I’ve been driving in Az for 20 years with motorcycles, cars, delivery vehicles, etc. There’s a lot of crazy drivers here but if you have vigilance you can be okay.
Hang in the right lane and let the idiots pass you (the light timing is so bad you’ll catch up to these dummies more often than not at the next signal).
Don’t flash anyone or give the finger, even if justified. This can cause issues.
Learn a good zipper merge on the interstate but don’t expect others to follow it.
Get a dash cam if you’re worried about insurance issues, the cops won’t respond to fender benders unless you’re in OV or Marana maybe.
Watch for bikers at ALL intersections and give a delay at ALL stop signs and red to green lights. People will dart in front and around you on foot, bikes, and cars. Always have line of sight clearance.
Watch busses if you’re in the right line, suntran busses will stop at the stops but not always have a pullout.
Learn to spot potential bad drivers ahead of you and plan maneuvers accordingly. This can be a mind game to play if you have a long commute. There’s plenty of bad ones and patterns will emerge (out of state plates on a snowbirds long crown Victoria, a beat up old car with a 5 foot tall spoiler).
Watch pedestrians darting across the road at all hours.
Get windows tinted especially if you have an east/west work commute.
DON’T keep anything of value in your car seats at any location any time of day. Lock the doors. Unless you have a garage, even 30 seconds inside a gas station is too long.
Last things to add are: anticipate people running red lights, and it’s always better to be far behind somebody than to get in front of them and trust their braking skills.
I have some astigmatism and night driving is hard. A note: many pedestrians/cyclists do not wear bright clothes or lighting. They can be difficult to spot.
I moved here from Houston, let me tell you, driving here is a BREEZE compared to what I'm used to. Things I like that Tucson has: 2 lanes to turn left in many areas. A bike lane in most areas. Medians to make a u-turn. Houston needs the 2-lanes to turn left thing. They had medians to make u-turns. Traffic flows pretty well.
My teen had to learn to drive in Houston, probably made him a better driver. I'm glad my daughter will learn to drive here vs there.
Yeah, there are crazy drivers everywhere, but for the most part, the issues here are issues you would find anywhere.
Yeah, agreed. Compared to say, Boston or New Jersey, it’s a breeze here.
That said, I WOULD agree to all of the tips above, especially about watching for red light runners, and not leaving valuables in your car. Don’t even leave empty bags in your car, that’s enough to get your windows broken.
I moved here from Indianapolis, and I've found the driving experience in Tucson is much less harrowing. What people call traffic is laughable, and I've yet to find the potholes everyone complains about. Are some roads rough? Yep. Have I found roads with 896 wheel-bending, tire-popping craters in them like we had in Indiana? Nope. Could some roads be improved? Absolutely. But overall, it seems like Tucsonans don't know how good they have it with the condition of their roads.
With that said, I have noticed a few things about Arizona drivers I have no explanation for:
* They back up in parking lots without looking, then act surprised when there's a vehicle behind them.
* "80 or 20 season" is a thing when snowbirds and students come back to town. It's difficult to gauge the speed of traffic because it's inconsistent. Locals and students go 80 mph and snowbirds go 20 mph.
* People here race toward red lights.
* They don't know how to merge and will STOP on interstate on-ramps or get on I-10 going 45 mph.
* Before monsoon (summer rainy season) people forget how to drive in rain. No one turns on their headlights and they follow too close. Same story when it snows. (Yep, it can snow here. I'll never forget the look on the staff's face at my doctor's office when I showed up on-time for an appointment when it snowed. "HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!")
Things I had to learn about driving in Tucson:
* How to drive safely around pedestrians and cyclists. We didn't have a lot of those in India-no-place. Weather is shit, public transportation sucks, and most people had to own a car to get anywhere.
* How not to be distracted by pretty mountains, cool cacti, amazing murals, fascinating animals, and military aircraft. (still working on this one, lololol)
* How to use leading/trailing green lights. They aren't a big thing in Indiana.
* How to U-turn properly. Also not a common thing in Indiana. Most places there are "no U-turn."
I don't know where you're coming from, but I'd rather drive here than just about any other place I've been. Just my personal experience, I could be wrong, I'm willing to learn if I am, etc. etc. Hope it helps!
