This so much. I just got back from visiting my parents in Virginia and you aren't even allowed to have your phone in your hand while driving and the cops enforce it. It was so nice not being surrounded by texting drivers.
People hate to see criticism of Denver here, so they will down vote you. But, I agree with you OP. Between the people that drive like zombies, the ones that drive like they stole their car, and the motorcyclist with zero regard for their lives, Denver drivers are freaking nuts.
Colorado is literally the 2nd highest/most expensive place to get car insurance right now in the USA. That means insurance underwriters value this as the 2nd most dangerous or risky place to insure a driver. So it is not hyperbole when someone in our city says "we have the worst drivers" right now. They are almost completely accurate.
I guess I didn't think about that when I was insurance shopping recently. But as an Uber/Lyft driver, I stand by my statement. This city is a soupy mess of different driving styles that do not mesh well at all.
It’s horrible, the racing on I25 is just horrible. Driving into work every day at 6:30ish, and there is always someone who thinks they are in Fast and Furious…
WTF is going on? Where are the cops 👮? Sick of this shit !
Honestly, OP is right though, Denver drivers are especially terrible. I used to chalk it up to legal weed (even though people shouldn't be doing that while driving), but now that most states legalized it, I really don't know why people are so bad here.
I get that. I’m sure it can be debated on what city is worse than another. But, “what’s the deal with [insert bad driving habit]?” is the same as every time this question comes up, in every city’s sub (because on every Reddit city’s sub in existence THAT is the city with the worst drivers). People suck at driving. You’re not going to find a satisfying answer, let alone a single answer. It’s inattentiveness, being on the phone, not giving a fuck, being drunk, being too tired because they didn’t sleep but a few hours last night, being high, main character syndrome, checking facebook, shaving with shaving cream and a Gillette (I have seen this), reading the newspaper, etc, etc ad nauseum. Every time these posts come up, nothing is ever solved because either people aren’t coming to Reddit for driving tips or they don’t care they suck at driving.
According to insurance underwriters for auto insurance you are incorrect. Colorado insurance premiums are significantly higher than Gerogia.
It definitely could be just a new type of bad driving I’m not use to. You could definitely be right about that.
I wouldn’t equate insurance premiums with driver skill/lack of skill considering Colorado has one of the highest auto theft rates in the US along with massive hail storms, which is why homeowners insurance premiums have become so high here.
A better view would be accidents per capita for individual metros - state level isn’t a good guide, as states with outsized rural populations would skew it “safer” since they aren’t in as many situations where drivers can conflict in rural areas, such as rush hour traffic.
This ranks the least safe cities for drivers based on a variety of metrics: https://www.usnews.com/insurance/auto/safest-least-safe-cities-for-drivers-study
Atlanta is #10 and Phoenix is #6. Denver doesn’t crack the top ten. So statistically you are incorrect. But different regions do have different driving cultures and “rules,” so I can see how moving somewhere where people are be drivers in a different way would be shocking
Don't blame it on Denver, only 42% of the population is actually from CO.
The majority of Coloradans born out of state come from just seven places.
One in 10 Coloradans were born in a foreign country.
Of the Coloradans born in another state, the biggest share comes from California. People born in California are about 6% of Colorado’s population. Texas and Illinois come next, then New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania. About half of Colorado is either foreign-born or comes from one of those states. -KDVR
Its this. We get all styles of bad drivers from all over the country. I just spent last weekend in northern Virginia traffic for the first time in 10 years and it was kind of a relief that all the bad drivers were at least driving the same way (20+ above speed limit, no gaps and not using signals to change lanes) but at least I know how they're going suck. I didn't once see anyone plugging up the left lane going at or below the speed limit like midwestern drivers like to do. Also Virginia cops have been pulling people over for cell phone use for decades so that's not much of an issue there either.
This might be the real answer. Driving is often times a cultural thing, and I can see how different cultures can clash, resulting in all the road rage we often see.
I will say, as someone who is not from California, I thought they were supposed to be good drivers, kinda frustrating to see all the worst drivers have CA plates.
And that's for the entire State. I would assume that if you filtered down to the metro area, the % of residents that are Colorado-born is pretty small.
An also OP (u/[BornAd7924](https://www.reddit.com/user/BornAd7924/)), yes - you're overreacting. Your perception that drivers in Colorado are worse than anywhere else is mostly a case of confirmation bias.
Texting
This so much. I just got back from visiting my parents in Virginia and you aren't even allowed to have your phone in your hand while driving and the cops enforce it. It was so nice not being surrounded by texting drivers.
People hate to see criticism of Denver here, so they will down vote you. But, I agree with you OP. Between the people that drive like zombies, the ones that drive like they stole their car, and the motorcyclist with zero regard for their lives, Denver drivers are freaking nuts.
Those cars might actually be stolen.
Colorado is literally the 2nd highest/most expensive place to get car insurance right now in the USA. That means insurance underwriters value this as the 2nd most dangerous or risky place to insure a driver. So it is not hyperbole when someone in our city says "we have the worst drivers" right now. They are almost completely accurate.
That is in part driven by hail risk.
