Driving and Walking in Jacksonville

[Tripoli1711]

And hardly anyone on the highways in Florida understands that the left hand lanes are for passing ONLY.  "Keep Right Except to Pass".

Sadly, this is true everywhere.  People hang out in the left lane everywhere and it drives me crazy. 

[Ernest Street]

A couple turning onto lane ave yesterday actually stopped several feet into their right hand turn and were waving people around them ....just so they could race across several lanes over to the median to make a left turn!?!!  Why are some people so scared to drive one more block down the road to turn around? 
This also happens every time I get onto I-10...no turn signal and 4 lane changes in 150 feet.

Does anyone here ever see people laughing,snickering, or waving at you after they do one of these acts of insanity...or is it just me?

Many,Many years of zero driver education is also to blame. It should be the law.

[BridgeTroll]

  Driving in the rain... with emergency flashers on...

[Lunican]

I don't think driving in the left lane is against the law in Florida.

[Sportmotor]

Let me preface this post by describing a little bit about me.  I'm a car guy and a motorcycle guy; I grew up turning wrenches in the family garage and have had a passion for all things with a motor and wheels since I was a kid.  I've had some great (and bizarre) vehicle-based opportunities in my life, including:

- A year spent racing cars in SCCA competition, where I learned I was neither fast enough to get rich nor rich enough to get fast
- Getting lost in Tokyo while driving a 1965 Corvette roadster (How NOT to blend in, lesson 1)
- Driving a full size tour bus in the UK (with a manual transmission, of course), where the roads are approximately the size of sidewalks. Narrow sidewalks.
- Teaching a friend how NOT to crash his original Porsche 930 (aka 911 Turbo), perhaps the most terrifying road car in the history of mankind to drive.  Wheelspin in third gear at 95 miles per hour sure is fun...

I've driven the Autobahn in all kinds of conditions, in all types of cars.  I've lived all over the US, and dealt with the motorized insanity that is Boston, New York, DC, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc.  I've even driven in Vero Beach, land of the blue hairs. 

Nothing in my prior existance has prepared me for driving in Jacksonville.  Collectively, this city harbors the absolute worst drivers I have ever encountered, anywhere on the planet.  I think this is because no one from Jacksonville is really FROM Jacksonville; people learn their bad habits elsewhere, then bring them here when they relocate.

Can anyone explain why:
- Rush hour speeds, even in dry weather with no traffic congestion, never approach the speed limit?  Do people here not want to get home?  Are they enjoying the commute (and the ever present cell phone conversation) that much?
- Rain is treated like a cataclysmic event, requiring drivers to hold a steady 10 mph and enter corners at no more than 1 MPH (fully blocking the lane while turning in, of course)?  You could safely drive on black ice, with bald tires while hauling unstable nitroglycerin at higher speeds than drivers in Jax during a rainstorm.
- It's necessary to get on the cell phone, as soon as you get in the car?  Who are you talking to at 6:00 in the morning?  Because if Jesus calls me at that hour, he's going to have to leave a message.  There is NO ONE I want to talk to at that hour.  In fact, there really isn't anyone I need to talk to in the car; I can almost always wait until I get to my destination.
- Lane discipline is as foreign a concept as string theory and particle physics?  In the rest of the civilized world, it works like this:  keep right, pass left.  Here, it's more along the lines of "block anyone from passing, regardless of the lane you're in".  Keep right, pass left, people - say it with me.
- No one has any idea how big their vehicle is?  An F-350 Dually does not qualify as a "compact" car, hence, you should not try and park in a space labelled "Compact".  Likewise, when driving on Mandarin road, is it necessary to see how close you can position your right hand mirror to my shoulder as I walk along the road?  Or do you just not understand that you have 3 to 4 FEET of clearance around your car or truck?  If you're not comfortable driving a truck large enough to have its own gravity, why not pick something a little more manageable, like a Toyota Camry?

Tell me I'm wrong.  Flame away, but tell me that each and every one of you doesn't invent new and exciting swear words involving bizarre sexual acts and bodily functions each and every time you get behind the wheel.

First off..
my old 1932 Ford Rodster (all glass body) with a 383 stroker engine in it is the most terrifying road car ever(all power little to no weight)
Second, Im from Jacksonville. Lived here all my life, little tired of "no one is born here" fuck you.
Speed limit, really you see people cruzing? I damn near get run over and Im usally going atleast 15 over the speed limit, where the hell is this magical place you speak of where people go the speed limit in this city >_>

Now the rain part I will admit to seeing but speaking for myself that all teh cars Iv ever owned have been geared for all weatehr racing(street) and never had a problem flying in bad weather becuase I spent that extra money to make sure my tires treated it like it wasnt even there.

[Sportmotor]

and when Im driving Im usally thinking 3 moves ahead to much to worry about cussing you out lol.

We arnt all bad >_>

[floridaforester]

The topic of this post is just one of the many reasons that I am hesitant to get in the car and leave my Riverside bubble where I can walk or ride my bike for ANYTHING I could possibly need.

I grew up in the suburbs of Jax and rarely visit my own parents because it requires revisiting the 6 lane connector road nightmare neighborhoods of my youth.  Regarding driving habits, yes, the tendency to be catatonic in the left lane makes me want to drive people into the ditch and yes, people drive too slowly on expressways and too fast through residential neighborhoods.

Note to the idiots who insist on making Riverside & Avondale a speedway at rush hour-  the interstates & expressways that carved up a thriving neighborhood in the 50s and 60s were put there for a reason, so you morons don't kill people trying to get to your daily cubicle existence in time for the daily buzzer.  Unless your destination is in the neighborhood, stay out of it!

[urbanlibertarian]

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot!  Everyone who drives faster than me is a maniac!  Why can't people understand that whatever speed I am driving is the perfect speed?

[CS Foltz]

Jacksonville Drivers are nothing to write home about! Most have no idea what a turn signal is to be used for and the concept of Keep right except for passing left seems to be a novel idea! When I'm up on my two wheels, happens to be Daytona 955I, 2004 Model, I drive with my head on a swivel at all times. I have had to get defensive to keep living more than once but to me that is part of the biking experience. Most drivers in the state of Florida could do with taking the written course on a periodic basis.....Panama City, Tallahassee, G'ville, Tampa they all are full of "Idiots"!

[UpOn2Wheels]

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot!  Everyone who drives faster than me is a maniac!  Why can't people understand that whatever speed I am driving is the perfect speed?

LOL, hardly.  I don't care how fast you want to go, and will make room to let you pass.  I expect the same courtesy; if you want to drive 10 mph below the speed limit, rock on.  Just don't block me from passing you.

[billy]

It is impossible to find anyone who will admit to being a lousy driver.

As an aside, it is always interesting to obderve people's behavior in the Peachtree Road Race every Fourth of July. Slower runners and walkers are told to keep to the right.

Guess what happens once their time group hits the starting line?

[billy]

spelling correction: obderve= observe

[Reaper man]

Everyone who drives slower than me is an idiot!  Everyone who drives faster than me is a maniac!  Why can't people understand that whatever speed I am driving is the perfect speed?

LOL, hardly.

WHOOOOSH!