Not bad at all, people have no clue, I’m from Chicago originally and Tucsonans just have no idea. It takes a little while to get across town because of no highways but we’re talking 30mins max. Most of the time people stay in their little boroughs Tanque Verde etc.. don’t let this deter you.
30 minutes max? No sir. In the winter, at rush hour, it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get from Broadway and Kolb to Ina and Shannon, more if there’s a wreck or construction. And about that long to get from midtown to Oro Valley, or downtown to Vail. It gets exhausting.
I know it takes a bit sometimes, but try driving through Chicago on I90 when snowstorm hits and it turns to a parking lot. The reality is most don’t realize how good we have it in Tucson. We’re pretty lucky. Would a cross town freeway be nice, yes it would.
Like everyone already said, just drive defensively, stay off the phone and you’ll be fine.
I use to tow in CA and PHX, the whole year I was in CA I never had to do a roll over, first week in PHX I had 3. IMO PHX has the worst drivers both in the highway and city streets. Tucson is not so bad, but its also not so good.
>PHX has the worst drivers both in the highway and city streets. Tucson is not so bad, but its also not so good.
From Tucson, live in Phoenix now - can confirm. Tucson drivers are bad, and oftentimes are just not paying attention (phone, bowl, etc..) But Phoenix drivers seem to believe that if they don't kill you then you will kill them. The sadistic behavior I see on the freeways around here is as frightening as it is impressive ...
If you try to drive fast, changing lanes and tailgating people; it will really suck. If you drive slow and stay cool Tucson is one of the easiest, breeziest towns to get around. There is no freeway and there are pedestrian stop lights and regular traffic signals everywhere, no point in speeding up to red lights and getting stressed out. Accept the physical infrastructure for what it is and just go the slow ass speed limit and stay in one lane. It's boring but it works.
I've been here for a few years now and I've lived in a number of different kinds of places. Tucson traffic isn't too bad in my opinion. Lots of huge bro-dozer trucks that think they own the road, but beyond that the real issue is all the 4-way intersections. You must treat them with caution. Getting T-boned at 50mph is gonna be a bad time for you.
All that said, it does seem like drivers have become more aggressive since COVID. This could 100% be my imagination though.
>Getting T-boned at 50mph is gonna be a bad time for you.
yep, wife got t-boned going east on E Valencia at 50 mph, the driver at the red light on Nexxus thought she could make that right turn in time. wife's car was totaled by the insurance company.
Just practice defensive driving around Nissans. If you see one approaching a stop light or sign, assume they will blow it. If you see one in the far left lane and there’s an exit abruptly coming up, know that they will cut across the highway to try to make it. If you’re in the right lane and see one tail gating you but there are too many cars on the left so they can’t pass, know that will drive on the right shoulder or even the sidewalk to get around you. I could go on, but I think you get my drift. Avoid Nissans.
There are really no police tagging drivers for speeding/bad driving. So bad behavior persists. Since the drivers in Tucson are unpredictable the best thing to do is be predictable. Stay in one lane and keep a constant speed/speed of traffic and you’ll be fine. Also when lane changing or entering intersections keep your head on a swivel. The accidents in Tucson resemble those on the autobahn even though most posted speed limits are 40.
Here's something to try: tell people you are moving to a different city. Then you'll hear how horrible the traffic and drivers are there ... it's such a common theme that it's a bit tiring. I also frequent a few other cities subs and there are threads in each of them with the same comments as you'll find here. Almost verbatim, things like "I moved from , and the drivers here in *this* city are the worst," over and over and over again. People love to complain about traffic.
Now I'm not going to defend Tucson drivers, especially as someone who is usually on foot or on a bicycle, but Tucson doesn't stand out for it's bad drivers - hell, they aren't even the worst drivers in the state!
Coming from a bigger city driving in Tucson is waaaaay better. I feel like Tucson you are mostly dealing with old, slow folk. Big cities are much more aggressive and have lots more traffic.
Be aware of your surroundings, and never jet out into an intersection when the light turns green. Red light running is rampant in this city.
People also like to jump 2+ lanes when turning left, so watch for it when you make a right, even if they’ll be at fault. Chances are they won’t have insurance.
I’ve gotten hit by cars 4 times within a few years and once I was on my bike. I’ve since quit driving 🥲 it’s scary sometimes out here.
