I've been wondering why drivers in this area drive so slowly... Having lived
in both NJ and MD, I feel I'm now in the slow lanes. For example, I used to
have to drive two hours on the NJ Turnpike everyday. (commute to work)
Unless there's traffice, most people cruise at 80 to 85mph, if not faster.
Same deal with Maryland... people drive even faster on I-95 nort of Baltimore.
(85+ or better)

Are there speeding camers around here? If so, that may explain why people
drive slowly at 75mph...

Probably has to do more with road courtesy and a higher overall SES (higher socioeconomic status = more driving sense = less need to take unnecessary risks for a reckless driving violation). NJ Turnpike does not compare to the beltway, 66 or Toll Rd anyway.

Besides, Virginia is for lovers...or so I hear. -§

1. Traffic is fucking awful around here
2. When it isn't terrible, there's an asshole cop not far away just waiting to pull you over for going 67mph on a major highway. Of course, everyone slows down to look and you have slower traffic. Really a sweet system.

I used to be an over the road truck driver. I've seen driving habits all over this country. Virginia has the most courteous drivers of anywhere. Case in point... I was travelling on I66 WB wanting to get off on RT 28 North last Fri evening. As usual there was a long line of traffic waiting to exit on 28. I was in that line and a man in a pickup with NC tags came barelling down the shoulder with his right signal on. "He's busted" I thought to myself. Sure enough, just before the exit, there was an unmarked cruiser with the idiot pulled over. Ha ha. That brings me to my next point. There are FFX county cops EVERYWHERE... We are well covered. If you speed/drive like an ass, theres an excellent chance of being pulled over. I agree with the previous comment of a higher socioeconomic status. Loudoun and Fairfax counties are the 2 richest counties in the country. People with more money have more sense. Driving 85 is pointless and stupid. (and will get u put in jail around here)

You want to rip your hair out try driving anywhere on Keene Mill Road. These old fucks get in the left lane and do, I swear, 25. Speed limit is 45. The cars have to brake behind them then try to get over to the right then back to left.
I would love to have Fairfax cops write any of these people for being in left lane while not trying to pass. It is the law but to my knowledge has never been written.

AlenaC Wrote:
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> Having lived in both NJ and MD, I feel I'm now in the slow
> lanes.

Oh please, I used to drive in NJ and MD a lot, and let me tell you - driving on any road in NJ is no better than here, especially in places like Moristown which is like Bombai but colder. And as for MD, you're must be kidding. Try any other than I-95 road in MD, even highways - it's a nightmare.

The biggest problem in VA is that roads are simply overloaded. Then there are other problems like people from other states who come here for 2-3 year tenures and don't really adapt to metro style driving.

Pennsylvania drivers are the craziest bastards I've ever seen.

What I don't get is...other drivers..who want into my lane...but don't want to use the go pedal to accomplish that goal. Look, I'm not slowing down simply because you're too goddamned incompetent to make a lane change without help.

Sit there with your blinker going for the next 20 miles, I don't care. It's probably the only time you use the damned think anyway, when you expect help making a lane change.

While I'm on the subject: The brake pedal is NOT like the "cancel" button on a Windows machine. It will NOT undo whatever screwup you've just made.

People really drive like idiots around here. A few days ago, at the exit onto 236 from 495, there was a car merging into traffic, with a van behind him. The guy doesn't try to speed up or anything. And then, the guy in the car SLAMS on the brakes because he figures out that there is like a 1/4mi of space behind the person he was gonna pass. The van almost rear ended the guy!

I don't get what's so difficult about merging. Here, try this:

Pretend someone is trying to pass you. Or, pretend there is a yellow light at the end of the ramp and it's going to change to red. In either case, do what your dumbass usually does which is to speed up. There, that's how your supposed to merge.

For me it's the cops around here and strict VA traffic law. I see them everywhere. When I drive down to Richmond or Petersberg I will go a little faster but there are still a shiload of state troopers hiding between the highways. There seems to be an abundance of soccer moms in FFX as well that drive like shit.

I don't think anyone has addressed another cause: speed limits. Most highways in Northern Virginia have a speed limit of 55 MPH. While I've driven on the New Jersey Turnpike and 95 North of Baltimore, I don't personally remember the speed limit. But the articles I found after a simple search on google lead me to believe that those two areas are generally 65 MPH.

