, especially adjusted for wealth. It does have some charms, I'm glad you're having a nice time.
Perhaps the most surprising thing for me was the procedure to get a motorcycle license here. In the U.K. you have to do a whole bunch of tests, get a CBT, then get a restricted license and so on. In the States you do a 2 day course that mainly consists of riding around in circles in a mall car park.
Then you can pop over to your local motorcycle dealer and ride out on a liter bike. In some states, helmets are also optional. It really is an interesting place..
We don’t just drive like it’s a video game. We live like one, chasing non-existent points, reflex-reacting to superficial cues, and missing the road beneath our wheels.
The hardest thing isn’t to slow down. It is to feel the road without turning it into a score.
Henry, I think the rude driving you see is not so much American as particular to certain large metropolitan areas on the East Coast. Unfortunately, we see these impatient drivers here in Massachusetts too: we call them Massholes, and they comprise an outright majority of all drivers, or so it seems sometimes. But you find many fewer of them in the Midwest and the South. (I don't know about the West Coast.)
P.S. I am greatly enjoying your feuilletons on seeing America with the British eyes, and have forwarded several of them to friends and family. Please keep them coming!
Nope, I live in Nashville and everything he mentions is pretty standard here, as well. Americans are not trained to drive like they are in European countries, and I do think along with that comes a laxity where safety and others are concerned.
I don’t think it was this bad in Wisconsin no but they did enjoy the horn there too
It's funny because I'm a Northern Virginian living in England and I find the driving here particularly anxiety-provoking. But that's because I'm primarily driving in central London or on the narrowest of country lanes on my way to random national trust sites, getting overtaken at 60 miles an hour (which is the legal limit!) while I scratch against the hedges trying desperately not to lose a side mirror.
UK roads are much safer statistically
There’s a really wonderful used/antiquarian bookstore in Reston – I’ll have to look it up for you. And I should put antiquarian in quotes because where you’re from that would mean something the age of the Magna Carta, whereas here a first edition of The Waves would make the cut.
So much of the good food to be had in the US is in restaurants tucked into strip malls; much of the good shopping too. Driving to them can be hazardous because I think US drivers are in general, pretty terrible. We are more distracted and have fewer skills.
My drivers license road test in Tennessee consisted of leaving the parking lot of the facility, which was on the corner of the block, taking a right turn, immediately pulling back into the other entrance of the parking lot, and then pulling up to the curb at the entrance of the building to let the tester out of the car.
!!
This was in Memphis in the late 1990s. You did need to take a written test to show you knew that red light means stop, green light means go, etc. I believe that the governing logic was that if you had a car you should be able to drive as a general matter.
It really is crazy driving out there! I will say, Maine has a stringent driving test. They fail over half of their applicants. My daughter failed her first test as did several of her friends and one of her friends failed twice before finally passing. They also made them watch the gorey crash scenes videos. I am grateful that they take it so seriously. That being said, Mainers still don't seem to know what a blinker is for! When I drive in Boston I am stunned how people are perpetually laying on the horn because they seem to be frustrated to be stuck in traffic. I love that phrase, "pipping on the horn!" It sounds so much more quaint and less aggressive! Stay safe! Avoid the left hand turns! And oh, the pitiful state of littles sucked into the abyss of the digital vampire! C'mon adults, get the kids off the black rectangle black holes! It's rotting their brains.
Never turn left. Just turn right and go down and find someplace to turn around.
It’s different in different parts of the country but generally nowhere in the US are the drivers as skilled as the U.K. The driving test is too easy. At 16, I would have failed if they’d made me parallel park or back around a curve. I still can’t back into a parking space safely (except probably with a small car - but I drive a huge SUV).
Brilliant again. This is why UPS spent all that money on route software to avoid having its trucks turn left as much as possible.
I did not know this! Fascinating
Here y'are: https://www.cnn.com/2017/02/16/world/ups-trucks-no-left-turns. You can dig into this quite deeply by the way. A fascinating area of math.
This is why I am terrified about my oldest getting his license next year...it's not that I don't trust him, but that I don't trust anybody else...(we're in NJ so as you can imagine it's just as bad, if not worse, than VA...)
When I moved from England to North Carolina, I drove on the wrong side of the road during my driving test, but I still passed!
!!
Please keep in mind that Northern Virginia could be the worst part of America, especially adjusted for wealth. It does have some charms, I'm glad you're having a nice time.
Perhaps the most surprising thing for me was the procedure to get a motorcycle license here. In the U.K. you have to do a whole bunch of tests, get a CBT, then get a restricted license and so on. In the States you do a 2 day course that mainly consists of riding around in circles in a mall car park.
Then you can pop over to your local motorcycle dealer and ride out on a liter bike. In some states, helmets are also optional. It really is an interesting place..
Covid did a number on driving in this country, it feels like cops have under-policed the roads for years.
We don’t just drive like it’s a video game. We live like one, chasing non-existent points, reflex-reacting to superficial cues, and missing the road beneath our wheels.
The hardest thing isn’t to slow down. It is to feel the road without turning it into a score.
- Double🆔️
The aggressive driving is why we have wider roads…needless to say it’s gotten worse. All I ask is at least use your turn signal, drivers.