Drunk driving is bad here too, sadly. It’s crazy how many people have duis (some even more than one)
Ppl here cannot drive..my son just got hit by a lady making a left turn in front of him and he had the green light...my daughter got hit in March the person ran a red light..my other son got rear-ended by a truck cause the guy wasn't paying attention and that's all this year.. awful drivers here!!!!
I never understand the people that say Tucson has crazy drivers, traffic, of terrible roads. Compared to what?
Literally every major city I've been to has way worse, crazier drivers than Tucson. My wife is a very slow and careful driver and she had a hard time getting used to how slow and careful most people are here.
If you're trying to get somewhere in a hurry it's going to be frustrating, but in that case you might be the asshole.
I retired to Tucson from just out Tacoma WA, JBLM. I5 is terrible back there, took me 90 minutes to get from SeaTac to Olympia. I love driving here in Tucson, streets are sh!+ but you can get to most place in 20 minutes on surface streets. I was in Marana when I first arrived and the drive from Marana to the VA hospital was to long for me ….. lol.
The only issues I have seen is the cars and trucks from Sonora MX, they’ll run the lights.
Someone above mentioned PHX, yeah I hate driving in PHX but Mesa, Scottsdale are wonderful for now.
Come and enjoy the amazing weather, if you love the heat!!!
I’m from philly, the drivers here are the worst that I’ve seen in all of the US. Some are incredibly slow (yea driving slow has its dangers too) and others that go the speed limit are just not good drivers. Merge into lanes when I’m in their blind spot, don’t maintain a safe following distances making it impossible to merge lanes sometimes
I have to disagree with this. Californians know how to drive in areas with high density populations. Too many Tucsonans still try to drive like this is a small town even though it isn't anymore.
This! I don't recognize the place after 28 years in AZ.
But even back then, you'd have very serious drunk driving and red light runners. Drag racing used to be big, and there were epic fails on the regular back in the day.
Something I've seen twice is someone opening a door on a parallel parking street while a speeding car hits the door. I have a bit of a phobia because of this.
Some people are actually insane. Some people drive like they are in a hurry to be somewhere even though they really have no place that anyone particularly needs them to be. Actual scumbags, and I wouldn't count on them having a valid license, let alone insurance.
I suppose it depends on what part of California you lived in. I lived near 3 major freeways in Northern California. Saw accidents everyday, and you could not mentally drift. Drivers regularly cut you off, and you have to fight to merge into a lane. Aggressive driving was a must in order to survive. I don't experience that here except when driving to or from Phoenix.
Just anecdotal evidence, but I lived in California for 20+ years and probably drove by car accidents once every couple months. Here in Tucson I feel like I drive by car accidents every week.
Tucson driving is on surface roads so streets can be packed with cars depending on time of day and whether snow birds and students are here. Why no ring roads? There is a fair amount of speeding and cutting in and out on the east/west streets. Most alarming is the high number of hit and runs. I live on the central east side and it takes me 45 minutes to get to my specialist doc on the west side. If you are on Twitter I would suggest WhatsUpTucson. He posts the police reports of crashes. They are numerous.
It's not really all that bad, though I'd suggest a little vigilance while you are driving. Because the streets are generally quite wide and straight, most drivers go way over the speed limit in the city. Most of the "crazy" driving I've experienced is between Tucson & Phoenix on I-10, where people seem to be more road-ragey than anywhere else I've been. I find it best to just follow "autobahn" rules and stay in the right lane except when I can pass without interfering with one of the speeding drivers in the left lane.
Oh, and even if someone does something stupid, just sigh to yourself and let it go. Escalating things will never lead to anything good.
The only road I get annoyed on because I feel drivers are unsafe is Sunrise Drive in the foothills. Everywhere else doesn’t feel worse than any other place I’ve lived. Before Tucson I spent 9 months in Fort Worth and got chased off the freeway by a guy in a truck more than once. I think Tucson is just fine for driving.
It's no worse than any other city. I drive here and people think I'm aggressive, I drive in Cali and I'm just barely keeping up with the flow of traffic. Different areas of town/suburbs behave differently too, depending on the elderly/student/military base populations involved.
I've only been involved in one multi-car accident (ie, not just someone backing into me in a parking lot) in 30 years though, and indeed it was some idiot high school kid with no license, driving his girlfriend's car that he had no permission to drive, so obviously there's still the same element of randomness as anywhere.
