Utah Drivers
I've heard a lot of people talking about "Utah Drivers" lately, and this doesn't seem to be the type of laudatory title one would wish upon one's own fellow Utahns. In an effort to determine if the title is deserved, I've been listening closely. I found some rather disturbing evidence that suggests that nobody actually knows what a good driver is. Allow me to present a few quotes:
- "So I was driving along University Avenue in the right lane, late for work, and of course there was this slow Utah Driver in front of me..."
- "Utah Drivers are always going too fast..."
- "it seems like drivers near byu campus (from any state) don't feel the need to use the turn signal. ... Living the laws of the land is part of the the honor code. thus these people are honor code violators"
- "In Boston, you don't even have to use your turn signal. You can just merge in and everyone will make room for you. You couldn't even try that here in Utah."
Does anyone see a problem here? You're a bad driver if you don't use your turn signal. No, wait. You're a bad driver if you have to use your turn signal. Utah drivers always drive slow. No wait. They always drive fast. Hello? Doesn't anybody notice this? I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!
Honestly, I think that much of the "Utah Driver" reputation present in Utah Valley comes not from Utahns driving their cars, but rather the broad mix of drivers converging on Provo from all over the place. I'm currently working on a research project involving the navigation abilities of hundreds of mini "walking" agents, all attempting to reach their destination without running into anyone else. One of the theories I'm hoping to test is that there are cultural navigation rules that develop within a group over time, and when an individual is transplanted from one culture to another, they see everyone else as breaking the clearly-established rules when in reality, everyone is only breaking that individual's assumptions.
This was made very apparent to me a few years ago when I visited Australia for two weeks. The first few days we were there, we had such a hard time getting around on the sidewalks. It seemed that everyone was always in our way, and we couldn't figure out why. Then one day I tried walking on the left side of the sidewalk, and suddenly everything fell into place. I had been basing my navigation on the assumption that you're always supposed to pass to the right when walking. Obviously they drive on the left in Australia, but it had never occurred to me that that legal regulation would carry over into a cultural norm for non-vehicular navigation. I wasn't a bad walker because of this; I just hadn't yet acclimated to the new cultural rules.
So anyway. There's my defense of Utahns.
Merry Christmas!
5 comments:
I've thought this same thing for years, except I imagine the problem with crazy drivers here isn't so much a Utah phenomenon as a young driver phenomenon. Most college students are still relatively new drivers. Of course they're going to make mistakes.
Going along with your theory, though, I once read somewhere that over 80% of drivers consider themselves to have above average driving skills.
Crazy pills. Ha. (o:
Not that this is totally what you were talking about, but I was reminded and it's funny anyway. I sent this to DL the other day when we were trying to out-quote each other:
I suppose some of the variation between Boston drivers and the rest of the country is due to the progressive Massachusetts Driver Education Manual which I happen to have in my top desk drawer. Some of the Tips for Better Driving are worth considering, to wit: [173.15b]: "When competing for a section of road or a parking space, remember that the vehicle in need of the most body work has the right-of-way." [141.2a]: "Although it is altogether possible to fit a 6' car into a 6' parking space, it is hardly ever possible to fit a 6' car into a 5' parking space." [105.31]: "Teenage drivers believe that they are immortal, and drive accordingly. Nevertheless, you should avoid the temptation to prove them wrong."
I don't know. I'd have to say that there is some evidence to base the Utah driver thing on. The written part of the drivers test is open book in Utah. Sadly, it's not the norm for people to get %100 on it. (Or so I've heard from my brother when he went in to take the test to get a Utah license.)
The freeway is extremely frightening to me here, as it seems nearly everyone drives like a maniac on snowy, icy roads with poor visibility, but traffic slows to a snails pace in the rain.
And too many people don't use turn-signals. Which may or may not be a sign of a good driver, but can add to the courtesy element of driving.
In the UK HGV Driver trainiong is diofferent to that in Utah. New tests mean its never been harder to get your HGV licxence
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