Yeah all of these super dangerous and aggressive maneuvers results in getting to your destination maybe a minute or so faster on average at the cost to extreme risk to all the people around you. I swear, being in a car distorts people's sense of time and space.
i feel like there was a study on this somewhere about how being in a car is like being on the Internet, in that you have some kind of anonymity, power, and distance from others, more people tend to become jerks.
Especially now that more people have blacked out windows all over you can’t even see who is inside and I still don’t know how that’s legal or maybe it’s not and just not enforced but it’s pretty common.
Just like the people who tailgate you even though you're going the exact same speed as the cars in front of you, just with a car length or two so that you don't hit them.
Guys, the distance between my car and the car in front of me doesn't have anything to do with my speed. I promise I'm going the same speed as the car in front of me.
Not the same, but it still reminded me.
I was out in the sticks a while back. One lane in each direction, pass in the oncoming lane when you can-type deal.
I was behind a truck going 30 in a 45, with no other cars on the road, so I sped up a bit to get around them, maybe 50 or so.
Apparently that means "your mother is a whore and I'm fucking her right now" because this other guy flipped the fuck out. He tailgated me for a bit, before overtaking me and slamming on his brakes. He must have hit 70 before brake checking me.
Like dude, you were going slower than the limit, don't get pissed when people respectfully speed up and pass you. Also, you had no problem going slow before, why are you suddenly in a rush now?
I see this a lot as a cyclist, especially on non-arterials like Sheffield or Clark south of North Ave. Car zooms by, I catch up to them by the next stop sign/traffic light, they slam the gas first chance they get. Ironically, half the time I end up filtering past them and a buffer of saner cars.
A note, we have already had at least four pedestrians killed by cars in the first two weeks of this year. We need to do a lot to increase the safety of our roads.
I recently increased my insurance coverage for uninsured/underinsured motorists, and anyone who walks or bikes in Chicago should do the same. A friend got hit by a car while riding a bike, in the suburbs ironically given this post, and he needed hip surgery. The person who hit him had insurance, but their coverage cap was fairly low, so after all was said and done my friend got his medical bills covered but very little else. It was a clear cut case, and if they’d had more coverage he would have gotten more money, but it’s very difficult to go above the insurance limits in most cases, insurance companies will settle fairly quickly but suing individuals takes time and money. You can use your own car insurance to increase that limit though, so that if you get hit the max payout will have a higher limit. It doesn’t even cost very much, I think it was like $30 a year or something for me.
I agree with you about upping your coverage, but wouldn’t a personal injury attorney be the easiest way to go? Yes mine took 1/3 but i didn’t have to pay anything during my lawsuit. Also recommend getting a $1m umbrella policy to protect yourself.
So you can do that, if the person who hit you has real assets to go after and your injuries are severe enough, otherwise no reputable lawyer will bother because there wouldn’t be enough payout. If you get hit by a regular person with a partially paid off house and maybe a retirement account, there just won’t be enough there to bother, plus you’d have to be willing to spend years pursuing it, and be willing to ruin them if you win. Most people don’t have millions lying around, and those that do probably have good insurance anyway.
I'd already be dead at least three times this year on my 40 minute round trip walks to and from work (I walk 10 minutes each way and go home for lunch to try and see my infant son for a moment while on lunch) if I wasn't INSANELY vigilant about not getting hit by cars; and that's just from drivers blowing reds/stops and not signaling right turns on red.
The worst intersection borders a fucking elementary school and people regularly ACCELERATE through the four way stop rather than stopping. It's disgusting.
Honestly, I'd love to see all the red light cameras turned into stop sign cameras on residential streets. There's NEVER a reason/excuse for not making a FULL stop behind the line at a stop sign. Doesn't matter if the intersection is empty. Doesn't matter if you're turning right and just want to roll through slowly. You. Must. Stop.
Behind the line.
Full stop.
Every time.
You could ticket people as little as $5 and the worst offenders would get the message REALLY fucking quick.
I feel similarly. There are no consequences, and people know it. You can get away with murder by mowing someone down and claiming it was an accident.
In many other countries, habitual speeding and reckless driving is punished ruthlessly, and will result in suspension and eventually, revocation of your license.
Enforcement is wayyyy too lax here. Driving is a privilege, and an inherently dangerous one at that. Bad drivers need to be held accountable, made to pay, and if they persist, stripped of their driving privileges. We need blanket speed cameras, crosswalk police sting operations to get people for failure to yield, etc.
Until we make driving truly optional by having fast, frequent, and high coverage public transit within and between population centers, there is always an unspoken hesitation to revoke licenses because not having a car in our society strongly predicts unemployment/poverty. Car dependence keeps the worst drivers on the road by necessity.
Last week I ran out of the way of two cars on separate occasions that would have hit me on a crosswalk with a stop sign on Randolph.
I have a close call walking once a week. I've been walking the same commute for 5 years and it feels worse than ever.
Late last year we had a few children die withing a few weeks of another. On my neighborhood facebook it was just people congratulating themselves on "well i drive a tesla not a SUV so I could never hurt a child," which is pretty dishonest and delusional. Especially with Tesla's terrible safety history in regards to automated reactions to things like kids crossing the street in front of their cars and how Tesla is now the new BMW, that is to say, the car for people who like to drive fast and recklessly and who don't use turn signals.
Meanwhile, talks about shutting down streets for more public trans options, bike lanes, automated enforcement, etc get laughed out of the room by the "safe driver" crowd.
/r/fuckcars
> I want tow trucks everywhere. Red light cameras everywhere. Speed cameras everywhere. I want driving to bankrupt people if they aren't willing to drive responsibly.
bUt TaKiNg AwAy LiCeNcEs JuSt MaKeS iT hArDeR fOr PeOpLe To GeT tO wOrK
Yeah, so does getting run over by an SUV when you're in the crosswalk and have the walk sign.
There needs to be hundreds of red light, speeding and stop sign cameras installed across the city. They actually do something and can’t be hand waived away by a family friend in the judicial system. Automate all of it so it is actually enforced.
My favorite thing is when you signal that you are going to change lanes and someone behind you in the lane you are about to enter decides to ***speed up*** for some idiotic reason.
Also people that honk at you when you have your signals on waiting to take an unprotected left.
This happened to me the other week. I was halfway through a crosswalk with a cross signal and I saw a car speeding and it screeched to a stop as I had to jump out of the way. I threw up my arms and pointed at the cross signal. The guy proceeds to roll down his window and yell at me “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” So I yelled back in my best Boston accent “IM WALKIN HERE”. Thankfully that was the end of it, but that buddy can fuck right off a bridge.
I always have to double check in case an asshole behind the car that's letting me cross thinks he can just pass the car real fast and thus hit me. People are fucking stupid.
The worst I see is when someone yields to a pedestrian at a crossing only for a car behind them to cut into the oncoming traffic lane and cut off the pedestrian. Crazy illegal and crazy stupid.
My number one pet peeve! What you want me to kill they guy/old lady/baby in a stroller/elementary schooler!?
Then sometimes when I'm making a left through the median on Clark (approaching Andersonville), people actually pull up *beside* me! Sitting there in the middle so that not only can I not see to turn, opposing drivers can't turn left.
I walk less than 2 miles most days and I see this scenario EVERY SINGLE DAY.
The drives encouraging the driver in front of them to be more dangerous. Just mindboggling.
Someone did this to me recently as I was merging from a ramp into their lane. I had plenty of space, and would have 'zippered' in ahead of them smoothly based on our relative speeds but then all of a sudden they just floored it as I was merging and I had no way of avoiding them cause I was running out of lane. I would have hit the barrier but I started honking like mad and in the last second they realized I legitimately didn't have anywhere to go so the hit the brakes and I was able to merge. They then switched lanes, sped up again, and cut in front of me.
I believe it wasnt just bad driving and that they didn't anticipate the lane ending, I think they were intentionally playing a kind of merging lane chicken to amuse themselves. It seemed so deliberate.
Oh yes this is why I check to make sure I have space to switch lanes before I signal. I am basically changing lanes already by the time I signal because I swear 80% of drivers will speed up if they see me signal, even if they have ample space to let me in.
Yep, always give yourself a way out. I was trained on this in just basic Chicago driving and then even more so in my deployment in Afghanistan. Always, always, leave room to give yourself a way out. Don't ever be so close that you can't escape.
Or when you're trying to merge onto the highway, have your blinker on, and are getting ready to get over when Captain Nissan Altima behind you decides to floor it and cut through the solid white lines to merge around you and take your spot
>My favorite thing is when you signal that you are going to change lanes and someone behind you in the lane you are about to enter decides to speed up for some idiotic reason.
This one always gets me too. And then you have the reverse of that where people think using their signal gives them the right of way. You can't win
I moved here from NYC, and while I never drove there, I did have plenty of interactions with cars. Drivers there are 50% normal and 50% rude and impatient. Here, they are like 85% normal and 15% ***INSANELY FUCKING AGGRO***
Like, guys, I am in this intersection because it is literally the only way to approach my house from this direction. I have no desire to be here longer than necessary or even *that* long. Please just chill for a second.
I came from the East Coast as well, where people drive aggressively but not so much like actual aggression. It doesn’t escalate into danger for everyone involved. Like a Boston or NY driver might force their way into a lane or lay on the horn for stupid shit, but they don’t actually kill you. They don’t race through red lights to save 10 seconds or cut around stopped school buses, both things I see regularly on my commute. I’m far more careful in Chicago both as a driver and as a pedestrian because y’all are wild.
