London Drivers Are Selfish

[tyeman200]

Like why does everyone in this city drive super slow and always under the limit? It drives me insane.

We live in a city with NO expressway, NO decent road infrastructure, NO ringroad, and NO great way to get around the city. Yet everyone drives like we live in a small city like St. Thomas, when our population is well over 500k, maybe getting to 600k soon.

When are people going to drive like it's a large city? When are people going to learn this is a large city now, and nowwhere near a small town? I go to the GTA and I love it because everyone goes faster, they zipper merge, and no one wastes your time on the road. They understand that they don't want to sit in traffic all day.

I also don't understand why some of you act like driving is hard. Driving is literally one of the easiest things you can do. If you can't understand 2 pedals, a steering wheel, and to pay attention, you shouldn't drive.

It just seems like no one in London cares at all. No one cares to have better roads and not sit in traffic all day. Everyone here seems to love taking 30 minutes to get from South London to Downtown.

[GreatTallNorth2]

Next time, please don’t hold back on your thoughts.

I don’t think London drivers are any different than any other city. We have the crappy infrastructure that we have and we drive accordingly. I dont want to live in a city that allows people to drive 30 km/hour over. Instead make the roads better.

[haljackey]

The most frustrating spot for me is Highbury southbound south of Hamilton when the short freeway stretch begins. It's 100, and a lot of the time I can't even get to 60 before the hill begins south of the river. That's when things start to get a little faster- maybe 80, but accelerating on a hill is stupid as its bad fuel economy and hard on your engine.

Funny thing Highbury often operates well over 100 northbound- people are used to freeway speeds from the 401 I guess? Big contrast between the directions.

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As for speed limits elsewhere in town, I have seen a mix and I guess it depends on where you are and what the traffic is like. I find Fanshawe, Commissioners and Wonderland flow at speed when there's moderate traffic, for example. Many roads have been reduced to 40 and it feels super slow doing that speed on them since the design of the road hasn't changed, just the sign.

An example is Cheapside east of Highbury where it felt comfortable doing 80 in a 60 zone as the driving lane is wide and straight. They reduced it from 60 to 40 to try and slow people down without making any changes in road design. Hahaha no.

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For my driving habits, if I see the light ahead change from green to red I'm goona take my foot off the pedal and coast to it, so yes I will be below the speed limit for that stretch. It's fun to see people try to lane change accelerate to the red light, slam on the brakes, then come to a stop when the light turns green, meanwhile I'm still doing 20-30 and easily pass them.

[MolsonExport]

Driver found guilty of all counts in London, Ont., crash that killed 8-year-old girl guide and injured 7

During the trial, court heard McNorgan drove her Honda CRV westbound through the intersection of Wonderland Road and Riverside Drive at high speed on the evening of Nov. 30, 2021.

As McNorgan's car travelled through the intersection, reaching speeds of 121 km/h, she clipped the back bumper of a Jeep stopped at the red light. From there, her car continued through the intersection, struck a light pole, and slammed into a group of Girl Guides and their chaperones as they walked on a sidewalk.

[MolsonExport]

Selfish drivers in London:

1) Assholic pickup truck drivers, tailgating with their massive grills covering your rear window. Often with extremely and unnecessarily (deliberate?) loud vehicle exhaust systems. Gesticulating as they pass you by, en route to Timmies for another Quadruple-Quadruple.

2) Assholic motorcycle drivers, driving double the limit with impunity, usually at night, in groups, and with modified gaspack mufflers. One bike disturbing the peace of tens of thousands of residents.

I hate driving in the GTA (and I am from Montreal, land of the loony drivers), because people drive like irresponsible assholes at very high speed.

[HuronZephyr]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Selfish drivers in London:

1) Assholic pickup truck drivers, tailgating with their massive grills covering your rear window. Often with extremely and unnecessarily (deliberate?) loud vehicle exhaust systems. Gesticulating as they pass you by, en route to Timmies for another Quadruple-Quadruple.

2) Assholic motorcycle drivers, driving double the limit with impunity, usually at night, in groups, and with modified gaspack mufflers. One bike disturbing the peace of tens of thousands of residents.

I hate driving in the GTA (and I am from Montreal, land of the loony drivers), because people drive like irresponsible assholes at very high speed.

