Ontario drivers aren't so bad

[Quiggie]

I just spent the last week in michigan where I did a lot of driving all over the freeways, including detroit. I know people here like to complain about ontario drivers and think the bad drivers in ontario are the worst, but they are NOTHING compared to the nutcases on the roads in detroit. People don't signal, they weave in and out of lanes, one woman drifted out of her lane and halfway into mine because she was doing God knows what isntead of paying attention, they pass on the right, and all kinds of dangerous stunts that you see rarely in ontario, happen all the time there.

I almost died when I was driving in the middle lane of a 3 lane freeway and a car passed me on the left then swerved in front of me and in front of the car to my right to take the exit. I braked and avoided colliding with him. I never once saw anyone stopped by the police like you always see on ontario highways, I don't know whether they just don't have enough police or whether they are just a lot more lenient than here.

Another thing that happened often and I found quite funny is the erratic driving behavior. For example, in ontario if someone drives too slow at least you can bet on them continuing to drive slow, and if someone drives fast you can safely assume they will continue going fast. In detroit, I can't count how many times I would pass someone going really slow on the highway, and then a few seconds later they suddenly speed up and blow by me like I'm standing still (on the right of course), then a minute later I pass them because they slowed down again.

Also there was a lot of junk on the highway shoulders, like pieces of tires and mufflers.

Another phenomenon I observed was the large number of later-model and often higher-end cars that looked really beaten up, paint scratched up panels hanging off, etc. I'm not saying there are no beat up cars on ontario roads, but they are always old, you won't see late model cars that look like they're 30 years old, especially not higher-end cars like a mercedes e-class.

I know in ontario drivers like to honk their horn at each other for the slightest offence, but I'm not ashamed to say I never once honked at anyone in detroit. If someone cuts me off I'd rather forget about it than get shot in the head.

Anyways my point is that for all the complaining canadians like to do about bad drivers, you don't know how good you have it. The worst drivers on our roads are pros compared to some of the people I saw.

[ES_Revenge]

I almost died when I was driving in the middle lane of a 3 lane freeway and a car passed me on the left then swerved in front of me and in front of the car to my right to take the exit. I braked and avoided colliding with him. I never once saw anyone stopped by the police like you always see on ontario highways, I don't know whether they just don't have enough police or whether they are just a lot more lenient than here.
Wow really? I haven't driven much around Detroit but I have in the rest of Michigan, on the Interstates, and my experience has actually been quite the opposite. For one thing the people on the Interstates tend to know almost universally to drive in the right lane and use the left for passing, unlike ON drivers who think they should drive in any lane they please :rolleyes: Also police there are nuts, there are like literally 10x the police as you see here. Even on the regular roads, city police are always everywhere at like every other street corner. I'm surprised you never saw any cops doing road patrol.

Another thing that happened often and I found quite funny is the erratic driving behavior. For example, in ontario if someone drives too slow at least you can bet on them continuing to drive slow, and if someone drives fast you can safely assume they will continue going fast.
Disagree completely. Take a drive on any day on the QE from Toronto to Niagara (and back) and I'll put money on it that you will find this exact same thing, every single day. People will NOT hold a constant speed, especially not in the left lane where first off there are way too many cars there on a regular-driving (i.e. not passing) basis and secondly brake lights and variable speeds are commonplace. I cannot tell you how many times out of frustration I've gone into the rightmost lane, set my cruise at 120 and literally passed by tons of cars in the left lane only to see the same cars later down the road go past me and then again me pass them, and have that repeat in zig zag fashion, all while I'm holding one speed. All in a matter of mere kms. Me I'm just relaxing holding a constant speed and the jokers in the left lane are just gunning it one minute, slamming the brakes the next. :rolleyes: It's not only erratic and inconsistent, it's downright ridiculous. Same goes for the 400 travelling south the instant you get to Barrie. Same goes for...

Well same goes for everywhere in ON really. It seems people only get better at driving when you put them into a 4-lane divided (2 lanes either direction) or a 2-lane undivided (one lane each way) highway, like what you get you get on the 400 north of Barrie, and in many other Northern ON locations. Once you start giving people 3 or more lanes to choose from they all seem to start driving like jacka$$es :rolleyes: And given your experience in Detroit and mine in the rest of MI state, I would say it's the same in any US state as it is in ON.

[Quiggie]

I should say my observations really only hold true for detroit and its suburbs (dearborn, warren, etc). If you go further north it's a lot nicer. I drove around the "thumb", to bay city and back down to detroit and that part of michigan is a lot like southwestern ontario.

