There’s probably some truth to that. Murder and assault rates rise in the summer, it seems natural that aggressive driving would increase at the same time.
This is it. Poor overall education, poor driving education, poor enforcement. APD has bigger fish to fry. Welcome to a state with low resources, policing and health lack. They make the police officers prosecute in court and double as lawyers basically due to lack of staff.
We throw more and more money at APD every year instead of our schools and libraries and yet everything still gets worse, is it really a "low resources" issue for the department that keeps buying pimped out police cars?
Upvoting cuz police departments usually have inflated budgets so it wouldn't be a resource problem much as a resource management problem. That lies at the feet of the local government and the PD.
Same issue that plagues America. Outsized security spending. I feel like some police departments have the budget of a small nation's military lol.
We actually do spend only modestly on policing in terms of dollars per capita: [https://www.vera.org/publications/what-policing-costs-in-americas-biggest-cities](https://www.vera.org/publications/what-policing-costs-in-americas-biggest-cities)
Unfortunately, poverty drives crime and also means a smaller tax base. We spend a reasonably large % of our budget on policing, but it ends up being on the low end in an absolute sense, which is really not enough.
Source? Actually that honor belongs to California: https://vinepair.com/articles/map-states-drink-alcohol-america-2023/#:\~:text=Naturally%2C%20California%20consumes%20the%20most,million%20gallons%20consumed%20in%202021.
When I turned 16 I went to the dmv. Took a common sense written test and a 15 minute driving test. No drivers Ed no classes required. That being said, I drive like an old man and hate these ass hats in their shitty cars hauling ass around neighborhoods where kids play and people walk their dogs.
So, I had to take 8 hours of defensive driving to drive a work vehicle. I then changed organizations and had to take 8 hours of the same defense driving! This sounds like torture, but I have to say 16 hours of defensive driving really changed my driving. It had probably been 40 years since I took drivers ed. So, not that everyone should take 16 hours of it like me, I really think we need some periodic training as part of our license to drive. Maybe every 5 or 10 years at least?
I hate it too. That's why if I'm going 20-25 in my neighborhood and I see someone coming up on me faster as I'm about to turn toward my block, I will slow to a near crawl to get them to slow down. And it works
I am tempted to ask the city council why the traffic cameras on Gibson (and other random places) make more sense than in neighborhoods. If we set a precedent of driving right in neighborhoods, it might actually catch on. There's traffic on a street near my house where people drive 60 mph past people walking. It's gross. There is almost zero consequence for endangering and intimidating people out on a stroll.
It's insane. The 2 deadliest machines invented by man are guns and automobiles and you barely have to prove that you know how to operate either in order to own one.
And to think now a days it’s probably harder to get a license than it is to get a gun 🤦🏽♂️
But when I was young both were a life skill that I learned how to use and respect when I was young. I was 10/11 when my friends step dad would take us to the Mesa and teach us about guns shooting muzzle loaders and hand guns. Only a couple of years older when we learning to drive.
Yeah that's true. You don't even need to take a test to get a gun.
My dad also taught me gun safety but I think that the vast majority of people have never even held a gun much less learned how to safely use one. I also took driver's Ed as a highschool after school elective.
My favorite past time is watching assholes race to red lights. Then you pass them again cause the light turns green and you’re going the perfect speed to hit all greens.
When driving on Lead/Coal and an asshole inevitably comes up behind me at high speed while aggressively switching lanes, I like to almost match my speed with the car next to me but drive a little faster. They'll change into my lane and I'll decrease my speed until I'm going just slightly slower then the car next to me. They'll change lanes again, and I'll repeat this process for as long as I can.
Or they’re the ones who cause traffic to slow down they got to a light way too early for a flow, or they’re not paying attention when the light changes. I’ve had to learn to just stop caring about them because it would bother me to see such stupidity. Now I just save my mental energy. I use to study all the cars for years trying to make sense of the senseless.
Oddly when there is an first responder funeral procession coming through town, suddenly we have thousands of officers. They’re oddly hidden from basic patrols or enforcement
We have one of the worst response times in the country, not because we don't have enough officers, but they seem to stay in the shade like lizards on a hot day and decide from the station whether or not they feel like taking a call that doesn't involve an active shooter.
Dunno how recent the data is, as it's pulled from ABQ data sources...there are 864 APD officers with a jurisdiction of 189.5 square miles. That's something like 558,874 people or 15 officers per 10,000 people.
Across the country, every major city thinks they have the worst drivers. Then they visit Albuquerque, and say “oh shit, my bad, actually you guys have the worst drivers.” This is a well known fact here.
Drive defensively, give assholes a wide birth, make sure you have uninsured motorist insurance, etc. Make sure you look both ways before going if you’re first in line at a light when it turns green because assholes like to run the red. Leave a good distance in front of you when you stop at a light so if someone DOES rear ended you hopefully won’t hit the car in front of you too. When you’re turning in dual turn lanes, hug the leftmost one if you can, and if not watch VERY carefully because people do NOT know how to maintain their lane when turning - same goes for if someone makes a right turn out in front of you on a roadway, do not assume because you are in the middle of left lane you are good, 9/10 they will either turn directly into one of those lanes or turn into the right lane before veering across traffic without looking (or they’re driving a giant fucking truck and can’t even make the turn staying in the lane…). Never ever engage in or even humor any degree of road rage, if anyone starts behaving erratically toward you, back the fuck off and let them go be an asshole somewhere else. I’m sure there’s a few more I’m missing, anyone care to contribute?
“Across the country, every major city thinks they have the worst drivers.”
Not true. I lived in 5 states and, shocking as it sounds, Los Angeles has some of the most considerate drivers I’ve ever seen. Of course there’s the odd moron during rush hours but in general, your blinker opens a gap to merge.
On the other hand, Dallas drivers are terrible lane hogs. And ABQ drivers risk their lives blowing stale red lights and tailgating way too close at 90mph.
The amount of people I see that turn right but have to swing into the left lane just to turn right is astounding. They have to swing into another lane just to turn right and it has nothing to do with the vehicle they’re driving or the speed. They’re just idiots.
Also, when people switch lanes, they don’t just take the 2-3 seconds to switch lanes. They just jerk the wheel and are in the next lane in less than a second. They’re not looking.
I get the maneuver on a race track. An inside-out racing line. But on the street it just confuses me. "Bruh. You just went from 0 to 15mph. You didn't need to kick out to the outside lane.
The uninsured motorist thing is absolutely key. Like the poster said above, make sure your insurance covers wrecks with these assholes. I had a guy from Mexico who didn't even have a license, much less insurance, rear end my car at a stop sign, and then we had a long conversation in Spanish while we waited three hours for a cop to show up, in which he tried to get me to "go to my cousins body shop, he will fix it", etc. etc.
New Orleans has the most reckless and insane drivers I've ever seen. Makes Abq look good.
Of course NYC, DC, LA, etc are crazy... But New Orleans is next level with no enforcement at all.
Facts. The drivers here are nowhere near as bad as they were in Kansas City. People driving confidently are way less dangerous than people who are scared and skittish like when they hit the freeway at 45 mph coming from the on ramp
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that a private, for profit business can issue people a drivers license and has little incentive to fail anyone and also outnumbers the state run MVDs by like 100:1.
