Louisville drivers - YOU ALL STINK (Frankfort, Bardstown: gated, allergies, tax)

[Astrolion]

I moved here (Louisville Metro) 6 months ago and since then I have have twice almost been run over in shopping center parking lots. Once by a middle age man in a corvette and the other was an older woman.....and neither of these people even paused as they came zooming by at a speed I would consider very excessive for a store parking lot !

[veggienut]

I was driving downtown today and you won't believe this. Someone put their turn signal on, and that isn't the amazing part. He/she got into my lane and I was prepared and stayed back....and the car in the lane next to me wasn't prepared and he put his brakes on and burned rubber and it smelled for a few miles. If the truck that skidded for putting his breaks on would of wrecked, that small car would of been totaled or cookie crumbs from what I witnessed today.

[kernelc]

Louisville is no different than any other city that lives and dies by the car. With one major exception: Louisville is one of the least educated and most complacent cities in America. There is a connection between lousy schools, half-assed leaders, vigilante rules, and bad drivers. A community can be judged quite fairly by how people behave on its roads and by its road fatality statistics. In fact, our fair city can be judged by the fantastic number of crashes caused by LMPD cruisers. If police officers drive like idiots how can we expect civilians to drive with their brains? Louisville drivers are no more hostile than drivers in Nashville or Indianapolis. They're just plain dumber. The refusal by most drivers to signal while turning is the purest example.

As for the Indiana suburbs, ditto.

If you are visiting or considering moving to the Louisville area, your odds of being involved in a crash increases. Pedestrians and bicyclists are in even more peril.

Welcome Derby visitors, and may you survive the trip.

[bear29]

Originally Posted by kernelc

Louisville is no different than any other city that lives and dies by the car. With one major exception: Louisville is one of the least educated and most complacent cities in America. There is a connection between lousy schools, half-assed leaders, vigilante rules, and bad drivers. A community can be judged quite fairly by how people behave on its roads and by its road fatality statistics. In fact, our fair city can be judged by the fantastic number of crashes caused by LMPD cruisers. If police officers drive like idiots how can we expect civilians to drive with their brains? Louisville drivers are no more hostile than drivers in Nashville or Indianapolis. They're just plain dumber. The refusal by most drivers to signal while turning is the purest example.

As for the Indiana suburbs, ditto.

If you are visiting or considering moving to the Louisville area, your odds of being involved in a crash increases. Pedestrians and bicyclists are in even more peril.

Welcome Derby visitors, and may you survive the trip.

First post! Relocating from the DC area to Louisville next month.

The worst drivers in the country are, generally speaking, on the coasts (and more specifically, the mid-atlantic). Also, they transcend educational experience. For example, the DC area has the worst traffic and worst drivers in the country, yet 10 of the top 25 cities with the highest percent of masters/doctoral degrees are DC suburbs, and 11 of the top 25 highest income counties are DC suburbs as well.

I also noticed there's a lot of DC transplants on this board-I don't want to put words in their mouth, but I would venture a guess that at least a small portion of the reason they left was due to driving

[kernelc]

Per capita, I'm willing to bet metro Washington (DC, MD, VA) has better roadkill statistics than Louisville. (Metro DC's population is larger than all of Kentucky.) State-wise, Kentucky has the worst highway fatality record in the nation. We have a few other 'worst of' records to be ashamed of, too.

I lived in Washington in the 1980s working in the transport business. Mostly small trucks and vans. I've driven the I-95 corridor back and forth between Boston and Miami many times. I felt safer in New York than any other eastern city. That "We mean it" warning sign over the Holland Tunnel actually meant something. I felt the least safe whenever I'd come home to Louisville. The tailgaters were amazing then; they are spectacular now. And road signs are as meaningless as a turn signal lever.

Bear29 -- since you're already acquainted with DC's bad drivers, my only advise about moving to Louisville is to research Ohio Valley air quality before making the move, especially if you have allergies or any type of respiratory condition. We can talk about Kentucky's high cancer rate some other time in a different forum.

My relationship with Louisville is both love and hate. The city has its good points and it's home. But if possible, I don't want to live out the rest of my life here.

[ram2]

Originally Posted by mrspink

I moved down here from Northwest Ohio and I have been rather annoyed with the driving skills of most individuals down here. The other day I was in my exit lane, and a man in an SUV started merging over directly next to me. He had no turn signal on, wasn't checking the lane, wasn't looking into his mirriors, nothing. I honked my horn, and when he glanced over at me, he gave me the dirtiest look I have ever seen. I sped up to let him in, then when I had to get back over to get in my exit lane, he sped up and tried to cut me off. Seriously? I was so mad. Learn to follow the rules of the road!!

That being said, there are horrible drivers EVERYWHERE!

That could describe many Ohio drivers on I-75.

[bear29]

Originally Posted by kernelc

Per capita, I'm willing to bet metro Washington (DC, MD, VA) has better roadkill statistics than Louisville. (Metro DC's population is larger than all of Kentucky.) State-wise, Kentucky has the worst highway fatality record in the nation. We have a few other 'worst of' records to be ashamed of, too.