[pmc]

I just spent the last week in michigan where I did a lot of driving all over the freeways, including detroit. I know people here like to complain about ontario drivers and think the bad drivers in ontario are the worst, but they are NOTHING compared to the nutcases on the roads in detroit. People don't signal, they weave in and out of lanes, one woman drifted out of her lane and halfway into mine because she was doing God knows what isntead of paying attention, they pass on the right, and all kinds of dangerous stunts that you see rarely in ontario, happen all the time there.

I almost died when I was driving in the middle lane of a 3 lane freeway and a car passed me on the left then swerved in front of me and in front of the car to my right to take the exit. I braked and avoided colliding with him. I never once saw anyone stopped by the police like you always see on ontario highways, I don't know whether they just don't have enough police or whether they are just a lot more lenient than here.

Another thing that happened often and I found quite funny is the erratic driving behavior. For example, in ontario if someone drives too slow at least you can bet on them continuing to drive slow, and if someone drives fast you can safely assume they will continue going fast. In detroit, I can't count how many times I would pass someone going really slow on the highway, and then a few seconds later they suddenly speed up and blow by me like I'm standing still (on the right of course), then a minute later I pass them because they slowed down again.

Also there was a lot of junk on the highway shoulders, like pieces of tires and mufflers.

Another phenomenon I observed was the large number of later-model and often higher-end cars that looked really beaten up, paint scratched up panels hanging off, etc. I'm not saying there are no beat up cars on ontario roads, but they are always old, you won't see late model cars that look like they're 30 years old, especially not higher-end cars like a mercedes e-class.

I know in ontario drivers like to honk their horn at each other for the slightest offence, but I'm not ashamed to say I never once honked at anyone in detroit. If someone cuts me off I'd rather forget about it than get shot in the head.

Anyways my point is that for all the complaining canadians like to do about bad drivers, you don't know how good you have it. The worst drivers on our roads are pros compared to some of the people I saw.


You must not drive a lot in Ontario :D

[Kellster]

I have found Masachusets drivers to be scarry, but they are nothing compared to the mindless idiots let loose on Ontario highways. Nowhere else have I encountered such selfishness, ignorance, arrogance, cluelessness and total disregard for other drivers as in Ontario.

Sorry to surgar coat my true feelings.

[tdott]

It was really bad this past weekend coming from Kingston to Toronto.

Idiots would hog the left lane even if no one was beside them and no one in the near distance infront of them.

Even worst is when two idiots go side by side doing 100km/h and wont let anyone by.

One lady started some weird hand motion when i passed her on the right (2 lanes) and drifted infront of her without signalling (purposely). I gave her the thumbs up for her great driving.

[Kellster]

It was really bad this past weekend coming from Kingston to Toronto.

Idiots would hog the left lane even if no one was beside them and no one in the near distance infront of them.

Even worst is when two idiots go side by side doing 100km/h and wont let anyone by.

One lady started some weird hand motion when i passed her on the right (2 lanes) and drifted infront of her without signalling (purposely). I gave her the thumbs up for her great driving.

There are alot of idiots out there who think they are somehow qualified to police the roads. They are just control freaks with nothing better to do with their sorry excuse of a life. Some of them aren't even police.

[mr_raider]

Disagree completely. Take a drive on any day on the QE from Toronto to Niagara (and back) and I'll put money on it that you will find this exact same thing, every single day. People will NOT hold a constant speed, especially not in the left lane where first off there are way too many cars there on a regular-driving (i.e. not passing) basis and secondly brake lights and variable speeds are commonplace. I cannot tell you how many times out of frustration I've gone into the rightmost lane, set my cruise at 120 and literally passed by tons of cars in the left lane only to see the same cars later down the road go past me and then again me pass them, and have that repeat in zig zag fashion, all while I'm holding one speed. All in a matter of mere kms. Me I'm just relaxing holding a constant speed and the jokers in the left lane are just gunning it one minute, slamming the brakes the next. :rolleyes:


I just came back from Niagara and this is a very accurate description. People only care about the distance from the bumper in front. They will speed down the left lane and ride up on your ass. As soon as they are stuck to your bumper they slow down. They don't care if they drive 90 or 130. As long as they are stuck on your ass they are happy. I'm inclined to believe it's a GTA thing, because I don't see this in Quebec, or the 417, or in New england.