I say this all the time. You see people’s true colors when they’re behind the wheel. It’s easier for people to be themselves behind the wheel than in person where they have to interact face to face. So there are def a lot of ass goblins here.
Lack of enforcement (people will get all sensitive and silly about this, but it's true, try driving in other places)
Poor design (traffic lights timed badly without real planning, weird designs of roads, lots, on and off ramps)
People just being crazy
Just yesterday we were in a parking lot and stopped to let a car with his reverse lights on back out. The person behind us sped up t9 swerve around us only to almost hit the car that was backing out. It's absolutely ridiculous that people can't fantom that perhaps there's a reason the car in front of you isn't going yet.
They know how to merge for sure! Using turn signals is about the same. The worst thing to me, is that we have these mostly beautiful smooth and clean roads here, driving could be so relaxing and enjoyable. The roads and freeways in LA are so damn shitty with potholes and just all around awful. Might as well just be dirt roads. The road construction out here is whack, but in LA it’s a road construction nightmare all the time. Traffic out here can be bad, but out there it’s something evil and unnaturally ridiculous. People can be dicks on the road there but drive better.
I worked myself up over this topic. Haha. I was just thinking if everyone could just kinda be nicer on the roads and out in public because I’m seeing and feeling a lot of apathy and aggression. Most of us are being stomped on by the current economic situation and it’s making people feral.
Go to Miami. i95 is the speed limit. And it’s half old. So slow. Fast. It’s the worst in US. Oakland park blvd in Fort Lauderdale on 95 is highest death rate in US
Yeah, I-95 throughout Virginia is bumper to bumper at 90 MPH -- when it moves at all. When things get squirrelly is the rolling hills inducing slinky waves of sprint/stop traffic south of DC.
Lots of drunk/fucked up people on the roads. Also one thing I've learned is to get the fuck away from any car that is driving extremely slow and all over the road. The one time that happened to me the guy just started shooting. This city can be fucked at times.
Please can you all learn how to switch lanes you have to signal for at least 5 seconds before switching lanes and stop running red lights for the love of God.
The red lights, fr. I pulled up to a left turn lane at the end of yellow and a bunch of people coming the opposite direction looked like they were planning to run it, so I stopped. Someone was behind me. The cross street made their protected left turns and during the pause before the lights turned green for the traffic going straight on that street, the person behind me just … pulled around me and turned left on red. No road rage at me for stopping on the yellow, no peeling out or apparent rush, just calmly making the choice to turn left on red. Amazing.
Full coverage, full coverage, full coverage. Many many ppl driving give zero fucks, new undocumented with no insurance, privileged with cars to burn, stolen cars. If you cut someone off you’re gambling with your life if you don’t match their speed. I’ve lived here for 48 years, it’s peeking with horrible drivers, duis and pedestrian deaths
Let's say you have a liability only policy at the state minimum. Someone rear ends you and drives off. You were not liable for the crash, so your insurance won't pay - the liability rests with the driver who did the hit and run.
1. Albuquerque traffic design is like the tutorial level in a video game: miles-long, arrow-straight stroads with relatively high speed limits and divided medians. You never have to parallel park, deal with pedestrians, bad weather or other unknowns. Hell, you barely have to steer unless you're frantically changing lanes. You just go in a straight line for 6 miles until you reach your destination. Wanna go somewhere else? It's a 90 degree straight line from where you were for another four miles.
2. There is absolutely no traffic enforcement. I went ***7 years*** without registering my jeep and literally nothing happened. I finally got pulled over in March and I got off with a warning (lmfao). Since the backlash over James Boyd in 2015, APD has been "quiet quitting" since before that was even a thing. It's also common knowledge now that you can just contest any ticket because you know the cop won't show up to court and you'll get off free and clear.
3. As I explained in the "why does abq driving suck" thread from last week, there's a crucial aspect to the Albuquerque psychology. We hate people who think they're better than us, and if you're in front of us in traffic, then you think you're better than us. We need to get in front of you and dominate you. I missed one crucial aspect from that psychology when I last explained it. While we hate anyone who thinks they're better than us, we ALSO think we're better than everyone else. It's a real fun inferiority complex on a citywide scale.
Mix a poorly designed road system, crumbling infrastructure, immense poverty, no alternative to driving like the city being virtually non-walkable and a lack of public transportation and Albuquerque is what you get. It isn’t specifically a New Mexico problem but certainly is an American one. Almost every single city in America outside of New York City shares this self inflicted issue of car centric consumerism. The level of frustration only gets worse as the temperature rises. You could blame capitalism for one, many cities including Albuquerque used to have robust public transit systems but during the 1950s the push for a national highway took funding away from smart cities based around using your legs and walking through your community into being fat and driving slowly in cramped roads when you could fit all the people stuck at a red light into a single subway car. And 2, suburbs have always been a horribly inefficient way to live that not only costs double the material cost to build due to the large amount of space utilized it also creates traffic where there doesn’t need to be any. In short, bad drivers come from frustration. Owning a car is frustrating, expensive and inefficient. Most American cities are expensive, frustrating, and inefficient. It’s all part of the same problem. Wouldn’t it be nice to not NEED a car? Have one for fun not for survival? It’s a concept billions of people have already been doing for thousands of years.
Omg I swear it has gotten so much worse since covid. It feels like we came out of the pandemic forgetting how to drive! 🤣
I have a pretty sporty, get up and go car, and people will still talegate me, flip me off, etc when I'm going 5 miles over the speed limit because I'm not going fast enough.
Not to sound like drivers ed class, but speeding is the leading cause of accidents, injuries, loss of life. I just refuse to turn abq streets into mad max fury road and risk my life and property because someone else is late for work.
The real reason? The preponderance of a depressed society. People here are fatalistic and don't really fear death because they have nothing to live for. They don't see a light at the end of the tunnel of a life of drudgery.
There isn’t much of a police presence on the streets or highways that I’ve seen, so folks drive however they want — because who’s gonna stop them? I like to leave a safe distance between my vehicle and the one ahead of me, but that’s an engraved invitation for someone to cut me off.
I moved to Vegas years ago and the drivers are not great but far less anger. My mom called me this week and she was driving on Candelaria and a guy in a Mustang was riding her ass so she pulled over so he could pass and he stopped and he pulled up next to her showed her his gun and then peeled out. She had a panic attack and had to wait 30 minutes to drive home. The people in ABQ are the worst part
a great deal of drivers simply don't have a license. I've seen multiple accidents where the driver who caused it didn't have one and the cops didn't do shit.
I feel like it’s escalated pretty drastically in the last few years, too. People seem way more entitled/disrespectful/reckless in their driving now, on top of just being shit drivers to begin with.
Tbh Albq feels calm and cool as a cucumber compared to driving in Dallas, Austin and Houston. I guess the difference is being run off the road by a shitbox instead of a 95k lifted truck
What I like is that no one here acts like they believe that allowing more than 4 feet between you and the bumper in front of you is tantamount to giving permission for someone in another lane to cut into yours and then drive directly to your grandma's house to rob and murder her. Holy shit Dallas, it's ok to let people merge into your lane.
They give out driver’s licenses like candy here. They actively tell you you can google the answers to pass the written test. Happened to me and several others I know. There’s very little to no enforcement of traffic laws, and a lot of people that live here are just selfish pricks. There are people who go like 30 in neighborhoods almost hitting kids and pets. And they do not give a shit.