Plus, I must agree with everyone that discussed traffic. If the roads are really congested, you can't go 85 MPH. It just isn't going to happen.

And quite honestly, the congestion has really altered my attitude towards driving. I decided a few years ago that I wasn't going to get upset about bad traffic. Otherwise, I'd be upset almost everyday. I will get to my destination when I get there. But that attitude has rubbed off on my driving during times of little/no traffic as well. I'll drive at a speed consistent with the flow of traffic, but I don't feel the urge to drive 85 MPH. Perhaps it is part of growing up too: shaving 5 minutes off of a commute isn't worth a ticket and/or accident.

Traffic here is horrible, and there are plenty of completely ignorant drivers; but in my estimation, there's no place with worse drivers than Florida. Old people + high speed = OMFG.

There are a number of reasons why traffic is so bad here but mostly it is the drivers.
VDOT shares some of the blame. None of the traffic lights are synchronized. Each time you leave one light the next one is just turning red.
The drivers are too many to list but here are a few;
Soccer moms stopped at a green light blabbing away on cell phones and when it turns yellow they drive through.
BMW yuppies who jump one lane to the other, much too important to be late.
Foreigners who just got a license or have no license, last week at this time they were in some third world country riding a burro with a stick for the gas pedal .
Hummer drivers taking up two lanes. Old farts driving 25 in the left lane of a 45 mph road most of the time with their turn signal on for miles.
Drivers reading books, newspapers or maps.
I could add more but will let others have their chance.

Some traffic lights ARE synchronized, but VDOT keeps it a big secret as to which ones actually are. I can tell that the ones on 28 between Compton Rd. and Walney Rd are, in the southbound direction in the evening.

stinkypoon Wrote:
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> 2. When it isn't terrible, there's an asshole cop
> not far away just waiting to pull you over for
> going 67mph on a major highway.

sooooooooooooooo true.


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Cause we have this thing called The Fairfax County Police and they suck

They suck, but occasionally they are randomly shot and some semblance of balance returns to the force, right? right???

RESton Peace Wrote:
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> They suck, but occasionally they are randomly shot
> and some semblance of balance returns to the
> force, right? right???

then they shoot another unarmed person and they are back to square one.  ;)


"the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish."

Try driving 85+ anywhere in Fairfax County and then have fun in the court with a reckless driving ticket..LOL
1 day in jail for shizzle mah nizzle!!

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AlenaC Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've been wondering why drivers in this area drive
> so slowly... Having lived
> in both NJ and MD, I feel I'm now in the slow
> lanes. For example, I used to
> have to drive two hours on the NJ Turnpike
> everyday. (commute to work)
> Unless there's traffice, most people cruise at 80
> to 85mph, if not faster.
> Same deal with Maryland... people drive even
> faster on I-95 nort of Baltimore.
> (85+ or better)
>
> Are there speeding camers around here? If so,
> that may explain why people
> drive slowly at 75mph...

Speed it up VA!

Left lane bandits really slow things down around here. It seems like a large portion of the driving population do not understand the left lane is for passing. Try that shit in Jersey and you will have someone 24 inches off your bumper on the highway. That and the Jersey barriers are very close to the left lane and that freaks some of the poor drivers out.

PG county is especially bad with the 'I own the left lane' crowd. This place is certainly not the most scary place to drive (Boston) but it is a very frustrating place to drive.

Everyone on FFXU bitches about how rude and reckless VA drivers are, they are the tamest and most polite from what I have seen. I was in Florida recently, I was cruising at about 85 mph~ and I was getting passed constantly.

I've driven all over the USA and everybody everywhere drives exactly the same. You must have just happened to be driving in VA when things were slower. Another day/time there might be faster drivers.

u7xCP Wrote:
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> I've driven all over the USA and everybody
> everywhere drives exactly the same. You must have
> just happened to be driving in VA when things were
> slower. Another day/time there might be faster
> drivers.


Wrong. In Texas the speed limits in some places were 75 - 80 mph. People would go 90 all the time.

Go 90 mph up here and you will be in jail.

I used to drive fast, now anything over 80 mph is automatically reckless, and I simply can not afford that.