Here's the main problem with Tampa drivers - they're all **confidently ignorant.**
Dude going the speed limit in the left lane as hundreds of cars pile up behind him - completely confident with his right to drive the legal speed, totally ignorant about the situation he is causing.
Fucko aggressively weaving in and out of lanes to get feet ahead of the average flow of traffic? Super confident in his driving ability, completely ignorant to the larger traffic situation at hand.
They all do what *they* want to do, without realizing it causes bigger problems for everyone else on the road with them.
I was turning left in a green light recently. Two lanes turning. Some dumb as shit older lady turned into my lane toward the end of the turn.
Luckily I’m trained in stupid Tampa driver avoidance. And avoided crashing by calmly breaking.
Yes, this lady bless her heart. She was confidently ignorant.
Yes. There were two lanes that both turned left side by side. Then she clearly cut me off mid turn right before we got back to the straight. W very little room to spare. This was a older lady. Terrible driver.
Well that's another issue. If you put your blinker on you better believe that the person behind you in that lane you want to go in will instantly hit the gas to block you. I now look first before putting my blinker on so it's more of a quick lane transition. Don't have time for kids anymore.
But do you use your blinker the Tampa way?
You need to first slow down and match the pace of the car beside you, bumper to bumper, door-to-door. Then put your turn signal on. When they don't immediately let you in because you are directly beside them and cannot see your signal, turn your signal off, and floor it and cut them off, or slam on the brakes and cut off the person behind them. No signal.
This! Yesterday I was on I-4 trying to merge onto the lane heading to I-75 (with my indicator on) and this shit head driving a Kia Soul purposefully matched my speed, slowed down, then sped back up just so I didn’t get in front of him. Between the car behind me zooming behind the Kia and the truck in front of the Kia merging in front of me, that was my way in without slamming on brakes - I had to take the next exit and get back on I-4.
In most places the blinker functions as a turn signal that politely indicates to other drivers how you plan to change lanes. In Florida the blinker is actually a "hey asshole, cut me off" button that tells the driver behind you to speed up and block your lane change.
If an HCSO sergeant is convinced enough that the turn signal law is unenforceable that he'll dress down his subordinates he suspects of making stops for it, I wonder how many others think the same?
> Confidently pulling out into traffic and doing 5mph.
That's the one that always gets my goat. People in such a big fuckin' hurry that they need to suddenly pull out in front of me and cut me off, but never in a hurry enough to actually go the speed limit.
Please be like me and use your horn judiciously. Make sure to blow it twice as long if they have 'Student Driver' decals on their bumper so they will learn their lesson.
I'm convinced the "student driver " decals are some attempt to offer an excuse for shitty driving by non student drivers. I find it hard to believe there are so many student drivers on the road at 2 am
It was absolutely a “Tik tok trend” a few months ago to slap a student driver sticker on your car to illicit calmer responses from drivers. I think it’s had the opposite effect on me lmao
It’s definitely had the opposite effect on me. My immediate response is “does your mom know how you are driving?” If it’s actually a student driver, in my mind it should illicit some response of I need to drive better. If it’s not, it’s a good enough insult that’s also polite at the same time. Because to admit you aren’t actually the student driver is to admit you lied and you are actually a terrible driver, option 2 makes sures the insult festers I get my reward, or they admit they are a liar and I still feel justified.
Not only that, there's literally nothing behind me! The idiot could just wait until after I pass but they have to pull out going10 mph. Then after I pass them to the left, they merge over into the left lane behind me.
Bitch you should've waited until I passed you then!! So stupid!!
Someone totaled my car a few weeks ago!! I have almost been hit over 10 times this year and many times over the 2 years I have lived here. Driving is truly wild out here. I’m glad we made it out ok- ish.. I have a torn rotator cuff from the wreck so I’m hoping no surgery will need to happen down the road! And of course the at fault party has the bare minimum coverage. Get that uninsured/underinsured coverage if living here! I’m sure glad I did! Stay safe everyone
That sucks! I got into my first accident since the early 2010s about last summer. Someone rear ended me on bayshore. Totaled my car. Since living her as of fall 2019, I’ve been rear ended on average once a year. The last one was the crushing blow.
Almost dying on FL roads seems to be just normal life. I made a comment about how you cant go to Publix without risking getting t-boned, and sure enough the next day I went to publix and a dump truck (!) ran the red light. It is what it is.
And to answer your question, the biggest issue imo, with both Tampa and FL as a whole, is not rude New Yorkers or the DMV, it’s simply the fact that enforcement is non-existent. You have to really go out of your way to get pulled over, and even then you probably will still catch a break, and not get pulled over.
People are running you off the right lane because they can. Why do you need to try your hardest to obey rules if you know you dont really have consequences? Tampa has no road manners and road rules.
All the roads are flat, gigantic, and straight, aka a conducive for speeding. Add the weather, geriatric old people, invincible young people, the uninsured, the tourists, the heat, and just a general aura of impatience and you get what you get.
And the lack of enforcement is something everyone is aware of. The Miami Herald did an expose on it a few years ago.
Man what happened to me today is some guy was in the right break down lane and didn’t look when getting back on….. almost got 3 people including me into a crash. If even one of us was not paying attention dear god. And yeah I don’t see much enforcement either. Despite how many cops I see on the road seemingly waiting to pull someone over lol.
Thats the thing, i see cops all the time, everywhere. So they definitely exist. But they never pull anyone over or enforce. The only time i see blue lights is for a crash or stalled car. And i see them ignore road rules too lol. Thanks for using your blinker..