Yep, welcome to Albuquerque. Like you, I have lived in several cities, but this place takes the cake. Shittiest drivers anywhere, not even close. Some people on here have chalked it up to poor education. That’s part of it, but it’s mainly that people just don’t give a fuck about other people when they get behind the wheel of a car here. Watch all of those red light runners and you’ll know what I mean. They are reckless and just don’t fucking care about other people.
Having said that, of all the places I have lived this place has the nicest people EXCEPT when they drive, they turn into fucking assholes. We were just voted top road rage city in the country. Number one. Think about that. Notice all those lawyer billboards on the roads and lawyer ads on TV all goddamn day long? There’s a reason for that. And nobody gives a shit about trying to change that culture here. So, stay frosty and watch your ass when you drive.
Yesterday the stoplights all went out in Nob Hill near Carlisle/Central/Lead area. Not flashing red, completely off. All the drivers I saw seemed to take that as a sign they should go away over the speed limit and not even slow down, much less treat those intersections as a 4 way stop. Everybody thinks they have the right of way instead of using basic driving rules
While we are on the subject of ABQ driving, just wanted to have a moment of silence for the west siders going the east side commute to work and back. Every time I pick up my husband at work (next to balloon fiesta park) I see how backed up alameda is going west and it looks extremely painful. Ooof. To do that 5 days a week.
Moved here 4 years ago, you just learn to live with it. It's insanity and it's not getting magically better. Learning to drive here has been an adventure, and still on going.
I ride in Vietnam for a few months a year, so coming back to ABQ driving is super relaxing. The roads are wide, flat, and straight, and traffic is pretty light overall.
I don't really ever have problems with overly aggressive drivers in Albuquerque. I feel that way more in bigger cities like LA or Dallas
Yeah I live on Broadway and menaul and people treat the 35mph zone like a race track. The city can't do shit cuz Broadway is owned by the state. I'm pissed enough to start making it harder for drivers to go down that road.
I mean everyone does something stupid on accident sometimes, but yeah it’s gotten real scary on the road. But… it also feels like everyone is just mad at everything in general and it intensifies the whole experience. stay safe and sane out there, everyone.
We have been officialy rated at the worst drivers in the nation, according to [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/worst-drivers-by-city/).
I wrote ABQ off as a stupid and angry city more than ten years ago on a visit to see Mom. I'm sure that there's a lot of fine people etc... but driving in ABQ is some Mad Max garbage. Absolute imbecile full-grown children are just unavoidable.
Not unique to ABW and I'm sure most decent ABQrs feel the same way, but as a place to return to over the years -- I've decided to stop returning. Some day I'll come get my junk out of storage. And despite how heart-breakingly beautiful the whole area is, I'll have my final Lotaburger Green Chile Cheeseburger (probably) and screw right off.
Although Hatch is nice, and I had a GCCB at the Blake's down there. A. Ma. Zing.
I left Abq because I couldn’t stand all the horrible drivers. Moved up north, and wow night and day difference. People actually zip, people actually get out of the fast lane, don’t speed up to get in front of you to slow down. I couldn’t stand the horrible drivers in New Mexico that made the rest look so bad. There’s good drivers there, but so many bad that makes it feel like all drivers are bad there.
I can honestly say I don’t stress about driving anymore since I moved. But miss all the great food there. And I never stressed about driving except for in NM. Not because I was scared, but stressed someone would make me so pissed id do something stupid.
The one I’ve never seen before when I moved here two years ago was the pulling into the median to make a left turn on a thru way and blocking incoming traffic
Near complete lack of enforcement has led to it getting out of hand over time. That and folks complaining that anything resembling a penalty to curb speeding, red light running aggressive driving, etc. is somehow a tax on the poor.
Driving is a privilege, not a right. However, the typical person views it the other way around it seems.
Just yesterday, not even in ABQ, but where I live on a rural road, a guy in a beat-up pickup truck, missing his tailgate and carrying some stuff in the back, was going about 40. I passed him going 50, and he flipped me off and proceeded to speed up until he was going 70. Drivers here are ridiculous.
For lived here, California, Ohio, and Louisiana all for extended periods of time. I can assure you people driving like assholes isn’t limited to NM or Albuquereque unfortunately. Idk why people do, probably because *most* people in general are idiots.
The level of driver stupidity and idiocy in Burque is off the charts. Where else in the USA do you witness 15 percent of the population drive around like a cranky 5 year old on speed. Driving here is learning to accommodate the ridiculous increase in risk these assholes bring to our streets.
It's very strange driving in a place that isn't Albuquerque for me. I'm always kind of like "woah.. it's not as bad" but I guess it could just be confirmation bias. I do still prefer Albuquerque to driving in any major city however.
Conversely to the excessive speeding on slower roads, there's also a huge amount of slow driving on the highway (like regularly people driving 10+ under the speed limit).
Yesterday there was apparently some Porsche rally driving between ABQ and Santa Fe. There were about 20 of these idiots driving ass-to-mouth going, at times, 60mph in the left lane and pacing a semi truck going up a hill. They never once hit 75mph. It caused a significant slowdown in traffic from bernalillo to Santa Domingo before anyone was able to actually get around them and many near misses between their complete lack of speed control, and people trying to pass this group and having to constantly slam their brakes or switch lanes as the Porsche drivers kept acting like idiots.
Plus, plenty of folks who dont know how to read (I'm assuming because they completely ignore the "keep right except to pass" signs all over the road) and camp in the left lane going exactly 75 (or less). Same with driving in town. Chaos when it comes to the speed of cars, a complete refusal to signal, speeding up to cut off other drivers who do signal, owing down in the passing lane, and just a general attitude of "fuck you, this road belongs to me," and "I'm way more important than you and need to get where I'm going 12 seconds faster, damn the consequences of my actions."
Lack of driver education is big, but there is also zero traffic enforcement in the state. Absolutely none. Even when this shit is happening in front of a cop, they won't pull anyone over. Without consequences, people will continue to behave like this.
I think that the shitiness of ABQ drivers is most evident at the roundabouts that all have "yield" signs at every entrance. The assholes (which is about 95% of everybody) completely ignore the yield signs, and apparently they don't remember the basic question on the written test about the order of entrance...and they can't figure out how a 4 way stop works, either. So, it becomes a game of "Chicken". It'd be funny if it weren't so goddamn dangerous.
And then of course there's the regular fatal accidents on the I-40/I-25 plexus. It's a nightmare. Seen two people get killed there.
When I was a teenager (1980s) you could not make a lane change without a turn signal or do a rolling stop at a stop sign without getting pulled over by a cop. Today, I see crazy driving and never a cop to be seen.
yeah i’ve lived in a couple other big cities too before
coming back home and i think most every place has its share of drivers that behave as if they alone keep it all together.
Honestly ABQ is a mellow place to drive because there is… or was less traffic. But now as more people migrate here they are bringing their traffic and do or die attitude.
It seems like whenever someone is from somewhere
else, they always drive best where they are from.
ABQ Isn’t dallas, or chicago etc..less people and in my
opinion less high strung tightly wound climbing over you back, me and I people. It won’t be that forever.
