Raleigh Traffic Rant

Longrifle

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I drove to Harrisburg PA Thursday and back Friday. Saw six lanes on 95 turn into a parking lot for 15 minutes at least 5 times because some idiot was getting a ticket. Kept my 45 in my lap both ways. If I had to do it again tomorrow I think I'd consider using it on myself first.
 

roundball

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
While I don't like the obvious down side of being so old I'm retired, I sure don't miss those commutes !
Fixing early morning coffee, I'm reminded every day seeing the bumper-to-bumper headlights off in the distance through the trees.....one of the great parts of retirement !
:)
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
I have come across another phenomenon with the Raleigh traffic scene. I can only assume it is customary for women on Indian origin to not pull up when first at an intersection? Is that part of drivers education now? 3 times in the past week I have been stuck in a turn lane because they will not pull up to trigger the light. You would think after 3 cycles they would understand. Usually I have to be the jerk that pulls around them to trigger the light. On a separate note, I need my NCHAF sticker so the offenders know where to complain online.

The sticker should have been delivered by now.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
NCst8guy= oldtimer.....Haha Hahahah....
That's a first.. ???

That kind of irks me! Oldtimer? Dude, I'll whip someone so bad they'll PROMISE the EMT's there was 4 of me! lol. Guess I need to work on my obituary.

Seems to me that anyone older than 9 who hasn't realized the change in Raleigh traffic, has had their head buried into some mysterious black rectangle every day that mommy or daddy has driven them to day care.

I am very curious though about the cement deposits at intersections. Some of which are so large, I can not split, I hit them with both sets of tires. How is that possible, or legal?
 

jug

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I dont mind the Cary area. My wife and I drive up about twice a month on the weekends.
 

bigten

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
That kind of irks me! Oldtimer? Dude, I'll whip someone so bad they'll PROMISE the EMT's there was 4 of me! lol. Guess I need to work on my obituary.

Seems to me that anyone older than 9 who hasn't realized the change in Raleigh traffic, has had their head buried into some mysterious black rectangle every day that mommy or daddy has driven them to day care.

I am very curious though about the cement deposits at intersections. Some of which are so large, I can not split, I hit them with both sets of tires. How is that possible, or legal?

Maybe the dot trying to slow people down enough that they wouldn't run red lights?? ?
 

QBD2

Old Mossy Horns
Granted, I don't live in Raleigh. Or even commute to or through it regularly. But I go often enough to know that it's fairly annoying in the traffic department. But it doesn't suck.

Atlanta, DC, NYC, Philly, Jersey, Boston, St Louis, etc...these places suck. In my experience.
 

richard corn

Ten Pointer
We lived in Raleigh from 70 to 2005 when we retired to Wilmington. When I go back for the DDC or the NCSU Wild Game Dinner I am soooo glad not to live there any more. It was a great place to live back then before any beltlines and the only road to Chapel Hill was 54. I hate driving up there now and if I'm visiting my sons I let them chauffeur me around, like I did for them for years. Like several others said it ain't going to get any better, ever. I laugh when I catch the traffic report down here on local tv. They get excited if there's a one cycle delay on 17 coming into town at one intersection. Now in the tourist season it can get a bit hairy, especially if you get behind one that doesn't know what's where. But being retired I can choose when or if I get out there in it, which is usually not to. As for the red light issue, there was a line in the movie Chisulm where Pat Garrett is talking with Billy the Kid about being patient. He says, "I've got the patience of an oyster." That's me when I drive and if some young buck flies up behind me on my tailgate, you know what I'm going to do. I'll slow down to a crawl and tap on the brakes every now and then sometimes while flipping my turn signal off and on in either direction. When they eventually pass I just give them a great big smile and keep puttering along. Makes my day.
passive road rage. I love it
 

bryguy

Old Mossy Horns
Lol...if you think Raleigh traffic is bad, you should see the Dallas-Ft Worth area during rush hour or Boston.....those 2 areas put Raleigh traffic in perspective for me big time....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

DC-DXT

Twelve Pointer
Lol...if you think Raleigh traffic is bad, you should see the Dallas-Ft Worth area during rush hour or Boston.....those 2 areas put Raleigh traffic in perspective for me big time....

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I’ll fly into Manchester airport to avoid Boston traffic.
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
I'm not comparing RTP traffic to other cities where a 15 mile commute is literally 1.5-2 hours. I know as bad as Raleigh is, it's pale in comparison to true nightmarish cities (which I've worked in).

I'm just noticing the changes in Raleigh traffic, and the attitudes of the drivers, over the last 2 decades.
 

Triggernosis

Ten Pointer
I'm not comparing RTP traffic to other cities where a 15 mile commute is literally 1.5-2 hours. I know as bad as Raleigh is, it's pale in comparison to true nightmarish cities (which I've worked in).

