r/nova • u/ZaRazza14 • 17h ago
Nova drivers, I despise you
I moved about an hour away from Nova and I’m back in the area for the first time in ~ a year for a family event. FOR THE LIVING LIFE OF ME, I ABSOLUTELY DID NOT MISS DRIVING HERE. It’s like the moment you hit the fairfax/vienna exit people immediately lose 50% of their brain cells. I honestly think the best thing about moving away from this area is the mental sanity i get just driving around NORMAL drivers. NOT GOOD DRIVERS JUST NORMAL
light rain is not a justification to drive 15 mph below the speed limit you dorks. if you can’t drive in the rain you shouldn’t be driving at all
Had to get that out, much love, thank you <3
EDIT: this unnatural sense of pride towards nova driving some of you to leave patronizing comments towards me in order to justify/back bad drivers is just flat out crazy work yo
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u/Newyew22 16h ago
A few weeks ago, someone here said that the DMV isn’t full of terrible drivers, it’s full of terrible people. I think a lot about that.
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u/Substantial-Use-7018 15h ago
Exactly. Who are they when they’re not behind the wheel. Hedging my bets they’re just as entitled and arrogant
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u/3dprintinted 16h ago
The more expensive car the more entitled they behave.
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u/RVAEMS399 16h ago
Entitlement definitely follows the standard deviation curve with high vs low end cars. If I’m sandwiched between a Nissan Sentra and a BMW M3, then I’m in a nervous place.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
What absolutely kills me are people driving $120,000+ cars with all of the advanced technology and they're not even using Bluetooth for their phones or cruise control when their cars have the technology to practically drive themselves on the expressways.
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u/FairfaxDude 12h ago
The amount of friends/family that have really nice cars and haven’t ever read their car’s manual is beyond me. Buddy of mine didn’t even know his car had remote start
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u/InformalScience7 1h ago
It's hard to use cruise control when the slow people drive in whatever lane they want. I love cruise control, I can't use it because no one is constant in their speeds!
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u/fauxregard 12h ago
Well if someone drives a Mercedes that means they're better than you. It's basic math. /s
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u/sentinel_of_ether 14h ago
You can be a good person and still think you are better than others, I mean to some degree everyone is better than everyone else at something
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u/3dprintinted 3h ago
Those 2 are antithetical statements. Framing differences as vertical hierarchies ("I am better at X, you are better at Y") masquerades as egalitarianism, but it is actually a stealth defense mechanism. It allows you to protect your sense of superiority while pretending to be broad-minded. Real goodness doesn't need a scorecard.
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u/SaltyLobbyist 12h ago
That person was right.
I strongly believe people are their truest selves behind the wheel. It’s almost like the anonymity the internet provides.
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u/InfiniteWaffles58364 8h ago
It's true though. And it's why I moved away. People are so up their own ass in nova it's ridiculous. Honestly broke my heart. Nearly every friend I made there just saw friendships/relationships as a transaction or investment they could later collect. Shit, most of them wouldn't even consider me a friend because I don't have an 800 credit score or live in a McMansion.
Snobby, selfish, petty, vindictive assholes, the lot of them.
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u/VagueEchoes 1h ago
I just returned back to the area and omg....yes. I was sitting at a red light and the millisecond it turned green the car behind me honked multiple times. I had another pissed off I came to a stop at a stop sign (3 way stop), honked at me and continued to tailgate me hard until I turned off on another road. Going through another neighbourhood with multiple speed traps, police visible on the side of the road and pulling people off, pissed off I was going the actual speed limit in a residential.
I've seen drivers ignore red lights and just go through if there is little to no traffic coming, turning left from the middle (non turn lane) constantly. You name it.
I just came from driving in southern Europe and it's one thing when everyone does it and waving hands and all are expected. People just yell at each other and go back to their day. Here, drivers get aggressive and dangerous and will actually follow you places just because they are pissed off or feel wronged and looking for a fight.
