Proof, Perhaps, That Va. Breeds Bad Drivers
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Like (EARLIER THIS SPRING, we asked readers to weigh in on who were the worst drivers: Those from the District, Maryland or Virginia. Those who responded to our Poll Center question picked Maryland drivers as the region's worst. But opinions are still clearly polarized, and there are many who say Virginia drivers take the cake.
Certainly, that's what The Onion's Chris Mincher indicated when Express asked him to weigh in on Old Dominion drivers:
In D.C., Virginians are even worse, as they do not understand the concept of consecutively numbered streets, or consecutively alphabetized streets, or that slowing down to 3 mph will not make a parking space magically appear alongside them. To a Virginian, a sign that says a turn is forbidden during rush hour is, instead, an invitation to partly turn into the other lane of traffic, come to complete stop, and read the sign again.We decided to test that theory. So this writer headed down to one of the District's most troubled intersections, Wisconsin Avenue and M Street NW in the heart of the Georgetown shopping district, and counted over 45 minutes the number of illegal left turns from eastbound M Street to northbound Wisconsin Avenue. The left turn prohibition can be an annoyance, but savvy drivers know to turn up 33rd Street NW rather than risk the illegal left.
On our watch, though, we counted seven drivers who thought that no-left-turn sign didn't apply to them.
They all had Virginia license plates. And just as Mincher predicted, two of the drivers, as if to claim their right to turn left, edged into oncoming traffic before darting across the street.
Granted, a brief study of one intersection on one afternoon does not definitively prove that Virginians are bad drivers. But we wouldn't be surprised if Old Dominion residents were a chief source of the city's traffic-ticket revenue.
» "Poll Center: Who Has the Worst Drivers?" [Free Ride/Express]
» "Poll Results: May 15, 2006" [Poll Center/Express]
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and we thank them for spending their money here. now hurry up, eat, and head home! :)
By IMGoph , Posted June 18, 2007 10:43 AMI was entirely expecting the results to be 100% Maryland tags - - since Maryland is north of Georgetown, that's where I would expect most of the left-turning cars to be from. I was going to cry foul and say "Your data is all wrong" and accuse you of journalistic bias and call for your job.
The results are quite surprising despite my predisposition against Virginia drivers, as even I had expected the turning left on Wisconsin to be surely heading home to the 'burbs.
I can now continue to maintain that Virginia drivers are the worst.
By AUA , Posted June 18, 2007 11:21 AMHow about heading down NY Avenue towards the BW Parkway and see what you come up with there. Clearly you ran into a lot of Virginia drives since 90% of those heading across Key Bridge live in Virginia which is likely why they were in G-town to begin with.
By Carrie , Posted June 18, 2007 3:10 PMThe real issue is not whether drivers from one state are bad when driving in another state, but which are the worst when driving in the state that issued their license. No excuses to violators of "No Turn" signs from any jurisdication, but Maryland drivers are absolutely the worst when driving in their own state. That speaks volumes.
By anonymous in Arlington , Posted June 18, 2007 4:11 PMAnd, as for the contention that Virginians are somehow challenged by DC's street name and numbering system, the blogger clearly is unaware that Arlington, which has been part of Virginia for more than 160 years, after briefly being in DC, has the exact same kind of system. So, at least for Arlington drivers, this is not a difficult concept.