How to drive in Oklahoma City.

[dennishoddy]

Does anybody remember the last date when you could drive I-35 between Edmond and Davis without coming to a complete stop - regardless of time of day? Additionally, there are at least 2 permanent "areas of slowing down to 40 for no reason" on the same stretch of highway.

Down around Norman it's like that everytime we go through there. Bumper to bumper, then all of a sudden it opens up and every is back up to 90. WTF?

 

[Ready_fire_aim]

Oh come on, it’s really not that bad. Your list could pretty much apply to any sizable city in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee etc

 

[dennishoddy]

Oh come on, it’s really not that bad. Your list could pretty much apply to any sizable city in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee etc

Of course it is! We are just trashing OKC at the moment. Someone will start a Tulsa thread shortly. Stand by!

 

[TerryMiller]

Oh come on, it’s really not that bad. Your list could pretty much apply to any sizable city in Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Tennessee etc

Numerous others of the 48 contiguous states could also be listed here, notably Rhode Island, New York, Colorado, Utah, Arizona, Idaho, and even Wyoming in places.

 

[PBramble]

#12 is the stickler. Merging is a lost art. The people merging have forgotten they do not have the right of way and are required to yield to traffic. Cars traveling on the highway that slow down to let people in are breaking the law as well, courtesy be damned. There should never be a reason to touch your brakes once you are on the highway unless theres an accident or an emergency vehicle.

And the biggest peeve of all: Dear Jesus people. It's move over OR slow down. Not both.

 

[dennishoddy]

#12 is the stickler. Merging is a lost art. The people merging have forgotten they do not have the right of way and are required to yield to traffic. Cars traveling on the highway that slow down to let people in are breaking the law as well, courtesy be damned. There should never be a reason to touch your brakes once you are on the highway unless theres an accident or an emergency vehicle.

And the biggest peeve of all: Dear Jesus people. It's move over OR slow down. Not both.

Every merge includes the sign, Yield to oncoming traffic.
When one is in the right lane where they merge and another vehicle is in the middle lane or left lane, it's impossible to move over, which I do when it's possible.
For some reason the people in the merge lane with the phone stuck on their left ear to obscure their vision seems to think the vehicle with the right of way needs to slow down to let them in.
Nope, and I've been called an inconsiderate diver in past threads for saying that.
Folks that are merging must yield to oncoming traffic by law.

 

[1shott]

How to drive in Ada, shove your head up your ass, carry on.

I freaking hate this place.
I would rather drive in Dallas in rush hour than drive in ada, its that nuts.

We also only have 1 on ramp that has a acceleration lane, every other merge has a yield sign, with no lane to accelerate up to speed. So the merging driver is supposed to stop and yield to on coming traffic, nope drivers here just shoot out in front of you, do not stop, do not yield, too bad if you are at 65 and have to hit your brakes, dont care, just flat out cut your ass off.

One such exchange is blind, with a off ramp maybe 100 ft from the on ramp, I have learned just to move over to the left lane because most of the time some idiot with their head up their ass is going to come flying out from the blind spot where theres a huge yield sign.

 

[GorillaG]

HOW TO DRIVE IN OKLAHOMA CITY

1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name, "The City."

2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00 am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00 pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.

3. The minimum acceptable speed on I-40 is 85 mph. On I-44 and I-35, your speed is expected to at least match the fastest vehicle.
Anything less is considered 'Wussy'.

4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. OKC has its own version of traffic rules. For example, Cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go 1st. The trucks with the biggest tires go 2nd. Everyone else, will politely wave each other on for some insane reason.

5. If you actually stop at a yellow light or stop sign, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot. Unless there is a police car nearby.

6. Never honk at anyone if you are northeast of I-44 or north of I-240. Never. Ever.
Matter of fact, don't even drive over there.

7. Road construction is permanent and continuous. Detour barrels are moved around for your entertainment pleasure during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting. Generally, city roads other than the main streets have more potholes and bumps than most dirt roads in the countryside.

8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, ladders, possums, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, furniture, cats, mattresses, washing machines, shredded tires, squirrels, rabbits, hawks and cows running down city streets. Also cowboys on horses chasing cows with lassos.

9. Be aware of Cleveland county and Canadian county sheriff deputies....they are avid hunters and are out for blood.

10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been “accidentally activated”.

11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 75 in a 55-65 mph zone, e.g., you are considered a road hazard and will be tailgated closely until you wise up and get over. If you choose to remain idiotic you will then be passed and aggressively cut off by everyone you've been holding up.

12. When merging onto the interstate....be doing at least 75mph before you leave the ramp. Pretend you are a NASCAR driver. Otherwise you are susceptible to being prevented from entering traffic and then you are the problem!!!

MORAL OF THE STORY: If everyone drives between 85 and 90 Oklahoma City is a very pleasant place.

I'm trying to help my wife study up to get a learners permit. I've had to explain to her that the average driver forgot all the rules of the road and just make them up as they go along. They do not even know that the driver entering onto the highway has the responsibility to merge successfully. As the one already on the highway it's not my responsibility to wildly accelerate or decelerate to make their entrance smooth.

 

[turkeyrun]

There was a YouTube dash cam video, posted last month.
18 wheeler (dash cam) in the right lane, going highway speed, has a jackwad zoom up to merge.
They are approaching a construction barricade and 18 wheeler has no place to move over. Jack wad whips in front, clipping truck bumper and slammed into concrete wall. Luckily, Noone was badly hurt or killed.

The most ridiculous part was, over 2k comments with most blaming the 18 wheeler for not moving over and or allowing jackwad in.

I would have loved to appear in court and show that dash cam, with lawyer asking HiPo and then jackwad about posted MERGE NOW, Construction Ahead and CLOSED LANE signs.

More entitled azzhats.


We don't go to OKC often, but after living in Houston for 25 years, the traffic can be heavy, azzhats do exist, but it isn't that bad. Dallas is by far the worst.

 

[Snattlerake]

That potholed road is the one from Dover to Loyal then on to Okeene.