people where i live are the worst drivers

Here in Taiwan, people will happily share the lane with you...turn through traffic from the opposite lane...or drive on the wrong side of the road to get to whatever side street or alley they're trying to get to. Oh, and red lights are very optional. Cars, trucks, buses, 2-person scooters loaded down with a family of four and their dog. It's fine.

I heard of some bad places (like the poster says in Taiwan, I have heard but never seen it). WORST place I have been, bar none, North Texas. They will literally try to shoot you or run you off the road when they are not trying to turn right from the left lane or cut you off at an intersection or rear end you because you had the balls to stop at red light or stop sign.

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kolyaboo wrote:

I heard of some bad places (like the poster says in Taiwan, I have heard but never seen it). WORST place I have been, bar none, North Texas. They will literally try to shoot you or run you off the road when they are not trying to turn right from the left lane or cut you off at an intersection or rear end you because you had the balls to stop at red light or stop sign.

Guns are fairly scarce here in Taiwan, so shootings are rare. I have personally witnessed people do shit like pull a machete out of their trunk and go after someone for cutting them off and whatnot. Sometimes with great success heh.

I spent much of my life in the D/FW area though. You forgot to mention people raging when you're not going at least 10-15mph over the speed limit. And if you're actually going at or very near the speed limit, it's like committing the worst possible crime a driver could ever commit against fellow drivers.

Worst 10 places for traffic behaviours (and possibly worst traffic/civil engineering jobs to disgrace the surface of the planet):

1. Italy
2. Lake Shore Drive offramps and several similar clusterf-- (cloverleafs) along I-90 in Chicago. Even by Chicago standards people become rabid crashing rhinos when they are presented with the need to speed up, merge in an orderly way, and make exit decisions ahead of time.
3. The Beltway
4. Italy
5. Did I mention Italy? Basing traffic patterns and load conditions on roads that predate Julius Caesar...c'mon really
6. The Towson, MD "Circle of Death" roundabout which relies entirely on situational awareness and courtesy, both of which are notoriously lacking in the residents thereof, and furthermore the "traffic roundabout" is an Italian invention and should be banned from roads where the speed limit exceeds 10 mph
7. probably a 4 way tie here between LA, Tokyo, Mumbai, and London
8. Where only the best 4+ lane highways end at 90 degrees into another 4+ lane highway and at a 30 degree grade because mountaineering. Yep, you guessed it. Mexico City
9. The entire state of Maryland
10. Newark-Jersey City-Hackensack. And on the eighth day of the week the LORD droppeth His spaghetti upon the carpet of the Earth, and lo, it landed on Kearny Point, and so tangled was it that the LORD spake unto it, "Abide ye in tangled confusion, for ye have defied the LORD and shall forever knot the brow of the sons of Cain". And the sons of Cain wept and gnashed their grilles, for the curves were too tight, and the gridlock too, such that nary a drover may pass from Edison to Brooklyn but that he lifteth his cart and walketh between the stalled vehicles to get to the 78 onramp. And yea, even so he should do this, but then abase himself on all fours in the Holland Tunnel, where something hath come to pass that produceth many flashing lights and a lane closure...

Atlanta, GA. USA (I don't live there anymore, but...)

So, back in college, a dorm-mmate had a road-rage encounter turned into an "active shooter" incident in Atlanta. This was my first introduction to the reality of the Atlanta Metro...

During the Olympics, Atlanta had to hire some extra bus-drivers that had true "skill." They hired a lot of seasoned bus-drivers from Boston. Many of those bus-drivers refused to continue their contract because Atlanta driving was WTF nuts... They left. No joke. I think they returned after their requests for body-armor were granted...

On my way to "The" Airport, I narrowly avoided becoming a casualty in an "argument" between a big trailer truck and a PoS four-door "tuna boat." They were literally slamming against each other like one might see in an action flick, with the rusted hulk of the tuna-boat-"Continental" actually trying to "pit" the cab of the semi and getting wtf-slammed off the road into an off-ramp traffic stream. Dunno what happened after that as the debris obscured my vision, but the truck didn't stop, that's for sure. IIRC, shortly after that someone else, miles down the road, was shooting a gun out the window... (Can't remember if if was that trip or another, sorry.) But, since it was just straight up into the air, it's all-right... o.0

All the other harrowing experiences in Atlanta traffic sort of fade together. If there's something wtf-f'd-up about some traffic related thing, I've probably seen it on I-85/I-75/I-285/I-20, etc.