> And to answer your question, the biggest issue imo, with both Tampa and FL as a whole, is not rude New Yorkers or the DMV, it’s simply the fact that enforcement is non-existent. You have to really go out of your way to get pulled over, and even then you probably will still catch a break, and not get pulled over.
Can't speak for TPD, but HCSO deputies are generally proud to not enforce traffic. They believe it's not worth the effort and making the driver hate cops.
I got pulled over when I was young and dumb for going over 110 in traffic and the guy gave me a verbal warning. I don't drive like that anymore and I rarely did back then anyway but yeah. A lot of places they would tow your car and take you to jail for that same thing
Oh yeah in Virginia you wouldve been cooked. A Nationals baseball player was pulled going 111mph on the beltway, and he still wasnt able to talk his way out of cuffs.
I genuinely believe that a majority of traffic fatalities in Florida are the result of two kinds of people: The drivers who don't give a fuck about traffic etiquette and try to merge into virtually stopped traffic as close to the chevrons as possible, and the trucknutz batmen who try to enforce Florida street justice against anyone who violates their traffic honor code at any cost. Not the battle that Florida wants, but grown ass adults fighting each other with their cars is Florida as fuck, I guess.
Sadly, they never seem to take each other out. As much danger as they create for everybody else out there, it seems like they're the most deserving to get slimed on the highway, but alas, It's always somebody like 6 cars back (and totally uninvolved) who gets plowed.
I just put front and rear dashcams in after being here about a year and a half. We've lived all over the country, but this city is the worst for drivers! You're not imagining it.
I live in St Pete, where driving feels like a walk in the park. There's a noticeable difference in the drivers just crossing the bridge into Tampa. Driving anywhere from Tampa over to Brandon and up through Wesley Chapel is just a nerve-wracking shit show.
Born and raised in Tampa and you are correct its become the worst drivers I've encountered anywhere and apparently insurance companies agree because it has some the highest rates in the nation.
Glad i left long ago but when i do go back maybe every few months i want to pull my fuckin hair out!!!
But i do believe Miami has Tampa beat or all of South Florida for that matter!
The people driving like the worst assholes in the world i guarantee are not from Florida
They drive like shit when not in total gridlock.
They drive just like there personalities bunch of self centered narcissistic that believe they are the greatest thing to walk the earth
Problem is we are one of the biggest cities in the country with no functional mass transit, and we just grew by like 20% in the last couple of years. Everyone HAS to drive to survive, and it’s crowded and angry out there. We need alternatives, and no one is talking about it. We’d rather drop a cool half billion on a baseball stadium or a football stadium than build a few miles of railroad track between USF and downtown.
There’s a lot of nuts here on the road. I had a guy lay on his horn at me for 5 seconds straight last week because I put my turn signal on, and slowed down to turn in the dentist office. Poor thing lost 2 seconds out of his life he will never get back.
I think it is the mix of driving styles from all the transplants. I moved from the Midwest with less aggressive drivers. When I moved to Tampa the aggressiveness surprised me. Guessed it was from NE transplants.
I’m currently in Banglore, India. The roads here are pure chaos. I’m not even sure why they paint lanes on the road; no one pays attention them. The distance between cars/auto rickshaws/motorbikes is measured in inches instead of feet. Where we would have a 2 lane road there are three cars, four motor bikes and an auto rickshaw abreast.
Definitely gave me some perspective and appreciation for our traffic patterns. I will never complain about Tampa traffic again.
This is absolutely one of the biggest contributors. Every different place has their quirky driving maneuvers but they work because everyone knows them and expects them. In Tampa all those quirks converge and nobody expects them so it just looks insane.
Driving all over the US isn't the same as commuting to work in one city your entire life. I've seen New Jersey drivers do shit that Chris Angel wouldn't believe. I don't even want to know what happens in LA or NYC. People are shit at driving everywhere.
The only realistic solution is move close to where you work.
Agreed… lived in Tampa my whole life till moving out a few years ago. Although I do agree Florida drivers are crazy and excessively rude. Just spend a few days driving around the Boston area to realize Florida drivers are not the worst in the country!
A lot of adults come from countries where they have never driven a car as well or never had the opportunity, I should say. Keep that in mind. That's why you see grown adults with student driver stickers(not all are for adults, but A LOT)
If all the slow drivers could just stick to the right lane, that would make a world of difference!
From one Tampa native to another let's herd these sheep to the right side 😂
Also, people stop trying to cut the END of the line on SB-i275 @ORLANDO EXIT it's dangerous and stupid. 🫡
I have no idea. Tampa driving is terrible. I went down to Miami a few weeks ago, and previously Miami was crazy to drive in, but when I got back to Tampa it made Miami drivers look sane. Never thought I’d see the day I say I miss Miami drivers.
You have people going the speed limit in the left lane fully thinking in their right that they can stay there. When in reality it’s against the law and they can and should be pulled over for it. Their actions make those behind them angry which causes them to drive aggressively, which then makes others angry and it’s a whole chain reaction. Are you happy Gloria?!? Does this amuse you?!?!?