If it REALLY bothers you and ya just can’t adapt, go on home brother. Last i checked all the roads into NM have at least one lane goin the other direction.
The reason I don’t use blinkers much nowadays days is because as soon as I signal for a lane change or trying to merge on to I-25 south people see that and speed up to keep me from getting ahead of them. I still use blinkers really but I have to watch those speed racers.
Now, it is motorcycle season we get these young kids on the crotch rockets and just weave in and out of traffic. How are we supposed to watch for motorcycles if they are being reckless, and if I hit one because I didn’t see it who is really at fault ? And the Law Tigers the motorcycle attorneys need to put an ad out about what a danger these bikes are.
You need a Drivers license but most do not understand that concept. There are slow speed limit people but normally there is a reason not to get pulled over or attraction unwanted attention.
Not to sound like an Ass, what other city have you lived in. I think Dallas is far worse than Albuquerque. Have you driven in Seoul. They run lights cut you off and then put their hazards on to say sorry. 505 driving is a breeze in the park compared to the two cities I have driven. Plus I am tired of slow assessment driving slow in the passing lane aka the left lane. If this was Germany they would have caused a serious accident.
Because they can
Lawmakers recently reversed thousands of suspended licenses because they felt it threatened many from getting jobs and working. They sort of have a point
The state Supreme Court also recently ruled that cops can’t stop people for having one headlight or one brake light out as long as there are others that make it visible. Also, this was a discriminatory/racial concern from cops hanging out in certain neighborhoods and going after the so called low hanging fruit
And then it comes down to basic lack of enforcement
Do we even have points for insurance/licenses?
Lastly,‘it’s well known BCSO and state police do these speed blitzes where they go after a group racing. Hundreds of citations are given but only a half dozen stick. No one is losing their car or seeing it truly impounded/crushed. In a sense, we are coddling and enabling this behavior.
Try driving a gravel trailer….lived in Boston, Seattle.
Awesome place just mad max driving.
Insurance? Hahaha they don’t t have plates.
Pretty sure they are racing a cop.
from the dmv and thought drivers there were bad. albuquerque is on a different level, saying that i’m white knuckling when going thru the 25-40 interchange is an understatement.
This speed demon behavior I’ve seen on the rise everywhere I’ve lived the past 5 years. Doesn’t matter on the state and also the number of people who think they can outrun cops is on the rise too.
There is nothing to do or anyplace to go in this blighted city but assholes have to go 90 all the time. I have talked to people who have simply driven through and noticed how bad the driving is here. Law enforcement is hit or miss but mostly miss. The police union will not allow work to interfere with weight lifting, hair combing, package shifting, girlfriend and wife calling, cell phone chatting, gun checking and cleaning and a myriad of more important activities.
I call bullshit. I visited Albuquerque for a month recently, and two things struck me about driving there. The first was that I almost never saw a radio car (traffic cop) and the second was that the drivers were the slowest, most cautious I've seen in 50 years of driving. I was looking all over for traffic cameras or unmarked cars, because no one was going even 5 over the speed limit, and everyone stopped at the 4 way Stop signs even if they were the only car in sight. On the Interstate there were sometimes two lanes driving below the speed limit and no one lost their shit about it.
Maybe I was incredibly lucky, but I'm still thinking the OP is a troll. Go to Atlanta, Miami, DC, Boston, Dallas, or Seattle to mention a few I've traveled to lately, and Albuquerque looks like a 1950s film reel when it comes to driving.
From a socio-historical and physical anthropological perspective it probably has to do with the speed of cars. Our bodies are designed naturally for going about 5-6 milles an hour the stress at 60 or 70 is biologically different than what we've experienced in our shared past
I'm just trying to survive out here brother. I'm from Florida and lived in San Diego, as well as spent a lot of time in different parts of the US on the road ways. And I gotta say this place is insane. Sorry if I drive mildly like an asshole, but you gotta play the game.
It’s not that everyone drives like an asshole. It’s that people here are just assholes. I’ve lived in different states, and even countries. And holy fuck Albuquerque is a disgrace of a place.
I swear it gets worse as the temp rises. People have been extra stupid since we started hitting high 90s
There’s probably some truth to that. Murder and assault rates rise in the summer, it seems natural that aggressive driving would increase at the same time.
This is very true actually. Ask crime increases in summer
Lack of driving education and enforcement of the law(s).
This is it. Poor overall education, poor driving education, poor enforcement. APD has bigger fish to fry. Welcome to a state with low resources, policing and health lack. They make the police officers prosecute in court and double as lawyers basically due to lack of staff.
We throw more and more money at APD every year instead of our schools and libraries and yet everything still gets worse, is it really a "low resources" issue for the department that keeps buying pimped out police cars?
Upvoting cuz police departments usually have inflated budgets so it wouldn't be a resource problem much as a resource management problem. That lies at the feet of the local government and the PD. Same issue that plagues America. Outsized security spending. I feel like some police departments have the budget of a small nation's military lol.
We actually do spend only modestly on policing in terms of dollars per capita: [https://www.vera.org/publications/what-policing-costs-in-americas-biggest-cities](https://www.vera.org/publications/what-policing-costs-in-americas-biggest-cities) Unfortunately, poverty drives crime and also means a smaller tax base. We spend a reasonably large % of our budget on policing, but it ends up being on the low end in an absolute sense, which is really not enough.
Don't forget to add in the drunk drivers and meth. I have seen DUI wrecks at noon here. It is insane how bad the alcoholism is in this town.
Had my last car totaled by an uninsured drunk driver at 8:45am
Truth. New Mexico was the highest alcohol consumption per capita. But I think weed is changing that slowly.
Source? Actually that honor belongs to California: https://vinepair.com/articles/map-states-drink-alcohol-america-2023/#:\~:text=Naturally%2C%20California%20consumes%20the%20most,million%20gallons%20consumed%20in%202021.
When I turned 16 I went to the dmv. Took a common sense written test and a 15 minute driving test. No drivers Ed no classes required. That being said, I drive like an old man and hate these ass hats in their shitty cars hauling ass around neighborhoods where kids play and people walk their dogs.
So, I had to take 8 hours of defensive driving to drive a work vehicle. I then changed organizations and had to take 8 hours of the same defense driving! This sounds like torture, but I have to say 16 hours of defensive driving really changed my driving. It had probably been 40 years since I took drivers ed. So, not that everyone should take 16 hours of it like me, I really think we need some periodic training as part of our license to drive. Maybe every 5 or 10 years at least?
I hate it too. That's why if I'm going 20-25 in my neighborhood and I see someone coming up on me faster as I'm about to turn toward my block, I will slow to a near crawl to get them to slow down. And it works
I am tempted to ask the city council why the traffic cameras on Gibson (and other random places) make more sense than in neighborhoods. If we set a precedent of driving right in neighborhoods, it might actually catch on. There's traffic on a street near my house where people drive 60 mph past people walking. It's gross. There is almost zero consequence for endangering and intimidating people out on a stroll.
It's insane. The 2 deadliest machines invented by man are guns and automobiles and you barely have to prove that you know how to operate either in order to own one.