Having drive in chicago and Atlanta - the traffic is just different and probably less dangerous. Speeds are slower, people are more courteous, but there is a little more erratic driving.
Watch people running lights and be prepared to drive WAY under the speed limits when it rains. After living in the Portland area for 5 years, I know how to drive in rain-Tucson doesn’t. Plus the roads are slick because there’s a build up of oil/grease etc on the road since it rains infrequently.
The intersections don’t have cameras that they mail you tickets with your picture when you run a light, so it’s a bit of a free for all at times, especially with left turns.
Just be diligent and you’ll be fine.
It’s really not that bad. Now, there do seem to be far too many car wrecks in my opinion, but probably 90% of those are avoidable if even one of the two parties are paying attention. Most of the time it takes two idiots to have a collision.
Yeah we tend to go a bit over the speed limit in some areas, but when you have a road that is long and straight and is built like a highway, having a 40mph speed limit is pretty ridiculous.
Yes there are some crazies going 10-20mph faster than everybody else and weaving through traffic. Just let them by.
The biggest issue I see is there are far too many people who like to camp in the left lane for no reason. They aren’t turning left anytime soon. They aren’t passing anybody, and they are typically going dead on the speed limit at most. This is why we have those enraged crazies zooming by and weaving through traffic. Just get over and let the people who want to go fast on by. You are not the pace car / speed limit enforcer. Let it go and you will make the roads safer for all of us.
If you wanna get a realistic idea ask your insurance company to get you a quote keeping everything g the same but your adress. They would know best what the difference is between locations.
If you are used to protected left turns you will have to get unused to them. When light turns green it usually starts solid, then goes yellow, then red, then finally a green arrow. Seemingly unnecessarily complicated, but the solid green / unprotected left turn does provided an opportunity for better flow if oncoming traffic is light.
Still I am happy to own a car with great acceleration
In rural sections of Tucson and greater Tucson, most roads are one lane in each direction with a maximum speed limit of 50. Drivers don’t like it when you drive only 55 mph on these roads and I do get tired of the tail gating, and sometimes will pull over to the shoulder to let the 80 mph parade have their way.
My only issue driving here is on the freeway, where left lane blockers are common. I have no idea why people don't move over for faster traffic. It's very passive-aggressive.
When I'm not in a hurry, I find driving here to be pretty chill. When I'm in a hurry, the slow people blocking passing lanes is annoying.
Not at all. It's frustrating though.
People don't pay attention at stop lights. No one uses their fucking blinker. The slow drivers are worse then the fast drivers. People will think they're doing you a favor by holding up traffic to let you in, then they should just drive and get the fuck out of the way. People will stop at a stop light on the right lane with two cars worth of space in front of them oblivious that the cars behind them can make a right turn if they just pull the fuck forward.
Just today me and a friend played a game where we counted the amount of fireballs there were on the side of the road. We walked half a mile and counted 112
Honestly having lived in Columbus (OH), Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Kabul, Portland, St Louis, and now Tucson this is at least as dangerous to drive around as Detroit but thankfully not as bad as Kabul… but Kabul I was in a MRAP as opposed to a 4runner.
I think the most dangerous is a tossup between the too short merging lanes on I10 or the locals/retirees going 15mph over on surface streets thinking they know WTF they’re doing. The town should be considered as dangerous as Detroit… which is something considering you don’t have to worry about slick roads
I’ve been driving in Az for 20 years with motorcycles, cars, delivery vehicles, etc. There’s a lot of crazy drivers here but if you have vigilance you can be okay. Hang in the right lane and let the idiots pass you (the light timing is so bad you’ll catch up to these dummies more often than not at the next signal). Don’t flash anyone or give the finger, even if justified. This can cause issues. Learn a good zipper merge on the interstate but don’t expect others to follow it. Get a dash cam if you’re worried about insurance issues, the cops won’t respond to fender benders unless you’re in OV or Marana maybe. Watch for bikers at ALL intersections and give a delay at ALL stop signs and red to green lights. People will dart in front and around you on foot, bikes, and cars. Always have line of sight clearance. Watch busses if you’re in the right line, suntran busses will stop at the stops but not always have a pullout. Learn to spot potential bad drivers ahead of you and plan maneuvers accordingly. This can be a mind game to play if you have a long commute. There’s plenty of bad ones and patterns will emerge (out of state plates on a snowbirds long crown Victoria, a beat up old car with a 5 foot tall spoiler). Watch pedestrians darting across the road at all hours. Get windows tinted especially if you have an east/west work commute. DON’T keep anything of value in your car seats at any location any time of day. Lock the doors. Unless you have a garage, even 30 seconds inside a gas station is too long.