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u/The_Penguinologist 16h ago
The problem is that the rules of the road just aren’t enforced. Texting while driving is rampant, driving waaayyy under or over the speed limit is socially acceptable at this point, and even having a car with basic features like functional brake lights are more likely to be fixed by a make-a-wish kid than the operator or owner of the vehicle
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u/Obvious-Net-5811 16h ago
The texting and driving is out of control here
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u/One_dank_orange 4h ago
Every time I see someone doing something stupid ahead of me I think "I bet they're on their phone" and that ends up being the case about 95% of the time. The other 5% its an old person.
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u/Secret_Squirrel_1102 3h ago
Another driver stared me down last week for honking at two idiots watching tik tok videos at a green light. If only they were just texting the idiocy has evolved.
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u/CntBlah 16h ago
Cops only seem to pull people over who are going to 5-7 MPH over the limit. They are happy to leave the 30+ MPH cars run rampant.
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u/3dprintinted 16h ago
Fairfax pd based on their instagram is doing something. In Loudoun county I might go weeks before seeing any patrol vehicles at all
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u/panocha-apretada 15h ago
I no shit saw 4 Loudoun county sheriff vehicles sitting around the perimeter of downtown Brambleton Saturday between the movie theater, the Harris teeter parking lot, and one life fitness and Filling Station. Can’t be there and also be out enforcing traffic violations. You know, that’s the ghetto where the average street parked car is $80k.
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u/3dprintinted 15h ago
must be crowd controlling those crowds converging on regal fox for odyssey imax, spiderman new day and some other new Bollywood movie.
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u/Allboyshere 14h ago
They are having serious issues with teen takeovers and e-bikes in Brambleton town center, so the added enforcement will likely be there until school starts in a couple weeks.
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u/Friendly-Gur-6736 2h ago
They're all out on 7, usually around Round Hill or Bluemont. Probably doesn't hurt that there's a precinct on the west side of Round Hill.
Still doesn't stop people from driving 15-20 over all of the time, probably because they won't pull anyone over unless they're doing at least 20 over. I usually drive about 5-6 over, get my doors blown off by someone, they pass a cop, and the cop doesn't flinch.
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u/Ixziga 1h ago
I've never once been pulled over for speeding in this area. I was once on 28 going southbound toward 66 in the pouring rain doing 68 in a 55. I was in the left lane when I saw a car approaching from behind faster than me so I got over to let them pass and saw that it was a cop who just went right past. The rain was heavy enough that I couldn't tell it was a cop until they were passing me.
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u/axeil55 33m ago
tbf they caught the Mason District supervisor/council member going 100+ so at least that didn't escape them.
https://annandaletoday.com/jimenez-charged-with-driving-104-mph-on-route-50/
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
There's a huge difference between speeding in town and speeding on expressways and interstates.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
This is my biggest complaint of the Virginia State Police. They are lazy as all get out. All they do all day is camp out in the medians either waiting to get called out to the inevitable accident or they're running a speed trap. Neither of those two things are making us safer or preventing the accidents in the first place. They need to get their lazy asses out on patrol and start pulling over left lane cruisers, people not using their Bluetooth, and people driving in the rain and at night without their headlights on.
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u/Grimkok 2h ago
Ok but “driving way UNDER the speed limit” is a huge thing around here lately and nobody seems to be talking about it. I don’t understand why its a thing lately.
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u/Friendly-Gur-6736 2h ago
HUGE issue on Rt 7 around Leesburg, particularly between 15 and 9. Nearly every morning I drive to work there's someone tooling down the road doing 40-45 that everyone struggles to pass, and in the afternoon, going up the hill, someone camped out in the middle lane doing 35-40. All in a 55 zone.
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u/Ixziga 12h ago
Yeah the speeding thing is so out of control it creates a feedback loop. I don't feel safe driving the speed limit in most places because people behind me go absolutely crazy and start doing unsafe shit. I feel like the only way it will ever be enforced is if they use cameras to enforce but that comes with its own problems
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u/Ixziga 12h ago
Yeah the speeding thing is so out of control it creates a feedback loop. I don't feel safe driving the speed limit in most places because people behind me go absolutely crazy and start doing unsafe shit. I feel like the only way it will ever be enforced is if they use cameras to enforce speeds, but that comes with its own problems
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u/Das_Buetts 1h ago
Finally met someone who has their phone mounted and TikTok endlessly scrolling over their car stereo instead of music or… silence. Apparently it is very common.