Let's not forget the assholic BMW, Mercedes and Audi drivers who also drive badly because they think they're better than everyone else because they drive one of those marques of vehicles.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by GreatTallNorth2

I don’t think London drivers are any different than any other city. We have the crappy infrastructure that we have and we drive accordingly. I dont want to live in a city that allows people to drive 30 km/hour over. Instead make the roads better.

I agree. That is basically the point I'm trying to get across. Problem is the road infrastructure hasn't changed much. We have all these new people, all want to drive because transit sucks, and it just causes heartache to our roads.

You go to Kitchener/Waterloo/Cambridge, around 5pm on a weekday, driving around isn't even bad. You got many expressways, Hwy 7 and 8, and then Homer Watson, one way roads with mutli lanes like Erb St, LRT, the difference is night and day. Only time it got kinda bad was when King Street was under construction, but I just took Homer Watson to bypass it and it was fine.

You can't do those things in London. Around 5pm it's a shitshow wherever you go, mainly because of the on going construction everywhere.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Selfish drivers in London:

1) Assholic pickup truck drivers, tailgating with their massive grills covering your rear window. Often with extremely and unnecessarily (deliberate?) loud vehicle exhaust systems. Gesticulating as they pass you by, en route to Timmies for another Quadruple-Quadruple.

2) Assholic motorcycle drivers, driving double the limit with impunity, usually at night, in groups, and with modified gaspack mufflers. One bike disturbing the peace of tens of thousands of residents.

I hate driving in the GTA (and I am from Montreal, land of the loony drivers), because people drive like irresponsible assholes at very high speed.

I actually liked driving in Montreal. Granted yeah you gotta watch out constantly, especially those bikers who come out of nowhere going faster than you, but I thought it was decent for the size of the city. Maybe I went during a decent time.

I agree with all those points. I like going a bit over the limit (20 max usually), but I hate those people who always want to go 30 or 50 over, usually a pickup truck too.

But I find a lot of these assholes are like that due to the slow drivers who clog up the main roads, and in turn makes these people crazy. London just needs a ton of new road infrastructure, intersections and roads that make sense and create better traffic flow. Right now, London is a clusterfuck of stroads and random streets that make no sense or just abruply stop.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by haljackey

As for speed limits elsewhere in town, I have seen a mix and I guess it depends on where you are and what the traffic is like. I find Fanshawe, Commissioners and Wonderland flow at speed when there's moderate traffic, for example. Many roads have been reduced to 40 and it feels super slow doing that speed on them since the design of the road hasn't changed, just the sign.

An example is Cheapside east of Highbury where it felt comfortable doing 80 in a 60 zone as the driving lane is wide and straight. They reduced it from 60 to 40 to try and slow people down without making any changes in road design. Hahaha no.

That is my issue too. The city just lowering speed limits with no change or anything to road design. People just do the same speeds still.

My least favourite spot is Wharncliffe South, from Exeter to Lambeth, and from Wonderland to Southdale. City reduced the speed limit going to Lambeth to 60, yet people still go 80 or higher, and I don't blame them. Then you got Wharcliffe North past Wonderland, the limit is 80 and people struggle here to actually get to 80, usually going 70. BUT, when the speed limit drops to 60 at Bradley, then everyone wants to go 80 or 90 all of a sudden. I don't get it.

Why drop limits if no one is going to enforce them or care?

[Doady]

Yeah, people in the GTA drive keep their foot on the gas all the way to the red light or stop sign, and then hit the brakes at the last second. Very good drivers. So selfless, they waste their so much money on gas like that. No wonder they are imposing 30 km/h limits on most side streets now.

I doubt takes 30 minutes for even a bus to get from any part of London to downtown, let alone a car. 30 minutes in GTA is like driving from Mississauga to Hamilton.

According to LTC schedule, a bus on route 90 takes 21 minutes to get from White Oaks Mall to Queens Avenue. Perhaps you should contact them and inform them of their error?

[MrSlippery519]

Originally Posted by tyeman200

That is my issue too. The city just lowering speed limits with no change or anything to road design. People just do the same speeds still.