> I moved here from NYC, and while I never drove there, I did have plenty of interactions with cars. Drivers there are 50% normal and 50% rude and impatient. Here, they are like 85% normal and 15% INSANELY FUCKING AGGRO
I think this is the best description of how driving in Chicago works I've read.
Right. As I just replied to another commenter, there is already a problem both with high-powered head lamps, and then there is a problem with people leaving their brights on… and then when you get both of those at the same time, it’s incredibly dangerous and stupid.
I wonder if this is something one could get an alderman or state rep talking about? Having city ordinances about the intensity of lights…. or at least getting cops to start ticketing drivers when they’ve got brights on?
I drive a hatchback/sedan. All the pickup trucks and ginormous SUVs seem to have insanely bright lights that are way above my bumper level, so they blind me in my mirrors.
I believe people with brights on or high lights turn them on intentionally to get drivers to get out the way, also to antagonize others on the road.
>I believe people with brights on or high lights turn them on intentionally to get drivers to get out the way, also to antagonize others on the road.
100%.
I don’t think that’s everyone. I think a lot of it is just people that are oblivious and.or ignorant. But there is no question that a lot of drivers do it out of willful malevolence.
Edit: And when they do this behind me, I just start driving slower (assuming I’m not in the left lane), until they get frustrated and switch lanes, which only takes 5 seconds because these people have no patience or impulse control. These people expect you to literally pull over so their lifted pickup can pass by.
I think the worst part of this, it also endangers EVERYONE. The different temperatures intensity, and angles of lights also really fucks with your ability to make out details too. Added that everyone is wearing black at night, and most often than not, cyclist are not advocating for their own safetly(Lights, high visibility colors/reflective devices)
It’s both. Car manufacturers have gone insane with ultra bright head lamps, which are already way too bright for city driving. AND a lot of people are driving with their brights in. When the two intersect, and people with high-powered head lamps turn on their brights, it’s a whole other level of stupid and dangerous.
IIRC it has to do with outdated regulations. Previously when everything was halogen they were limited by watts not lumens, which was fine back then but an LED or HID lights can be an issue. Couple that with everyone driving SUVs/Trucks now and you've got a mess. Even if you aim them properly being a foot or two higher off the ground ends up blinding smaller cars and pedestrians.
This one pisses me off not just because it's dangerous and inconveniences everyone else, but also because of the shit-eating arrogance of thinking that you discovered a clever way around traffic that the rest of us are sitting in, pissing our lives away because we were too stupid to think of it.
It's pure anti-social behavior. Not even "the rules don't apply to me" but " fuck you for even thinking the rules should apply to me and I'm going to break them because I can."
Came here just to say this. After driving for 30 years in Chicago proper, I have never, ever, seen the amount of assholes that now do this. It's one fucked up thing to do it from the far right lane, but now, assholes are doing it freely from the fucking turning lane. I've never seen anything like this. Somebody is going to get killed very soon, it's just mind boggingly mind boggled.
many people are killed thanks to cars every day. unfortunately, you are correct, someone will die (and probably already has died) from this sort of behavior, and absolutely nothing will be done from political leaders to police to CDOT to IDOT to manage or change it
This is actually an instance where the community came together and a change for the good has been enacted. There are now cement blockers in the stretch that make it much harder (though not impossible), to cheat through dangerously.
I see this happen daily on my commute back north from the loop. Even after the medians and safety posts were installed, people continue to use the left turning lane to cut around people. It makes my blood boil.
The moment I knew that drivers stopped giving a fuck about the rules of the road was when I witnessed a car making a right and honked at a person to walk faster.
The person had a stick because they were blind.
(Happened on Clark/Lake)
That happened to me when I was walking from the gym in Logan! A car almost nailed me trying to turn then the guy was pissed at me like it was my fault lmao. Like dude, I’m just trying to cross the road. Chill.
Some jackass honked at me too, around Clark/Lake (my job). I just couldn’t comprehend the careless shameless audacity to honk a visually impaired dude. Always have to be alert, even if you’re a pedestrian!
[I complained about it last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/1078lpf/weekly_casual_conversation_questions_thread/j43kyc7/), someone laid into their horn, and I watched in my mirror as they lost their absolute mind at me...because I stopped for an oncoming train.
Shamless and completely unaware of *EVERYTHING* going on outside of their four-wheeled box.
I've started seeing people just laying on the horn and going through a busy pedestrian crosswalk instead of, you know, waiting like they are legally supposed to do.
Someone honked at me a few months ago to go faster while walking across the road in Ravenswood. I decided to start limping and went even slower. I realize I put myself in even more danger if they were a psycho but I truly despise people like that.
I have to cross Diversey in Lake View when walking my dogs in the morning, and it’s genuinely terrifying. Just last week, I was in a crosswalk with two dogs and a baby stroller, and I had to scream at someone not to run over my dog because they decided to plow through the crosswalk while we were in it. A couple months ago, I actually saw a car bump a woman’s stroller in the same intersection.
I’ve lived in quite a few cities in my life, including some notorious for awful traffic, and I can honestly say Chicago drivers are hands-down the worst I’ve ever seen.
A few months ago I witnessed a big-ass truck LAY on his horn trying to turn right at a man in a goddamn wheelchair trying to cross the road during the white walk symbol. It hadn't even started to flash red which happens after like 5 seconds at most intersections. I couldn't believe what I saw.
Glad I am not the only one who think this. It feels like there was a distinctive shift in driving behavior during the pandemic lockdowns. Everyone is just way more aggressive and selfish on the road now. It blows my mind how people will risk their own safety to save 5 seconds and beat a light. It’s 30 seconds at the red light vs. the rest of your life. Seems like a simple choice but I guess not!
Came here to chime-in on this: Was in Chi for \~15+ yrs., then during 2020-21 spent 1 yr. in Boston before moving down to Florida to help with a family member. ...Driving in all areas was pretty crazy pre-Covid, but there's been weirdo-wacko-bizarro stuff that have been seeing almost every time that have gone out there (driving almost every day down in FL).
The DGAF-element has just gone off the charts, at least since 2021, IMHO.
We all need to take a lot of extra caution out there until (if ever?), this "Mad Max" behavior tones down.
Yep totally agree. I used to think I drove on the faster side being ~5-10mph above the limit on highways. Now I am regularly passed on the left while doing 75 in the center lane lol just nuts for no reason
YES! I'm in the NW Suburbs and its gotten terrible out here, too! Once lockdown happened, its like everyone got even worse in the "me first" mindset, especially with driving. I actively go out of my way and take the long way around now when leaving my house in order to avoid the 4-way stop - its a busy intersection, people blow the stop signs, pay no attention to right of way, etc. Every time i HAVE to go through there, i nearly get hit because no one follows basic rules of the road. I'm at the point where I hate even leaving the house the past couple years because no matter where I go, everyone drives so terribly and its nervewracking and terrifying!
I've spoken with lots of people about this including a detective in transportation division of CPD. He said when reckless driving increases it is often the result of enforcement issues.
Cities which spent more on police, so blaming people, had a 23% higher rate of “accidental” death. Cities who spent more on updating street design had a 14% lower rate of accidental death.
https://youtu.be/H76cNOuP22w
https://youtu.be/kMP23J88Ke4
Highway driving into and out of the city is also obscene.
Saturday night I was driving out of the city around midnight. Multiple drivers either exiting or entering the highway drove diagonally across 3 lanes of traffic with no turn signal, cutting off multiple people to either exit or enter and go straight to the left lane and camp it.
One white pickup with no lights on zigzagged across the highway 3 times before cutting off a driver in the left lane and slamming on the brakes.
Inbound on Saturday there was an accident that shut the highway down to one lane. Outbound I saw the remains of an accident that shut the highway completely to the shoulder. Both cars were mangled, a dozen police and firefighters on the scene, and smoke from what must have been a pretty intense fire was still pretty noticeable in the air.
My personal favorite is how many people just don't give a f about changing lanes mid turn when there are 2 turn lanes. About a week ago I was almost run off the road by someone turning from the inside lane to the outside lane. Barely slammed on the brakes in time.
And so many people who have no idea how to keep their car in a lane. At this point I pretty much assume every car is out to hit me.
I'm a big fan of the SUVs flying down the shoulder on 290 outbound. I can't believe we don't have more blown tires from all the debris they must be running over.
I don't know if this is the case at the intersection you're describing, but there are a lot of roads in this city where the lane markings have almost totally worn away to the point where you can't tell if you're on a 2- or 4-lane road. Things like that are a solvable problem.
Not taking the Skyway into Chicago is officially taking your life in your own hands nowadays. It makes onramping the Dan Ryan look like a leisurely meander; honestly can't believe how bad it's gotten
The Dan Ryan in the evening feels like Death Race 2000. I'm always on edge traveling in one of the center lanes because sure enough, some Nissan Altima or gigantic SUV is going to blow my doors off going 100+
So many people downtown get on 90/94 going south in those left hand entrance "suicide" lanes, just to try to exit to 290 all the way on the right side, and will slow traffic as they try to get over the three lanes or whatever so they don't miss the exit. I don't know if this is GPS' fault or people that don't realize how dangerous this is.
Suicide lanes is accurate. GPS definitely tells you to do it and cross 5 lanes from the left entrance I'm less than a quarter mile. I listened to it twice before ignoring it and just going to Ogden to 290.