[pluto]

I think its much the same in/near any major US city. I had a scary experience on the freeway in LA a few years back, but get outside the greater LA area - no problem. Same goes for when I drove to Union City, New Jersey (right outside NYC) - when you get right into the city and the highway widens up, boy oh boy you better have your wits about you.

[KawaiiTentacleBeast]

Wait.... you're not suppose to pass on the right? :confused:

[matradley]

Wait.... you're not suppose to pass on the right? :confused:

Only on multiple lane roads.

[gordholio]

I find that people like to be in bunches. You try to leave room in front of you and behind you, yet someone always rides your tail or passes you and cuts in front of you right away, when they don't need to. Always happens.
I try to drive safely and with less stress. Following closely behind other vehicles just causes more stress and accidents.

[gordholio]

If someone is in the middle or left lane, how else can you pass, but on the right?

[quanvn]

From my experiences in Detroit & New York I have found that most of the people know what they're doing. For example I was driving to New York on a 4 lane divided highway, and to my surprise everybody was on the right lane, and the left lane was clear, and people passing just went over for maybe 5seconds made the pass and went right back to the right lane. Then coming back to Toronto the next day, jumped on the QEW, people are all over the place driving 100km/h on the left lane slower than the other 2 right lanes which really annoys me. I heard that the cops in the U.S. pull you over for being in the passing lane if you're not passing, I think they should start doing that here so that people get the message that left lane = passing only. IMO people driving slow in the left lane causes people driving faster in the left lane to attempt dangerous maneuvers to try to pass them which causes accidents, I myself use to be one of those fast drivers trying to maneuver around everybody, but now I don't even bother, I drive 100-110 on the right lane which usually doesn't require me to pass anyone so I just stick to my right lane.

[kaws]

Last night when I was driving north on Leslie around 8:40pm, some ****** (no offence to mentally challenged people) in a black jetta was literally driving 40km/h on the left lane on a 2 lane 60km/h road. The guy in the jetta wasn't even doing anything besides smoking in his car!! All other cars on the right side was doing 50km/h. No one was in front of that jetta and periodically, he would drop down to 30km/h AND still hogging the left lane!

[Kellster]

From my experiences in Detroit & New York I have found that most of the people know what they're doing. For example I was driving to New York on a 4 lane divided highway, and to my surprise everybody was on the right lane, and the left lane was clear, and people passing just went over for maybe 5seconds made the pass and went right back to the right lane. Then coming back to Toronto the next day, jumped on the QEW, people are all over the place driving 100km/h on the left lane slower than the other 2 right lanes which really annoys me. I heard that the cops in the U.S. pull you over for being in the passing lane if you're not passing, I think they should start doing that here so that people get the message that left lane = passing only. IMO people driving slow in the left lane causes people driving faster in the left lane to attempt dangerous maneuvers to try to pass them which causes accidents, I myself use to be one of those fast drivers trying to maneuver around everybody, but now I don't even bother, I drive 100-110 on the right lane which usually doesn't require me to pass anyone so I just stick to my right lane.


They know what they are doing. They just don't care what they are doing. They are oblivious to anything that goes on outside their tiny little minds. There are some pretty f'd up people out there who should never be allowed to drive or even walk places.

[CdTriX]

i can confirm the OP's driving in experiance.

I have to fly into detroit (from toronto hehehe thanks to my company) and drive to Troy/Clawson which is 14th mile and 75 i think?

well, from my 45 minute drive in the worlds most horrible car (Chevy HHR),

i experianced the following:
Escalade drifted into my lane (i was on the right lane)
New Yukon slowing down to take the turn on the highway (from 80 to 50)
People drive 80mph in a 55/65 zone
tail gating in the right lane (i was still getting used to the POS so i was driving the limit)
people not signaling
people leaving their signal on after lane changes
People tailgating everyone so when you need to change lanes there's never an opening
lots of beat up old pick up trucks and buicks

so yeah, i almost died twice in that 45 minute drive...

When i don't know the area, i'll drive slower until i'm familiar where the local hot spots are. But i was in such a horrible car, how can that thing have such a high center of gravity and such little visiblity out the windows.. i don't under stand why they gave it power steering... argg.... i never want to be in an HHR ever again. i even told the AVIS lady that i would like to NEVER have an HHR again.

[MS MSP]

i'm inclined to believe it's a gta thing, because i don't see this in quebec, or the 417, or in new england.

+1

[Nettles]

Philadelphia **** man.

Anyways, Ontario drivers are okay, they were good when I lived in Windsor, in the GTA they aren't too bad, just not courteous.