I-285 makes a big loop around Atlanta not so drivers can more easily reach their destination if coming from any direction, but because it's a giant whirlpool slowly draining into the cesspool that is "Atlanta." That flushing sound is your automobile insurance payment.

"Peachtree" is the name of every urban road in Atlanta. You have been warned. Street-signs are meaningless. To get to your destination, follow the sound of broken glass.

If you miss your exit in Atlanta, tough noogies... You've got another 45 minutes added to your travel time. This is not negotiable.

To go anywhere in Atlanta takes three hours. I don't know if people truly understand how big the Atlanta "metro" area is, but if you have a friend that lives "on the other side of town" it's literally like planning a vacation to go visit them. I am not kidding, here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlanta_metropolitan_area

That's in excess of 8000 square miles. That's 21,000 km in non-freedom units. You need to plan for your baby's college fund before you leave the house.

Nowhere near Atlanta is safe from Atlanta. You can't escape... If it's an Interstate, Highway, or road that connects to Atlanta, your life is on the line. Alpharetta, Marietta, it doesn't matter - Atlanta encompasses all, Atlanta is all. "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here"

Never, ever, travel anywhere in Atlanta during "rush hour" because it is not actually "rush hour." The ambulance will not reach the scene of your accident until you are a desicated corpse.

There is no "speed limit" in Atlanta. The speed limit is actually "how fast can you go" at any particular time. I am not kidding, even Atlanta knows this... I remember reading one of the many "travel time" signs in Atlanta and it was fifteen miles from the exit and gave an estimated travel time of eight minutes. Nobody. Cares. (I'm not kidding. The sign was actually pretty close to those numbers and I lol'd. :))

In Atlanta, parts of Interstate 75 have fifteen lanes. This is to provide drivers enough room to move around accidents and for BMW and Mercedes drivers to test their nonfunctional blinkers...

ANY car that has been modified, like an extra spoiler, road-effect lights, tinted windows, mag wheels, rocket launcher, is a rapidly moving death-trap waiting just a short while in order to be turned into bondo-studded corrugated metal. Honest advice - IF you see one of these Screw-it-up-yourself Home Garage projects, get out of the F'in way immediately.

Big-Rig drivers do not think you exist at all and they are perpetually angry, always. If you get in the way of their moving violation, they will mark you for death and curse your House. The only reason they don't mount a "Ma Duce" on the front of their rig is because they don't want to have spend extra money on ammo.

That being said, if you can find the chance to show mercy to one of these big-rig drivers that is trying to change lanes, they will love you forever. It's like saving their child from a giant shark - They will look after you in the dark places of the world.


I don't travel to Atlanta anymore and thankfully live several States away, now. But, the memories endure... I will not willingly drive anywhere involving "Atlanta." And, if I did, it'd be either very early in the morning, <6am, or late at night, >11pm. Even then, I'd be a bit worried.

Pro-tip: Absolutely NO "GPS" map system short of in-theatre military munitions with real-time satellite uplink is accurate at preemptively warning you that you need to change lanes to be able to get to your off-ramp. NONE. I am very serious. That's because the line of vehicles waiting to get the chance of even escaping this hell-hole is stacked up for MILES. If you don't know the area, you're F'd and will miss your exit the first time if you're just paying attention to your GPS. And, if you think you're going to miss your exit, just go ahead and miss it. Seriously. Just go ahead and eat the 30-45 mins extra, 'cause you "earned" it. Don't try anything fancy to quickly juke over to the off-ramp: You will die. It's not because of the congestion, it's because other drivers are really trying to kill you.

Also, if you are not traveling 90mph+, don't get in the far left lanes. Do. Not. You'll get run over by someone doing 100mph+ or shot. 50/50 either way.

PS: I don't know quite how to compare it to some other congested areas. I've been in a few, but Atlanta is the worst I've experienced. I'll just say that if one had to put a word to it, "surprisingly terrifying" fits pretty well.