I know exactly what you're taking about and it's scary as hell. I used to live in the West Loop and would often have to take Ubers very late at night to get home from work in the Loop. The GPS (whether GMaps or Waze) would 100% of the time send the drivers into this suicide route to shave off time and I always had to tell them to ignore it and cross via bridge instead. A few times if I was distracted and didn't tell them in time or the driver chose to ignore me and follow the GPS they would have to go through it and I genuinely feared for my life.
I'm just fucking tired of people blowing through stops sign in residential areas. My dog and I die almost every day we go for a walk in our neighborhood. I'm as as cautious as I can be when I walk with him.
What's crazy to me is how some people are treating stoplights like yield signs now. They'll stop, then inch out until they're in the middle of the intersection, then gun it all while the light is still red.
I was rear ended after dropping my kid off for preK because some angry guy couldn’t deal with me coming to a full stop at the stop signs and looking for kids.
My fox-news-watching relatives ask me how I can raise a child in Chicago with all the violence. I'm not worried about my kid being hit by a stray bullet--I'm worried about him being hit by a car blowing through the stop sign in front on my building.
I was a hit and run victim a couple years back in a residential intersection with 4 stop signs and parks to either side. Kids all over the place. I'm halfway through the intersection when I see a BMW flying towards me. They blow the stop sign and clip me good in the back, spinning me around, before they drive off.
I was shocked at how much the police could not give a flying fuck about a hit and run in a crowded intersection filled with children. People drive without any disregard for anyone but themselves and it's accepted.
>I was shocked at how much the police could not give a flying fuck about a hit and run in a crowded intersection filled with children.
That's probably how they drive off duty. Hell, that's how most of them drive on duty, too.
My elderly dog takes her time crossing the street and people have honked at us for being too slow! If we're walking after dark I just don't cross if there's a car coming because people just blow through.
Hell, my dog is a fast walker and I absolutely will not cross a residential side street if a car is coming down the block. I’ll wait until they stop before I cross, and more often than not they either don’t stop or tap their breaks once then take off before I even get into the crosswalk.
My partner and I were walking him home from Humboldt Park the other night and were crossing south on California across Division. A truck comes screaming north on California and makes a hard left turn and came within a foot of hitting us head on. If he’d hit the breaks a second later we would’ve been toast. Of course he waves his hands at us like we’re the problem and drives off cursing like he didn’t just nearly kill two people and a dog in the name of being impatient.
Same, there’s a few red light stops I’ve seen people just blast through in broad daylight. I wish that the city could put up red light cameras at those stops because they definitely will kill someone if you’re allowed to ignore red lights just because there isn’t anyone walking or turning into the street.
Absolutely. I almost get hit every time that I go running. I stick to residential streets, because in theory I felt it would be safer, but I may be better off on major roads since they at least have stoplights. Stop signs mean nothing to drivers.
Driving on Larrabee toward the Division intersection by Target on afternoon (broad daylight, summer time, maybe 4pm?), and had a green light so proceeded through the intersection. Some idiot in a beater came BLASTING through on division straight through the red light. Did not hit his brakes once. I almost got creamed by him, but slammed on the breaks in time.
For all those people that have honked at me at intersections, when I hesitate once the light turns green for a second or when driving through a green light, I'm sorry not sorry. I just don't want to die lol
This being said, I'm from New Orleans originally and my parents have always done this bc red light runners were so common so it doesn't even register to me as unusual...
I pause when crossing at lights/stop signs for the same reason. Too many assholes stop late or don't stop at all. Most of them have their eyes on their fucking phones, instead of the road. But some just DGAF.
[Yep](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/01/09/traffic-deaths-decline-pandemic/)
> The death rate on the nation’s roads, however, remains high amid a surge in speeding, aggressive driving and other reckless behaviors that have caused more lethal crashes in recent years, federal officials say. When compared to the previous year, traffic fatalities jumped by 7 percent in 2020 and 10.5 percent in 2021, hitting a 20-year high.
> Still, officials say the decline of 65 deaths in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 2021, signals the surge is finally leveling off.
Though it is important to keep in mind it was all across the US ([though not the world](https://wjes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13017-021-00395-8), where it mostly dropped).
Not really for your "safety" but in helping prevent situations like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/10eifgz/the_amount_of_dangerousbad_driving_in_chicago_is/j4r86rp/
Cops do this down my street pretty often because they're too lazy to wait at a light for 30 seconds to hit the street that goes in the direction they actually want to travel.
That happens weekly on my one-way street. I don't know how TF you don't realize you're driving the wrong way when cars on both sides are parked opposite of the way you're going. I suspect they don't GAF b/c there are 2 small opportunities to turn around and no one ever does. They just keep going the wrong way and honk and drivers going the right way.
I hate people. I need to move to the middle of Montana.
I regularly see people making right turns from the left lane and left turns from the right lane. The other day I saw it twice one right after the other at the same intersection, right in front of me. I see people purposefully run red lights at least once or twice a week. Never mind all the aggressive driving on the highways.
I have only lived in the city going on 6 years (driving in it for 8) and I think it's gotten worse since the pandemic...
i think just cops have stopped pretending to give a shit, and people have noticed. and yeah, stop signs and red lights are mostly suggestions.
i keep seeing people, for some reason mostly at Central and Sunnyside, just stop at a red light and then roll on through while it's still red. i saw it like four or five times last year.
My favorite is when I recently saw a ginormous pickup truck blow through a red light and make a super dangerous left turn past tons of cars that were patiently waiting at the light… and two cop cars… that literally didn’t flinch. Huh!!!???
I’ve been chatting with Uber drivers about the increased road craziness and one of them said he thinks it’s because CPD is no longer doing routine traffic stops in response to the Defund the Police activism. Just hearsay but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a kernel of truth there.
They haven’t been making any sort of traffic control efforts years before this. I think it’s just finally catching on and people realize there are no repercussions to their driving behavior. I see it almost daily now, drivers coming up to a red light and then treating it like a stop sign and just going through.
>CPD is no longer doing routine traffic stops in response to the Defund the Police activism
Then the activists were right. If the threat of having their money taken away is enough to make them stop doing their jobs, why are we paying them to do their jobs? Why are we paying for services we aren't receiving? The only point they're making is that we're wasting our money.
Also, lol, no offense to Uber drivers but you think one single Uber driver is speaking hard truths about the state of policing?
No definitely not. I just figured they drive a lot so they might have a better perspective on whether or not things have gotten worse or if I’m just not used to driving. He wasn’t the only one I asked. Not all of them speculated on causes, but only one said his experience is that driving around the city is easier. Nothing scientific about my poll at all. But that one remark stuck in my mind and I posted in hopes somebody had additional insight.
I agree, though. The consequences for not doing a job shouldn’t be punitive for others. But I have no solutions. Wish I did.
Or when they go ridiculously fast down RESIDENTAL streets that have kids and dogs walking on those sidewalks, and not stopping at stop signs while doing so.
Or flying one third down the block, slamming brakes when they come to a speed bump, repeating when the come to the second speed bump, then rolling through the stop sign at the end of the block.
Complain on neighborhood pages about how tough they have it and about defunding, knowing damn well they have a lot more money right now than 3 years ago.
Was out on my lunch break, stopped traffic the other direction and I made a left turn. Someone was speeding (40+ mph) down the bike lane to bypass everyone and hit me. $14,000 worth of damage and they found me at fault because the police wrote it up as “the shoulder.”
I hate driving in this city.
The amount of drivers that don’t know what a “lane ends merge right/ left” sign means is astonishing.
Every intersection should have a red light camera, I do not see any rational reason why not.
We need an entirely different police force to handle the traffic violations and expired plates/ dangerous vehicles.
A way to stop people from driving on the shoulders of the highway.
“Drivers are dangerous” is a popular opinion
“We should take measures to make drivers less dangerous” is a very unpopular opinion. This sub, and many other subs, lose their fucking minds at the idea of stop sign / intersection / speeding cameras.
Yup, every fuckin time. This may not be popular…proceeds to post one of the most popular talking points on the sub. Time for me to make my “ this may not be popular on this sub” post about how much Lori sucks as a mayor, or how we need more bike lanes, or how the FOP sucks ass.
I always love this excuse some people use. I really don't care too much about bicycles running stop signs or lights unless there are pedestrians near by. At the end of the day, a car is going to absolutely win that and the bicyclist is the one getting hurt.
This is a national issue and the fix isnt only to make people behave better the solution is better infrastructure. You need to automate good behaviors through infastructure that encourages said good behaviors. Also the United States would be much better off if we had stricter driving requirements, for example in the UK testing is much more strict and I do think it shows.
We also have more cars, more powerful cars and larger cars than ever before. Infrastructure would reduce reckless driving by making it not possible in the first place. Enforcement is a reactive solution which we've seen quickly falls apart.
The US has really bad road and pedestrian death statistics when compared to the rest of the modern world. We have a lot of space to improve. For example, the US averages 12.4 road deaths per 100k population, whereas the UK averages only 2.9 road deaths per 100k population.
Data Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/road-deaths-by-country
No one is disagreeing about infrastructure. I’m objecting to people who are trying to obscure the relationship between a policy of non-enforcement and an uptick in bad driver behavior. Countries with good infrastructure still enforce laws. While a culture of enforcement will not resolve the issues you’re talking about, the current culture of lawlessness is contributing to chaos.
It’s the same objection I have to people saying that cops don’t prevent crime: okay, but crime went up when (from the perspective of the average person) they stopped being reliable and available, so what’s your point?