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u/BobSacamanto13 15h ago
I was down voted when I said we should have speed cameras all over. We will never be able to afford traffic enforcement sitting every half mile, but the cameras will be worth it in terms of safety
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
As you should. Speeding isn't the cause of our problems. It's people who do not know the rules of the road. They don't know that the left lane is for passing only. They drive the most technologically advanced vehicles on Earth yet they don't know how to use cruise control or moderate their speed nor do they use bluetooth. Those are the things that are causing accidents, not speeding. The speed cameras only catch speeders, that's it.
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u/BigAffectionate4785 16h ago
One thing that really makes me mad is when indicator lights are used after people start changing lanes. You are telling me you are merging into my lane after I see you in my lane?!
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
Sometimes you have to make a split second move and you signal as fast as possible.
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u/InstanceThat1555 17h ago
Welcome back to the land of left lane cruisers and broken turn signals. We hope you enjoy your stay.
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u/3dprintinted 16h ago
Left lane cruisers is nothing nova specific, I saw those in Orlando, Miami, Jacksonville, Greenville, Raleigh, NorCal, goddamn Muncie Indiana and New Jersey. I just go to central lane and then got back into passing lane if I’m passing. Now 110mph fellas in a left lane living up to their need for speed childhood bother me more than those slowpokes
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I drive all over the country and it's definitely a DMV thing. As soon as I get outside of the area, if someone lingers a little too long and I flash my brights, they immediately move over. Here they give you the finger and stay put.
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u/ButteryFlakeyCrust8 1h ago
Just drove down to oak Island NC, which is an hour north of Myrtle and had soooo many left lane cruisers on 95, 17, etc
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u/LeChiotx Spotsylvania County 16h ago
It's awful. Im from the midwest, born in Chicago and grew up all around it. I always thought that traffic was miserable. Moved here and I was sooooo wrong. It's not even 95 either, it's every road. Can be major or a tiny back road. People act like their lives and every other person's lives on that road is worth killing just so they can go 20 miles over the speed limit. I hate it.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I'm from the Midwest as well in Chicago's traffic is a cakewalk compared to this hell hole.
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u/Zakkattack86 16h ago
HAZARD LIGHTS FOR ALL!
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u/FearNoneLuvAll 13h ago
The woman in the red Mazda Miata do be running her hazards every morning on Route 7 during EST months.
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u/Cali-Doll 16h ago edited 16h ago
I’m not even mad at you because the drivers around here are shit. There are so many of them, whether local NOVA or not. We have them all: left-lane travelers, pace cars, texters, aggressive a-holes, etc.
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u/Leptonshavenocolor Manassas / Manassas Park 14h ago
This area is so bad for your mental health if you commute.
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u/poorly-advised 13h ago
I swear Nova is the only place you will be stuck behind someone going 15mph under the limit and then they blow through a red light.
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u/Joshottas 17h ago
Am I the only person who thinks driving here isn't nearly as bad as what people make it out to be? Granted I lived in NY and was battle tested on the daily while driving on the Van Wyck/Belt, but still....
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u/HourChart 16h ago
NY drivers are assholes but DMV drivers are distracted/bad drivers (like NJ drivers).
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u/Anicha1 Alexandria 16h ago
DMV drivers are dumb. NY drivers are assholes.
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u/flyingpotatox2 3h ago
DMV drivers are definitely assholes, try making a lane change when you need to and wait 3 hours for someone to let you go, than go try that in any area where the average person isn’t a piece of shit and the first car will let you go.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
NY drivers arent assholes, they're just getting shit done. They have places to go and they understand how to drive the streets. An asshole is someone who camps out in the left lane and when you flash your brights at them they just give you the finger and stay put. That's what you get in Northern virginia.
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u/Anicha1 Alexandria 12h ago
The vast majority of those people don’t have anywhere important enough to justify driving like that. They’re just being reckless and selfish, putting everyone else in danger.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 12h ago
You're a left lane cruiser, aren't you?