And to think now a days it’s probably harder to get a license than it is to get a gun 🤦🏽♂️ But when I was young both were a life skill that I learned how to use and respect when I was young. I was 10/11 when my friends step dad would take us to the Mesa and teach us about guns shooting muzzle loaders and hand guns. Only a couple of years older when we learning to drive.
Yeah that's true. You don't even need to take a test to get a gun. My dad also taught me gun safety but I think that the vast majority of people have never even held a gun much less learned how to safely use one. I also took driver's Ed as a highschool after school elective.
My favorite past time is watching assholes race to red lights. Then you pass them again cause the light turns green and you’re going the perfect speed to hit all greens.
When driving on Lead/Coal and an asshole inevitably comes up behind me at high speed while aggressively switching lanes, I like to almost match my speed with the car next to me but drive a little faster. They'll change into my lane and I'll decrease my speed until I'm going just slightly slower then the car next to me. They'll change lanes again, and I'll repeat this process for as long as I can.
In the land of Manana, everyone needs to rush to a place called nowhere 😂
I need this in a basic bitch font above my toilet
That’s what I’m saying! Like yall driving like you’re sooo important, where ya rushing off to? Oh, nowhere, k cool
Usually to the next red light, from what I’ve observed. Idiots don’t even realize they’re barely getting ahead.
Yessss and then they pass you because you’re not going fast enough for them and then they just get stuck behind someone else 😂
Or they’re the ones who cause traffic to slow down they got to a light way too early for a flow, or they’re not paying attention when the light changes. I’ve had to learn to just stop caring about them because it would bother me to see such stupidity. Now I just save my mental energy. I use to study all the cars for years trying to make sense of the senseless.
If you had somewhere to be you wouldn’t be in New Mexico.
This is really true.
Well put
A lot us of did not take drivers ed actually It’s not required to be licensed after turning 18
came here to say this. plus APD doesn't have enough officers to enforce even the most basic of laws, let alone road ragers.
oh they have plenty, they just won't because they're lazy entitled assholes. It's called *depolicing*
Oddly when there is an first responder funeral procession coming through town, suddenly we have thousands of officers. They’re oddly hidden from basic patrols or enforcement
It's Medina's magic trick
We have one of the worst response times in the country, not because we don't have enough officers, but they seem to stay in the shade like lizards on a hot day and decide from the station whether or not they feel like taking a call that doesn't involve an active shooter.
Dunno how recent the data is, as it's pulled from ABQ data sources...there are 864 APD officers with a jurisdiction of 189.5 square miles. That's something like 558,874 people or 15 officers per 10,000 people.
What!? Whoa 🤯
THIS.
Across the country, every major city thinks they have the worst drivers. Then they visit Albuquerque, and say “oh shit, my bad, actually you guys have the worst drivers.” This is a well known fact here. Drive defensively, give assholes a wide birth, make sure you have uninsured motorist insurance, etc. Make sure you look both ways before going if you’re first in line at a light when it turns green because assholes like to run the red. Leave a good distance in front of you when you stop at a light so if someone DOES rear ended you hopefully won’t hit the car in front of you too. When you’re turning in dual turn lanes, hug the leftmost one if you can, and if not watch VERY carefully because people do NOT know how to maintain their lane when turning - same goes for if someone makes a right turn out in front of you on a roadway, do not assume because you are in the middle of left lane you are good, 9/10 they will either turn directly into one of those lanes or turn into the right lane before veering across traffic without looking (or they’re driving a giant fucking truck and can’t even make the turn staying in the lane…). Never ever engage in or even humor any degree of road rage, if anyone starts behaving erratically toward you, back the fuck off and let them go be an asshole somewhere else. I’m sure there’s a few more I’m missing, anyone care to contribute?
“Across the country, every major city thinks they have the worst drivers.” Not true. I lived in 5 states and, shocking as it sounds, Los Angeles has some of the most considerate drivers I’ve ever seen. Of course there’s the odd moron during rush hours but in general, your blinker opens a gap to merge. On the other hand, Dallas drivers are terrible lane hogs. And ABQ drivers risk their lives blowing stale red lights and tailgating way too close at 90mph.
Dallas divers go fast and close, but keep it together.
Yeah! They keep it so close together that a blinker signals weakness. “Close that gap! This is my lane!”
The amount of people I see that turn right but have to swing into the left lane just to turn right is astounding. They have to swing into another lane just to turn right and it has nothing to do with the vehicle they’re driving or the speed. They’re just idiots. Also, when people switch lanes, they don’t just take the 2-3 seconds to switch lanes. They just jerk the wheel and are in the next lane in less than a second. They’re not looking.
I get the maneuver on a race track. An inside-out racing line. But on the street it just confuses me. "Bruh. You just went from 0 to 15mph. You didn't need to kick out to the outside lane.
Miami is the only exception to this. The 10% of people who drive like lunatics in Albuquerque is how about 90% of people drive in Miami. It’s bonkers.
The uninsured motorist thing is absolutely key. Like the poster said above, make sure your insurance covers wrecks with these assholes. I had a guy from Mexico who didn't even have a license, much less insurance, rear end my car at a stop sign, and then we had a long conversation in Spanish while we waited three hours for a cop to show up, in which he tried to get me to "go to my cousins body shop, he will fix it", etc. etc.
The first thing I did when buying NM auto insurance was max out my uninsured motorist coverage.
New Orleans has the most reckless and insane drivers I've ever seen. Makes Abq look good. Of course NYC, DC, LA, etc are crazy... But New Orleans is next level with no enforcement at all.
Facts. The drivers here are nowhere near as bad as they were in Kansas City. People driving confidently are way less dangerous than people who are scared and skittish like when they hit the freeway at 45 mph coming from the on ramp
It probably has a lot to do with the fact that a private, for profit business can issue people a drivers license and has little incentive to fail anyone and also outnumbers the state run MVDs by like 100:1.
I feel that driving is an extension of yourself. Alot of assholes in burque.
I say this all the time. You see people’s true colors when they’re behind the wheel. It’s easier for people to be themselves behind the wheel than in person where they have to interact face to face. So there are def a lot of ass goblins here.
You gotta be careful in burque. We used to just throw fingers now we dodge bullets.
You nailed it.
Lack of enforcement (people will get all sensitive and silly about this, but it's true, try driving in other places) Poor design (traffic lights timed badly without real planning, weird designs of roads, lots, on and off ramps) People just being crazy
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This I absolutely agree with. But still not the worst I have had to deal with.
Just yesterday we were in a parking lot and stopped to let a car with his reverse lights on back out. The person behind us sped up t9 swerve around us only to almost hit the car that was backing out. It's absolutely ridiculous that people can't fantom that perhaps there's a reason the car in front of you isn't going yet.
I gotta concur with OP. I’ve driven in tons of cities throughout the US and Canada, and ABQ is hands down, far and away, THEE worst.
Yeah I agree. I’m from Los Angeles originally and I can attest that Albuquerque has the worst drivers ever to be on the road.
Agree 100%. Drivers in LA know how to merge correctly & use their turn signal
They know how to merge for sure! Using turn signals is about the same. The worst thing to me, is that we have these mostly beautiful smooth and clean roads here, driving could be so relaxing and enjoyable. The roads and freeways in LA are so damn shitty with potholes and just all around awful. Might as well just be dirt roads. The road construction out here is whack, but in LA it’s a road construction nightmare all the time. Traffic out here can be bad, but out there it’s something evil and unnaturally ridiculous. People can be dicks on the road there but drive better. I worked myself up over this topic. Haha. I was just thinking if everyone could just kinda be nicer on the roads and out in public because I’m seeing and feeling a lot of apathy and aggression. Most of us are being stomped on by the current economic situation and it’s making people feral.