My least favourite spot is Wharncliffe South, from Exeter to Lambeth, and from Wonderland to Southdale. City reduced the speed limit going to Lambeth to 60, yet people still go 80 or higher, and I don't blame them. Then you got Wharcliffe North past Wonderland, the limit is 80 and people struggle here to actually get to 80, usually going 70. BUT, when the speed limit drops to 60 at Bradley, then everyone wants to go 80 or 90 all of a sudden. I don't get it.

Why drop limits if no one is going to enforce them or care?

This I agree with, far to many roads in the city have speed limits that make no sense at all. Add in very little or no enforcement, you have some people wanting to drive 80 in a 50 which is likely the correct speed and others going 65 to try and remain within the limits.

Hyde Park and Westdel Bourne both do this, randomly drops to a 50, should be 60 at minimum and most are driving closer to 80.

[tyeman200]

WHY CAN'T LONDON DRIVERS LEARN OR JUST STAY OFF THE ROAD?

Today I was on Wharncliffe on the 80 section, going 90 like I am allowed to, and some inconsiderate white delivery truck pulls out of the Petro Canada and cuts me off. Then decides to hog the left lane all the way to Lambeth so I can't pass them.

THEN, the driver in front of me lets the guy in! Like WTF. I'm getting so sick of London drivers and being so selfless. BE SELFISH. Especially on that stretch of Wharncliffe going to Lambeth when it turns into 1 lane.

EVERYONE knows it goes to 1 lane. STOP letting people in. YOU all need to make them suffer until there is a clearing for them to pull in, or they turn left instead. You stupid drivers letting these selfish people in, made my day way worse now.

Now I get to have a bad day, and the delivery driver learned no lesson and will probably keep cutting people off and doing shitty things. People in this city need to have a backbone and stop being selfless. Drivers going straight have the ultimate right of way. A turn signal does not indicate anything. The driver has to ensure the way is clear before turning or merging, no one has ANY obligation to let you in. You as the merging driver need to be paitent and wait your turn.

WHY is this such a hard concept for people? Also, I really wish people would give up driving. If you are just driving to and from work, you do not need a car, you should invest in public transportation. Only people who should drive to work, are the people who are going to use their car multiple times in a day.

I'm really thinking of moving to the Tri City area soon. Their infrastructure is ages ahead of London, transit is far better, and drivers aren't selfish. Not to mention the plentiful expressways and main roads that are 70km or 80km. London needs to do better and be like the rest of these cities.

[MolsonExport]

I dunno. Everytime I drive to Toronto, there is a traffic jam on the 401 through KW. Every stinking time.

Aside from the rapid transit (which I agree is meritorious), I don't think KW has much to teach London. It is perhaps even more sprawly and filled with even more ugly substandard/banal highrises.

[haljackey]

Ya Driver's Ed taught me to be an assertive driver. Assume everyone around you is an asshole or absent minded and drive defensively. Give yourself plenty of space / following distance at all times to account for the unexpected so you have sufficient reaction time.

Despite all the public effort to try and teach London drivers how to merge properly, most are not getting the message. The lane ending is empty for a considerable distance with the continuing lane backed up so far it blocks the next intersection further down. If you're planning to turn at this intersection and see your lane completely full of cars with the other lane empty, its very annoying.

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience that ruined your day. I do agree we see mostly passive drivers here, along with some typical crazy aggressive drivers. Those who actually drive properly are part of a shrinking minority it seems.

You're going to see pretty much the same behavior anywhere around here, but yeah at least K-W has a decent, reliable way to get those cross-town drives completed without too much fuss.

[Djeffery]

Kind of a funny rant. One on hand, someone was aggressive and made their own way, but that pisses the OP off, who also wishes drivers weren't such pussies and would be more aggressive.

Funny, we were in New York City a couple weeks ago and I had to tell my wife to stop being so Canadian. Out on the sidewalk, walk with purpose. If you want to stop and take a picture, step to the side. No one is expecting you to be nice, so just get moving when it's your turn. I tell you, I would hate to drive there, but the best $80 I ever spent was on the cab ride from LaGuardia to our hotel in Times Square. An hour of terror lol.

[tyeman200]

I'm honestly at my tipping point.