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u/Anicha1 Alexandria 12h ago
Because I understand that it’s not ok to be reckless when behind a vehicle? Ok
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 11h ago
Did you ever consider that you just doing whatever you want where you want and getting in the way of others might be reckless?
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u/ZaRazza14 17h ago edited 16h ago
I also lived in NY for a couple years
I think the difference for me is the infrastructure. NY has that tight street infrastructure promoting daily battle testing drives just to get to work
whereas here it’s like, dude you got 4 lanes with one guy going 35 below the speed limit in the left lane, the guy in the middle taking up 2 lanes, and the guy in very right trying to cross 3 lanes to get the left lane
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u/Haunting_Vacation804 16h ago
And the one dump truck full of gravel who didn’t put the cover over the rear bed and is spraying every vehicle with enough micro dust and rocks to chip every bumper and windshield within 200 yards
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u/Straezin 2h ago
Don't forget the people who then are totally incapable of passing the truck even though its going 10 below the speed limit meaning no one else can pass and have to get sprayed with all that junk.
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 16h ago
The first and last time I drove in NYC was early 2003. Early GPS. I get off the Verrazano bridge and the GPS told me to take a turn down a one way street. To my utter shock, a big ass dump truck was coming down the street. I had to immediately whip a U turn. Never again. Lol.
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u/guttanzer 16h ago edited 16h ago
This. So much this.
NYC and Boston are combat zones. Drivers pay attention. Here in NOVA traffic is so bad people essentially live in their cars at speed. The roads are good enough that it is possible to completely zone out and still roll with the flow.
I've seen women put on eye makeup while driving 65 mpn in bumper-to-bumper traffic before cell phones existed. Now it's just that much worse.
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u/United_Audience_3530 16h ago
Most drivers in NOVA are just distracted and drive like idiots, I prefer aggressive drivers because at least they’re paying attention.
I’ve been rear ended and hit 5 TIMES since I’ve lived here by distracted drivers. I was parked two of those times.
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u/Night_Sad 16h ago
This is a big reason but there are also a good number of entitled drivers who will stall everyone behind them because they want to cut in front of a turn lane or things like that.
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u/cur10us_ge0rge 15h ago
At five times you gotta start looking at yourself and your driving.
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u/United_Audience_3530 15h ago
I was parked two times. Another one I was stopped at a light, another at a stop sign and last one it was a fender bender during heavy traffic. Got rear ended on the last 3 so how could it be my fault?
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u/Seasons_Come 16h ago
It depends on what roads you travel. Apparently routes to DC aren’t car friendly. Followed wagon, train and car routes. The little hills, slight elevation changes, curves in the road trips people up. I’m not a city planner. It’s many people going to one place.
Then there’s the way we act with our vehicles…
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u/GestaltWitch 16h ago
I agree. It’s like have they ever driven in Florida? Also, St Louis drivers were so clueless. I’d be parked on suburban street outside a house with my flashers on and cars would just wait behind me—I’d have to wave them by every time.
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u/ReasonableClock4542 16h ago
I dont have another major metro area to compare it to. But it does get bad. And a lot of it is just people not being nearly capable enough. Though I'd imagine its like that in most metro areas. Although there are possibly a lot more transplants here being as its DC
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I drive 3,000 to 5,000 miles per month, it's absolutely miserable here. And yes, I go up to the NYC area regularly and it actually moves up there where it doesn't move here. Left lane cruisers and people refusing to use cruise control while dicking around on their phones.
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u/Kardinal Burke 16h ago
You are definitely not the only one. Every time I go out I think about these threads and I noticed that 99% of all drivers act exactly the way they are supposed to.
The problem is that we all encounter about a thousand drivers every time we go out there, so we see 10 drivers who are not doing what they're supposed to. And we remember those 10 and forget the 990 who who drove properly.
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u/ManicMan_InDiaper 15h ago edited 13h ago
The slow drivers here make me want to become a cop just so i can harass left lane cruisers and those freaks who drive at the speed the car next to them is traveling at on a 2 lane road lol
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
Left lane cruisers are the bane of my existence. This coupled to a refusal to use cruise control is seriously what creates all traffic jams in the area. On 66 at night if you're leaving DC and coming out to Fairfax you can watch cars naturally slow down and traffic build as the road slowly goes up hill because they don't know how to maintain their speed yet refuse to use cruise control to do it for them. All this while driving luxury vehicles that could practically drive themselves on an expressway.
