On Wednesday 12 January 2005 01:53 am, Mike kindly wrote:
> I am actually amazed that people seem to think AZ/PHX drivers are the
> worst drivers in the world. I've lived in a number of large and small
> cities.
>
> I'll have to say the people that think Phoenix drivers are the worst are
> going to be sourly disappointed if they move someplace else. AZ/PHX
> drivers are neither bad nor good, I'd say compared to 'bad', they are
> actually 'good'. In my experience, the dumbest drivers I have lived
> around and dealt with on a daily basis were in New Mexico and Russia (St
> Petersburg and Moscow to be specific). You can pretty much drive into a
> wall and nobody will think anything of it. Heck my house in New Mexico
> had 3 cars crash through my back and front yard in 3 years. You wouldn't
> believe some of the things I saw there, here are a few things that
> happened to me. Perfect driving record in every other state I have lived
> in but New Mexico before and aft.
>
Well, Mike, I read all the responses to this thread, wondering why nobody was
talking about New Mexico drivers, and then I read what you had to say. I can
relate! I lived in NM for over 20 years, and all I can say is I've been in
the bliss with Phoenix drivers since moving here! Combine NM's bad drivers,
drunk drivers, low rate of people actually having insurance, illegal aliens,
and a statewide average IQ of 80 (I'm not kidding- that's a fact) and you
have the worst drivers in the country.
NM has the highest number of drunk driving-caused deaths in the country. That
isn't per-capita, that's total, even with it's very small population. The
stretch of highway between Gallup and Albuquerque is the most dangerous for
drunk driving accidents in the country. Never take that route on a Friday or
Saturday night.
I've lost count of all the times I was on an empty highway in the countryside,
no one behind me for miles, when some idiot would pull out right in front of
me and almost stop while they decided if they really wanted to press their
gas pedal or not. One time that happened as Iwas returning home from a tire
store. I had just bought four new tires, and I suddenly had to veer across
two lanes into the median to avoid clobbering an RV that pulled out in front
of me. I hate to think what would have happened to me if I had had my old
tires on.
I got broadsided in Albuquerque by a little old lady running a red light. She
apparently thought the damage wasn't bad so kept on going. A nice woman
pulled up behind me and gave me the license number. I was in shock and had a
shoulder injury. I staggered into an EMPTY Taco Bell, sort of half laid on
the counter, told them I was in an accident outside, and asked them to call
the police. They wouldn't do it! Said their phones weren't for public use! I
saw one of their employees on the phone in the back, and told them to get her
to hang up and call the police and an ambulance. They wouldn't do it! I had
to beg them, and started yelling for help before the manager came out to tell
me to be quiet. He finally told the idiot on the phone to call the police.
I gave the cops the license number. Several days later they found the time to
go to the woman's house, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in town. She
said she hadn't stopped because it didn't seem necessary. They never
prosecuted her.
During my years in Albuquerque I saw traffic courtesy deteriorate as people
seem to be angrier. People drive more and more aggressively, but because
they're BAD drivers to start with, they do it badly. I visited there in
December, and boy was I glad to get back home here in the "real" world!
Siri Amrit
> [ WARNING; THIS IS A LOOOONG RANT ABOUT REALLY BAD DRIVERS ]
>
> In my life, I have been in 3 accidents where I was at the wheel. All New
> Mexico and more if you include the other New Mexico drivers I used to
> ride with.
>
> Accident #1
> - I got rear ended trying to turn onto my residential street by a girl
> tailgating me and doing her makeup. Best part was I could see it coming
> in my rear view mirror AND I saw her doing her makeup and was 'afraid'
> this might happen when I try to make the turn. I tried reaaaaal hard to
> get out of her way but she was homed into my bumper and was going to hit
> it if it was the last thing she did. I had no chance. Her boyfriend was
> a university traffic cop, she calls him and he promptly comes to grill
> me out of his jurisdiction somehow saying I was partly at fault for
> getting rear ended. I basically take it until I can't take it anymore. I
> tell him to put a cork in it and to get back to his job on the
> university. This obviously did not make him or I better friends. You
> could just see him trying to figure out a way to give me a ticket or
> arrest me for not caving into his BS. I had actually called the city
> police about the same time she called her boyfriend so luckily I didn't
> have to deal with this clown for too long. The city cop shows up and the
> boyfriend keeps butting in until the city cop re-affirms my 'put a cork
> in it and get out of here' attitude. (just with authority this time) All
> went well with the city cop.
