Rude, rude Idaho

Like everyone else, when I want to be amused, I go to the Internet.

Funniest story ever: Idaho has the rudest drivers. And California didn’t make the top 10 list.

Sounds like a prank story to me.

I love you California. You are my native state and the place I’ve returned to live. But…

I’ve been to most of the states that make up the top 10 list –Washington D.C. and New York come next – and they have nothing on the craziness of driving on California roadways. It’s not just the semis, which seem intent on running me off the road, but the everyday drivers that scare me. There was the driver who tried to force me off the road and then flipped me off.

It’s a daily battlefield on the freeways. Pedestrians and bicyclists beware on all other roadways. Driving defensively will get you killed – driving aggressively is the only way to stay alive.

Meanwhile, back in Idaho…

I’ve never met such polite drivers. I’m waved in when I want to merge. Drivers stop for pedestrians (unlike cab drivers in New York, who nudged my knees with their bumpers when I crossed at crosswalks). People rarely honk their horns. Frankly, it’s a relief to drive the roadways here.

One writer suggests that it’s because Idaho drivers are so polite – driving the speed limit, slowing for other drivers to merge, etc -- that they are considered rude by everyone else who wants to speed on by.

Ok. I’ll buy that.