Quote:
Originally Posted by RH77
No offense to the fine people of Houston, Texas (or any other municipality in this post), but...
LOOK OUT! Houston is up there in my Top 10 US/Canada worst places to drive. Aside from constantly feeding the toll-road system, the drivers are at full-throttle, 24/7/365.
It's one of the only places I've been passed on the right shoulder -- on a 4-lane highway! It's pandemonium.
I'm going out on a limb here, but the hardest places to drive "efficiently" are...
- Boston
- Washington, D.C.
- Chicago
- Los Angeles
- Vancouver, BC
- Seattle / Tacoma
- Houston
- Dallas / Ft. Worth Metro
- San Antonio and St. Louis (tie)
- Denver
RH77 |
I can attest to the ridiculous driving habits in Boston, MA. I've lived here for over 7 years and have never (and I mean never) encountered some of the shenanigans on the road that I have here. Luckily, I live north of the city in a burb but drive into the city often.
When I visited the city before moving here a friend of mine was driving us around to take it all in and it was like Nascar. Nobody signals lane changes, the highway off ramps are often close to 90 degree turns, highways exit on both the left and the right frequently...took some getting used to.
The #1 thing I have adapted to with highway driving up here (usually during rush hour) is that the middle lane and right lane often get you to your destination quicker and more efficiently than the far left passing lane. So many dumb-dumbs up here insist in driving in the far left passing lane simply because they think they can go faster in that lane. I've found (on almost every occasion) that because so many cars pack into the far left passing lane that the middle and right lane (unless there is heavy on-ramp usage) have less cars in them and generally have steadier driving patterns (more ideal for hypermiling and avoiding frequent stops and starts).
I've driven in DC before and there certainly are alot of cars on the road but not near the congestion as Boston with its narrow city streets. Dallas and Houston were like racetracks too but because they have a more complex highway system it seemed like there was alot more room to maneuver on the highway. Houston seemed like one big, neverending highway around the city!