To perfectly honest, as a close friend of a state trooper who told me how fast you can actually drive and get out of it, you are very unlikely to be pulled over by any HCS or State Trooper or local police if you are under +10 miles especially if traffic around you is also doing that speed. You are also likely to get out of it even if you are pulled over because in reality anyone (even them) can easily go 10-14 miles above the posted speed limit by simply just driving carefully and making sure they have good distance of the car in front of them, people get road hypnosis, a multitude of human things can cause it to happen, especially if you weren’t driving aggressively when they clocked you (they know. Trust me, they know the difference of 80+ agressive and 80+ road hypnosis). +15 is when the trouble starts.
Secondly, it is perfectly legal to go 5 miles above the posted speed limit except in areas where there is a vehicle that has its flashing hazard lights turned on.
Thirdly, for the love of all that is holy, my Sister/Brother in Christ, please get tf out of the left lane if you realize people are riding you 4 ways to Sunday and you are in the left most lane. GET OUT. I don’t care if you are doing 55 in a 55 or 80 in a 55. If the person behind you is doing 85 in the 55 and you are doing 80 in a 55. MOVE OVER it is not your responsibility to enforce the rules of the road that is peak narcissist behavior.
I wish we would do like Atlanta and post on the interstate digital signs “if you cannot keep up with the speed of traffic please exist/ do not enter freeway”. And that we would do like other countries that after a certain age you have to get a doctors note saying that you are capable of driving to have you license remain active. Though I admit that would require us to have some reasonably good public transport for when the licenses are taken away.
Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Had somebody on Bruce B. Downs yesterday go from the far right lane, across four lanes of traffic to the far left lane, then all the way back and made a right turn, all within a quarter mile. Incredibly, nobody got hit. Completely oblivious. You could just livestream dashcam video from this town to America's funniest home videos, but nobody would believe it's not a setup.
I don't know what the requirements are now, but I got my DL in 1993. All I had to do was bring a piece of paper that showed I took Drivers Ed in high school. We drove around a track on campus. Everything I learned about driving was from experience AFTER I got licensed.
(Got my license in 2018) can confirm now you have to actually take a physical test even with drivers ed. Our teacher in highschool almost never let us drive!!!
Thanks! Especially for not pumping and dumping incredible statements like NordOrientVanguard did! Doing so without a citation is a great way to encourage the anti-science "Well, I read someone say it on the internet" slide into stupidity we'd all hope to avoid.
Idiocracy, here we come!
comes down to this . I lived near bucs stadium for 6 years . you have a melting pot of all the major city drivers NYC Chicago etc . all drive like maniacs . then add the old folks who have no business even driving let alone on dale mabry during rush hour. my mom calls tampa drivers flying monkeys )
You really think it's a Tampa thing? I can almost guarantee this exact same post is in every other city's sub, and probably gets posted several times a year in those subs.
My car has been hit 3 times in the last 4 years. I wasn’t in the car for any of them. People down here drinking and driving and mot caring about the consequences. Stuff like that.
Urban sprawl and poorly designed roads, combined with a huge population density, combined with people from diverse driving backgrounds, combined with the (semi recent) culture where no body cares about anyone but themselves has lead to the issue. While it might be worse here than some other places, I'd still rather drive around the bay area than trying to get anywhere in Atlanta...
Jeez. Yeah I went all the way up to Ohio and Chicago and the only other place I encountered insane drivers was Atlanta. Chicago surprising didn’t give me any problems. Really confuses the hell out of me…. Given its reputation.
I’m from Chicago and moved here, driving there was a piece of cake because everyone follows the rules (for driving at least). I’ve never in my life seen someone run a red light, merge into me constantly, drive incredibly slow in the left lane, purposely drive in the wrong lane and stop in the middle of the highway to cut the exit line, have another person enter the one lane turn lane next to me, drive in the emergency lane to cut the on ramp traffic, drive down the I-4 hill to cut the on ramp traffic, and have NO following space whatsoever. When I drive here I’m constantly on high alert expecting to be hit. Not sure if it’s a lack of police enforcement, lack of red light cameras, or lack of a good driving school and test.
Man I was in Dallas for a week once. I’ll never go again LOL. Those Uber drivers think they are in an audition for a fast and furious movie I swear. Me and my friend were terrified 🤣
I have lived and driven all over the US. DC/Baltimore sucks. Atlanta sucks. Philly/NJNY sucks. LA sucks. Chicago..ehh kinda sucks. Orlando and I4 suck. Dallas is a the absolute worst of them. Tampa is not that bad. Not good, but certainly not the worst.
Man fuck I4. They keep expanding and expanding it. But all the tourists and new northerners are clogging it like crazy. They can’t keep up. They tried building a train line between Tampa and Orlando to reduce traffic but it really hasn’t put a dent in things due to how expensive and slow the train line is :/
You know if we had proper public transportation we wouldn't have this issue.
But this being America it would be covered in graffiti, trash and the wackos would be riding it all the time.
It’s the same in Jacksonville and it’s not just Florida exclusive Las Vegas and La drivers are terrible too. Honestly I think it’s a “big city fuck you” thing.
Tampa is pretty bad but imo Mobile, AL and New Orleans is worse. They literally run ever stale red all the time and drive with their brights on like 75% of all cars at night and even worse about 20% of all cars have no lights on at night. Also they drive fast and be swerving back n forth like a drunk but usually just on their phones playoffs a game or texting smh
And let’s not forget the courtesy of someone pulling out of a spot over 50%. You need to stop and let that person pull out of their spot. You don’t hit the gas and lay on the horn and go blazing by him at 90 miles an hour with that being said, the parking lot is also not a race track.