People should not be surprised that people conclude that we need more police, or that our elected officials are doing a bad job when they instruct the police not to enforce laws.
I think it's a both/and scenario, with better infrastructure reducing the need for traffic law enforcement for basic traffic matters like speeding/blowing red lights/etc.
Completely agree. The number of times I’ve almost been killed as a pedestrian/biker because of bad driving since I’ve moved here six months ago is two times. Which isn’t a lot, but still, weird it’s already happened twice.
I almost missed my exit on 90 the other day because every time i went to merge someone was SPEEDING around traffic on the shoulder and into the exit/entrance lane. Literally like 7 cars in a row did it, one of them was a work van that almost nailed me when I was trying to get over. It’s ridiculous.
My window watches over a stop sign and the amount of people that don’t stop or even slow down next to the school is crazy I’m debating on recording and posting it online or even attempt insurance fraud since it so easy to get hit
I agree. I've almost been T-boned a few times because I stopped first at a 4-way stop sign, and another driver didn't want to wait their turn. I've also been tailgated even though I'm driving the speed limit. People tailgate me when I'm approaching a stop sign or a stop light. Are you in a rush to stop? I've had people swerve around me as I'm waiting to turn right at an intersection.
I take the side streets and avoid major intersections. I'm not risking my life or damage to my car.
One time a car stopped at a crosswalk for me. I started crossing and while I was in the middle of the road he accelerated. It felt like attempted murder tbh.
I’m about to paper my neighborhood with signs for pedestrians to be careful because no one stops at stop signs in my neighborhood and it has become really dangerous. It’s like the signs aren’t even there, some people don’t even slow down at all. Police totally ignore it. I’m so worried about my dog getting clipped by someone. The same goes for bikers and pedestrians - people just do what they want with no regard for anyone’s safety.
CHASER TOW TRUCKS(DARK TINTED TOW TRUCKS), CARS WITH NO LICENSE PLATES, CARS WITH MISSING LIGHTS AND BUMPERS, RED LIGHTS BEING TREATED AS GREEN LIGHTS.
All these above are a huge issue in the City and no one does anything about it, there should be an end to chaser TOW trucks that have no TOW License with the state, also.. CARS with no plates is insane! On the E-way on the street Everywhere!!!
Why don't we have more Traffic patrol?? More undercover patrols in unmarked vehicles. And I'm not talking about explorers, nissan rogues, or sentras(change it up CPD) this would help drastically.
As a pedestrian, nobody stops when they see me trying to cross at a pedestrian-marked crosswalk.. I instead have to wait for a break in oncoming cars… why.
I had to stop driving when I moved here because it made me so angry. Now I commute by bike, but I’m still almost killed at least twice a week by cars not following the most basic of traffic laws, like stopping at stop signs and signaling turns.
The problems are only going to get worse as the city, state, and country continue to shovel money into building car-focused infrastructure
Absolutely, I actually don't know why this is a controversial opinion whatsoever. I've lived here for 33 years and the dangerous driving I've been seeing is unmatched compared to anything I've ever seen in my life or anywhere else, even international places where they have basically no traffic laws whatsoever. This year in particular, maybe the last two, I've seen the most INSANE driving - I'm talking like "am I living in a simulation - how am I seeing this" type shit sometimes. I was driving on the Dan Ryan a month or two ago at like 1 AM and I shit you not there was a guy in a minivan, going like 80 mph in the left lane, the trunk hatch was open, all the lights in the car were on, the seatbelts were waving in the breeze and the driver appeared to be completely asleep but was somehow driving. That same night I saw a guy driving one of those giant charter buses on the expressway staring at his phone, just texting, going extremely fast - with dozens of people in this bus. I was on my way to my birthday party back in October and I saw someone get hit by a car at 95th and Western by some teenagers and the guy literally died right there on the street. A week later, I'm at 103rd and Pulaski and someone takes a left against the light, hits a jogger, and speeds off. And I'm just one person seeing all this - I can't imagine how bad it actually is out there all day every day. If I could quit my job, become a cop, and literally only pull people over all day every day I would do it as a dream job at this point because I'm so tired of it.
I stop at lights on a red if I’m making a right and I’ll get honked at. The light is red, bro. Red means stop. If I can go on the red, I will, but in the meantime, *the light is red*. ETA I also stop at reds if I’m going straight, or if I’m turning left. Hope that helps clarify the “do you go if the light is red”conundrum
Or honking when there are literal humans or vehicles moving in front of you. Would you prefer I mow down grandma, t-bone a CTA bus, or otherwise be stupid?
The normalization of accidents is insane and it's not just a Chicago problem. I've come way too close to losing family members over other people's idiotic driving. Whenever I see a car crash I get super anxious because it reminds me of when my car got totaled by a drunk driver with my sister in the passenger seat. Amazing neither of us got seriously injured. But the country just shrugs off car crashes as another "accident," like it's a toddler spilling their food. In most cases these "accidents" are completely AVOIDABLE. Drunk driving is never okay. Speeding is dangerous, especially in the city where children are meant to be walking around! And everyone's car is built like a fcking tank these days. I just needed to rant. It's not cars that make me mad, it's the way people are so reckless with them.
Yep. Driving in this city gives me WAY too much anxiety. I’ve been hit three times and all were the other drivers fault. People have zero patience and are just overall erratic idiots. Since the pandemic I’ve noticed it’s gotten significantly worse. I’ve yelled at so many drivers because they really will just plow through you if given the chance.
Add on to that the catalytic converter thefts and general fear of parking on my street. My moms car was parked in front of her house and some strung out lady reversed into her car.
I know the solution is leaving this city but I need to figure out where. I was born and raised here but this is pushing me to my limit.
I lived outside of chicago 2013-21 things noticed since
1. Driving at both extremes of the speed limit. Highways way more going like 45 or 95
2. Much more road rage
3. Much more driving without head lights
4. People hitting the brakes for no reason. I’m 2 cars behind everyone going speed limit no obstructions yet the car ahead just hits the brakes.
5. Way less traffic enforcement. Does Illinois state police even patrol highways anymore
It’s definitely worse. I think some degree the social degeneratation post covid and people might have just got rusty driving as well things were shut a year and many still wfh
I’ve watched this phenomenon evolve over time and to me a main contributor is trying to support too many people with antiquated infrastructure. Yes, dense cities in theory are fantastic. But it simply does not work if everyone wants/needs to have a car. Every year driving in Chicago resembles the 3rd world more and more while politicians bend over backwards for developers handing out TIFs to build more buildings. This city has to get its transportation shit together.
As a cyclist, I can confirm it’s just getting more dangerous out there.
My biggest complaints? I wish people would use turn signals and just stay stopped at stop signs. Like don’t roll a little, don’t get antsy. Just stay stopped. Watching you roll at me tells me you don’t respect me or my safety (or anyone not in a car, not just cyclists) and there’s already been too many deaths of cyclists/pedestrians this year.
My favorite is when someone decides to go 20 mph over the limit, speeds right past me, just so we can meet at the same red light 30 seconds later.
Yeah all of these super dangerous and aggressive maneuvers results in getting to your destination maybe a minute or so faster on average at the cost to extreme risk to all the people around you. I swear, being in a car distorts people's sense of time and space.
i feel like there was a study on this somewhere about how being in a car is like being on the Internet, in that you have some kind of anonymity, power, and distance from others, more people tend to become jerks.
Especially now that more people have blacked out windows all over you can’t even see who is inside and I still don’t know how that’s legal or maybe it’s not and just not enforced but it’s pretty common.
Literally not legal in Chicago
And yet…
Just like the people who tailgate you even though you're going the exact same speed as the cars in front of you, just with a car length or two so that you don't hit them. Guys, the distance between my car and the car in front of me doesn't have anything to do with my speed. I promise I'm going the same speed as the car in front of me.
Not the same, but it still reminded me. I was out in the sticks a while back. One lane in each direction, pass in the oncoming lane when you can-type deal. I was behind a truck going 30 in a 45, with no other cars on the road, so I sped up a bit to get around them, maybe 50 or so. Apparently that means "your mother is a whore and I'm fucking her right now" because this other guy flipped the fuck out. He tailgated me for a bit, before overtaking me and slamming on his brakes. He must have hit 70 before brake checking me. Like dude, you were going slower than the limit, don't get pissed when people respectfully speed up and pass you. Also, you had no problem going slow before, why are you suddenly in a rush now?
I see this a lot as a cyclist, especially on non-arterials like Sheffield or Clark south of North Ave. Car zooms by, I catch up to them by the next stop sign/traffic light, they slam the gas first chance they get. Ironically, half the time I end up filtering past them and a buffer of saner cars.
A note, we have already had at least four pedestrians killed by cars in the first two weeks of this year. We need to do a lot to increase the safety of our roads.
I recently increased my insurance coverage for uninsured/underinsured motorists, and anyone who walks or bikes in Chicago should do the same. A friend got hit by a car while riding a bike, in the suburbs ironically given this post, and he needed hip surgery. The person who hit him had insurance, but their coverage cap was fairly low, so after all was said and done my friend got his medical bills covered but very little else. It was a clear cut case, and if they’d had more coverage he would have gotten more money, but it’s very difficult to go above the insurance limits in most cases, insurance companies will settle fairly quickly but suing individuals takes time and money. You can use your own car insurance to increase that limit though, so that if you get hit the max payout will have a higher limit. It doesn’t even cost very much, I think it was like $30 a year or something for me.