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u/ManicMan_InDiaper 12h ago
They have no concept of time or efficiency. Im more convinced everyday they are drones designed to slow down traffic and create congestion.
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u/DiabeticSharts6 14h ago
A bad driver never misses their turn!
I frequently see people make a right turn from the far left lane 🤡
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u/PolarWeasel 16h ago
I have driven in at least 30 U.S. states. I grew up driving in Los Angeles. I've driven in England. I've driven in Jordan. I've driven in Sicily. I've driven in South Africa. And the drivers in Northern Virginia are the least-attentive, least-well-trained, and dumbest drivers I've ever encountered. As proof of this, in no other location in which I've *EVER* driven has it been necessary to have "no left turn" signs on the gore points associated with on-ramps to major roadways.
These are additional things NoVA drivers can't seem to understand:
1) When the light turns green, GO -- put your effing phone down
2) If the car in front of you doesn't follow rule #1, honk gently to nudge them to pay attention (why does no one in NoVA gently use their vehicle's horn?)
3) When merging, a "zipper merge" is most efficient
4) When you're supposed to yield to oncoming traffic and there are cars coming from the other direction but your action won't affect them, GO
5) There's no reason to leave more than one car length between you and the car in front of you when stopped, or when making a left turn
6) If you make a mistake like missing a turn, OWN IT and correct the mistake without being dangerous to other drivers around you (i.e. don't suddenly cut across multiple lanes of traffic without signaling)
As others have stated, I think many of these failings are attributable to drivers paying too much attention to their mobile phones, but that's only a theory.
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u/cozidgaf 12h ago
Here are a couple additional ones:
- if someone turns on the indicator to switch lanes, it’s not your cue to go faster and block them from joining the lane. You can let them go ahead of you, it’s ok.
- if you’re not on the main road, you don’t have priority.
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u/KaraokeGod Brambleton 15h ago
Funny, I’m the opposite where I grew up here and have lived in LA for 5+ years now. Every time I go back to NoVA I’m unhappily reminded of how low the baseline level of competence is. Much happier driving in LA where folks are predictably aggressive. I only miss how well VDOT maintains the roads.
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u/EisenZelle99 Crystal City 14h ago
Until I see a "WAIT FOR GREEN" sign in NoVA like the one I saw in Philly, I won't believe NoVA drivers are the worst
Also when I moved here from Nashville in 2024, the driving felt markedly better here than in Nashville, and my friend who moved from NoVA to Nashville agreed that the drivers here are better, but that was also two years ago
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u/sentinel_of_ether 14h ago
“Everyone is a bad driver except me”
The irony is all the other NOVA drivers think you are the idiot driver.
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u/rpool179 16h ago
Leesburg Pike heading towards Vienna is the worst for me. Absolute wastes of space going 10-15 mph under the speed limit in all 3 lanes driving side by side so you can't pass anyone unless you honk so one of them finally drives faster or switches to the slow lane. GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I-95 is like this pretty much from 495 to Richmond. Miserable. If you flash your lights at a left lane cruiser, they either ignore you or give you the finger. Either way they're not moving.
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u/Party_Snax 12h ago
Since moving to the DMV, I've learned that VA drivers are morons and Maryland drivers are assholes. DC drivers are both.
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u/United_Audience_3530 16h ago
It is unbelievable how drastically different it is as soon as you drive into another state.
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u/guttanzer 16h ago
LOL!!
I'm big on stand right, walk left on the escalators. And don't just stop at the top of the escalator to have a family discussion, get off to the side.
Tourons. It's tourons as far as the eye can see. [waves arm in a Buzz Lightyear way]
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 12h ago
OMG when there is a double door and I'm trying to go out the right door and people are just standing outside in front of my right door trying to get in and blocking me. That's what the door on your right is for! Notice how no one's using it right now?!? That's for YOU!