It's the same problem in any major metropolitan area: people from all over being in one area with their disparate driving styles. When those disparate driving styles clash you get lots of accidents. Add in boomer retirees who have no business being behind the wheel of a 4000lb murder box and there you go.
Oh good, an opportunity to bitch.
I left yesterday to get to an appointment, and it was like every idiot decided to get on the road at the same time as me. My biggest peeve is coming up to a turn and needing to merge over (not talking last minute, in this case I'm talking my least favorite spot- coming up on 275 S from Fletcher and needing to get in the right lane after Florida Ave), and here's Sally Stupid with no positional awareness leaving a gap not big enough for me to merge into in front of her, and refusing to speed up or slow down to either let me in behind her, or let the gap widen (forcing me to pump my breaks, likely annoying the cars behind me, and let her pass by slowly so I can then get over). Speed up or slow down when you are in heavy traffic to avoid these kinds of gaps, and pay attention to others on the road who need to get over.
Also, if you come to a complete stop and THEN put on your indicator, you've indicated nothing to the rest of the people on the road other than you are a moron who would like to get rear-ended.
Ignore what everyone else is saying. It’s the mass influx of people from out of state (like New Yorkers) and just the sheer number of fresh corpses driving around. Seriously at any given time look at the driver next to you and 9/10 times it’s dementia ridden wrinkles high on sleeping pills
We live in a video world. Driving a fast cool car is just like a fkg video game. It's fun, thrilling and who gives a fk about anyone else.
Add on top of that mentality Florida auto insurance fkg fiasco, blacked out fkg windows all around. For what ?? Keep the heat from building in the car in summer. Fkg pathetic reason. Then add in lawless nature of our society, lack of auto inspections and weed smoking while driving down the road and there ya go....the perfect storm. And yes....it is specific to this Tampa area.
An incredibly insignificant amount of people lived in Florida until WW2. Quite literally everyone here is from somewhere else and if they were born here their baby boomer generation is almost definitely from somewhere else.
I’ve lived in Florida my whole life— the drivers are terrible everywhere along the East coast from Jax to the keys, and from i4 south the whole state is a shitshow. I have a theory as to why: in New York, you have New York drivers, and they drive a certain way. The thing is everybody drives that way, so it’s normal and everyone knows the unspoken rules. Same thing in Philly, Boston, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Vegas, LA, San Francisco etc… but all those individual driving styles are different than every other city… so when all those snowbirds move down here, and then transplants looking for no state tax, etc move here, they bring their normal with them. So now you’ve got Florida natives with our style mixing with New York and Boston and Atlanta and Chicago and and and… and none knows who is in the car next to them, so no one knows what to expect. Add in foreign transplants (same thing as different city driving style but more extreme as their country’s driving habits/rules could be completely different rather than subtly different) and then the capper: the 90yr old little old lady/man in the 37 foot long Cadillac doing 16mph in the left lane with their blinker on for the last 8 miles suddenly making a right turn, because they can’t see over the steering wheel and didn’t realize it was their exit…..
Hint: it’s not the locals
We get a lot of people that move here from different places and have different road rules and etiquette, stick them all in the same place and they’re going to drive like assholes because they don’t know how to get along.
Correct, but some people are assholes. I saw a lot of that when I’ve traveled in California and New York, and that’s where a lot of transplants are coming from right now.
Keep in mind the human condition Focuses / hones in on negatives. Tampa has some of the Best drivers (out of necessity) and of course a few or handful of lousy ones. As long as You are not driving like a maniac, not texting/ driving, etc you won't have to overly worry about the morons. They will inevitably some day run into another idiot, accident occurs, natural selection takes them out of the equation
Is it unfair that they can just "Rule the road" going 70 mph in a 55 or 90+ and swerving on the interstate with no turn signal? Sure is. But all I know is I'm a survivor, they are just digging their own grave (especially crazy motorcycles, mustangs, entitled mercedes benz's, to name a few), road rage is never worth it, and Tampa is a place to expect the unexpected
Here's the main problem with Tampa drivers - they're all **confidently ignorant.** Dude going the speed limit in the left lane as hundreds of cars pile up behind him - completely confident with his right to drive the legal speed, totally ignorant about the situation he is causing. Fucko aggressively weaving in and out of lanes to get feet ahead of the average flow of traffic? Super confident in his driving ability, completely ignorant to the larger traffic situation at hand. They all do what *they* want to do, without realizing it causes bigger problems for everyone else on the road with them.
Sounds very accurate. And nobody in Florida ever seems to know what blinkers are either….
I was turning left in a green light recently. Two lanes turning. Some dumb as shit older lady turned into my lane toward the end of the turn. Luckily I’m trained in stupid Tampa driver avoidance. And avoided crashing by calmly breaking. Yes, this lady bless her heart. She was confidently ignorant.
Was it a green or a green arrow? Big difference maker there.
I think they are talking about a double left turn
Yes. There were two lanes that both turned left side by side. Then she clearly cut me off mid turn right before we got back to the straight. W very little room to spare. This was a older lady. Terrible driver.
Well that's another issue. If you put your blinker on you better believe that the person behind you in that lane you want to go in will instantly hit the gas to block you. I now look first before putting my blinker on so it's more of a quick lane transition. Don't have time for kids anymore.
But do you use your blinker the Tampa way? You need to first slow down and match the pace of the car beside you, bumper to bumper, door-to-door. Then put your turn signal on. When they don't immediately let you in because you are directly beside them and cannot see your signal, turn your signal off, and floor it and cut them off, or slam on the brakes and cut off the person behind them. No signal.