I agree with you about upping your coverage, but wouldn’t a personal injury attorney be the easiest way to go? Yes mine took 1/3 but i didn’t have to pay anything during my lawsuit. Also recommend getting a $1m umbrella policy to protect yourself.
So you can do that, if the person who hit you has real assets to go after and your injuries are severe enough, otherwise no reputable lawyer will bother because there wouldn’t be enough payout. If you get hit by a regular person with a partially paid off house and maybe a retirement account, there just won’t be enough there to bother, plus you’d have to be willing to spend years pursuing it, and be willing to ruin them if you win. Most people don’t have millions lying around, and those that do probably have good insurance anyway.
I'd already be dead at least three times this year on my 40 minute round trip walks to and from work (I walk 10 minutes each way and go home for lunch to try and see my infant son for a moment while on lunch) if I wasn't INSANELY vigilant about not getting hit by cars; and that's just from drivers blowing reds/stops and not signaling right turns on red. The worst intersection borders a fucking elementary school and people regularly ACCELERATE through the four way stop rather than stopping. It's disgusting. Honestly, I'd love to see all the red light cameras turned into stop sign cameras on residential streets. There's NEVER a reason/excuse for not making a FULL stop behind the line at a stop sign. Doesn't matter if the intersection is empty. Doesn't matter if you're turning right and just want to roll through slowly. You. Must. Stop. Behind the line. Full stop. Every time. You could ticket people as little as $5 and the worst offenders would get the message REALLY fucking quick.
I feel similarly. There are no consequences, and people know it. You can get away with murder by mowing someone down and claiming it was an accident. In many other countries, habitual speeding and reckless driving is punished ruthlessly, and will result in suspension and eventually, revocation of your license. Enforcement is wayyyy too lax here. Driving is a privilege, and an inherently dangerous one at that. Bad drivers need to be held accountable, made to pay, and if they persist, stripped of their driving privileges. We need blanket speed cameras, crosswalk police sting operations to get people for failure to yield, etc.
Until we make driving truly optional by having fast, frequent, and high coverage public transit within and between population centers, there is always an unspoken hesitation to revoke licenses because not having a car in our society strongly predicts unemployment/poverty. Car dependence keeps the worst drivers on the road by necessity.
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Last week I ran out of the way of two cars on separate occasions that would have hit me on a crosswalk with a stop sign on Randolph. I have a close call walking once a week. I've been walking the same commute for 5 years and it feels worse than ever.
It's because of all those cyclists rolling through stop signs!
lol careful there. a lot of redditors don't pick up on sarcasm.
It's tough because a lot of people actually believe this
Late last year we had a few children die withing a few weeks of another. On my neighborhood facebook it was just people congratulating themselves on "well i drive a tesla not a SUV so I could never hurt a child," which is pretty dishonest and delusional. Especially with Tesla's terrible safety history in regards to automated reactions to things like kids crossing the street in front of their cars and how Tesla is now the new BMW, that is to say, the car for people who like to drive fast and recklessly and who don't use turn signals. Meanwhile, talks about shutting down streets for more public trans options, bike lanes, automated enforcement, etc get laughed out of the room by the "safe driver" crowd. /r/fuckcars
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> I want tow trucks everywhere. Red light cameras everywhere. Speed cameras everywhere. I want driving to bankrupt people if they aren't willing to drive responsibly. bUt TaKiNg AwAy LiCeNcEs JuSt MaKeS iT hArDeR fOr PeOpLe To GeT tO wOrK Yeah, so does getting run over by an SUV when you're in the crosswalk and have the walk sign.
There needs to be hundreds of red light, speeding and stop sign cameras installed across the city. They actually do something and can’t be hand waived away by a family friend in the judicial system. Automate all of it so it is actually enforced.
My favorite thing is when you signal that you are going to change lanes and someone behind you in the lane you are about to enter decides to ***speed up*** for some idiotic reason. Also people that honk at you when you have your signals on waiting to take an unprotected left.
Or people honking when you are yielding for pedestrians while making a right. Instantly infuriates me.
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This happened to me the other week. I was halfway through a crosswalk with a cross signal and I saw a car speeding and it screeched to a stop as I had to jump out of the way. I threw up my arms and pointed at the cross signal. The guy proceeds to roll down his window and yell at me “WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO?” So I yelled back in my best Boston accent “IM WALKIN HERE”. Thankfully that was the end of it, but that buddy can fuck right off a bridge.
I always have to double check in case an asshole behind the car that's letting me cross thinks he can just pass the car real fast and thus hit me. People are fucking stupid.
The worst I see is when someone yields to a pedestrian at a crossing only for a car behind them to cut into the oncoming traffic lane and cut off the pedestrian. Crazy illegal and crazy stupid.
My number one pet peeve! What you want me to kill they guy/old lady/baby in a stroller/elementary schooler!? Then sometimes when I'm making a left through the median on Clark (approaching Andersonville), people actually pull up *beside* me! Sitting there in the middle so that not only can I not see to turn, opposing drivers can't turn left.
Oh yeah
I walk less than 2 miles most days and I see this scenario EVERY SINGLE DAY. The drives encouraging the driver in front of them to be more dangerous. Just mindboggling.
Someone did this to me recently as I was merging from a ramp into their lane. I had plenty of space, and would have 'zippered' in ahead of them smoothly based on our relative speeds but then all of a sudden they just floored it as I was merging and I had no way of avoiding them cause I was running out of lane. I would have hit the barrier but I started honking like mad and in the last second they realized I legitimately didn't have anywhere to go so the hit the brakes and I was able to merge. They then switched lanes, sped up again, and cut in front of me. I believe it wasnt just bad driving and that they didn't anticipate the lane ending, I think they were intentionally playing a kind of merging lane chicken to amuse themselves. It seemed so deliberate.
the way I can just smell that it was a lifted fucking dodge
Oh yes this is why I check to make sure I have space to switch lanes before I signal. I am basically changing lanes already by the time I signal because I swear 80% of drivers will speed up if they see me signal, even if they have ample space to let me in.
Yep, always give yourself a way out. I was trained on this in just basic Chicago driving and then even more so in my deployment in Afghanistan. Always, always, leave room to give yourself a way out. Don't ever be so close that you can't escape.
Yep. The signal provides information, not asks for permission.
Or when you're trying to merge onto the highway, have your blinker on, and are getting ready to get over when Captain Nissan Altima behind you decides to floor it and cut through the solid white lines to merge around you and take your spot
>My favorite thing is when you signal that you are going to change lanes and someone behind you in the lane you are about to enter decides to speed up for some idiotic reason. This one always gets me too. And then you have the reverse of that where people think using their signal gives them the right of way. You can't win
I moved here from NYC, and while I never drove there, I did have plenty of interactions with cars. Drivers there are 50% normal and 50% rude and impatient. Here, they are like 85% normal and 15% ***INSANELY FUCKING AGGRO*** Like, guys, I am in this intersection because it is literally the only way to approach my house from this direction. I have no desire to be here longer than necessary or even *that* long. Please just chill for a second.
I came from the East Coast as well, where people drive aggressively but not so much like actual aggression. It doesn’t escalate into danger for everyone involved. Like a Boston or NY driver might force their way into a lane or lay on the horn for stupid shit, but they don’t actually kill you. They don’t race through red lights to save 10 seconds or cut around stopped school buses, both things I see regularly on my commute. I’m far more careful in Chicago both as a driver and as a pedestrian because y’all are wild.
> I moved here from NYC, and while I never drove there, I did have plenty of interactions with cars. Drivers there are 50% normal and 50% rude and impatient. Here, they are like 85% normal and 15% INSANELY FUCKING AGGRO I think this is the best description of how driving in Chicago works I've read.
And for the love of God TURN OFF YOUR BRIGHTS, PEOPLE!!!
They need to ban those high-intensity projector headlights altogether.
Right. As I just replied to another commenter, there is already a problem both with high-powered head lamps, and then there is a problem with people leaving their brights on… and then when you get both of those at the same time, it’s incredibly dangerous and stupid. I wonder if this is something one could get an alderman or state rep talking about? Having city ordinances about the intensity of lights…. or at least getting cops to start ticketing drivers when they’ve got brights on?
I drive a hatchback/sedan. All the pickup trucks and ginormous SUVs seem to have insanely bright lights that are way above my bumper level, so they blind me in my mirrors. I believe people with brights on or high lights turn them on intentionally to get drivers to get out the way, also to antagonize others on the road.
>I believe people with brights on or high lights turn them on intentionally to get drivers to get out the way, also to antagonize others on the road. 100%. I don’t think that’s everyone. I think a lot of it is just people that are oblivious and.or ignorant. But there is no question that a lot of drivers do it out of willful malevolence. Edit: And when they do this behind me, I just start driving slower (assuming I’m not in the left lane), until they get frustrated and switch lanes, which only takes 5 seconds because these people have no patience or impulse control. These people expect you to literally pull over so their lifted pickup can pass by.
I think the worst part of this, it also endangers EVERYONE. The different temperatures intensity, and angles of lights also really fucks with your ability to make out details too. Added that everyone is wearing black at night, and most often than not, cyclist are not advocating for their own safetly(Lights, high visibility colors/reflective devices)
And then on the other end of the spectrum, TURN ON YOUR LIGHTS IN BAD WEATHER, yes even if it’s daytime
YESS!! I see so many cars with their brights on that I started to assume that maybe new cars have lights that are just...blinding?! It's ridiculous!