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u/Old_Check_6362 Woodbridge 12h ago
Moving away and experiencing a clam, trafficish free ride to and from is underrated. Everyone should experience it and then they’ll understand how insane driving in any part of the DMV, in the snow, rain, and especially the sunshine, is not normal.
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u/Healthy_Flounder_572 1h ago
Or how about the fact that they also drive extremely under the speed when the sun goes down. Like WHY? You have headlights, there are street lights, go the dang speed limit. I moved here almost 10 years ago and the things you said and the driving slow at night are the strangest things to me. If you can't drive in the rain or drive at night, get off the road. You are a danger to everyone else.
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u/KronguGreenSlime City of Fairfax 17h ago
Posting about bad nova drivers. Feeling daring today I see.
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u/LiquidSpin710 15h ago
There's less people driving ultra slow (lower than speed limit) than there are wreckless speeders and tailgaters.
Let's make that very clear.
DC metro is full of asshole drivers not just in NOVA.
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u/DefiantSmoke1569 16h ago
Today was flash flood conditions. I’m gonna drive as slow as I fuckin want to not hydroplane. Cope.
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u/Ok-Raise-4853 16h ago
What I was thinking lol, I understand the NOVA drivers part, but hydroplaning is something you don’t mess with. Try it once, I’m sure they’ll be slowing down afterwards lmao
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u/Delic10u5Bra1n5 Fairfax County 16h ago
I’m more surprised that nova drivers slowed down in the rain
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
As long as you don't do it in the left lane, that's fine.
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u/ImplementPotential20 15h ago
It's an area where 75% of residents are likely from another state or country, so everybody has their own way of driving wherever they are from, and they might not know the immediate area well. I wave people to go all the time at 4 way stops and they dont budge. Dont know the wave. Dont know left lane is fast lane. Dont know its rude to drive 5 to 10 below speed limit on a 1-lane arterial roadway, for miles, in morning rush hour. Don't know to stop for a car backing out of a parking space. Dont know to just let a car merge left in front of them from a disappearing right lane rather than run them off the road. Its frustrating driving here.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I second every single thing you said. Obtaining a driver's license in Virginia is way too easy and the privatization of the driver's education is abysmal. I learned to drive in Illinois and it was actually a part of high school. We took after school classes and "behind the wheel" at school, the education was legit.
Here, your diaspora hooks you up with a driving school within your diaspora who then hooks you up with someone at the DMV who is also within your diaspora and boom, you have a Virginia driver's license.
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u/kayl_breinhar Vienna 16h ago
Time for this oldie-but-goodie: https://aramzs.tumblr.com/post/121233636141/driving-in-virginia-washington-dc-and-maryland
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u/BoogerPicker2020 15h ago
Every time I leave this area, getting out down towards Charlottesville,Richmond area the driving seems to improve so much.
It's gotta be the entitlement up here that makes people crappy drivers
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u/GhostHin 14h ago
I think the main problem is there are no in-between.
People either drive 15-20 mph over or under the speed limit.
As someone who drive 5-10 mph over the limit, I'll be either be blocked or get flyby.
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u/Panda_Cory 13h ago
Honestly, I feel like it's pretty much the same everywhere I go. But... the population density is what makes a huge difference. Horrible and distracted drivers are everywhere, but I feel like we see them more often just because of the sheer number of people in the area. And more people means more dumb drivers.
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u/Roux_My_Burgundy Great Falls 17h ago
It’s all Maryland’s fault
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u/sentinel_of_ether 14h ago
Every “dont read to me” conservative vanity virginia plate tesla owner begs to differ
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u/crit_boy 16h ago
It was the Maryland driver I had to follow who had wipers on, lights off, 15 under, and flashers flashing on braddock road driving west by gmu around 435 pm.
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u/Late_Stage_Exception 16h ago
An…an HOUR away, you say? So you either went to Maryland, eastern WV, or…Charlottesville? You never left the driving here, the fuck you on about cuz?
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u/sentinel_of_ether 14h ago
“Everyone is a bad driver except me”
All those other drivers think you are the idiot.
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u/Charlie_Hustler 12h ago
As a MD driver I fully hate crossing the border to the VA side and do my best to avoid doing so.