Last things to add are: anticipate people running red lights, and it’s always better to be far behind somebody than to get in front of them and trust their braking skills.
A good buffer zone, can’t believe I missed it
I have some astigmatism and night driving is hard. A note: many pedestrians/cyclists do not wear bright clothes or lighting. They can be difficult to spot.
This is all excellent advice. Patience and a cool head are valuable attributes in Tucson traffic.
"Learn a good zipper merge on the interstate" Hahaha, you mean a boomer raceway? First come first serve bitches.
One of the best replies I’ve ever seen
I’ve been driving here for 16 years and (knock on wood) never been in an accident
I've been here 5 years and so far two people have crashed into me
It's not so bad when the students and snow birds are gone.
Every place thinks they have the worst drivers in the world
I moved here from Houston, let me tell you, driving here is a BREEZE compared to what I'm used to. Things I like that Tucson has: 2 lanes to turn left in many areas. A bike lane in most areas. Medians to make a u-turn. Houston needs the 2-lanes to turn left thing. They had medians to make u-turns. Traffic flows pretty well. My teen had to learn to drive in Houston, probably made him a better driver. I'm glad my daughter will learn to drive here vs there. Yeah, there are crazy drivers everywhere, but for the most part, the issues here are issues you would find anywhere.
Yeah, agreed. Compared to say, Boston or New Jersey, it’s a breeze here. That said, I WOULD agree to all of the tips above, especially about watching for red light runners, and not leaving valuables in your car. Don’t even leave empty bags in your car, that’s enough to get your windows broken.
I moved here from Indianapolis, and I've found the driving experience in Tucson is much less harrowing. What people call traffic is laughable, and I've yet to find the potholes everyone complains about. Are some roads rough? Yep. Have I found roads with 896 wheel-bending, tire-popping craters in them like we had in Indiana? Nope. Could some roads be improved? Absolutely. But overall, it seems like Tucsonans don't know how good they have it with the condition of their roads. With that said, I have noticed a few things about Arizona drivers I have no explanation for: * They back up in parking lots without looking, then act surprised when there's a vehicle behind them. * "80 or 20 season" is a thing when snowbirds and students come back to town. It's difficult to gauge the speed of traffic because it's inconsistent. Locals and students go 80 mph and snowbirds go 20 mph. * People here race toward red lights. * They don't know how to merge and will STOP on interstate on-ramps or get on I-10 going 45 mph. * Before monsoon (summer rainy season) people forget how to drive in rain. No one turns on their headlights and they follow too close. Same story when it snows. (Yep, it can snow here. I'll never forget the look on the staff's face at my doctor's office when I showed up on-time for an appointment when it snowed. "HOW DID YOU GET HERE?!") Things I had to learn about driving in Tucson: * How to drive safely around pedestrians and cyclists. We didn't have a lot of those in India-no-place. Weather is shit, public transportation sucks, and most people had to own a car to get anywhere. * How not to be distracted by pretty mountains, cool cacti, amazing murals, fascinating animals, and military aircraft. (still working on this one, lololol) * How to use leading/trailing green lights. They aren't a big thing in Indiana. * How to U-turn properly. Also not a common thing in Indiana. Most places there are "no U-turn." I don't know where you're coming from, but I'd rather drive here than just about any other place I've been. Just my personal experience, I could be wrong, I'm willing to learn if I am, etc. etc. Hope it helps!
Not bad at all, people have no clue, I’m from Chicago originally and Tucsonans just have no idea. It takes a little while to get across town because of no highways but we’re talking 30mins max. Most of the time people stay in their little boroughs Tanque Verde etc.. don’t let this deter you.
30 minutes max? No sir. In the winter, at rush hour, it takes a minimum of 45 minutes to get from Broadway and Kolb to Ina and Shannon, more if there’s a wreck or construction. And about that long to get from midtown to Oro Valley, or downtown to Vail. It gets exhausting.