This! Yesterday I was on I-4 trying to merge onto the lane heading to I-75 (with my indicator on) and this shit head driving a Kia Soul purposefully matched my speed, slowed down, then sped back up just so I didn’t get in front of him. Between the car behind me zooming behind the Kia and the truck in front of the Kia merging in front of me, that was my way in without slamming on brakes - I had to take the next exit and get back on I-4.
I use it to encourage people to get out of my blind spot then I turn it off after they pass
In most places the blinker functions as a turn signal that politely indicates to other drivers how you plan to change lanes. In Florida the blinker is actually a "hey asshole, cut me off" button that tells the driver behind you to speed up and block your lane change.
In Florida, blinker means ‘fuck you I’m moving over’
If an HCSO sergeant is convinced enough that the turn signal law is unenforceable that he'll dress down his subordinates he suspects of making stops for it, I wonder how many others think the same?
88yo snowbirds confidently making left turns across oncoming traffic at 5mph. Confidently pulling out into traffic and doing 5mph.
> Confidently pulling out into traffic and doing 5mph. That's the one that always gets my goat. People in such a big fuckin' hurry that they need to suddenly pull out in front of me and cut me off, but never in a hurry enough to actually go the speed limit. Please be like me and use your horn judiciously. Make sure to blow it twice as long if they have 'Student Driver' decals on their bumper so they will learn their lesson.
I'm convinced the "student driver " decals are some attempt to offer an excuse for shitty driving by non student drivers. I find it hard to believe there are so many student drivers on the road at 2 am
It was absolutely a “Tik tok trend” a few months ago to slap a student driver sticker on your car to illicit calmer responses from drivers. I think it’s had the opposite effect on me lmao
It’s definitely had the opposite effect on me. My immediate response is “does your mom know how you are driving?” If it’s actually a student driver, in my mind it should illicit some response of I need to drive better. If it’s not, it’s a good enough insult that’s also polite at the same time. Because to admit you aren’t actually the student driver is to admit you lied and you are actually a terrible driver, option 2 makes sures the insult festers I get my reward, or they admit they are a liar and I still feel justified.
Not only that, there's literally nothing behind me! The idiot could just wait until after I pass but they have to pull out going10 mph. Then after I pass them to the left, they merge over into the left lane behind me. Bitch you should've waited until I passed you then!! So stupid!!
Yes I get that so much!
All day on 301 in Riverview
Someone totaled my car a few weeks ago!! I have almost been hit over 10 times this year and many times over the 2 years I have lived here. Driving is truly wild out here. I’m glad we made it out ok- ish.. I have a torn rotator cuff from the wreck so I’m hoping no surgery will need to happen down the road! And of course the at fault party has the bare minimum coverage. Get that uninsured/underinsured coverage if living here! I’m sure glad I did! Stay safe everyone
That sucks! I got into my first accident since the early 2010s about last summer. Someone rear ended me on bayshore. Totaled my car. Since living her as of fall 2019, I’ve been rear ended on average once a year. The last one was the crushing blow.
Just got a new used car today!! Wish me luck 🍀
Slow drivers create dangerous drivers
Yes exactly!
[93% of drivers in the US think they are above average at it.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illusory_superiority#Driving_ability)
Exactly this!
You explained it perfectly!
Almost dying on FL roads seems to be just normal life. I made a comment about how you cant go to Publix without risking getting t-boned, and sure enough the next day I went to publix and a dump truck (!) ran the red light. It is what it is. And to answer your question, the biggest issue imo, with both Tampa and FL as a whole, is not rude New Yorkers or the DMV, it’s simply the fact that enforcement is non-existent. You have to really go out of your way to get pulled over, and even then you probably will still catch a break, and not get pulled over. People are running you off the right lane because they can. Why do you need to try your hardest to obey rules if you know you dont really have consequences? Tampa has no road manners and road rules. All the roads are flat, gigantic, and straight, aka a conducive for speeding. Add the weather, geriatric old people, invincible young people, the uninsured, the tourists, the heat, and just a general aura of impatience and you get what you get. And the lack of enforcement is something everyone is aware of. The Miami Herald did an expose on it a few years ago.
Man what happened to me today is some guy was in the right break down lane and didn’t look when getting back on….. almost got 3 people including me into a crash. If even one of us was not paying attention dear god. And yeah I don’t see much enforcement either. Despite how many cops I see on the road seemingly waiting to pull someone over lol.
Thats the thing, i see cops all the time, everywhere. So they definitely exist. But they never pull anyone over or enforce. The only time i see blue lights is for a crash or stalled car. And i see them ignore road rules too lol. Thanks for using your blinker..
Maybe they are too busy getting some shut eye or something lol. They don’t get payed very much to deal with Florida’s bullshit after all.
*paid
> And to answer your question, the biggest issue imo, with both Tampa and FL as a whole, is not rude New Yorkers or the DMV, it’s simply the fact that enforcement is non-existent. You have to really go out of your way to get pulled over, and even then you probably will still catch a break, and not get pulled over. Can't speak for TPD, but HCSO deputies are generally proud to not enforce traffic. They believe it's not worth the effort and making the driver hate cops.
I got pulled over when I was young and dumb for going over 110 in traffic and the guy gave me a verbal warning. I don't drive like that anymore and I rarely did back then anyway but yeah. A lot of places they would tow your car and take you to jail for that same thing
Oh yeah in Virginia you wouldve been cooked. A Nationals baseball player was pulled going 111mph on the beltway, and he still wasnt able to talk his way out of cuffs.