>
> Accident #2
> - I was at a dead stop at a stop sign and some drunk came around the
> corner and just drove straight into the side of my car instead of
> turning. After he hit, he didn't really know what happened so he kept
> trying to push my car out of the way so he could make the turn. When he
> was done tearing the side of my car off he kind of slowed down (I guess)
> wondering what that bump was or something. Maybe he wanted to see if I
> was dead or not, who knows.. Oh well, he decides it was nothing and he
> is back on his way. My car (no longer in working order since the front
> wheel was caved over) is just sitting there and I make a
> <sarcastic>random</sarcastic> guess that he might be headed to the
> casino that was right by where I was when he hit me. So I leave my
> girlfriend with the car and make the half mile run to see if maybe I see
> him in there. Yep, there he was playing some blackjack. I was so mad, I
> can barely remember what exactly I said to him, all I remember is that
> it contained a lot of obscenitys and almost a few fists. But somehow I
> come to my senses and found a security guard to tell about the
> situation. I do that and the guard tells me that we will go talk to him
> about it. The drunk trys to convince the security guard that he didn't
> know what I was talking about, gives him his SSN number and says he
> doesn't have ID. I almost resort to violence again but instead ask the
> security guard to duh "call the cops?". They think about it and decide
> that "yep, lets call the cops", After about 15 mins of watching this guy
> play blackjack very badly, the cop shows up and I tell him what
> happened. The cop can barely believe it. So much that I don't know if he
> even believed me until we went out to look at the guys cougar. Sure
> enough, the front left corner was smashed to pieces and covered in black
> scrapes (my cars color). So the cop trys to talk to the guy about it who
> has some completely stupid excuse to where he got the damage and then
> gives the cop a different SSN number than he gave the security guard and
> says he doesn't have ID. So the cop tries to give the guy a field
> sobriety test and the drunk refuses to take it over and over. So
> eventually the cop arrests him and goes through his pockets to find
> about 250 dollars in casino chips, an expired license with a SSN
> different than that of what he gave the cop and the security guard, and
> a little bag of cocaine. So anyways, he gets taken in and later that
> year I get a subpeona. I go in to be a witness for the DA but the cop
> doesn't think there is any reason to show up. So we all go home and they
> do it again a few months later. This time I get a cancel call that
> morning because the cop wasn't going to show up again. So the state of
> New Mexico decides to try again a few months later and the cops boss
> tells the DA that he will show up for sure on this next one. Nope,
> doesn't show up even with the cops boss's word so the judge tosses the
> case out. Meanwhile "captain drink-a-lot", big pink and porous nose and
> all, is sitting there scott free. Turns out he had 4 DUI's already, his
> license was revoked, it wasn't even his car, nor was it insured. The DA
> started telling me that I could take him to court myself if there was
> more damage on my car than my insurance paid for but in NM, you kind of
> have to just give up hope for things like this. To this day, I still
> don't know what to make of this whole event. I can barely believe it
> happened let alone happened where I was involved.
>
> Accident #3
> - Yes, another drunk is driving along next to me in the middle of the
> day. He decides to merge into my lane with me there in a big ol 4 month
> old ford explorer. So he trys to get in there and keeps pushing against
> my car like he's trying to push me off the road. We are both kind of
> jacked in the center resting against each others cars at 40 mph until
> the idea that he is hitting somebody finally defeats the lead paint in
> this guys head. So he goes back into his lane and floors it. I chase him
> for about 2 or 3 blocks until he finally pulls over to 'talk about it'.
> I ask him what his problem is, he of course smells like hard liquor and
> says I hit him. He also says he is going to cut me a deal because he
> doesn't want the insurance/cops involved so his premiums don't go up.
> (aka, he has no insurance) So it is basically my word against his at
> this point. I am afraid to go into the bank from the wells fargo parking
> lot to call the cops thinking the guy will just take off first chance he
> gets. LUCKILY some lady who was driving behind us finally caught up and
> stopped to help out. She tells the guy he blatantly drove right into me
> and that nobody had anyplace to go in bumper to bumper traffic. I was
> appearantly right against the concrete barrier trying to avoid him and
> she thought I hit on that side but it didn't show if I did. I don't
> really remember, all I remember having what seemed to be a staring
> contest through the window while I was yelling lots of obscenitys and
> trying to keep my car on the road. He just kept on smashing into the
> side of my car with one the dumbest looks I have ever seen on a persons
> face. Thankfully the lady had a cell phone and called the cops when she
> saw him start bolting. The cops show up and all goes well there but
> guess who doesn't have insurance? (nobody in New Mexico gets insurance I
> guess) In the end he really didn't do much damage to my car beyond
> popping the body panels in and my insurance promptly fixed it. His car
> on the other hand had lots of damage.
>
> then Russia.... You just don't drive in Russia. Driving in Russia is a
> Lada free-for-all. Every man for himself is the rule. Lines, lights,
> signs on roads mean nothing to anybody. You just try to avoid things
> (except people, they are expendable if they aren't in a chair with
> wheels and a lot of metal surrounding them.) Most people avoid the cars
> and ride the Metro. But you flag anything down if you want to ride in
> one for a change, all cars are really taxi's in disguise.
>
> Ok, that is enough for now.
>
> -Mike
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