Bostonist: Whatever with Traffic Rules - We Like Mass. More Than Oregon

Grandpa Portlandist

Fri, 09 Jun 2006 14:54:52 -0500

Bostonist Josh, this is your father calling .... It has been more than a decade since you left hearth and home for the Sodom and Gomorrah that is the East Coast. While there are still the few (the proud?) who stand at empty streets waiting for the Walk sign, they are the small minority. We now have all the joys of rude, crazed behavior that you cherish from your (de)formative years in NYC and the Athens of America (not in Georgia). And, technically, you lived in Portland for five long years: 8th through 12th grades (count 'em, 5), with your junior-year hiatus trying to die in Argentina included.

Josh

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 11:02:11 -0500

All goofy regional chauvinism aside, I'll concede that Mass. drivers maybe aren't the best and certainly aren't the most courteous, but I don't think they're so bad either. One thing I'm fully on board with, though, is that rotaries are just awful awful awful.

natis

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:56:23 -0500

MA is the worst place I have ever driven. Most don't know how to handle right on red, the rotary is a stupid invention that few people understand the way it is supposed to work and when a road is newly paved and no lines have yet to be paved on it, people have no freaking clue where they should line up. The natives are effin' idiots.

Lisa

Thu, 08 Jun 2006 10:26:12 -0500

Yes, I have to say, Bostonist is seriously rationalizing here! I moved to Boston from D.C., where I thought drivers were aggressive, and was horrified. I'm now back in D.C. and, yes, indeed, drivers are better here. Aggressive, but generally following basic rules of driver courtesy. I agree that standing at the corner when there are no cars for miles is pretty foolish, but there is something in between that and just crossing the road whenever and wherever the mood strikes. And I just don't buy that it's safer in Boston because drivers are so nuts. Literally, first day I'm driving into Boston, I get sideswiped by a small truck on the Expressway bc I foolishly thought he would let me merge into his lane. Anyway, I could go on and on...

Josh

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:34:43 -0500

Yeah, yeah, saying that lawless driving saves lives is pure hyperbole if not out-and-out disingenuity, but it's amusing.

Peter

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 19:20:02 -0500

If you are able to argue that Massachusetts has fewer fatalities because of insane driver flagrantly violating the rule of the road, then you are officially able to rationalize anything. Speaking as a New Hampshire driver (we were 26 on the list), I urge the drivers of Massachusetts to keep their fatality levels low by staying in Massachusetts!

JohnnyBob

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 18:30:08 -0500

"Maybe the secret to the way we Mass. drivers cheat death is that our indifference to the law has made us more adaptable...." Or, maybe it's because Mass. is a crowded maze, like a supermarket, and likely to have a hight rate of fender-benders as less fatalities. Oregon has those miles and miles of broad expanses, hours of Interstate and winding roads, punctuated by communities. Eight, Nine or more hours from Eastern Oregon to the coast. If we were pushy and rude like Mass. drivers, I suspect the death rate would rise. Also, just thought of this... could it be those numbers are inflated by the displaced Californians and immigrants from the East Coast, etc., that are dying in Oregon because of their atrocious driving habits and then complaining because those strait-laced non-scofflaws are getting in their way? Just wondering.

Aero Racer E

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 15:06:17 -0500

Did you feel that way about Oregonian drivers prior to moving here, or did this feeling that their prudence is annoying only evolve after a couple of years of endless rotaries and unused turn signals?

Josh

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 14:03:27 -0500

Yeah, kerb. Can't a guy carry a torch for antiquated spelling practices?

Eighthman

Wed, 07 Jun 2006 13:33:59 -0500

"kerb"?!