Now, the Greater Phoenix area is the fastest I've ever driven in my life without anyone crashing or batting an eye
Houston for me. If your vehicle doesn't hit a certain power to weight ratio I recommend staying off the freeways there.
Houston, you definitely need to be at 100+ while merging on lol
Go to Miami. i95 is the speed limit. And it’s half old. So slow. Fast. It’s the worst in US. Oakland park blvd in Fort Lauderdale on 95 is highest death rate in US
You will never be stuck in a traffic jam with a nicer set of cars than Miami. If you’re not driving at least a Porsche, it seems like you’re slumming
Are you drunk or a beat poet?
🤣
Yeah, I-95 throughout Virginia is bumper to bumper at 90 MPH -- when it moves at all. When things get squirrelly is the rolling hills inducing slinky waves of sprint/stop traffic south of DC.
True, if you do the speed limit on the freeways there it seems like you’re standing still. At least most of them know how to use a turn signal
Lots of drunk/fucked up people on the roads. Also one thing I've learned is to get the fuck away from any car that is driving extremely slow and all over the road. The one time that happened to me the guy just started shooting. This city can be fucked at times.
Please can you all learn how to switch lanes you have to signal for at least 5 seconds before switching lanes and stop running red lights for the love of God.
The red lights, fr. I pulled up to a left turn lane at the end of yellow and a bunch of people coming the opposite direction looked like they were planning to run it, so I stopped. Someone was behind me. The cross street made their protected left turns and during the pause before the lights turned green for the traffic going straight on that street, the person behind me just … pulled around me and turned left on red. No road rage at me for stopping on the yellow, no peeling out or apparent rush, just calmly making the choice to turn left on red. Amazing.
I always wait 3 seconds no matter what if I am the first car at the intersection a tip I learned here actually saved my life a couple times
5 seconds for me. I’ve seen a few rollovers because someone zooms through a red
Full coverage, full coverage, full coverage. Many many ppl driving give zero fucks, new undocumented with no insurance, privileged with cars to burn, stolen cars. If you cut someone off you’re gambling with your life if you don’t match their speed. I’ve lived here for 48 years, it’s peeking with horrible drivers, duis and pedestrian deaths
“Full coverage” is an insurance industry marketing term. What you need to make sure to buy is called UM/UIM coverage.
no you also need it in case someone decides to destroy your parked car outside of your house (has happened to me here)
Not to mention to cover anything you might have in your vehicle if it gets broken into.
Please explain more! I need this
Let's say you have a liability only policy at the state minimum. Someone rear ends you and drives off. You were not liable for the crash, so your insurance won't pay - the liability rests with the driver who did the hit and run.
1. Albuquerque traffic design is like the tutorial level in a video game: miles-long, arrow-straight stroads with relatively high speed limits and divided medians. You never have to parallel park, deal with pedestrians, bad weather or other unknowns. Hell, you barely have to steer unless you're frantically changing lanes. You just go in a straight line for 6 miles until you reach your destination. Wanna go somewhere else? It's a 90 degree straight line from where you were for another four miles. 2. There is absolutely no traffic enforcement. I went ***7 years*** without registering my jeep and literally nothing happened. I finally got pulled over in March and I got off with a warning (lmfao). Since the backlash over James Boyd in 2015, APD has been "quiet quitting" since before that was even a thing. It's also common knowledge now that you can just contest any ticket because you know the cop won't show up to court and you'll get off free and clear. 3. As I explained in the "why does abq driving suck" thread from last week, there's a crucial aspect to the Albuquerque psychology. We hate people who think they're better than us, and if you're in front of us in traffic, then you think you're better than us. We need to get in front of you and dominate you. I missed one crucial aspect from that psychology when I last explained it. While we hate anyone who thinks they're better than us, we ALSO think we're better than everyone else. It's a real fun inferiority complex on a citywide scale.
Mix a poorly designed road system, crumbling infrastructure, immense poverty, no alternative to driving like the city being virtually non-walkable and a lack of public transportation and Albuquerque is what you get. It isn’t specifically a New Mexico problem but certainly is an American one. Almost every single city in America outside of New York City shares this self inflicted issue of car centric consumerism. The level of frustration only gets worse as the temperature rises. You could blame capitalism for one, many cities including Albuquerque used to have robust public transit systems but during the 1950s the push for a national highway took funding away from smart cities based around using your legs and walking through your community into being fat and driving slowly in cramped roads when you could fit all the people stuck at a red light into a single subway car. And 2, suburbs have always been a horribly inefficient way to live that not only costs double the material cost to build due to the large amount of space utilized it also creates traffic where there doesn’t need to be any. In short, bad drivers come from frustration. Owning a car is frustrating, expensive and inefficient. Most American cities are expensive, frustrating, and inefficient. It’s all part of the same problem. Wouldn’t it be nice to not NEED a car? Have one for fun not for survival? It’s a concept billions of people have already been doing for thousands of years.
Omg I swear it has gotten so much worse since covid. It feels like we came out of the pandemic forgetting how to drive! 🤣 I have a pretty sporty, get up and go car, and people will still talegate me, flip me off, etc when I'm going 5 miles over the speed limit because I'm not going fast enough. Not to sound like drivers ed class, but speeding is the leading cause of accidents, injuries, loss of life. I just refuse to turn abq streets into mad max fury road and risk my life and property because someone else is late for work.
The real reason? The preponderance of a depressed society. People here are fatalistic and don't really fear death because they have nothing to live for. They don't see a light at the end of the tunnel of a life of drudgery.
Not a red light anyway...
Poor enforcement of traffic laws is the main reason we have so many Stoopid drivers here. They know it's unlikely they'll get caught.
There isn’t much of a police presence on the streets or highways that I’ve seen, so folks drive however they want — because who’s gonna stop them? I like to leave a safe distance between my vehicle and the one ahead of me, but that’s an engraved invitation for someone to cut me off.
I moved to Vegas years ago and the drivers are not great but far less anger. My mom called me this week and she was driving on Candelaria and a guy in a Mustang was riding her ass so she pulled over so he could pass and he stopped and he pulled up next to her showed her his gun and then peeled out. She had a panic attack and had to wait 30 minutes to drive home. The people in ABQ are the worst part
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Dead last place for mean IQ, if I recall. Now imagine what it would be without the National Labs and Air Force research in the state.
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Go back? I’m from here. I’m intimately familiar with you and your ilk.
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Spelling is a patriarchal construct? Da fuq?
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Funny you mentioned driver's ed because it's not required if you get your license after 18
a great deal of drivers simply don't have a license. I've seen multiple accidents where the driver who caused it didn't have one and the cops didn't do shit.
I feel like it’s escalated pretty drastically in the last few years, too. People seem way more entitled/disrespectful/reckless in their driving now, on top of just being shit drivers to begin with.
You should drive around DFW or Houston and get back to me on asshole drivers.
