Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Verdict on Atlanta Drivers

From my point of view, Atlanta drivers are worse than Sicilians. There are several reasons: they are rude, angry, dangerous, and there are too many of them. While it is true that driving in Sicily is crazy, it makes more sense than it does here.

In Sicily, there are not six or more jam-packed lanes of giant SUVs and 18-wheeler semis all going 70-80 MPH right through the middle of the city while jockeying for position (lane to lane to lane) with total disregard for anyone else. It is more random and unpredictable than Sicily, where everyone did follow the (unwritten) rules!

Cell phones . . . it is legal to talk on your cellphone while driving (or attempting to) in Georgia. NOT a good idea. They are also texting, eating, drinking coffee, smoking, and changing channels. You get the picture?

The worst thing, though, is that the drivers here do not slow down or even pretend to see you if you are making a turn or anything in front of them. In Sicily, when other drivers saw you doing that (and they were paying attention!), they would slow down, swerve, or whatever, to allow you to make your move. I have to exit my condo complex onto a very busy four-lane street. Every time I do, I take my life in my hands and my heart rate goes up (and probably my blood pressure). A car might be a block away and, of course, he/she sees me turning onto the road, but they do not slow down or indicate in any way that they see me. They appear to be bearing down on me and willing to hit me rather than slow down! In fact, I have already been hit one time because of this. The other driver clearly saw me turning across traffic but did not even attempt to slow down, but rather plowed into my right rear fender without even slowing down! And it was my fault for "failure to yield!"

So, in spite of my Sicilian driving skills, I'm going to have to re-program myself here.

5 comments:

  1. Sounds like fun. I'm glad to see that the rain did not wash you away. (Jack)

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  2. "Failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident" must not be part of traffic law in GA. (Steve)

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  3. I couldn’t agree with you more. Did your household goods arrive in decent shape??????????? (Michael)

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  4. Virginia Beach is exactly the same. Although driving in Sicily was crazy, it was a contolled and predictable crazy, with a dash of fun. But here? No way, it's all about complete disregard for anyone else on the road. It's horrible! I simply can't get past it BECAUSE I have driven in Sicily. I feel like I need a support group for Adult Displaced Drivers. ADD. Oh wait, that's already taken. Maybe you could think of a catchy acronym? (Jennifer)

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  5. Come on back…we would love to have you…when can you come? (Jeff)

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