PPS: This kind of post is what happens when you're eating all the left-over candy the Trick-or-Treaters didn't get last night... I hope all applicable posters had a fun and safe Halloween! :)

I've heard of atlanta but not in the context of traffic. What happens there is better described as "maneuvers" because it's like a tank battle where the road happens to be wherever you point the vehicle.

Dirty meanies even put alarms and metal armrests across every seat in terminals in the airport to keep stranded passengers from being able to snooze away the hours until they can get the hell out of there.

Not hoboes, mind you. The cost to fly is still outrageous even with empty planes taking off and landing every day to keep quotas up. These are paying customers, business and mandatory civilian and off-duty service personnel travelling through, and ATL goes out of its way to be total dbags to them.

Oh yeah and redneck rice rocket aftermarket kits are not unique to Jawja. You just might be a redneck if your 10 cylinder Dodge 4x4 pickup ... has a spoiler :D

Slow drivers in stretches of road where I can't pass them are extremely annoying for me. I got a 2018 Silverado, recently had some modifications done to it, I got a push guard, new air intake system, and a performance chip installed on it. Some new tires as well. I've came really close to pushing people down the road. I will ride your ass if you drive too slow. I've had people turn into driveways just to let me by. Maybe try driving a little faster, like I dunno, the speed limit?

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crunkatog wrote:

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Not hoboes, mind you. The cost to fly is still outrageous even with empty planes taking off and landing every day to keep quotas up. These are paying customers, business and mandatory civilian and off-duty service personnel travelling through, and ATL goes out of its way to be total dbags to them...

ATL ... I've flown in and out of there many times, though not as much as a true Road Warrior. It's the busiest airport in the world. I remember when it used to have "smoking rooms." :) (F', I'm old...)

Trams, people movers, don't get run over by the golf-carts... ATL acknowledges that there are layover passengers. It's just that they don't want them there... :)

I once got a late flight in and made it from the terminal to a shuttle in almost thirty minutes! Yeah, right, thirty-minute! (Lucky!) I had a six hour layover and that only cost me $300.00 at one of the nearest hotels. I got to sleep for basically $100 per hour. CHEAP! (Don't stay at those, you won't sleep due to all the air traffic and cargo haulers no matter how many "stars" the hotel has.)

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Oh yeah and redneck rice rocket aftermarket kits are not unique to Jawja. You just might be a redneck if your 10 cylinder Dodge 4x4 pickup ... has a spoiler :D

Georgia does not require Vehicle Inspections.

For a private vehicle, if it kinda rolls and can be ridden you're good-to-go. It does need some kind of something to serve as headlights, either candles or WWII Concentration Camp Spotlights. A seatbelt is also required. Maybe a seat... Engine? Doesn't matter - It just has to be able to move at 45mph or better to not get pulled over on the highway.

PS: In keeping with the OP: Once you get into ATL (Atlanta International Airport) proper, it's actually pretty easy to get around compared to what one might thing the busiest airport in the world might be like. Just go to long-term parking. Doesn't matter if you're just stopping by for a drink, go there anyway. :)

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Morkonan wrote:

Georgia does not require Vehicle Inspections.

For a private vehicle, if it kinda rolls and can be ridden you're good-to-go. It does need some kind of something to serve as headlights, either candles or WWII Concentration Camp Spotlights. A seatbelt is also required. Maybe a seat... Engine? Doesn't matter - It just has to be able to move at 45mph or better to not get pulled over on the highway.

Gotta love the tiny cab perched up on the GIANT RUSSIAN TRACTOR tires and the searchlights...and the tiny vanity mudflaps torn to ribbons by the treads.

"OH sorry didn't see you there" as they sideswipe you while passing. And you're driving a U-HAUL. seriously. (This isn't Georgia's fault. It actually happened in TN)

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Alysma wrote:

Same in Michigan during winter: I've never seen so many cars in ditches in my entire life. The most extreme winter driving experience I personally had there was from light flurries to full whiteout in ten minutes and I was behind a white van without lights - i.e. the only time I saw it was when the driver hit the brakes...

Heh you should look up what happens when northern GA or TX gets the lightest dusting of snow. The cars turn into air hockey pucks instantly.

My vote is for Michigan/New Jersey as well. Trash ass drivers.