WHY does everyone insist on going slow on main roads? I'm getting so sick of the selfish slow drivers here in London, almost always 50+ and old. Like what is your issue? You already lived the best decades and got everything handed on a silver platter, why do you need to clog up London roads going 20 under the limit?

Like it's just unfair. It took me 42 minutes to get from Wonderland and Oxford to Sunningdale and Richmond. That is ridiculous. All because people here think main roads should be max 50, I'm so fucking sick of it. Main roads should be 70 minimum, if you want to go 50, use the side roads. Every other city gets it, why is London the only city that wants to be this way?

I was looking to buy a house in London, but now I'm looking elsewhere. If London doesn't want to change and people want to continue going slow because they can't just stop being selfish, then I just don't want to raise a family here. No point when roads suck, it takes so long to get anywhere here, the city council doesn't want to do anything about transit and making it better and people just don't want to suck it up and take transit.

[Djeffery]

Respectfully, how do you know it was some 50 something blocking the road? You can see who is front of you, it's doubtful it was wide open road in front of them, or for the next several miles in front of the next one. The person in front of you is going 50 because there is traffic and you can't go any faster, not because they don't want to. This is a strange rant

[north 42]

Originally Posted by tyeman200

I'm honestly at my tipping point.

WHY does everyone insist on going slow on main roads? I'm getting so sick of the selfish slow drivers here in London, almost always 50+ and old. Like what is your issue? You already lived the best decades and got everything handed on a silver platter, why do you need to clog up London roads going 20 under the limit?

Like it's just unfair. It took me 42 minutes to get from Wonderland and Oxford to Sunningdale and Richmond. That is ridiculous. All because people here think main roads should be max 50, I'm so fucking sick of it. Main roads should be 70 minimum, if you want to go 50, use the side roads. Every other city gets it, why is London the only city that wants to be this way?

I was looking to buy a house in London, but now I'm looking elsewhere. If London doesn't want to change and people want to continue going slow because they can't just stop being selfish, then I just don't want to raise a family here. No point when roads suck, it takes so long to get anywhere here, the city council doesn't want to do anything about transit and making it better and people just don't want to suck it up and take transit.

You sound like an impatient asshole, get over yourself already! People like you make driving in the city unsafe, not the people who are actually driving appropriately.

[tyeman200]

Originally Posted by north 42

You sound like an impatient asshole, get over yourself already! People like you make driving in the city unsafe, not the people who are actually driving appropriately.

How about mind your business? You live in Windsor that has expressways, 3 lane roads, better infrastructure etc. London has NONE of that.

Slow drivers and selfish pricks who wanna hold up multiple lanes of traffic are the reason this city is VERY unsafe.

In other cities, everyone uses the right lane to go slow and the left lane is for faster drivers. Other cities understand that Ontario's speed limits are set so you can usually go 20 over and no cop will pull you over.

In London, everyone is selfish. People love to sit beside each other on mutli lane roads, going under the limit so people behind can't pass or do anything, it's incredibly selfish and causes a lot of road rage. Which is illegal too, the MTO drivers Ed book says you are never allowed to be near another car on the road, as you are in their blind spot. You need to be at least 3m away from any car, and you should have your own space so you can make decisions easier.

This is why a ton of pileups and mutli vehicle accidents happen in London, everyone is too close to each other. People need to spread out. People also need to learn the speed limits.

I work in Lambeth and am so tired of taking Wharncliffe Road. People need to learn from Bradley Road all the way to Savoy Road its 80km/h, and you can legally go 100km/h. Many times I get stuck in this stretch by selfish people going 70 or under. It's ridiculous, don't use a main road if you can't go the speed of it.

London is the most selfish and ignorant city in Ontario. Everywhere else is tons better because drivers don't go 20 under or selfishly hog lanes. Other cities also have expressways, freeways, better transit, etc. London just lacks as a city and I am leaving soon for a better life in another city. I just can't take the selfishness anymore here. I can't take the people who don't want change cause in their tiny minds, London is a small city still.

I really could care less what anyone on here thinks of me because of this. I'm not the issue, I used to try to be paitent and nice here as a driver and every single time, it has bitten me in the ass or screwed me over.

[bolognium]

Originally Posted by tyeman200

London just lacks as a city and I am leaving soon for a better life in another city.

See ya!