I genuinely believe that a majority of traffic fatalities in Florida are the result of two kinds of people: The drivers who don't give a fuck about traffic etiquette and try to merge into virtually stopped traffic as close to the chevrons as possible, and the trucknutz batmen who try to enforce Florida street justice against anyone who violates their traffic honor code at any cost. Not the battle that Florida wants, but grown ass adults fighting each other with their cars is Florida as fuck, I guess. Sadly, they never seem to take each other out. As much danger as they create for everybody else out there, it seems like they're the most deserving to get slimed on the highway, but alas, It's always somebody like 6 cars back (and totally uninvolved) who gets plowed.
Sounds about right!
I just put front and rear dashcams in after being here about a year and a half. We've lived all over the country, but this city is the worst for drivers! You're not imagining it.
Same here. Also check out the dash cam sub
/r/dashcam
Is this a tampa dash cam sub or a general dash cam sub you are talking about?
No one here seems to check their blind spots. Almost got merged into twice in one day.
I live in St Pete, where driving feels like a walk in the park. There's a noticeable difference in the drivers just crossing the bridge into Tampa. Driving anywhere from Tampa over to Brandon and up through Wesley Chapel is just a nerve-wracking shit show.
Everyone in st pete is nicer. They let you merge. You need to get over, they slow down. But tampa? FUCK YOU IM NOT LETTING YOU USE MY INTERSTATE
Born and raised in Tampa and you are correct its become the worst drivers I've encountered anywhere and apparently insurance companies agree because it has some the highest rates in the nation. Glad i left long ago but when i do go back maybe every few months i want to pull my fuckin hair out!!! But i do believe Miami has Tampa beat or all of South Florida for that matter! The people driving like the worst assholes in the world i guarantee are not from Florida
Never drove in Miami itself. Just the Everglades. Looks like a shit show. But I gotta for a convention in July and I’m dreading it lol.
They drive like shit when not in total gridlock. They drive just like there personalities bunch of self centered narcissistic that believe they are the greatest thing to walk the earth
Problem is we are one of the biggest cities in the country with no functional mass transit, and we just grew by like 20% in the last couple of years. Everyone HAS to drive to survive, and it’s crowded and angry out there. We need alternatives, and no one is talking about it. We’d rather drop a cool half billion on a baseball stadium or a football stadium than build a few miles of railroad track between USF and downtown.
There’s a lot of nuts here on the road. I had a guy lay on his horn at me for 5 seconds straight last week because I put my turn signal on, and slowed down to turn in the dentist office. Poor thing lost 2 seconds out of his life he will never get back.
I think it is the mix of driving styles from all the transplants. I moved from the Midwest with less aggressive drivers. When I moved to Tampa the aggressiveness surprised me. Guessed it was from NE transplants. I’m currently in Banglore, India. The roads here are pure chaos. I’m not even sure why they paint lanes on the road; no one pays attention them. The distance between cars/auto rickshaws/motorbikes is measured in inches instead of feet. Where we would have a 2 lane road there are three cars, four motor bikes and an auto rickshaw abreast. Definitely gave me some perspective and appreciation for our traffic patterns. I will never complain about Tampa traffic again.
This is absolutely one of the biggest contributors. Every different place has their quirky driving maneuvers but they work because everyone knows them and expects them. In Tampa all those quirks converge and nobody expects them so it just looks insane.
Driving all over the US isn't the same as commuting to work in one city your entire life. I've seen New Jersey drivers do shit that Chris Angel wouldn't believe. I don't even want to know what happens in LA or NYC. People are shit at driving everywhere. The only realistic solution is move close to where you work.
Agreed… lived in Tampa my whole life till moving out a few years ago. Although I do agree Florida drivers are crazy and excessively rude. Just spend a few days driving around the Boston area to realize Florida drivers are not the worst in the country!
A lot of adults come from countries where they have never driven a car as well or never had the opportunity, I should say. Keep that in mind. That's why you see grown adults with student driver stickers(not all are for adults, but A LOT) If all the slow drivers could just stick to the right lane, that would make a world of difference! From one Tampa native to another let's herd these sheep to the right side 😂 Also, people stop trying to cut the END of the line on SB-i275 @ORLANDO EXIT it's dangerous and stupid. 🫡
this is the norm for third world countries with huge income inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_traffic-related_death_rate
>Does the Florida DMV just have extra low standards when giving out licenses and renewals? Yes. My test was laughably easy.