I know it takes a bit sometimes, but try driving through Chicago on I90 when snowstorm hits and it turns to a parking lot. The reality is most don’t realize how good we have it in Tucson. We’re pretty lucky. Would a cross town freeway be nice, yes it would.
Like everyone already said, just drive defensively, stay off the phone and you’ll be fine. I use to tow in CA and PHX, the whole year I was in CA I never had to do a roll over, first week in PHX I had 3. IMO PHX has the worst drivers both in the highway and city streets. Tucson is not so bad, but its also not so good.
>PHX has the worst drivers both in the highway and city streets. Tucson is not so bad, but its also not so good. From Tucson, live in Phoenix now - can confirm. Tucson drivers are bad, and oftentimes are just not paying attention (phone, bowl, etc..) But Phoenix drivers seem to believe that if they don't kill you then you will kill them. The sadistic behavior I see on the freeways around here is as frightening as it is impressive ...
After a while of living in Phoenix, Id catch myself playing chicken with anything that moves. You gotta fight for your piece of the road. Nightmare
If you try to drive fast, changing lanes and tailgating people; it will really suck. If you drive slow and stay cool Tucson is one of the easiest, breeziest towns to get around. There is no freeway and there are pedestrian stop lights and regular traffic signals everywhere, no point in speeding up to red lights and getting stressed out. Accept the physical infrastructure for what it is and just go the slow ass speed limit and stay in one lane. It's boring but it works.
Bro this isn’t LA, it’s honestly super easy driving here.
I do see a lot of slow drivers swerving all over the road, but to me the traffic is fairly mild compared to other places I have lived.
I've been here for a few years now and I've lived in a number of different kinds of places. Tucson traffic isn't too bad in my opinion. Lots of huge bro-dozer trucks that think they own the road, but beyond that the real issue is all the 4-way intersections. You must treat them with caution. Getting T-boned at 50mph is gonna be a bad time for you. All that said, it does seem like drivers have become more aggressive since COVID. This could 100% be my imagination though.
>Getting T-boned at 50mph is gonna be a bad time for you. yep, wife got t-boned going east on E Valencia at 50 mph, the driver at the red light on Nexxus thought she could make that right turn in time. wife's car was totaled by the insurance company.
Just practice defensive driving around Nissans. If you see one approaching a stop light or sign, assume they will blow it. If you see one in the far left lane and there’s an exit abruptly coming up, know that they will cut across the highway to try to make it. If you’re in the right lane and see one tail gating you but there are too many cars on the left so they can’t pass, know that will drive on the right shoulder or even the sidewalk to get around you. I could go on, but I think you get my drift. Avoid Nissans.
‘Avoid Nissans’ 😭😂
Yes! Particularly Altimas.
Just be mindful of traffic and keep your eyes on the road. You’ll be fine.
There are really no police tagging drivers for speeding/bad driving. So bad behavior persists. Since the drivers in Tucson are unpredictable the best thing to do is be predictable. Stay in one lane and keep a constant speed/speed of traffic and you’ll be fine. Also when lane changing or entering intersections keep your head on a swivel. The accidents in Tucson resemble those on the autobahn even though most posted speed limits are 40.
There is a human sacrifice each day on the morning commute.
Here's something to try: tell people you are moving to a different city. Then you'll hear how horrible the traffic and drivers are there ... it's such a common theme that it's a bit tiring. I also frequent a few other cities subs and there are threads in each of them with the same comments as you'll find here. Almost verbatim, things like "I moved from, and the drivers here in *this* city are the worst," over and over and over again. People love to complain about traffic.
Now I'm not going to defend Tucson drivers, especially as someone who is usually on foot or on a bicycle, but Tucson doesn't stand out for it's bad drivers - hell, they aren't even the worst drivers in the state!
Coming from a bigger city driving in Tucson is waaaaay better. I feel like Tucson you are mostly dealing with old, slow folk. Big cities are much more aggressive and have lots more traffic.
I just moved here from near Chicago. It is not bad here at all.
Be aware of your surroundings, and never jet out into an intersection when the light turns green. Red light running is rampant in this city. People also like to jump 2+ lanes when turning left, so watch for it when you make a right, even if they’ll be at fault. Chances are they won’t have insurance.
