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Colorado drivers are "among the worst"?

Tricia

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From a Denver Post article
According to Nationwide's study - they used telematics data to determine that Colorado Drivers are among the worst.

Colorado drivers aren't the worst according to my personal observation, as someone who's driven in a lot of different states.

Snip from article:
Insurer Nationwide said that it analyzed data from its SmartRide telematics program, which installs a small device in cars, tracks a user’s driving habits, including hard braking, fast acceleration and nighttime driving.

The results?

Colorado drivers have a high frequency of suddenly speeding up – an indicator of dangerous behavior, said Larry Thursby, Nationwide’s vice president who oversees the telematics program.
 

SBrown

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....Colorado drivers have a high frequency of suddenly speeding up – an indicator of dangerous behavior, said Larry Thursby, Nationwide’s vice president who oversees the telematics program.

This is true. It's caused by all the drivers going 60 in the left lane who speed up to 80 once you get frustrated and start passing them on the right.
 

tch

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I'm not sure about the validity of that single marker of bad driving. How about tailgating and changing lanes repeatedly?

As an aside, I have been stunned by the number of aggressive and rude drivers in Utah. My daughter warned me before I visited for the first time and I thought she was joking. But I've driven in NYC, Boston, Florida and other "known" locations of bad drivers...and Utah ranks right up there among the very worst. My daughter theorizes that highways are where Mormons take out their sublimated frustrations.
 

Dave Marshak

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IME Seattle and Spokane are the worst for slow in the left lane drivers, although the entire US is pretty bad about it. The difference in those cities is that no one ever passes on the right, left or center. It's like they've all given up on ever passing the slow driver so you just have to go with the (slow) flow.

dm
 

coskigirl

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This is true. It's caused by all the drivers going 60 in the left lane who speed up to 80 once you get frustrated and start passing them on the right.

And the drivers who can finally go after the damn semis and motorhomes passing on an uphill move back over. Oh, and when you finally have a moment to pass granny and grandpa headed to the casinos who are going 25 up the canyon.
 

Blue Streak

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This is true. It's caused by all the drivers going 60 in the left lane who speed up to 80 once you get frustrated and start passing them on the right.
Like yesterday coming down I70....
Just because they teach passing in truck driving school doesn't mean it's a good idea to try it going uphill on Vail Pass :doh:
 

Monique

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This is true. It's caused by all the drivers going 60 in the left lane who speed up to 80 once you get frustrated and start passing them on the right.

That was my first thought.

My "charitable" interpretation is that they suddenly realize they'd meant to be driving faster.

It's truly amazing to me how many people must be driving without paying any attention to what's going on behind or to the side of them. I can only hope they are paying any attention to what's right in front of them.

The ones that bug me most are:
1) Lane splits for passing lane; slow driver stays in passing lane
2) Slow driver in left lane drives right under the new I-70 signs reminding you that the left lane is for passing. No change in behavior.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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I've driven in every state but 4 and I think the drivers everywhere are tied for worst in the US. We can all be thankful we're not driving in Bangkok, though. Bring on the self-driving cars!
My first thought when I read the study was, "I don't think California knew there was a contest."
 

Nancy Hummel

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It seems like drivers everywhere are impatient, distracted and unaware of basic rules of the road - turn signal, lane usage etc. The Denver population has exploded and the traffic impact is huge. Construction is rampant in Denver and I-70 this summer which only worsens the issue. I am thankful I live a mile from my office in Denver so I don't have to deal with it on a daily basis.
 
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Tricia

Tricia

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Fact: The worst drivers are the ones where you are - both local and visiting from adjacent areas.
Do you have data to back up that fact?
:duck:
 

fatbob

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I'm not a fan of the drivers going down the curves on I80 west of the Pacific Crest. Nasty combination of overly cocky Californians, big rigs on the boundary of control and bewildered flatlanders. Add a bit of winter weather and kaboom. For some reason I80 East though it has a couple of interesting left handers isn't as scary.
 

mdf

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My pet peeve is drivers who go slow when the road is one lane , and then speed up for the short stretches with 2 lanes. I can imagine them thinking "Whew. That scary bit is over, I can go faster now!"
 

Lorenzzo

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I'm not sure about the validity of that single marker of bad driving. How about tailgating and changing lanes repeatedly?

As an aside, I have been stunned by the number of aggressive and rude drivers in Utah. My daughter warned me before I visited for the first time and I thought she was joking. But I've driven in NYC, Boston, Florida and other "known" locations of bad drivers...and Utah ranks right up there among the very worst. My daughter theorizes that highways are where Mormons take out their sublimated frustrations.
For a good part of my life I traveled to and drove in practically all the major US metros. UT drivers are hands down the worst. I suspect the problem is the preponderance of really innocent but uneducated, terrible drivers who can't get it going when the light changes, cross the double yellow line into oncoming traffic, left lane lane it 15 mph below the speed limit and drive in a constant state of confusion....combined with alert and skillful drivers who get frustrated, pissed and ornery.

I've seen things in my car so many times that make me wonder if I was hallucinating. I don't think there is a single other animal or plant species that could survive anti-survival behavior the way UT drivers seem able to.
 

jzmtl

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I knew it was BS as soon as I read how they collected the data. Some insurance companies offered those devices to rate drivers in exchange for a "discount", and someone posted his experience on a local forum. He literally had to run a few red lights to keep his score up, because just hit the brake when seeing yellow is enough to penalize the driver for "sudden braking"
 

Monique

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I knew it was BS as soon as I read how they collected the data. Some insurance companies offered those devices to rate drivers in exchange for a "discount", and someone posted his experience on a local forum. He literally had to run a few red lights to keep his score up, because just hit the brake when seeing yellow is enough to penalize the driver for "sudden braking"

Ahah. I was already pretty sure I didn't want such a device, but this clinches it.
 

dlague

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I have commuted into Boston and Into Both LA and Orange counties. When traffic is moving both of those areas have dangerous drivers - heck motorcycles split lanes in CA. The device probably did not get much data from those areas because the traffic does not move fast enough to accelerate or brake hard.

Plus with speed limits at 75 on the highway and 65 on rural roads and then you add the 5 MPH it requires that you accelerate to get to speed and brake hard to not slow down traffic getting off those roads.
 

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