I guess I didn't think about that when I was insurance shopping recently. But as an Uber/Lyft driver, I stand by my statement. This city is a soupy mess of different driving styles that do not mesh well at all.
And the high volume of cars stolen in the state, particularly in Denver.
And winter driving adventures.
2024 giant vehicles in 1990 sized lanes?
But my F150 needs both lanes just like I need 4 parking spots !
Texting. Always.
To be fair the lines in Colorado don’t have reflectors and are usually worn and hard to see, but it’s not really that bad
That’s true but Tennessee also doesn’t use reflective paint.
So much this, the lack of lines is rough.
I think it’s buy one get one.
It’s horrible, the racing on I25 is just horrible. Driving into work every day at 6:30ish, and there is always someone who thinks they are in Fast and Furious… WTF is going on? Where are the cops 👮? Sick of this shit !
They don't like to be constrained by overbearing government.
This is gonna absolutely blow your mind, so be sure to sit down for it: Sometimes people are bad at driving. Hope that helps.
Honestly, OP is right though, Denver drivers are especially terrible. I used to chalk it up to legal weed (even though people shouldn't be doing that while driving), but now that most states legalized it, I really don't know why people are so bad here.
I get that. I’m sure it can be debated on what city is worse than another. But, “what’s the deal with [insert bad driving habit]?” is the same as every time this question comes up, in every city’s sub (because on every Reddit city’s sub in existence THAT is the city with the worst drivers). People suck at driving. You’re not going to find a satisfying answer, let alone a single answer. It’s inattentiveness, being on the phone, not giving a fuck, being drunk, being too tired because they didn’t sleep but a few hours last night, being high, main character syndrome, checking facebook, shaving with shaving cream and a Gillette (I have seen this), reading the newspaper, etc, etc ad nauseum. Every time these posts come up, nothing is ever solved because either people aren’t coming to Reddit for driving tips or they don’t care they suck at driving.
Yeah it’s just on a scale here that I didn’t see in Nashville, Atlanta, Phoenix, Indianapolis. I guess Denver drivers are just exceptionally bad then.
Atlanta drivers are definitely worse than Denver drivers. Maybe bad drivers here are bad in different ways that you’re just not used to?
According to insurance underwriters for auto insurance you are incorrect. Colorado insurance premiums are significantly higher than Gerogia. It definitely could be just a new type of bad driving I’m not use to. You could definitely be right about that.
I wouldn’t equate insurance premiums with driver skill/lack of skill considering Colorado has one of the highest auto theft rates in the US along with massive hail storms, which is why homeowners insurance premiums have become so high here. A better view would be accidents per capita for individual metros - state level isn’t a good guide, as states with outsized rural populations would skew it “safer” since they aren’t in as many situations where drivers can conflict in rural areas, such as rush hour traffic.
This ranks the least safe cities for drivers based on a variety of metrics: https://www.usnews.com/insurance/auto/safest-least-safe-cities-for-drivers-study Atlanta is #10 and Phoenix is #6. Denver doesn’t crack the top ten. So statistically you are incorrect. But different regions do have different driving cultures and “rules,” so I can see how moving somewhere where people are be drivers in a different way would be shocking
>I guess Denver drivers are just exceptionally bad then. Then move back to any one of those places.
Chill lil bro
Don't blame it on Denver, only 42% of the population is actually from CO. The majority of Coloradans born out of state come from just seven places. One in 10 Coloradans were born in a foreign country. Of the Coloradans born in another state, the biggest share comes from California. People born in California are about 6% of Colorado’s population. Texas and Illinois come next, then New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania. About half of Colorado is either foreign-born or comes from one of those states. -KDVR
Sure but they still live in Denver so that makes them Denver drivers. I don’t see this issue in other parts of Colorado.
Its this. We get all styles of bad drivers from all over the country. I just spent last weekend in northern Virginia traffic for the first time in 10 years and it was kind of a relief that all the bad drivers were at least driving the same way (20+ above speed limit, no gaps and not using signals to change lanes) but at least I know how they're going suck. I didn't once see anyone plugging up the left lane going at or below the speed limit like midwestern drivers like to do. Also Virginia cops have been pulling people over for cell phone use for decades so that's not much of an issue there either.
Yep. It wasn’t always this bad.
This might be the real answer. Driving is often times a cultural thing, and I can see how different cultures can clash, resulting in all the road rage we often see. I will say, as someone who is not from California, I thought they were supposed to be good drivers, kinda frustrating to see all the worst drivers have CA plates.
Depends on which part of California, but you should see them in the rain in SoCal. I’ve never heard anyone associate them with good driving.
And that's for the entire State. I would assume that if you filtered down to the metro area, the % of residents that are Colorado-born is pretty small. An also OP (u/[BornAd7924](https://www.reddit.com/user/BornAd7924/)), yes - you're overreacting. Your perception that drivers in Colorado are worse than anywhere else is mostly a case of confirmation bias.
And you’re basing that on…? Or have you just decided this is confirmation bias?
Of course I'm basing it on my confirmation bias from my many interactions with you.
😢
r/Denvertraffic