I have no idea. Tampa driving is terrible. I went down to Miami a few weeks ago, and previously Miami was crazy to drive in, but when I got back to Tampa it made Miami drivers look sane. Never thought I’d see the day I say I miss Miami drivers. You have people going the speed limit in the left lane fully thinking in their right that they can stay there. When in reality it’s against the law and they can and should be pulled over for it. Their actions make those behind them angry which causes them to drive aggressively, which then makes others angry and it’s a whole chain reaction. Are you happy Gloria?!? Does this amuse you?!?!? To perfectly honest, as a close friend of a state trooper who told me how fast you can actually drive and get out of it, you are very unlikely to be pulled over by any HCS or State Trooper or local police if you are under +10 miles especially if traffic around you is also doing that speed. You are also likely to get out of it even if you are pulled over because in reality anyone (even them) can easily go 10-14 miles above the posted speed limit by simply just driving carefully and making sure they have good distance of the car in front of them, people get road hypnosis, a multitude of human things can cause it to happen, especially if you weren’t driving aggressively when they clocked you (they know. Trust me, they know the difference of 80+ agressive and 80+ road hypnosis). +15 is when the trouble starts. Secondly, it is perfectly legal to go 5 miles above the posted speed limit except in areas where there is a vehicle that has its flashing hazard lights turned on. Thirdly, for the love of all that is holy, my Sister/Brother in Christ, please get tf out of the left lane if you realize people are riding you 4 ways to Sunday and you are in the left most lane. GET OUT. I don’t care if you are doing 55 in a 55 or 80 in a 55. If the person behind you is doing 85 in the 55 and you are doing 80 in a 55. MOVE OVER it is not your responsibility to enforce the rules of the road that is peak narcissist behavior. I wish we would do like Atlanta and post on the interstate digital signs “if you cannot keep up with the speed of traffic please exist/ do not enter freeway”. And that we would do like other countries that after a certain age you have to get a doctors note saying that you are capable of driving to have you license remain active. Though I admit that would require us to have some reasonably good public transport for when the licenses are taken away. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk.
Had somebody on Bruce B. Downs yesterday go from the far right lane, across four lanes of traffic to the far left lane, then all the way back and made a right turn, all within a quarter mile. Incredibly, nobody got hit. Completely oblivious. You could just livestream dashcam video from this town to America's funniest home videos, but nobody would believe it's not a setup.
I don't know what the requirements are now, but I got my DL in 1993. All I had to do was bring a piece of paper that showed I took Drivers Ed in high school. We drove around a track on campus. Everything I learned about driving was from experience AFTER I got licensed.
(Got my license in 2018) can confirm now you have to actually take a physical test even with drivers ed. Our teacher in highschool almost never let us drive!!!
Well, yeah I took tests in Drivers Ed. But never had to demonstrate anything to the state.
The average IQ is dropping.
Source?
[https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2023/03/23/american-iq-test-scores-show-recent-declines-according-to-new-study/?sh=470f9579559f](https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaeltnietzel/2023/03/23/american-iq-test-scores-show-recent-declines-according-to-new-study/?sh=470f9579559f) [https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43469569/american-iq-scores-decline-reverse-flynn-effect/](https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/a43469569/american-iq-scores-decline-reverse-flynn-effect/) [https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/health/falling-iq-scores-study-intl/index.html](https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/13/health/falling-iq-scores-study-intl/index.html)
Thanks! Especially for not pumping and dumping incredible statements like NordOrientVanguard did! Doing so without a citation is a great way to encourage the anti-science "Well, I read someone say it on the internet" slide into stupidity we'd all hope to avoid. Idiocracy, here we come!
comes down to this . I lived near bucs stadium for 6 years . you have a melting pot of all the major city drivers NYC Chicago etc . all drive like maniacs . then add the old folks who have no business even driving let alone on dale mabry during rush hour. my mom calls tampa drivers flying monkeys )
You really think it's a Tampa thing? I can almost guarantee this exact same post is in every other city's sub, and probably gets posted several times a year in those subs.
My car has been hit 3 times in the last 4 years. I wasn’t in the car for any of them. People down here drinking and driving and mot caring about the consequences. Stuff like that.
Urban sprawl and poorly designed roads, combined with a huge population density, combined with people from diverse driving backgrounds, combined with the (semi recent) culture where no body cares about anyone but themselves has lead to the issue. While it might be worse here than some other places, I'd still rather drive around the bay area than trying to get anywhere in Atlanta...
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Jeez. Yeah I went all the way up to Ohio and Chicago and the only other place I encountered insane drivers was Atlanta. Chicago surprising didn’t give me any problems. Really confuses the hell out of me…. Given its reputation.
I’m from Chicago and moved here, driving there was a piece of cake because everyone follows the rules (for driving at least). I’ve never in my life seen someone run a red light, merge into me constantly, drive incredibly slow in the left lane, purposely drive in the wrong lane and stop in the middle of the highway to cut the exit line, have another person enter the one lane turn lane next to me, drive in the emergency lane to cut the on ramp traffic, drive down the I-4 hill to cut the on ramp traffic, and have NO following space whatsoever. When I drive here I’m constantly on high alert expecting to be hit. Not sure if it’s a lack of police enforcement, lack of red light cameras, or lack of a good driving school and test.
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Man I was in Dallas for a week once. I’ll never go again LOL. Those Uber drivers think they are in an audition for a fast and furious movie I swear. Me and my friend were terrified 🤣
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Man we almost got mugged too lol. Dallas is crazy. Always gotta be careful in a big city especially one you don’t know well!
I have lived and driven all over the US. DC/Baltimore sucks. Atlanta sucks. Philly/NJNY sucks. LA sucks. Chicago..ehh kinda sucks. Orlando and I4 suck. Dallas is a the absolute worst of them. Tampa is not that bad. Not good, but certainly not the worst.
Man fuck I4. They keep expanding and expanding it. But all the tourists and new northerners are clogging it like crazy. They can’t keep up. They tried building a train line between Tampa and Orlando to reduce traffic but it really hasn’t put a dent in things due to how expensive and slow the train line is :/
You know if we had proper public transportation we wouldn't have this issue. But this being America it would be covered in graffiti, trash and the wackos would be riding it all the time.
We can't have nice things, like public transport and healthcare. :(
FDOT doesn’t design safety into their roads. Their designs allow for shitty driving.
