Northern Virginia drivers suck

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 10:54 am

I have commuted/traveled extensively in New York, Boston, Atlanta, San Diego, Richmond, San Francisco, Charlotte, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C. Nowhere have I traveled where drivers have such a propensity to get into accidents as they do in Northern VA. This is a major part of the reason why the traffic congestion is so bad around here. Practically every day there is at least one accident on I-95, I-66, and 495 (Beltway) each, and often more. A decade ago, the D.C. often topped the list of metro areas that had the highest quality of life. That is no longer the case. With sky high real estate, not enough roads, and hyper-competitive people getting into accidents, the quality of life in this area has really gone down the toilet.

Post by **wncbmw** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 1:23 pm

Yong - sounds like you are already regretting your move! First the lack of BBQ and rednecks and now the traffic and drivers!

thenewcamus · Post by **thenewcamus** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:41 pm

Yong, I too have lived in numerous major metropolitan areas and I gotta agree and disagree. DC / NoVA does have pretty bad drivers, but not as bad as Boston or New England in general. Now I live in Detroit where the acceptable following distance is between 6 and 18 inches as far as I can tell.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Thu Nov 02, 2006 2:46 pm

Well Vann, y'all know I wouldn't have moved here if it wasn't for my wanting to grow the business.

This area lacks cohesiveness and sense of community. People come here to work for the Feds or a Fed contractor, and then leave after a while. The rhythm is in sync with the election cycles.

My main criticism of this area is that it lacks character. What character it had when I was growing up has been buried under an avalanche of overdevelopment.

Having said this, I bought my house in Haymarket, which is between the D.C. sprawl and the Virginia horse and wine country. So I like where my home is. But it's getting to the city to talk to customers that's a royal pain in the rear.

When I retire, it will most likely be back in Southwestern part of Virginia or a locale similar in nature and character.

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 11:51 am

thenewcamus wrote:Yong, I too have lived in numerous major metropolitan areas and I gotta agree and disagree. DC / NoVA does have pretty bad drivers, but not as bad as Boston or New England in general. Now I live in Detroit where the acceptable following distance is between 6 and 18 inches as far as I can tell.

Perhaps, but do they get into accidents at the prolific rate that Northern Virginians do?

Post by **rdsmith3** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 1:15 pm

I used to have people working for me in Manassas, VA and I would drive there from NJ, so I know what you mean. There are a lot of bad drivers there, but I don't know if it is any worse than other places I have lived (NJ, Phila. PA, Ohio).

Post by **yjleesvrr** » Fri Nov 03, 2006 5:41 pm

Bob - I commute in New Jersey one or two days out of every week. During spring and summer of last year, I spent three days out of every week commuting from Northern NJ into Brooklyn. I don't recall seeing/hearing about anywhere near the number of accidents I see/hear about every morning in Northern VA. I think people in the tri-state area have gotten used to driving in crowded conditions, so they know how to drive more safely, efficiently, and with a higher level of attentiveness.

People in Atlanta drive pretty badly - I cracked a joke a few years ago to a buddy down there that Atlanta drivers drive with Southern discipline and Northern impatience. But again, I don't recall having to deal with accident scenes. I spent a fair amount of time commuting there back in '02, '03, and '04.

I don't know what it is about Northern VA, and to a lesser extent suburban Maryland. The transportation system here is always on the brink of a breakdown every morning. All it takes is for some idiot to cause an accident that then screws things up for thousands of other commuters for hours. And this happens on practically every major road - I-95, I-66, the Dulles Toll Road, and even the Fairfax County Parkway. What doesn't help is that there is hardly a division between rush hour and non-rush hour. It's crowded all the time now.

R4R&R · Post by **R4R&R** » Sat Nov 04, 2006 4:44 pm

yjleesvrr wrote:It's crowded all the time now.

I-66 has been like that for years now. I think they need 24 hour HOV lanes/rules on that road.

The past few weeks have been a little worse than normal; maybe it's the changing trees? Maybe it's the rednecks in the area confusing them?

I have been working downtown for the past nine years and using the motorcycle and dedicated HOV lanes on I-395, which is a relatively consistant commute. I commute 18 miles each way (Springfield to N.W. DC) and it usually takes about 25 minutes - not a bad commute for me. I'm changing jobs here in the next month or so and my new commute will be four miles, yes, that's four miles! The only drawback is I'll probably use the bike less, but I'm not complaining.