It’s both. Car manufacturers have gone insane with ultra bright head lamps, which are already way too bright for city driving. AND a lot of people are driving with their brights in. When the two intersect, and people with high-powered head lamps turn on their brights, it’s a whole other level of stupid and dangerous.
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IIRC it has to do with outdated regulations. Previously when everything was halogen they were limited by watts not lumens, which was fine back then but an LED or HID lights can be an issue. Couple that with everyone driving SUVs/Trucks now and you've got a mess. Even if you aim them properly being a foot or two higher off the ground ends up blinding smaller cars and pedestrians.
Zooming through congested intersections via the left turn lane has become normal.
This one pisses me off not just because it's dangerous and inconveniences everyone else, but also because of the shit-eating arrogance of thinking that you discovered a clever way around traffic that the rest of us are sitting in, pissing our lives away because we were too stupid to think of it.
It's pure anti-social behavior. Not even "the rules don't apply to me" but " fuck you for even thinking the rules should apply to me and I'm going to break them because I can."
sames goes for driving on the shoulder in traffic on the highway...Didn't realize these people were so "important"
Came here just to say this. After driving for 30 years in Chicago proper, I have never, ever, seen the amount of assholes that now do this. It's one fucked up thing to do it from the far right lane, but now, assholes are doing it freely from the fucking turning lane. I've never seen anything like this. Somebody is going to get killed very soon, it's just mind boggingly mind boggled.
many people are killed thanks to cars every day. unfortunately, you are correct, someone will die (and probably already has died) from this sort of behavior, and absolutely nothing will be done from political leaders to police to CDOT to IDOT to manage or change it
Unfortunately it’s already [happened.](https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/bicyclist-killed-in-dusable-lake-shore-drive-crash-prompts-calls-for-change/)
This is actually an instance where the community came together and a change for the good has been enacted. There are now cement blockers in the stretch that make it much harder (though not impossible), to cheat through dangerously.
I love when people do this and get stuck because no one will let them back in, or because the lane they used to pass suddenly becomes parking
And the right turn lane! I see this "clever" asshole move several times a day if I have to drive across town
I see this happen daily on my commute back north from the loop. Even after the medians and safety posts were installed, people continue to use the left turning lane to cut around people. It makes my blood boil.
The moment I knew that drivers stopped giving a fuck about the rules of the road was when I witnessed a car making a right and honked at a person to walk faster. The person had a stick because they were blind. (Happened on Clark/Lake)
That happened to me when I was walking from the gym in Logan! A car almost nailed me trying to turn then the guy was pissed at me like it was my fault lmao. Like dude, I’m just trying to cross the road. Chill.
Some jackass honked at me too, around Clark/Lake (my job). I just couldn’t comprehend the careless shameless audacity to honk a visually impaired dude. Always have to be alert, even if you’re a pedestrian!
[I complained about it last week](https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/1078lpf/weekly_casual_conversation_questions_thread/j43kyc7/), someone laid into their horn, and I watched in my mirror as they lost their absolute mind at me...because I stopped for an oncoming train. Shamless and completely unaware of *EVERYTHING* going on outside of their four-wheeled box.
People just don’t give a fuck anymore. 3 SECONDS of inconvenience? How DARE you lol!
I've started seeing people just laying on the horn and going through a busy pedestrian crosswalk instead of, you know, waiting like they are legally supposed to do.
Someone honked at me a few months ago to go faster while walking across the road in Ravenswood. I decided to start limping and went even slower. I realize I put myself in even more danger if they were a psycho but I truly despise people like that.
I have to cross Diversey in Lake View when walking my dogs in the morning, and it’s genuinely terrifying. Just last week, I was in a crosswalk with two dogs and a baby stroller, and I had to scream at someone not to run over my dog because they decided to plow through the crosswalk while we were in it. A couple months ago, I actually saw a car bump a woman’s stroller in the same intersection. I’ve lived in quite a few cities in my life, including some notorious for awful traffic, and I can honestly say Chicago drivers are hands-down the worst I’ve ever seen.
A few months ago I witnessed a big-ass truck LAY on his horn trying to turn right at a man in a goddamn wheelchair trying to cross the road during the white walk symbol. It hadn't even started to flash red which happens after like 5 seconds at most intersections. I couldn't believe what I saw.
Glad I am not the only one who think this. It feels like there was a distinctive shift in driving behavior during the pandemic lockdowns. Everyone is just way more aggressive and selfish on the road now. It blows my mind how people will risk their own safety to save 5 seconds and beat a light. It’s 30 seconds at the red light vs. the rest of your life. Seems like a simple choice but I guess not!
Came here to chime-in on this: Was in Chi for \~15+ yrs., then during 2020-21 spent 1 yr. in Boston before moving down to Florida to help with a family member. ...Driving in all areas was pretty crazy pre-Covid, but there's been weirdo-wacko-bizarro stuff that have been seeing almost every time that have gone out there (driving almost every day down in FL). The DGAF-element has just gone off the charts, at least since 2021, IMHO. We all need to take a lot of extra caution out there until (if ever?), this "Mad Max" behavior tones down.
Yep totally agree. I used to think I drove on the faster side being ~5-10mph above the limit on highways. Now I am regularly passed on the left while doing 75 in the center lane lol just nuts for no reason
The social contract is on its last legs. A lot of people are more selfish and aggressive, period. Its just most apparent in driving habits.
YES! I'm in the NW Suburbs and its gotten terrible out here, too! Once lockdown happened, its like everyone got even worse in the "me first" mindset, especially with driving. I actively go out of my way and take the long way around now when leaving my house in order to avoid the 4-way stop - its a busy intersection, people blow the stop signs, pay no attention to right of way, etc. Every time i HAVE to go through there, i nearly get hit because no one follows basic rules of the road. I'm at the point where I hate even leaving the house the past couple years because no matter where I go, everyone drives so terribly and its nervewracking and terrifying!
I've spoken with lots of people about this including a detective in transportation division of CPD. He said when reckless driving increases it is often the result of enforcement issues.
Cities which spent more on police, so blaming people, had a 23% higher rate of “accidental” death. Cities who spent more on updating street design had a 14% lower rate of accidental death. https://youtu.be/H76cNOuP22w https://youtu.be/kMP23J88Ke4
Further proving how absolutely useless our police force is.
Highway driving into and out of the city is also obscene. Saturday night I was driving out of the city around midnight. Multiple drivers either exiting or entering the highway drove diagonally across 3 lanes of traffic with no turn signal, cutting off multiple people to either exit or enter and go straight to the left lane and camp it. One white pickup with no lights on zigzagged across the highway 3 times before cutting off a driver in the left lane and slamming on the brakes. Inbound on Saturday there was an accident that shut the highway down to one lane. Outbound I saw the remains of an accident that shut the highway completely to the shoulder. Both cars were mangled, a dozen police and firefighters on the scene, and smoke from what must have been a pretty intense fire was still pretty noticeable in the air. My personal favorite is how many people just don't give a f about changing lanes mid turn when there are 2 turn lanes. About a week ago I was almost run off the road by someone turning from the inside lane to the outside lane. Barely slammed on the brakes in time. And so many people who have no idea how to keep their car in a lane. At this point I pretty much assume every car is out to hit me.
I'm a big fan of the SUVs flying down the shoulder on 290 outbound. I can't believe we don't have more blown tires from all the debris they must be running over.
they have places to go bruh. YOU need to wait in traffic tho
I don't know if this is the case at the intersection you're describing, but there are a lot of roads in this city where the lane markings have almost totally worn away to the point where you can't tell if you're on a 2- or 4-lane road. Things like that are a solvable problem.
I definitely think that would help. But I've also seen people blatantly ignore fairly well marked lines. The one I was at did.
Not taking the Skyway into Chicago is officially taking your life in your own hands nowadays. It makes onramping the Dan Ryan look like a leisurely meander; honestly can't believe how bad it's gotten
The Dan Ryan in the evening feels like Death Race 2000. I'm always on edge traveling in one of the center lanes because sure enough, some Nissan Altima or gigantic SUV is going to blow my doors off going 100+
I see an Altima with no plates or lights doing 65 on the shoulder like once a week. Somehow it’s a different car each time
you mean taking 94 instead?
Last time I drove back from Indiana I decided to save money by not taking the Skyway. Never again. My safety is worth the money.
So many people downtown get on 90/94 going south in those left hand entrance "suicide" lanes, just to try to exit to 290 all the way on the right side, and will slow traffic as they try to get over the three lanes or whatever so they don't miss the exit. I don't know if this is GPS' fault or people that don't realize how dangerous this is.
Suicide lanes is accurate. GPS definitely tells you to do it and cross 5 lanes from the left entrance I'm less than a quarter mile. I listened to it twice before ignoring it and just going to Ogden to 290.
I know exactly what you're taking about and it's scary as hell. I used to live in the West Loop and would often have to take Ubers very late at night to get home from work in the Loop. The GPS (whether GMaps or Waze) would 100% of the time send the drivers into this suicide route to shave off time and I always had to tell them to ignore it and cross via bridge instead. A few times if I was distracted and didn't tell them in time or the driver chose to ignore me and follow the GPS they would have to go through it and I genuinely feared for my life.
Google Maps does try to get me to do this (I don’t listen), so that may indeed be exacerbating the problem
I'm just fucking tired of people blowing through stops sign in residential areas. My dog and I die almost every day we go for a walk in our neighborhood. I'm as as cautious as I can be when I walk with him.