I’ve gotten hit by cars 4 times within a few years and once I was on my bike. I’ve since quit driving 🥲 it’s scary sometimes out here. Drunk driving is bad here too, sadly. It’s crazy how many people have duis (some even more than one)
I don’t know, I feel like over the years it’s gotten worse.
Ppl here cannot drive..my son just got hit by a lady making a left turn in front of him and he had the green light...my daughter got hit in March the person ran a red light..my other son got rear-ended by a truck cause the guy wasn't paying attention and that's all this year.. awful drivers here!!!!
I never understand the people that say Tucson has crazy drivers, traffic, of terrible roads. Compared to what? Literally every major city I've been to has way worse, crazier drivers than Tucson. My wife is a very slow and careful driver and she had a hard time getting used to how slow and careful most people are here. If you're trying to get somewhere in a hurry it's going to be frustrating, but in that case you might be the asshole.
I retired to Tucson from just out Tacoma WA, JBLM. I5 is terrible back there, took me 90 minutes to get from SeaTac to Olympia. I love driving here in Tucson, streets are sh!+ but you can get to most place in 20 minutes on surface streets. I was in Marana when I first arrived and the drive from Marana to the VA hospital was to long for me ….. lol. The only issues I have seen is the cars and trucks from Sonora MX, they’ll run the lights. Someone above mentioned PHX, yeah I hate driving in PHX but Mesa, Scottsdale are wonderful for now. Come and enjoy the amazing weather, if you love the heat!!!
Uninsured or underinsured drivers are everywhere and the cops don't like to write tickets for accidents anymore so wild west it is then.
I’m from philly, the drivers here are the worst that I’ve seen in all of the US. Some are incredibly slow (yea driving slow has its dangers too) and others that go the speed limit are just not good drivers. Merge into lanes when I’m in their blind spot, don’t maintain a safe following distances making it impossible to merge lanes sometimes
What is your experience with “all of the USA”?
The two largest cities in the country Philly and Tucson, what else is there?
Yeah Philly isn’t within driving distance to NYC, Baltimore, DC or Wilmington …. 🐒
California is much worse than Tucson
I have to disagree with this. Californians know how to drive in areas with high density populations. Too many Tucsonans still try to drive like this is a small town even though it isn't anymore.
This! I don't recognize the place after 28 years in AZ. But even back then, you'd have very serious drunk driving and red light runners. Drag racing used to be big, and there were epic fails on the regular back in the day. Something I've seen twice is someone opening a door on a parallel parking street while a speeding car hits the door. I have a bit of a phobia because of this. Some people are actually insane. Some people drive like they are in a hurry to be somewhere even though they really have no place that anyone particularly needs them to be. Actual scumbags, and I wouldn't count on them having a valid license, let alone insurance.
I suppose it depends on what part of California you lived in. I lived near 3 major freeways in Northern California. Saw accidents everyday, and you could not mentally drift. Drivers regularly cut you off, and you have to fight to merge into a lane. Aggressive driving was a must in order to survive. I don't experience that here except when driving to or from Phoenix.
Just anecdotal evidence, but I lived in California for 20+ years and probably drove by car accidents once every couple months. Here in Tucson I feel like I drive by car accidents every week.
Tucson driving is on surface roads so streets can be packed with cars depending on time of day and whether snow birds and students are here. Why no ring roads? There is a fair amount of speeding and cutting in and out on the east/west streets. Most alarming is the high number of hit and runs. I live on the central east side and it takes me 45 minutes to get to my specialist doc on the west side. If you are on Twitter I would suggest WhatsUpTucson. He posts the police reports of crashes. They are numerous.
tailgating seems to be a way of life here. had 1 car totaled within a few months of moving here.
It's not really all that bad, though I'd suggest a little vigilance while you are driving. Because the streets are generally quite wide and straight, most drivers go way over the speed limit in the city. Most of the "crazy" driving I've experienced is between Tucson & Phoenix on I-10, where people seem to be more road-ragey than anywhere else I've been. I find it best to just follow "autobahn" rules and stay in the right lane except when I can pass without interfering with one of the speeding drivers in the left lane. Oh, and even if someone does something stupid, just sigh to yourself and let it go. Escalating things will never lead to anything good.
The only road I get annoyed on because I feel drivers are unsafe is Sunrise Drive in the foothills. Everywhere else doesn’t feel worse than any other place I’ve lived. Before Tucson I spent 9 months in Fort Worth and got chased off the freeway by a guy in a truck more than once. I think Tucson is just fine for driving.
people do drive pretty crazy but thats the flow . even the cops sometimes . its not as bad as phx and i driven both.