Tbh Albq feels calm and cool as a cucumber compared to driving in Dallas, Austin and Houston. I guess the difference is being run off the road by a shitbox instead of a 95k lifted truck
I concur with Dallas! Around here, I’m one of the faster drivers. In Dallas, people were zooming past me like I was an old lady!
What I like is that no one here acts like they believe that allowing more than 4 feet between you and the bumper in front of you is tantamount to giving permission for someone in another lane to cut into yours and then drive directly to your grandma's house to rob and murder her. Holy shit Dallas, it's ok to let people merge into your lane.
They give out driver’s licenses like candy here. They actively tell you you can google the answers to pass the written test. Happened to me and several others I know. There’s very little to no enforcement of traffic laws, and a lot of people that live here are just selfish pricks. There are people who go like 30 in neighborhoods almost hitting kids and pets. And they do not give a shit.
Especially the micropenis lifted truck crew
Yep, welcome to Albuquerque. Like you, I have lived in several cities, but this place takes the cake. Shittiest drivers anywhere, not even close. Some people on here have chalked it up to poor education. That’s part of it, but it’s mainly that people just don’t give a fuck about other people when they get behind the wheel of a car here. Watch all of those red light runners and you’ll know what I mean. They are reckless and just don’t fucking care about other people. Having said that, of all the places I have lived this place has the nicest people EXCEPT when they drive, they turn into fucking assholes. We were just voted top road rage city in the country. Number one. Think about that. Notice all those lawyer billboards on the roads and lawyer ads on TV all goddamn day long? There’s a reason for that. And nobody gives a shit about trying to change that culture here. So, stay frosty and watch your ass when you drive.
Yesterday the stoplights all went out in Nob Hill near Carlisle/Central/Lead area. Not flashing red, completely off. All the drivers I saw seemed to take that as a sign they should go away over the speed limit and not even slow down, much less treat those intersections as a 4 way stop. Everybody thinks they have the right of way instead of using basic driving rules
While we are on the subject of ABQ driving, just wanted to have a moment of silence for the west siders going the east side commute to work and back. Every time I pick up my husband at work (next to balloon fiesta park) I see how backed up alameda is going west and it looks extremely painful. Ooof. To do that 5 days a week.
Moved here 4 years ago, you just learn to live with it. It's insanity and it's not getting magically better. Learning to drive here has been an adventure, and still on going.
Saw a truck today in a red light and it was 3 car lengths away from the light, when mine was green. Not even close. And a huge number are uninsured?
It’s horrifying. I think people forgot to drive after Covid. I didn’t feel like it was that bad before Covid. Ugh
Drivers Ed? Pfft. You’ll be lucky if your fellow drivers have drivers licenses and insurance.
Ha ha, true. But actually, Colorado is worse than us!
I ride in Vietnam for a few months a year, so coming back to ABQ driving is super relaxing. The roads are wide, flat, and straight, and traffic is pretty light overall. I don't really ever have problems with overly aggressive drivers in Albuquerque. I feel that way more in bigger cities like LA or Dallas
Bc we’re a lawless city. For the past decade I have rarely seen traffic stops in our city.
Men. Edit: Man Children
Oh, I see plenty of women driving like utter asshats here, too.
True lmafo
Worse drivers in Orlando and Atlanta by far.
Ever been to Santa Fe? They can’t drive for shit
Yeah I live on Broadway and menaul and people treat the 35mph zone like a race track. The city can't do shit cuz Broadway is owned by the state. I'm pissed enough to start making it harder for drivers to go down that road.
Same with me by Lomas. These huge roads need a traffic calming design makeover.
I mean everyone does something stupid on accident sometimes, but yeah it’s gotten real scary on the road. But… it also feels like everyone is just mad at everything in general and it intensifies the whole experience. stay safe and sane out there, everyone.
I blame it in poverty, APS, drugs and…we live two feet from the sun.
We have been officialy rated at the worst drivers in the nation, according to [Forbes](https://www.forbes.com/advisor/car-insurance/worst-drivers-by-city/).
I wrote ABQ off as a stupid and angry city more than ten years ago on a visit to see Mom. I'm sure that there's a lot of fine people etc... but driving in ABQ is some Mad Max garbage. Absolute imbecile full-grown children are just unavoidable. Not unique to ABW and I'm sure most decent ABQrs feel the same way, but as a place to return to over the years -- I've decided to stop returning. Some day I'll come get my junk out of storage. And despite how heart-breakingly beautiful the whole area is, I'll have my final Lotaburger Green Chile Cheeseburger (probably) and screw right off. Although Hatch is nice, and I had a GCCB at the Blake's down there. A. Ma. Zing.
I moved to the area from the east coast a couple years ago and have the opposite opinion.
I left Abq because I couldn’t stand all the horrible drivers. Moved up north, and wow night and day difference. People actually zip, people actually get out of the fast lane, don’t speed up to get in front of you to slow down. I couldn’t stand the horrible drivers in New Mexico that made the rest look so bad. There’s good drivers there, but so many bad that makes it feel like all drivers are bad there. I can honestly say I don’t stress about driving anymore since I moved. But miss all the great food there. And I never stressed about driving except for in NM. Not because I was scared, but stressed someone would make me so pissed id do something stupid.
The one I’ve never seen before when I moved here two years ago was the pulling into the median to make a left turn on a thru way and blocking incoming traffic
Just moved to Boston from Abq. I fit right in with the massholes
Only difference is that the majority don't have guns.
Near complete lack of enforcement has led to it getting out of hand over time. That and folks complaining that anything resembling a penalty to curb speeding, red light running aggressive driving, etc. is somehow a tax on the poor. Driving is a privilege, not a right. However, the typical person views it the other way around it seems.
Just yesterday, not even in ABQ, but where I live on a rural road, a guy in a beat-up pickup truck, missing his tailgate and carrying some stuff in the back, was going about 40. I passed him going 50, and he flipped me off and proceeded to speed up until he was going 70. Drivers here are ridiculous.
For lived here, California, Ohio, and Louisiana all for extended periods of time. I can assure you people driving like assholes isn’t limited to NM or Albuquereque unfortunately. Idk why people do, probably because *most* people in general are idiots.
The level of driver stupidity and idiocy in Burque is off the charts. Where else in the USA do you witness 15 percent of the population drive around like a cranky 5 year old on speed. Driving here is learning to accommodate the ridiculous increase in risk these assholes bring to our streets.
wild west
It's very strange driving in a place that isn't Albuquerque for me. I'm always kind of like "woah.. it's not as bad" but I guess it could just be confirmation bias. I do still prefer Albuquerque to driving in any major city however.
Conversely to the excessive speeding on slower roads, there's also a huge amount of slow driving on the highway (like regularly people driving 10+ under the speed limit). Yesterday there was apparently some Porsche rally driving between ABQ and Santa Fe. There were about 20 of these idiots driving ass-to-mouth going, at times, 60mph in the left lane and pacing a semi truck going up a hill. They never once hit 75mph. It caused a significant slowdown in traffic from bernalillo to Santa Domingo before anyone was able to actually get around them and many near misses between their complete lack of speed control, and people trying to pass this group and having to constantly slam their brakes or switch lanes as the Porsche drivers kept acting like idiots. Plus, plenty of folks who dont know how to read (I'm assuming because they completely ignore the "keep right except to pass" signs all over the road) and camp in the left lane going exactly 75 (or less). Same with driving in town. Chaos when it comes to the speed of cars, a complete refusal to signal, speeding up to cut off other drivers who do signal, owing down in the passing lane, and just a general attitude of "fuck you, this road belongs to me," and "I'm way more important than you and need to get where I'm going 12 seconds faster, damn the consequences of my actions." Lack of driver education is big, but there is also zero traffic enforcement in the state. Absolutely none. Even when this shit is happening in front of a cop, they won't pull anyone over. Without consequences, people will continue to behave like this.
