Posted on Wed 05/17/06 in South Florida
Residents of major cities often boast that their city has the worst traffic or that their community has the toughest ghettos. But, no community outside of South Florida can claim their drivers to be the rudest. Finally, we are recognized!!!
AutoVantage rates Miami as having the rudest drivers
But, really, I feel like we are being shortchanged. I know this doesn’t quite encompass the broad extent of our rudeness. I mean, we are really a selfish, arrogant, careless bunch, and we deserve more than just this. Consider some of our qualifications:
The customer service here sucks;
I actually want to hug people when they are mildly considerate;
If I were lying dead in the street, I honestly feel that people might just swerve around me;
School zones??? what are those?;
A high percentage of us would continue an unimportant conversation on our cell phone while attending a funeral;
People have a serious adjustment period when they move here, with which they must learn to absorb the negativity—just ask my wife. How many towns have that?
We cuss (in a whole slue of languages);
We fight;
We just don’t care about anyone but ourselves.
We are the rudest, and we deserve to be recognized!!!
Below is the article from the Sun Sentinel about what rude drivers we are. You can also check out some of my rants about South Florida by clicking here.
AutoVantage rates Miami as having the rudest drivers
Miami rated tops on rude drivers list; Minneapolis rated nicest
By BETH RUCKER
Associated Press
May 16, 2006, 11:06 AM EDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Stressed Miami drivers speed, tailgate and cut off other drivers so frequently that it has earned the city the title of worst road rage in a survey released Tuesday.
Norwalk, Conn.-based AutoVantage, an automobile membership club offering travel services and roadside assistance, also listed Phoenix, New York, Los Angeles and Boston among the top five cities for rude driving in its first ``In the Driver’s Seat Road Rage Survey.’’
``The advent of road rage is part of every day life,’’ said Todd Smith, director of corporate communications for AutoVantage’s parent company, Affinion Group, which has offices in Nashville. ``It’s just a fact of life.’’
On the other side of the spectrum, Minneapolis, Nashville, St. Louis, Seattle and Atlanta rated as the cities with the most courteous drivers who were less likely to change lanes without signaling or swear at other motorists.
``I’ve gone from Miami to Minneapolis before, and it was a huge difference,’’ said Andrea Lindsley, a spokeswoman for AutoVantage.
More than 2,000 adult drivers who regularly commute in 20 major metropolitan areas were asked to rate road rage and rude driving in telephone surveys between January and March. The survey conducted by Prince Market Research has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.
Drivers surveyed said they believe the most common causes of road rage included being in a hurry to get to a destination or encountering other drivers who drive below the speed limit.
Young drivers and people with long commutes were found to be the most likely to react to an aggressive or rude driver. The top reactions included honking the horn, cursing or making an obscene gesture.
No distinct differences were found between male and female drivers.
Nearly all commuters said that at least once a week they witness drivers talking on their cell phones and most said they see it daily About half as many see drivers running red lights and slamming on their brakes at least once a week.
Drivers owned up to some rude behavior themselves, with nearly all saying they have talked on a cell phone while driving and 64 percent acknowledged they drive too fast at least some of the time.
Elly Martin, a spokeswoman for the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said the administration has observed a lot of aggressive driving in studies of driver behavior on the roads. NHTSA distinguishes between aggressive driving, which it uses to refer to speeding, weaving in and out of traffic and other actions, from road rage, a term it uses for criminal driving behavior.
``Human behavior is so involved with crashes at all levels,’’ she said. ``(Aggressive driving) is a pattern of behavior drivers exhibit over and over.’’
AutoVantage hopes to use the survey to educate people about how to resist road rage. Among tips are remaining calm and not making eye contact with an angry driver.
Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Atlanta is rude. Southern Hospitality is dead (or quickly dying). I cannot believe no one will let you into their lane after having your freaking blinker on for well over a minute. You nearly have to ram your car into them to get the respect you deserve.
So, why all the rudeness? I had an epiphany after a recent visit to “America’s Best” eyeglass store and experienced some of america’s worst customer service ever known to man(I know a little something about customer service—just ask Clark Howard). I was lured into the establishment by the tv commerical that advertises two pairs of glasses AND an eye exam for only $69! Again, it was one of the worst days of my consumer life—I’ll spare you the dirty details. Anyway, I came to the realization that poor people just have lower expectations. They are used to people being rude to them so they are rude to all and it begins to affect every socio-economic group. Rudeness was flying all around that day. You get what you give, you get what you pay for, etc. It was obvious that no one in the store was rolling in the big bucks, and, most people in America seem to just be getting by these days. In the end, when a manager was apologizing profusely to me for my troubles, I just said, “No, it’s not your fault. It’s my own for trying to save money.” But, I can’t say people are trying to save money if they are living in south Florida. Maybe you just have a lot of tourists from Atlanta???
Thanks for letting me vent, Aaron. Check out www.yelp.com It’s a great place to let off some steam.
Wow. You gotta get outta Miami, dude.
You know, it occurs to me that even though I despise this small town I live in, and even though my immediate neighbors are troglodytes, the service I get from the businesses in my town is quite excellent, especially in that “personal touch” thing.
Jim
Yup, Miami is indeed a rude city. A long time, I remember being ranked first as the rudest city (LA and NYC came second and third).
Come back to Orlando if you want friendliness. You’re always welcome here. :)
Commenting is closed for this article.