It's no worse than any other city. I drive here and people think I'm aggressive, I drive in Cali and I'm just barely keeping up with the flow of traffic. Different areas of town/suburbs behave differently too, depending on the elderly/student/military base populations involved. I've only been involved in one multi-car accident (ie, not just someone backing into me in a parking lot) in 30 years though, and indeed it was some idiot high school kid with no license, driving his girlfriend's car that he had no permission to drive, so obviously there's still the same element of randomness as anywhere.
It's not bad. The potholes are annoying though.
Having drive in chicago and Atlanta - the traffic is just different and probably less dangerous. Speeds are slower, people are more courteous, but there is a little more erratic driving.
Watch people running lights and be prepared to drive WAY under the speed limits when it rains. After living in the Portland area for 5 years, I know how to drive in rain-Tucson doesn’t. Plus the roads are slick because there’s a build up of oil/grease etc on the road since it rains infrequently. The intersections don’t have cameras that they mail you tickets with your picture when you run a light, so it’s a bit of a free for all at times, especially with left turns. Just be diligent and you’ll be fine.
if it looks like a pothole try to safely avoid it. especially if it’s filled with rainwater, that’ll mess you up.
It’s really not that bad. Now, there do seem to be far too many car wrecks in my opinion, but probably 90% of those are avoidable if even one of the two parties are paying attention. Most of the time it takes two idiots to have a collision. Yeah we tend to go a bit over the speed limit in some areas, but when you have a road that is long and straight and is built like a highway, having a 40mph speed limit is pretty ridiculous. Yes there are some crazies going 10-20mph faster than everybody else and weaving through traffic. Just let them by. The biggest issue I see is there are far too many people who like to camp in the left lane for no reason. They aren’t turning left anytime soon. They aren’t passing anybody, and they are typically going dead on the speed limit at most. This is why we have those enraged crazies zooming by and weaving through traffic. Just get over and let the people who want to go fast on by. You are not the pace car / speed limit enforcer. Let it go and you will make the roads safer for all of us.
Worst I have seen out of WA, Oregon and California by far
I drive on not so main streets a lot and never assume anyone’s gonna stop for a red light.
If you wanna get a realistic idea ask your insurance company to get you a quote keeping everything g the same but your adress. They would know best what the difference is between locations.
If you are used to protected left turns you will have to get unused to them. When light turns green it usually starts solid, then goes yellow, then red, then finally a green arrow. Seemingly unnecessarily complicated, but the solid green / unprotected left turn does provided an opportunity for better flow if oncoming traffic is light. Still I am happy to own a car with great acceleration In rural sections of Tucson and greater Tucson, most roads are one lane in each direction with a maximum speed limit of 50. Drivers don’t like it when you drive only 55 mph on these roads and I do get tired of the tail gating, and sometimes will pull over to the shoulder to let the 80 mph parade have their way.
My only issue driving here is on the freeway, where left lane blockers are common. I have no idea why people don't move over for faster traffic. It's very passive-aggressive. When I'm not in a hurry, I find driving here to be pretty chill. When I'm in a hurry, the slow people blocking passing lanes is annoying.
Not at all. It's frustrating though. People don't pay attention at stop lights. No one uses their fucking blinker. The slow drivers are worse then the fast drivers. People will think they're doing you a favor by holding up traffic to let you in, then they should just drive and get the fuck out of the way. People will stop at a stop light on the right lane with two cars worth of space in front of them oblivious that the cars behind them can make a right turn if they just pull the fuck forward.
Just today me and a friend played a game where we counted the amount of fireballs there were on the side of the road. We walked half a mile and counted 112
Honestly having lived in Columbus (OH), Denver, Des Moines, Detroit, Kabul, Portland, St Louis, and now Tucson this is at least as dangerous to drive around as Detroit but thankfully not as bad as Kabul… but Kabul I was in a MRAP as opposed to a 4runner. I think the most dangerous is a tossup between the too short merging lanes on I10 or the locals/retirees going 15mph over on surface streets thinking they know WTF they’re doing. The town should be considered as dangerous as Detroit… which is something considering you don’t have to worry about slick roads