| I live in "Uptown", the oldest area near the garden district. Tiny roads and most places don't have off-street parking so cars line the narrow roads. People here don't even KNOW what a Stop sign means. When you come up to an intersection that you have the right-of-way and the cross street has a Stop sign, you literally have to almost come to a complete stop to make sure you don't get hit. I'd say(no exageration) that 1 out of 20-30 cars will run the stop sign, and I don't mean "roll" it, I mean plow through it at 25-35 mph without even looking for cross traffic! Then there are the redlight runners. I think red means "GO" here. Every single, and I do mean EVERY SINGLE red light at least 2 cars will run it, if not 4 or 5. They will run the red light after it has been red for several seconds. You simply cannot hit the gas when the light turns green or 80% probability you will be T-boned. You absolutley have to sit there and let all the traffic run the red light before you can proceed. It's like some unwritten traffic law. Insane. What's a turn signal? People here are clueless. I'd say easily less that 10% and more likely only 5% or less of lane changes and turns from the road are indicated, even with traffic waiting to pull out from a side road and if the person would have signaled the person would have been able to pull out. Then there is the lane changing without even thinking about using a mirror or looking to the side you are moving. Oh, and did I mention the pulling out in front of fast moving traffic at point blank range forcing you to slam on your brakes so hard you almost get rear-ended? And that will happen SEVERAL times in a few miles drive. Or the pulling to the center median to make a left, but leaving you ass end blocking one of the lanes of traffic on the right side of the road? Anyway, it is positively the worst place to drie that I've ever been, and that includes a ton of countries overseas. In Dallas you could go for a "joy ride", you know just got out to drive for funa and enjoyment? You can't do that here. It is terrifying the entire drive anywhere. If you relax and let your gaurd down for a minute odds are someone will pull out and hit you or pull out in front of you and you will hit them. And this is not even during rush hour! My ZIP code is the 7th most expensive for insurance in the entire country. What insurance cost me $580/6 months in Dallas they wanted over $3000/6 mo here!
Mike ------------------------------------------------------
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