(Photo © J. Maus)
According to a nationwide survey, Portland motorists are no longer the most courteous in the nation.
Unlike last year — when Portland drivers topped the “Most Courteous Cities for Drivers” list compiled by AutoVantage (an “automobile benefits club” with over 500,000 members) — this year Pittsburgh was ranked #1 and Portland fell to #2.
When asked, “Which of the following rage-inducing behaviors do you see committed by other drivers at least once-per-week?” the responses showed that cyclists are not the only ones who have trouble following the rules of the road: 98% of respondents said they saw other drivers talking on cell phones; 87% of them “drive too fast”; 79% switch lanes “unsafely”; and 62% run red lights.
When asked “Which of the following behaviors have you performed at least once within the past week while driving?” 32% admitted to driving to fast while only 8% admitted to “switching lanes unsafely” and a mere 3% admitted to running red lights.
2,512 people were interviewed in the survey which was conducted between February 4 and March 23, 2008 by an independent research firm in 25 major U.S. metropolitan areas.
More info on the survey can be found here.
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What do you think about Portland’s drivers…especially compared to other places you’ve ridden?
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I\’s say that\’s about right – most people drive too fast, and very few run red lights, or we\’d have a lot more accidents than we do now.
Of course, many roads see 5,000+ vehicles per day, and at 3%, that\’s 150 people running a red light somewhere along that road each DAY. (and 1,600 people speeding)
Interesting that Detroit doesn\’t make the short list of \”least courteous\”.
I believe it. I traveled through PGH this spring and have to say it was one of my favorite cities! Fun to bike and explore, beautiful, more bridges than portland, and even it\’s own version of zoobomb using the \”Incline\” lifts! Check out their really, really rad bike map, my favorite bike map I\’ve seen anywhere, physical or digital:
http://map.bike-pgh.org/map.html
But…
What they heck is up with that horrible map graphic? Minneapolis in the middle of the state? NYC in upstate? \”Red\” is the color of good and \”Green\” is bad? WTF?
there\’s something very wrong with this survey if Seattle is #3. Seattle drivers are Terrible drivers – and definitely not courteous. They must be measuring self-perception.
gabriel amadeus – must agree with you. The information designer that made this map graphic needs to be demoted.
\”Don’t be afraid. They’re not so bad.\”
Yeah, when they\’re parked! 😉
Plus what poser said. I grew up in Boston and am still intimidated with Seattle. Hey Boston, congrats on beating New York at something! Your new motto could be \”at least we don\’t shoot tourists like Miami!\”
I kid, I kid… relax! 🙂
To me the most irritating thing is car drivers talking on cell phones. I can\’t stand it. I personally don\’t see why they don\’t just REQUIRE all cell phone conversations to be hands free. There\’s an argument for not doing this because it would require people to have to purchase some sort of hands-free device. WELL SO WHAT! It\’s a privilege not a right. Just because you\’re given the ability to drive (via driver\’s license) doesn\’t mean that someone has to give you a car. No, it\’s a responsibility that you need to figure out on your own. I hate to say this, but the cops would be able to make so much money as soon as they did a sting for it. I kind of get irritated seeing cyclist\’s on their cell phones too, but not as much since we\’re usually on a less-traffic path. I only get irritated when they\’re not paying attention to all other directions of traffic.
I don\’t understand how this doesn\’t irritate enough people to the point of imposing some sort of rule or law. Especially when you talk about the safety factor of it all
Okay, sorry for the ramble but I\’ve now gotten my rant for the day out. Thanks for listening.
-Jose
I\’m as suspicious of only 32% self-reporting themselves as speeders as I am of similar serlf-reporting polls of teenage drug use.
I have never found Seattle to be all that bad (other than some of the odd street layouts downtown) but I have probably only spent 60 days there in my whole life.
Atlanta, on the other hand, might deserve an honorable mention on the bad list 🙂 I have never seen a city that ignores red lights to the degree that they seem to in ATL.
Miami I 100% agree with…any time you are in a city and every 500 yards there is a sign telling you to pull wrecked vehicles off the road you know you are in trouble.
Jose,
biking and cell phones drive me nuts. I notice it most in the summer and fall when all the fairweathers come out. Not to be sexist, but the norm are women, slightly stylish to hipster, no helmet, no gloves and weaving down the bike lane. Try to say anything and you get one hell of a dirty look or a middle finger.
I am just waiting for eating, makeup, electric razors, and all the other vehicular bad habits to be expressed.
Thanks Gabriel for the suggestion to take a look at Pittsburg\’s new bike maps
…it blew me away…better than anything I have seen to date (US or Euro) the last time I looked. (Especially the dynamic crash data.)
And I loved the zine comix style safety brochure. (Sean are you out there for a PDX style one?)
Way to go Pittsburg!
Sorry Pittsburgh on the spelling. 😉
Coming from someone who lived in Miami for about 2 1/2 years before moving here a year and a half ago, and Los Angeles for pretty much the rest aside from being born in that tropical wasteland, I can definitely say that\’s spot-on. And there\’s pretty much no way to fix it. I think the heat just aggravates people.
I know of one action that I see many times that defines a courteous driver in and around Portland, but it can have lethal consequences. I\’m talking about motorists stopping at a green traffic signal to allow a bicyclist proceed against a red traffic signal.
Jose – the problem with cellphones isn\’t that they take away one hand. With an automatic you only really need one hand to steer, unless you have to make a really tight turn. Which is pretty rare. One hand usually can do the trick. The real issue with cell phones is that they take away your ATTENTION from the road. It\’s far different than having a conversation with other passengers for a myriad of reasons. Which is why the concept of a \”hands free\” device is completely bogus. If one part of your mind is in the car, and the other part is on the other end of a shoddy cellphone connection, you are a menace to everyone else on the road.
I have ranted before about Florida. Noting that Miami got the worse reinforced my thoughts on that. They use the horn all the time (Their stat bird), and NEVER use turn signals.
I saw few bicycles in Hollywood Florida, near Miami. Of the few I did see, I saw one get hit right in front of the coffee house I was sitting at.
If I had to live there, I would sell all my bikes, even after 55 years of riding.
PDX is an absolute paridise compared and we must keep working to even set a higher standard.
Tankognolo Bob
any survey that ranks St. Louis number 4 (in 07) is on its face invalid. people who do not know how to drive are unable to be courteous.
what are the 34 questions? are they framed like the online version of the quiz? the very first question gives four very poor alternative responses and does not provide a \”none of the above\” option.
[arriving Portland 06.03.08]