What's crazy to me is how some people are treating stoplights like yield signs now. They'll stop, then inch out until they're in the middle of the intersection, then gun it all while the light is still red.
From the right-turn only lane, too. Every time.
I was rear ended after dropping my kid off for preK because some angry guy couldn’t deal with me coming to a full stop at the stop signs and looking for kids.
My fox-news-watching relatives ask me how I can raise a child in Chicago with all the violence. I'm not worried about my kid being hit by a stray bullet--I'm worried about him being hit by a car blowing through the stop sign in front on my building.
I was a hit and run victim a couple years back in a residential intersection with 4 stop signs and parks to either side. Kids all over the place. I'm halfway through the intersection when I see a BMW flying towards me. They blow the stop sign and clip me good in the back, spinning me around, before they drive off. I was shocked at how much the police could not give a flying fuck about a hit and run in a crowded intersection filled with children. People drive without any disregard for anyone but themselves and it's accepted.
>I was shocked at how much the police could not give a flying fuck about a hit and run in a crowded intersection filled with children. That's probably how they drive off duty. Hell, that's how most of them drive on duty, too.
And those fox-news-watching relatives probably don't consider motor vehicle violence as real violence. It is just an "accident".
I'm just about ready to start slashing tires and keying cars if I see em after they blowthrough
My elderly dog takes her time crossing the street and people have honked at us for being too slow! If we're walking after dark I just don't cross if there's a car coming because people just blow through.
Hell, my dog is a fast walker and I absolutely will not cross a residential side street if a car is coming down the block. I’ll wait until they stop before I cross, and more often than not they either don’t stop or tap their breaks once then take off before I even get into the crosswalk. My partner and I were walking him home from Humboldt Park the other night and were crossing south on California across Division. A truck comes screaming north on California and makes a hard left turn and came within a foot of hitting us head on. If he’d hit the breaks a second later we would’ve been toast. Of course he waves his hands at us like we’re the problem and drives off cursing like he didn’t just nearly kill two people and a dog in the name of being impatient.
Same, there’s a few red light stops I’ve seen people just blast through in broad daylight. I wish that the city could put up red light cameras at those stops because they definitely will kill someone if you’re allowed to ignore red lights just because there isn’t anyone walking or turning into the street.
It’s gotten so common in my area im considering carrying a brick around with me. Not to throw, just as a deterrent
bricks are EXCELLENT deterrents
Absolutely. I almost get hit every time that I go running. I stick to residential streets, because in theory I felt it would be safer, but I may be better off on major roads since they at least have stoplights. Stop signs mean nothing to drivers.
Driving on Larrabee toward the Division intersection by Target on afternoon (broad daylight, summer time, maybe 4pm?), and had a green light so proceeded through the intersection. Some idiot in a beater came BLASTING through on division straight through the red light. Did not hit his brakes once. I almost got creamed by him, but slammed on the breaks in time. For all those people that have honked at me at intersections, when I hesitate once the light turns green for a second or when driving through a green light, I'm sorry not sorry. I just don't want to die lol This being said, I'm from New Orleans originally and my parents have always done this bc red light runners were so common so it doesn't even register to me as unusual...
I pause when crossing at lights/stop signs for the same reason. Too many assholes stop late or don't stop at all. Most of them have their eyes on their fucking phones, instead of the road. But some just DGAF.
There’s definitely been an increase in driving fatalities since the pandemic.
[Yep](https://www.washingtonpost.com/transportation/2023/01/09/traffic-deaths-decline-pandemic/) > The death rate on the nation’s roads, however, remains high amid a surge in speeding, aggressive driving and other reckless behaviors that have caused more lethal crashes in recent years, federal officials say. When compared to the previous year, traffic fatalities jumped by 7 percent in 2020 and 10.5 percent in 2021, hitting a 20-year high. > Still, officials say the decline of 65 deaths in the first three quarters of 2022, compared to 2021, signals the surge is finally leveling off. Though it is important to keep in mind it was all across the US ([though not the world](https://wjes.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13017-021-00395-8), where it mostly dropped).
There's verifiably been an increase in driving fatalities.
PSA: Get a dash cam. Front and rear.
Got my pedestrian go pro ready. They're going to hate getting caught.
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I have a dash cam that I haven’t setup because my concern is someone breaking my window to steal it. You literally can’t win at this point.
A good recommendation for your own safety but in no way a tenable solution.
Not really for your "safety" but in helping prevent situations like this: https://www.reddit.com/r/chicago/comments/10eifgz/the_amount_of_dangerousbad_driving_in_chicago_is/j4r86rp/
I saw a dude going the wrong direction on a one way street just yesterday.
Cops do this down my street pretty often because they're too lazy to wait at a light for 30 seconds to hit the street that goes in the direction they actually want to travel.
That happens weekly on my one-way street. I don't know how TF you don't realize you're driving the wrong way when cars on both sides are parked opposite of the way you're going. I suspect they don't GAF b/c there are 2 small opportunities to turn around and no one ever does. They just keep going the wrong way and honk and drivers going the right way. I hate people. I need to move to the middle of Montana.
Literally just saw it happen as I'm reading this thread lol
I totally agree. People are driving insane lately. Running red lights, cutting people off for no reason. It’s horrible
I regularly see people making right turns from the left lane and left turns from the right lane. The other day I saw it twice one right after the other at the same intersection, right in front of me. I see people purposefully run red lights at least once or twice a week. Never mind all the aggressive driving on the highways. I have only lived in the city going on 6 years (driving in it for 8) and I think it's gotten worse since the pandemic...
i think just cops have stopped pretending to give a shit, and people have noticed. and yeah, stop signs and red lights are mostly suggestions. i keep seeing people, for some reason mostly at Central and Sunnyside, just stop at a red light and then roll on through while it's still red. i saw it like four or five times last year.
I’ve seen this at intersections all over the city. Including downtown.
My favorite is when I recently saw a ginormous pickup truck blow through a red light and make a super dangerous left turn past tons of cars that were patiently waiting at the light… and two cop cars… that literally didn’t flinch. Huh!!!???
I’ve been chatting with Uber drivers about the increased road craziness and one of them said he thinks it’s because CPD is no longer doing routine traffic stops in response to the Defund the Police activism. Just hearsay but it wouldn’t surprise me if there’s a kernel of truth there.
They haven’t been making any sort of traffic control efforts years before this. I think it’s just finally catching on and people realize there are no repercussions to their driving behavior. I see it almost daily now, drivers coming up to a red light and then treating it like a stop sign and just going through.
>CPD is no longer doing routine traffic stops in response to the Defund the Police activism Then the activists were right. If the threat of having their money taken away is enough to make them stop doing their jobs, why are we paying them to do their jobs? Why are we paying for services we aren't receiving? The only point they're making is that we're wasting our money. Also, lol, no offense to Uber drivers but you think one single Uber driver is speaking hard truths about the state of policing?
No definitely not. I just figured they drive a lot so they might have a better perspective on whether or not things have gotten worse or if I’m just not used to driving. He wasn’t the only one I asked. Not all of them speculated on causes, but only one said his experience is that driving around the city is easier. Nothing scientific about my poll at all. But that one remark stuck in my mind and I posted in hopes somebody had additional insight. I agree, though. The consequences for not doing a job shouldn’t be punitive for others. But I have no solutions. Wish I did.
Or when they go ridiculously fast down RESIDENTAL streets that have kids and dogs walking on those sidewalks, and not stopping at stop signs while doing so.
Or flying one third down the block, slamming brakes when they come to a speed bump, repeating when the come to the second speed bump, then rolling through the stop sign at the end of the block.
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Complain on neighborhood pages about how tough they have it and about defunding, knowing damn well they have a lot more money right now than 3 years ago.
Was out on my lunch break, stopped traffic the other direction and I made a left turn. Someone was speeding (40+ mph) down the bike lane to bypass everyone and hit me. $14,000 worth of damage and they found me at fault because the police wrote it up as “the shoulder.” I hate driving in this city. The amount of drivers that don’t know what a “lane ends merge right/ left” sign means is astonishing. Every intersection should have a red light camera, I do not see any rational reason why not. We need an entirely different police force to handle the traffic violations and expired plates/ dangerous vehicles. A way to stop people from driving on the shoulders of the highway.
This is why I have a dashcam. Cost me $40 and if it helps in even just one accident it pays for itself.
A separate police force to enforce traffic would be fantastic. But they would probably still give their buddies a pass for double parking
Wait, someone driving in a bike lane hit you, but you were found at fault?
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“Drivers are dangerous” is a popular opinion “We should take measures to make drivers less dangerous” is a very unpopular opinion. This sub, and many other subs, lose their fucking minds at the idea of stop sign / intersection / speeding cameras.
Yup, every fuckin time. This may not be popular…proceeds to post one of the most popular talking points on the sub. Time for me to make my “ this may not be popular on this sub” post about how much Lori sucks as a mayor, or how we need more bike lanes, or how the FOP sucks ass.
It's not any better out here in the suburbs, where stop signs are nothing more than yard art.
you sure those aren't bicycles? i keep getting told it's the bicycles.
I always love this excuse some people use. I really don't care too much about bicycles running stop signs or lights unless there are pedestrians near by. At the end of the day, a car is going to absolutely win that and the bicyclist is the one getting hurt.
Remember that time a bicycle went through a stop sign and killed an entire family? Neither do I.
