How's my driving?
Detroit drivers. Are we not skilled choreographers who can maneuver through impassable places, who can fly between slower cars at 100mph like one of the Blue Angels? Are we not some of the safest drivers on the road, at any speed? Is Detroit not a place where you'll find a shriveled, graying, hunched-over retiree barreling down Twelve Mile at 70mph?
YES, it is, and God love us for being the automotive quarterbacks, the vehicular Baryshnikovs that we are.
So I'm living in Seattle now, which is a little like, "what if you increased the population of Ontonagon, MI, by, say, 3,500,000." Lots of pine trees, beautiful scenery, clean air, clean water....it's great. And of course the food, the shopping, the outdoor recreational opportunities...DAMN. What a great town.
And of course, being on the West Coast, it has the same kind of laid-back, dude-what's-your-hurry mentality of California. Which in many cases can be great. Not so many conflicts here as in Daytwah, for example. People are a little more chill about life in general.
So here's the flip side to this lushly green, soggy paradise: add three-and-a-half million people to dude-what's-your-hurry AND YOU GET TRAFFIC AND DRIVERS THAT F***ING SUCK.
With my formative driving years being shaped on the anarchy that is I-696 as well as the Lodge, I-94 and Southfield Freeway, I can safely tell Michiganders that if you were to drive here, you might have
a) an embolism
b) road rage
c) an uncontrollable urge to knock everyone's slo-pitch ass into the nearest ditch.
Every time I get behind the wheel here, I feel like a New York cabbie on both crack and speed.
How's your driving? Do you drive like a bat outta hell? Are you meek and mild? Was your insurance cancelled in '02? Do you pride yourself at always evading radar and traffic tickets?
How's your driving? Write me.
posted by Weave @ 23:20
4 comments
4 Comments:
I've lived in Michigan my whole life. I lived the first 10 years in Muskegon, moved in land to Lansing, for the next 12 years and a few months ago I moved to a suburb of Detroit. I stumbled on your pronunciation guide a couple summers ago and find it 1. not only fitting but 2. horribly accurate. When trying to explain to people what exactly a Michigan accent is I refer them to your site. Since I grew up on the "West Coast" of the mitten I have the nasally Chicago based accent, mixed with a hard "O" that almost sounds like I'm talking like a Yupper. My boyfriend laughs at me everytime I say simple things like "coke" or "road".
Thankfully I met him before I moved out to the east side of the state. I had 4, almost 5 months to get use to the driving on 696, and 94 before I moved out this way. Although I've never had a problem driving thru D-town to get to the clean side of town for the clubs (Windsor ya know?). I've never had problems buzzing past people, and seeing the 65 mph sign knowing it really means 90mph. The biggest problem I've had has been since I learned to drive in Lansing, and they have a city ordinance about using horns.. is I've become over zealous when I use it now.. and going back home to visit my parents I find myself using it.. and thinking "crap I'm not in Detroit anymore Toto".
I personally think those Cabbies in NYC could learn from us Michigan drivers.. even with a foot of fresh snow I could get you from Metro to the Ren Cen.
Becky
I am a Chicago native, schooled and lived in Michigan for 5 years, so while I don't have the natural affinities of a true Michiander, I can sympathize wholeheartedly with the driving situation. I live in South Bend, Indy now- and not only are the drivers slow and the potholes ginormous, the state itself sactions all this. I mean, really! You expect me to go 65 miles an hour on the TOLL ROAD! Bah! I go 80 on a slow day!
They actually just raised the limit to 70- as if that's going to solve any problems.
Anyway- I love the site, someone sent me an email link, and I intend to circulate it. Congrats on the beautiful family.
- Kristine S.
Oh man, I identify with this on so many levels!! I'm from Livingston County (45 min from everything and yet still in the middle of nowhere), so I've learned to navigate Lansing, Detroit, A^2, Flint and the Tri Cities.
I recently took the turnpike through Ohio and Penn. to Philadelphia, and I thought my head was gonna explode! People freaked out at the smallest amount of snow, there are all of these mountains that made my ears pop, the speed limit was only 55 and people obeyed it, and there is apparently no driving in the left lane. EVER. There were even signs posted every mile or so that said ridiculous things like, "Slow Down, Save A Life" and "Drive On The Left, It's The Law." Plus, it was about $28 to simply drive on the roads, and that's just one way!
Seriously, all of this driving on the right and passing every six seconds just so you can speed seems like a good way to get side-swiped. And if we charge state taxes to keep up the roads so that everyone can drive for free, you'd think that other states would return the favor instead of taking advantage of us. Sharing is caring, people!
~Steff
I lived an hour north of Chicago for eight years in the most backward, armpit of a town called Rockford, IL. This was while attending university in GR. Having to drive through Indiana at 55MPH, coming down from 75-80 was dreadful! We called it the gauntlet since one never knew was the hoosiers were doing to I90 today.
In addition to that I have to say that for all their blustering about being fast drivers, Chicagoans are incredibly slow and purposefully get in your way. I grew up in Detroit where drivers drive and everyone else should get off the expressway. 696 at 90MPH, bumper-to-bumper at 5pm Friday evening is what I know and love. There seems to be an unwritten rule that you must move at that pace and if you leave an inch between bumpers then someone will scoot in front of you. Oddly, there's rarely a bad accident in Detroit but you could count on one in Chicago everyday.
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