I lived in Washington in the 1980s working in the transport business. Mostly small trucks and vans. I've driven the I-95 corridor back and forth between Boston and Miami many times. I felt safer in New York than any other eastern city. That "We mean it" warning sign over the Holland Tunnel actually meant something. I felt the least safe whenever I'd come home to Louisville. The tailgaters were amazing then; they are spectacular now. And road signs are as meaningless as a turn signal lever.

Bear29 -- since you're already acquainted with DC's bad drivers, my only advise about moving to Louisville is to research Ohio Valley air quality before making the move, especially if you have allergies or any type of respiratory condition. We can talk about Kentucky's high cancer rate some other time in a different forum.

My relationship with Louisville is both love and hate. The city has its good points and it's home. But if possible, I don't want to live out the rest of my life here.

Thanks for the heads up!

Based on this article in 2011, you're right about fatality rates. Rural states tend to be higher: Study: Roads are safer in urban areas - USATODAY.com

But, there's a difference between fatality rates and bad drivers. A perfectly fine driver could kill themselves by swerving out of the way of a deer in the road. The lack of regulation and crumbling infrastructure seems to correlate to the states with the highest fatality rates (which Kentucky may be an example of).

However, I think a much more interesting statistic to see would be the rate of mid-serious accidents per 100,000 population. We know that rural states have the highest rates of fatal accidents, and urban areas have the highest rate of total accidents (cited in my post above I believe).

But, the fact is that Kentucky's fatal accident rate of 18 is still exceedingly low, and chances are you're not going to be involved in a fatal accident. On the other hand, while the overall accident rate in urban areas is high, I would expect a large percent of those to be "fender benders."

Sorry to get off topic, maybe we could start a separate discussion that's based on facts, time to get back to subjective opinion

After living in the southwest, the midwest, and the midatlantic, I've learned that all areas could be classified as "the worst drivers," it's just a matter of opinion and driving style. For example:

Southern California-speed limit is 65 on the freeway, yet all 8 lanes (in each direction) are going at least 80. If you're not doing 90 in the fast lane, you WILL be tailgated and honked at, and there's a good chance that car will be CHP (equivalent of a state trooper). If it sprinkles (that's the closest thing to rain you'll get), people decide to speed up and there will be mass pile ups.

Midwest-speed limit 70 on the interstate, all cars (if you even see one) will be doing 60-68.

Midatlantic-everyone follows the traffic laws of their native country. However, when there are 239 nationalities represented on the road at any one time, a lot of those traffic laws were based on mopeds, tuk-tuks, donkeys, and elephants. Drivers ignore all traffic signs (but you can't blame them, they probably don't speak English), and yield signs are nothing more than teenage sticker collectors.

So, if you have to generalize, It sounds like people would say Louisville is similar to the Southern California style described above?

[kernelc]

So, if you have to generalize, It sounds like people would say Louisville is similar to the Southern California style described above?

I agree with that. Often I refer to Louisville's car culture as a "mini LA" because 1) our roads can't handle capacity; 2) our smog is mostly car related; and 3) driving is looked upon as a right instead of a priveledge. I realize that I do indeed generalize and I can be unfair at times. This is an emotional topic for me -- I have good reason.

A reader's letter to the editor was printed in today's Courier-Journal complaining about lazy people who don't use their turn signals. My view is that laziness is often another form of hostility. It's a common theme but the powers that be don't seem to be listening. The writer's main point was that badly needed dollars could be collected if law enforcement took our traffic problems more seriously. Traffic signals and signs don't mean anything here but dollar signs sure as hell do.

[bear29]

Originally Posted by kernelc

I agree with that. Often I refer to Louisville's car culture as a "mini LA" because 1) our roads can't handle capacity; 2) our smog is mostly car related; and 3) driving is looked upon as a right instead of a priveledge. I realize that I do indeed generalize and I can be unfair at times. This is an emotional topic for me -- I have good reason.

A reader's letter to the editor was printed in today's Courier-Journal complaining about lazy people who don't use their turn signals. My view is that laziness is often another form of hostility. It's a common theme but the powers that be don't seem to be listening. The writer's main point was that badly needed dollars could be collected if law enforcement took our traffic problems more seriously. Traffic signals and signs don't mean anything here but dollar signs sure as hell do.

Agreed-It seems that there has to be a happy medium between anarchy, all things go driving cultures (DC, LA, etc.) and totalitarianism reigns (White Co. Indiana for example, where troopers constantly roam every county road and 59 in a 55 gets a $200 ticket).

[kytoaz]

the biggest difference between l.a. drivers and louisville's is speed. this is the slowest driving city i've ever seen. it's like people think if they reach the speed limit their cars will explode.

I do agree that police should take a more active roll. I've never heard of anyone getting ticketed for no signal here. If you want to change the road culture here start holdimg drivers accountable for their actions.