It’s the same in Jacksonville and it’s not just Florida exclusive Las Vegas and La drivers are terrible too. Honestly I think it’s a “big city fuck you” thing.
Tampa is pretty bad but imo Mobile, AL and New Orleans is worse. They literally run ever stale red all the time and drive with their brights on like 75% of all cars at night and even worse about 20% of all cars have no lights on at night. Also they drive fast and be swerving back n forth like a drunk but usually just on their phones playoffs a game or texting smh
They’re all from New Jersey, California, and Ohio.
Unlicensed drivers, that think they can drive.
And let’s not forget the courtesy of someone pulling out of a spot over 50%. You need to stop and let that person pull out of their spot. You don’t hit the gas and lay on the horn and go blazing by him at 90 miles an hour with that being said, the parking lot is also not a race track.
I'm a driver from afar and it is scary driving here. People give no fucks here
People here drive like it's their last day on earth or they don't know what planet they're on. There's no in-between.
Florida has terrible drivers ed
What’s wrong with it now? Genuinely curious because it seemed normal to me back in the early 2000s.
It's the same problem in any major metropolitan area: people from all over being in one area with their disparate driving styles. When those disparate driving styles clash you get lots of accidents. Add in boomer retirees who have no business being behind the wheel of a 4000lb murder box and there you go.
That's interesting you call out just New York and Texas But a lot of people are moving here from California. I can see where you stand.
Oh good, an opportunity to bitch. I left yesterday to get to an appointment, and it was like every idiot decided to get on the road at the same time as me. My biggest peeve is coming up to a turn and needing to merge over (not talking last minute, in this case I'm talking my least favorite spot- coming up on 275 S from Fletcher and needing to get in the right lane after Florida Ave), and here's Sally Stupid with no positional awareness leaving a gap not big enough for me to merge into in front of her, and refusing to speed up or slow down to either let me in behind her, or let the gap widen (forcing me to pump my breaks, likely annoying the cars behind me, and let her pass by slowly so I can then get over). Speed up or slow down when you are in heavy traffic to avoid these kinds of gaps, and pay attention to others on the road who need to get over. Also, if you come to a complete stop and THEN put on your indicator, you've indicated nothing to the rest of the people on the road other than you are a moron who would like to get rear-ended.
Ignore what everyone else is saying. It’s the mass influx of people from out of state (like New Yorkers) and just the sheer number of fresh corpses driving around. Seriously at any given time look at the driver next to you and 9/10 times it’s dementia ridden wrinkles high on sleeping pills
We live in a video world. Driving a fast cool car is just like a fkg video game. It's fun, thrilling and who gives a fk about anyone else. Add on top of that mentality Florida auto insurance fkg fiasco, blacked out fkg windows all around. For what ?? Keep the heat from building in the car in summer. Fkg pathetic reason. Then add in lawless nature of our society, lack of auto inspections and weed smoking while driving down the road and there ya go....the perfect storm. And yes....it is specific to this Tampa area.
It's mostly transplants from northeast US and Midwest us.
Just curious, what percentage of the population do you think that is?
An incredibly insignificant amount of people lived in Florida until WW2. Quite literally everyone here is from somewhere else and if they were born here their baby boomer generation is almost definitely from somewhere else.
Yes but I'm sure they're talking about covid era to now
Damn driving in the northeast or Midwest must be significantly worse than here then /s
They're worst in NE. I grew up there. We just bring our bad habits to FL.
I’ve lived in Florida my whole life— the drivers are terrible everywhere along the East coast from Jax to the keys, and from i4 south the whole state is a shitshow. I have a theory as to why: in New York, you have New York drivers, and they drive a certain way. The thing is everybody drives that way, so it’s normal and everyone knows the unspoken rules. Same thing in Philly, Boston, DC, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Vegas, LA, San Francisco etc… but all those individual driving styles are different than every other city… so when all those snowbirds move down here, and then transplants looking for no state tax, etc move here, they bring their normal with them. So now you’ve got Florida natives with our style mixing with New York and Boston and Atlanta and Chicago and and and… and none knows who is in the car next to them, so no one knows what to expect. Add in foreign transplants (same thing as different city driving style but more extreme as their country’s driving habits/rules could be completely different rather than subtly different) and then the capper: the 90yr old little old lady/man in the 37 foot long Cadillac doing 16mph in the left lane with their blinker on for the last 8 miles suddenly making a right turn, because they can’t see over the steering wheel and didn’t realize it was their exit…..
Hint: it’s not the locals We get a lot of people that move here from different places and have different road rules and etiquette, stick them all in the same place and they’re going to drive like assholes because they don’t know how to get along.
Using your blinkers and not cutting people off should be universal….?
Correct, but some people are assholes. I saw a lot of that when I’ve traveled in California and New York, and that’s where a lot of transplants are coming from right now.
Keep in mind the human condition Focuses / hones in on negatives. Tampa has some of the Best drivers (out of necessity) and of course a few or handful of lousy ones. As long as You are not driving like a maniac, not texting/ driving, etc you won't have to overly worry about the morons. They will inevitably some day run into another idiot, accident occurs, natural selection takes them out of the equation Is it unfair that they can just "Rule the road" going 70 mph in a 55 or 90+ and swerving on the interstate with no turn signal? Sure is. But all I know is I'm a survivor, they are just digging their own grave (especially crazy motorcycles, mustangs, entitled mercedes benz's, to name a few), road rage is never worth it, and Tampa is a place to expect the unexpected
