Rhode Islanders are Very Bad Drivers

It might seem that I have donned my Master of the Obvious cap with that statement, but bear with me on this rare rant.

It's no secret that much of what passes for normal here in Rhode Island would never fly anywhere else on the planet - our political corruption, our unwillingness to drive more than 5 miles from home, our lack of street signs, the rampant lack of infrastructure - but the driving situation has crossed into another league. In my own observation, it seems to be getting progressively worse over time.

Spend any time here and you will witness the deficiencies of RI driving. They exist in many forms. There is the failure to stay in a single lane, the blatant running of red lights and stop signs (I recently saw a Johnson & Wales bus go through a stop sign without even slowing down), the tailgating, the generalized aggressive behavior (sometimes with the inclusion of hand gestures and/or the shouting of obscenities), the shotgun left turns at lights (when oncoming traffic has the right of way), the obnoxious parking jobs, the stopping in the middle of the road, the stopping and backing up in the middle of the road (usually involves a missed turn; sometimes occurs on the highway when an exit is missed), the refusal to respect crosswalks, and the cutting off of other motorists.

Yesterday I saw 2 different cars on 2 separate occasions going the wrong way down a one way street - the street on which I happen to live. I took it upon myself to inform these drivers of the errors of their ways and they turned around, but not before giving me a vacant stare and muttering something. What is wrong with people? Don't get behind the wheel if you are not currently inhabiting your body.

All the bad driving makes it interesting to be on a bike or on foot here. Not only do you have to worry about actually getting hit by a vehicle, you sometimes even have to put up with random verbal assault. We were crossing the street in a crosswalk (yes, we had a "walk" signal) and this aggressive woman in this behemoth of a vehicle nearly hit us - full speed ahead. She was supposed to be the one to stop; she had a red light. So what does she proceed to do? Apologize? Surely you jest. No, she did not say she was sorry and wrong. She screamed out the window at the Dinnerman and me, "Fat ass!" "Cunt!". We are still all PTSD-ing about that one.
You can't leave the house.

Don't get me wrong; I love this state. Well, sometimes it's more of a love/hate thing, but what can you expect? After 35 years we know each other well; Rhode Island and I have a complicated past. For such a small landmass there is so much beautiful coast. There is stunning architecture. RI is laden with history. We have delicious native fruits and veggies growing throughout the year. But it is clearly not normal.

Maybe that's why I've stayed.