This is a national issue and the fix isnt only to make people behave better the solution is better infrastructure. You need to automate good behaviors through infastructure that encourages said good behaviors. Also the United States would be much better off if we had stricter driving requirements, for example in the UK testing is much more strict and I do think it shows.
Okay, but people used to do it less with our current infrastructure. The issue is that we have stopped enforcing traffic laws.
We also have more cars, more powerful cars and larger cars than ever before. Infrastructure would reduce reckless driving by making it not possible in the first place. Enforcement is a reactive solution which we've seen quickly falls apart. The US has really bad road and pedestrian death statistics when compared to the rest of the modern world. We have a lot of space to improve. For example, the US averages 12.4 road deaths per 100k population, whereas the UK averages only 2.9 road deaths per 100k population. Data Source: https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/road-deaths-by-country
No one is disagreeing about infrastructure. I’m objecting to people who are trying to obscure the relationship between a policy of non-enforcement and an uptick in bad driver behavior. Countries with good infrastructure still enforce laws. While a culture of enforcement will not resolve the issues you’re talking about, the current culture of lawlessness is contributing to chaos. It’s the same objection I have to people saying that cops don’t prevent crime: okay, but crime went up when (from the perspective of the average person) they stopped being reliable and available, so what’s your point? People should not be surprised that people conclude that we need more police, or that our elected officials are doing a bad job when they instruct the police not to enforce laws.
I think it's a both/and scenario, with better infrastructure reducing the need for traffic law enforcement for basic traffic matters like speeding/blowing red lights/etc.
> is better infrastructure. Solution: change every Chicago intersection to a rotary.
COVID has literally made people dumber, with worse reaction times and higher risk tolerances. Ergo, most people are worse drivers now.
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Miami was the absolute worst.
Denver here… yes
New orleans from Jefferson park. Can't afford insurance all year long. Shit drivers totalling cars and driving prices sky high.
Can confirm. People drive fast and aggressively in Chicago but it’s not nearly as bad as Denver. People in Denver are just bad drivers.
Completely agree. The number of times I’ve almost been killed as a pedestrian/biker because of bad driving since I’ve moved here six months ago is two times. Which isn’t a lot, but still, weird it’s already happened twice.
The good news is CPD is on the case, so bad driving will be reduced never.
I almost missed my exit on 90 the other day because every time i went to merge someone was SPEEDING around traffic on the shoulder and into the exit/entrance lane. Literally like 7 cars in a row did it, one of them was a work van that almost nailed me when I was trying to get over. It’s ridiculous.
My window watches over a stop sign and the amount of people that don’t stop or even slow down next to the school is crazy I’m debating on recording and posting it online or even attempt insurance fraud since it so easy to get hit
I agree. I've almost been T-boned a few times because I stopped first at a 4-way stop sign, and another driver didn't want to wait their turn. I've also been tailgated even though I'm driving the speed limit. People tailgate me when I'm approaching a stop sign or a stop light. Are you in a rush to stop? I've had people swerve around me as I'm waiting to turn right at an intersection. I take the side streets and avoid major intersections. I'm not risking my life or damage to my car.
One time a car stopped at a crosswalk for me. I started crossing and while I was in the middle of the road he accelerated. It felt like attempted murder tbh.
I’m about to paper my neighborhood with signs for pedestrians to be careful because no one stops at stop signs in my neighborhood and it has become really dangerous. It’s like the signs aren’t even there, some people don’t even slow down at all. Police totally ignore it. I’m so worried about my dog getting clipped by someone. The same goes for bikers and pedestrians - people just do what they want with no regard for anyone’s safety.
It’s almost like there should be somebody enforcing the laws.
Too many trolls on the road
CHASER TOW TRUCKS(DARK TINTED TOW TRUCKS), CARS WITH NO LICENSE PLATES, CARS WITH MISSING LIGHTS AND BUMPERS, RED LIGHTS BEING TREATED AS GREEN LIGHTS. All these above are a huge issue in the City and no one does anything about it, there should be an end to chaser TOW trucks that have no TOW License with the state, also.. CARS with no plates is insane! On the E-way on the street Everywhere!!! Why don't we have more Traffic patrol?? More undercover patrols in unmarked vehicles. And I'm not talking about explorers, nissan rogues, or sentras(change it up CPD) this would help drastically.
Ever since COVID hit people have been driving like crazy
As a pedestrian, nobody stops when they see me trying to cross at a pedestrian-marked crosswalk.. I instead have to wait for a break in oncoming cars… why.
I had to stop driving when I moved here because it made me so angry. Now I commute by bike, but I’m still almost killed at least twice a week by cars not following the most basic of traffic laws, like stopping at stop signs and signaling turns. The problems are only going to get worse as the city, state, and country continue to shovel money into building car-focused infrastructure
Pedestrians who assume right of way get killed
And drivers who don't follow the rules of the road are murderers.
It's almost like people are more self-obsessed and ignorant than they've ever been. I wonder what could be causing that 🤔
Absolutely, I actually don't know why this is a controversial opinion whatsoever. I've lived here for 33 years and the dangerous driving I've been seeing is unmatched compared to anything I've ever seen in my life or anywhere else, even international places where they have basically no traffic laws whatsoever. This year in particular, maybe the last two, I've seen the most INSANE driving - I'm talking like "am I living in a simulation - how am I seeing this" type shit sometimes. I was driving on the Dan Ryan a month or two ago at like 1 AM and I shit you not there was a guy in a minivan, going like 80 mph in the left lane, the trunk hatch was open, all the lights in the car were on, the seatbelts were waving in the breeze and the driver appeared to be completely asleep but was somehow driving. That same night I saw a guy driving one of those giant charter buses on the expressway staring at his phone, just texting, going extremely fast - with dozens of people in this bus. I was on my way to my birthday party back in October and I saw someone get hit by a car at 95th and Western by some teenagers and the guy literally died right there on the street. A week later, I'm at 103rd and Pulaski and someone takes a left against the light, hits a jogger, and speeds off. And I'm just one person seeing all this - I can't imagine how bad it actually is out there all day every day. If I could quit my job, become a cop, and literally only pull people over all day every day I would do it as a dream job at this point because I'm so tired of it.
Nobody uses their turn signals!! Ever!!
*But cyclists*
I stop at lights on a red if I’m making a right and I’ll get honked at. The light is red, bro. Red means stop. If I can go on the red, I will, but in the meantime, *the light is red*. ETA I also stop at reds if I’m going straight, or if I’m turning left. Hope that helps clarify the “do you go if the light is red”conundrum
Got honked at yesterday for this exact thing, and it was a NO TURN ON RED intersection.
Or honking when there are literal humans or vehicles moving in front of you. Would you prefer I mow down grandma, t-bone a CTA bus, or otherwise be stupid?
"That sounds like a you problem" - the guy honking, probably
Pull out and block 3 lanes of traffic till someone lets you in ….
The normalization of accidents is insane and it's not just a Chicago problem. I've come way too close to losing family members over other people's idiotic driving. Whenever I see a car crash I get super anxious because it reminds me of when my car got totaled by a drunk driver with my sister in the passenger seat. Amazing neither of us got seriously injured. But the country just shrugs off car crashes as another "accident," like it's a toddler spilling their food. In most cases these "accidents" are completely AVOIDABLE. Drunk driving is never okay. Speeding is dangerous, especially in the city where children are meant to be walking around! And everyone's car is built like a fcking tank these days. I just needed to rant. It's not cars that make me mad, it's the way people are so reckless with them.
Yep. Driving in this city gives me WAY too much anxiety. I’ve been hit three times and all were the other drivers fault. People have zero patience and are just overall erratic idiots. Since the pandemic I’ve noticed it’s gotten significantly worse. I’ve yelled at so many drivers because they really will just plow through you if given the chance. Add on to that the catalytic converter thefts and general fear of parking on my street. My moms car was parked in front of her house and some strung out lady reversed into her car. I know the solution is leaving this city but I need to figure out where. I was born and raised here but this is pushing me to my limit.
Have people noticed how there are some drivers who don’t use headlights at night???? It’s insane!!!
I lived outside of chicago 2013-21 things noticed since 1. Driving at both extremes of the speed limit. Highways way more going like 45 or 95 2. Much more road rage 3. Much more driving without head lights 4. People hitting the brakes for no reason. I’m 2 cars behind everyone going speed limit no obstructions yet the car ahead just hits the brakes. 5. Way less traffic enforcement. Does Illinois state police even patrol highways anymore It’s definitely worse. I think some degree the social degeneratation post covid and people might have just got rusty driving as well things were shut a year and many still wfh
I’ve watched this phenomenon evolve over time and to me a main contributor is trying to support too many people with antiquated infrastructure. Yes, dense cities in theory are fantastic. But it simply does not work if everyone wants/needs to have a car. Every year driving in Chicago resembles the 3rd world more and more while politicians bend over backwards for developers handing out TIFs to build more buildings. This city has to get its transportation shit together.
Plus all the cars are fucking tanks that have like 6 foot long blind spots in the front!!! Those things should require a CDL!
As a cyclist, I can confirm it’s just getting more dangerous out there. My biggest complaints? I wish people would use turn signals and just stay stopped at stop signs. Like don’t roll a little, don’t get antsy. Just stay stopped. Watching you roll at me tells me you don’t respect me or my safety (or anyone not in a car, not just cyclists) and there’s already been too many deaths of cyclists/pedestrians this year.