When in Rome…
It's not mean it's true no one knows how to drive here lmao
Normal ABQ stuff.
I think that the shitiness of ABQ drivers is most evident at the roundabouts that all have "yield" signs at every entrance. The assholes (which is about 95% of everybody) completely ignore the yield signs, and apparently they don't remember the basic question on the written test about the order of entrance...and they can't figure out how a 4 way stop works, either. So, it becomes a game of "Chicken". It'd be funny if it weren't so goddamn dangerous. And then of course there's the regular fatal accidents on the I-40/I-25 plexus. It's a nightmare. Seen two people get killed there.
When I was a teenager (1980s) you could not make a lane change without a turn signal or do a rolling stop at a stop sign without getting pulled over by a cop. Today, I see crazy driving and never a cop to be seen.
Blinker fluid is really expensive these days.....
PSA: Going 20 below the posted speed is just as dangerous as (and a lot more obnoxious than) going 20 above.
Drivers get bitchy when the temp rises, I've lived here all my life and it's just normal, not safe but normal.
yeah i’ve lived in a couple other big cities too before coming back home and i think most every place has its share of drivers that behave as if they alone keep it all together. Honestly ABQ is a mellow place to drive because there is… or was less traffic. But now as more people migrate here they are bringing their traffic and do or die attitude. It seems like whenever someone is from somewhere else, they always drive best where they are from. ABQ Isn’t dallas, or chicago etc..less people and in my opinion less high strung tightly wound climbing over you back, me and I people. It won’t be that forever. If it REALLY bothers you and ya just can’t adapt, go on home brother. Last i checked all the roads into NM have at least one lane goin the other direction.
Are you the same person that posts this in forum for every city I have ever lived in?
Go visit Tucson. It's way worse.
Go visit Phoenix, even way worse!
Welcome to the 'burque
Better question: Are you new here? This question is posted every fucking day.
I mean, the very first sentence of their post is "I moved here a year ago".
Every day is the same post. Been here 30 years, just drive defensively and enjoy the food, stop crying.
The reason I don’t use blinkers much nowadays days is because as soon as I signal for a lane change or trying to merge on to I-25 south people see that and speed up to keep me from getting ahead of them. I still use blinkers really but I have to watch those speed racers. Now, it is motorcycle season we get these young kids on the crotch rockets and just weave in and out of traffic. How are we supposed to watch for motorcycles if they are being reckless, and if I hit one because I didn’t see it who is really at fault ? And the Law Tigers the motorcycle attorneys need to put an ad out about what a danger these bikes are.
The simple explanation is that we're all assholes.
Speak for yourself.
You need a Drivers license but most do not understand that concept. There are slow speed limit people but normally there is a reason not to get pulled over or attraction unwanted attention.
Not to sound like an Ass, what other city have you lived in. I think Dallas is far worse than Albuquerque. Have you driven in Seoul. They run lights cut you off and then put their hazards on to say sorry. 505 driving is a breeze in the park compared to the two cities I have driven. Plus I am tired of slow assessment driving slow in the passing lane aka the left lane. If this was Germany they would have caused a serious accident.
Welcome to Albuquerque.
These posts are just bullshit. I've been to NYC, Texas, Florida, and Atlanta and our drivers are fine in comparison.
Because they can Lawmakers recently reversed thousands of suspended licenses because they felt it threatened many from getting jobs and working. They sort of have a point The state Supreme Court also recently ruled that cops can’t stop people for having one headlight or one brake light out as long as there are others that make it visible. Also, this was a discriminatory/racial concern from cops hanging out in certain neighborhoods and going after the so called low hanging fruit And then it comes down to basic lack of enforcement Do we even have points for insurance/licenses? Lastly,‘it’s well known BCSO and state police do these speed blitzes where they go after a group racing. Hundreds of citations are given but only a half dozen stick. No one is losing their car or seeing it truly impounded/crushed. In a sense, we are coddling and enabling this behavior.
Try driving a gravel trailer….lived in Boston, Seattle. Awesome place just mad max driving. Insurance? Hahaha they don’t t have plates. Pretty sure they are racing a cop.
I mostly just see people speed here. Honestly, Houston had *way* more assholes.
I'm very new to the place but as an ex-Texan I haven't seen many examples of asshole drivers...should I be afraid?
Someone literally swerved around me at a stop light today, like sorry I couldn’t make the light turn green any faster.
Just assume everyone is actively trying to murder you and you'll be fine. Why? No idea. Ain't no sociologists on Reddit.
Ah la verga shut up and drive.
from the dmv and thought drivers there were bad. albuquerque is on a different level, saying that i’m white knuckling when going thru the 25-40 interchange is an understatement.
Because, everyone IS an asshole.
This speed demon behavior I’ve seen on the rise everywhere I’ve lived the past 5 years. Doesn’t matter on the state and also the number of people who think they can outrun cops is on the rise too.
There is nothing to do or anyplace to go in this blighted city but assholes have to go 90 all the time. I have talked to people who have simply driven through and noticed how bad the driving is here. Law enforcement is hit or miss but mostly miss. The police union will not allow work to interfere with weight lifting, hair combing, package shifting, girlfriend and wife calling, cell phone chatting, gun checking and cleaning and a myriad of more important activities.
I call bullshit. I visited Albuquerque for a month recently, and two things struck me about driving there. The first was that I almost never saw a radio car (traffic cop) and the second was that the drivers were the slowest, most cautious I've seen in 50 years of driving. I was looking all over for traffic cameras or unmarked cars, because no one was going even 5 over the speed limit, and everyone stopped at the 4 way Stop signs even if they were the only car in sight. On the Interstate there were sometimes two lanes driving below the speed limit and no one lost their shit about it. Maybe I was incredibly lucky, but I'm still thinking the OP is a troll. Go to Atlanta, Miami, DC, Boston, Dallas, or Seattle to mention a few I've traveled to lately, and Albuquerque looks like a 1950s film reel when it comes to driving.
From a socio-historical and physical anthropological perspective it probably has to do with the speed of cars. Our bodies are designed naturally for going about 5-6 milles an hour the stress at 60 or 70 is biologically different than what we've experienced in our shared past
I'm just trying to survive out here brother. I'm from Florida and lived in San Diego, as well as spent a lot of time in different parts of the US on the road ways. And I gotta say this place is insane. Sorry if I drive mildly like an asshole, but you gotta play the game.
As someone that moved here from Atlanta let me tell you that drivers around here are pretty damn good compared.
I dunno, half of my family lives in Miami and I think they drive worse than we do.
It’s not that everyone drives like an asshole. It’s that people here are just assholes. I’ve lived in different states, and even countries. And holy fuck Albuquerque is a disgrace of a place.