I'm just noticing the changes in Raleigh traffic, and the attitudes of the drivers, over the last 2 decades.
Exactly. And I've noticed a significant difference just in the past 5 years it seems.
Folks are in so much of a hurry and are RUDE. I drive in from Wilson every day and it's just nuts. Less than 4 yrs before I reach my full 30-year retirement from the state government, and it can come soon enough!
 

aya28ga

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
I was thinking about this thread as I was walking my dog this morning; three miles and had seven vehicles go by us. Oh, the joys of retirement & country living!!
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
I was thinking about this thread as I was walking my dog this morning; three miles and had seven vehicles go by us. Oh, the joys of retirement & country living!!

The first time I took my wife to Harkers Island we were setting outside grilling the day's catch and she said she liked the traffic there. I asked what traffic and she said there had been 6 boats go by our dock and only 3 cars down the road. That's my kind of traffic!

<>< Fish
 

DuckyDave

Eight Pointer
Contributor
The traffic light cameras we're a good way to reduce the number of drivers running red lights. Should have kept them, although my wife got a ticket when we lived in Cary. Glad we retired to Carteret County, hurricanes and all...
 

302cj

Old Mossy Horns
I think the worst I have been in was Miami. I was in Raleigh Saturday night. It's amazing how many people were on the phone while driving.
 

Soilman

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
When I worked in Warren Co., I occasionally had to make trips to our State Office in Raleigh. I found that if I waited until 8am to leave my office, I would cut down on my "sitting in traffic" time drastically. It probably saved me 20-30 minutes of "drive time". Still, every time I had to go to Raleigh, I'd thank God for NOT making me live in that mess!
Presently, I'm facing a move to Fayetteville. Biggest town I've worked in since I started my job over 30 years ago. However, my office will be on the south side of Fayetteville. Folks keep wanting to show us houses on every other side of Fayetteville, but I'm staunch on it being in southern Cumberland or northern Bladen County so I don't have to drive all the way through town to get back and forth to work.

Now, if you really want to have a warm and fuzzy feeling about Raleigh traffic, spend a few days in Charlotte.
 

Roanoke

Eight Pointer
You know a place has been taken over by Yankees when you start hearing horns at traffic jams. People from the South have better manners and lay off the horns. I read in the paper that they are considering a commuter train that runs to CH, Durham, RDU International, RTP and Downtown Raleigh.
 
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What irritates me is on 540 every day is the idiots that drive 90 miles an hour in the left lane, get to their exit and slam on brakes and put their turn signal on. They knew their exit was coming up miles ago. These idiots are the reason that a highway with no stop lights or stop signs comes to a dead stop at rush hour. I have many more complaints, but we don't have all day, lol.
 

wolfman

Old Mossy Horns
What REALLY drives me nuts is when I get behind somebody at a red light, the light turns green, they don't move, I HONK, they FLOOR it, and run the red light......and I'm the first one in line for the next cycle. I've thought about......because of that.
This one drives me crazy. They're usually staring at their cell phone.
 

nontypical

Ten Pointer
Atlanta is the worst traffic I have personally ever drove in. St. Louis would be 2nd worst. Be thankful you don't have to drive in Hanoi, Vietnam on a daily basis.

 

Mechanic Bob

Eight Pointer
You know a place has been taken over by Yankees when you start hearing horns at traffic jams. People from the South have better manners and lay off the horns. I read in the paper that they are considering a commuter train that runs to CH, Durham, RDU International, RTP and Downtown Raleigh.
Yes and every GOOBER thinks they are a NASCAR driver!
 

NCST8GUY

Frozen H20 Guy
You know a place has been taken over by Yankees when you start hearing horns at traffic jams. People from the South have better manners and lay off the horns. I read in the paper that they are considering a commuter train that runs to CH, Durham, RDU International, RTP and Downtown Raleigh.


This hits me a bit. I feel I'm a very "polite" driver. One problem I found AFTER I bought my work truck, was that I couldn't "beep" the horn, meaning "tap" the horn as if to say "hello fellow driver, look up!". My old truck does that. The newer one seems to have a one second "HEY A$$H)Le!!!! THROTTLE IT!" so much that I have backed off using it until I've fully realized the person in front of me is OBLIVIOUS to the world around them, AND the affect they have on them!

I like scanning the landscape, looking at new buildings going up etc;, but I won't miss 2 car lengths when the light turns green, and then cost the line 4 cars.

I thought about this tonight as I watched it happen twice on my ride home. Also watched cars hammer it on the green when EVERYBODY ELSE at the intersection heard the sirens coming from the right (not hard to miss when you're a heavy metal fan) but only 1 car pulled out when the light turned green. Had to back up to allow the Fire Truck to get through. I guarantee he felt like an idiot, and made it no further than I did by the next light.

Something has happened that has drivers unobservant whenever they're not whiteknuckeling the beltline. It's like they go nocturnal......until.
 

30/06

Twelve Pointer
The traffic has gotten insane. They put a light where I need to get onto 50 and it’s helped but there are a number of wrecks due to people running the light....bad ones too!

Don’t even get me started about the mess on 98!
 
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