Smart Drivers

[Chuck(G)]

http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp ... int_page=y

...and we don't pump our own gas here in Oregon, either!

[Brassdad]

•Half of Americans report that they do not know how to merge into heavy traffic.

Well, I do!!!! So ya'll just follow me!

By the way, anyone else notice that the count goes to 49 AND includes Washington DC....who's missing?

[trseaman]

Okay...

I'm originally from CA but I lived in Portland, OR for a number of years and have since moved back to Southern California... While living in Oregon, I noticed that the native Oregonians always blamed the CA transplants for traffic accidents! Based on this study they were probably right!!!!

So looking at the scores again... What's up with this research company??? "TNS NFO" Why did the Pacific NW score so well??? OR, WA, WY & Idaho all in the top five!!! Must be an insider playing with the numbers!

Tim (still stuck in traffic!)

[Chuck(G)]

When my wife and I moved to Oregon after a stint in California, the thing that surprised us were the drivers who would move over a full lane when passing a pedestrian or bicyclist. In California, they just run you down.

But then, people will wave to you here, even if they don't know you...

[trseaman]

In California, they just run you down.

Yes, it's true! This happened last month but also, I've always wondered why people jog on the side of the road...
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?secti ... id=4071863

They did catch this guy and they girls are slowly improving...

[Chuck(G)]

At least 1 out of 5 drivers do not know that a pedestrian has the right of way at a marked or unmarked crosswalk.

What the heck is an unmarked crosswalk? Anywhere the pedestrian wants it to be?

At least it's the law here, that if you see a pedestrian about to step off a curb at any intersection (even without a marked crosswalk and without signals), all traffic must come to a complete stop until the pedestrian has crossed. The legislature is looking at amending this to allow you to continue after the pedestrian has cleared your lane, but I don't know if it's law yet.

Look out for this one if you're driving in Oregon--several PD's have set up sting operations for just this thing in the past couple of years.

Another gotcha is the reduced speed in school zones. Some signs have it as "at all times"--even 4 AM Sunday morning; others have it "during school hours" and still others "when children are present". The fine's pretty stiff in any case.

A new law is that if you see the police (with flashers) stopped on the shoulder, you have to give them a full lane's leeway. This is a fairly new law.

[tubeast]

As to the joggers getting hit in traffic:
in primary school we were taught to use the LEFT HAND (in the UK: RIGHT HAND) curb if you had to use a road without a sidewalk. This way you faced the traffic most likely to harm you and could always take a quick jump to be safe.

And to those of you who like to fly to Frankfurt, Germany, rent a bahnburner to go 150 mph legally and head back to the States from Munich: remember you are supposed to use the right lane(s) whenever possible. No cruisin´ on left or center lanes unless you actually PASS somebody!!
AND: absolutely NO passing somebody on their right hand side.
(Both habits will be fined in Germany, but were perfectly fine in Indiana when I took my drivers´ ed in Elkhart, IN 1989).

And unless you want to make close acquaintance with a fist powered by a 300 pound German lover of country music: DON´T park on truck parking spots when taking a rest. Unlike in the US, parking space for trucks is rare and needed to take the mandatory (by law) naps these folks take.

[trseaman]

Despite the high scores of Oregon drivers, it happens there too...

http://www.kgw.com/news-local/stories/k ... c2366.html