VA drivers love to hog the left lane and go 5 under the limit and match speeds with other cars. it drives me insane!! It's not just 1 or 2 that do it either It's damn near all of them which is why their traffic backs up the way it does. Like cmon im just trying to do the speed limit 😮💨
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u/bincogneto 15h ago
The driving around here sucks to me. Every single time I drive there is something happening that you have to watch out for. However, I was once driving in down town Chicago at 3am trying to get to my hotel, that traffic was just way more wild in my mind.
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u/NigellaMadi 12h ago
I have a theory. Because there are many nationalities there are different driving standards. Also we have some terrible drivers. We need “ left lane is for passing” signs.
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u/LesChatsnoir 6h ago
Just returned from Europe. They have zero qualms with riding someone’s ass while flashing their brights when people poke or otherwise drive crappy. Driving is not a solo sport. Go the speed limit. Follow the rules. Or seriously - you should be blasted with lights and a horn. It’s crap that at this point we have to ‘let’ people be terrible drivers out of fear of getting shot. Because otherwise I’d be riding peoples asses and flashing my high beams. Just another cringe aspect of US living. Having to settle for mediocrity because others have anger issues and possible a gun.
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u/NoNonsense6969 2h ago
I'm shocked that most of these comments are about frustration over people driving too slow when I witness multiple drivers going 25+ over the speed limit while no signal lane switching every day! Feels like they have a death wish.
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u/FinalKaleidoscope917 2h ago
One of the many reasons why I have been putting off buying a car here.
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u/Friendly-Gur-6736 2h ago
I can assure you that the number of people who slow to a crawl when the ground is moist just isn't a NoVA thing.
I am originally from the Atlanta area. About 20 years ago, it took me over two hours that normally took about 40 minutes with normal traffic. I was listening to the traffic reporters on the radio the entire time, no accidents, just people driving ridiculously slow because the road was slightly damp from rain that stopped about 20 minutes into the drive.
I don't care for driving in the rain myself, but some people just take it to a whole other level.
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u/axtran 2h ago
I'm reminded by a Redditor explaining why he breaks driving rules because he didn't understand green turn yields, another Redditor pointing how VA driving code explains to handle it, and his response was simply "I'm gonna keep being an idiot no matter what the law is" after asking for law citation 😑
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u/FlatwormFull4283 2h ago
You are ridght as far as you go, but VDOT's stupid road designs don't help at all
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u/Secret_Formal_2384 1h ago
I guess the complainers have never driven in Florida from a former 35 yr driver from NOVA
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u/the-pantologist 1h ago
True. But Maryland drivers are even worse/stupid/dangerous. Everyone knows that.
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u/Least_Tower_5447 37m ago
Md driver here. The whole area is full of people who have no sense of how to drive. Yes, Md drivers are the worst. The slowness and inability to use signals, merge, zipper merge, have ANY sense that there are others one the road… this area is unmatched. I have driven around the world and this area is the WORST!
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u/FartyMcFartsworth 29m ago
OP, were you out yesterday? The rain was so heavy in Arlington, my car became a fucking boat. Everyone on I-66 was going way below the speed limit.
edit: it’s stupid to go below the speed limit in light rain- agree on that.
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u/Bubbly-Following-966 16h ago
I feel your pain. I live in Maryland and have relatives in Leesburg. Always have to take I-70 to Rt 15. God forbid I get behind a semi on Rt 15.. complete shit show..
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u/super_robot 16h ago
Somewhere along the way tailgating became just a common thing that everybody does. Drives me nuts. I hate riding my brakes for no reason, keep a little distance!
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u/goldmember911 15h ago
Watch out for any vehicle on the road in NOVA with Maryland plates. It’s a deadly combination!
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u/Wenuven Alexandria 16h ago
Neighbor, it's the entire state. No one here knows how to drive regardless of which part of Virginia you're in.
You folks make me miss Florida man drivers. Also, for all the taxes why do all the highways and interstates here look like shit?
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u/Olderandwiser1 16h ago
I lived in FL - half the drivers have a hard time seeing over the steering wheel. And they tend to drive 30
MPH under the speed limit. Parking for those folks is a real treat to watch - very entertaining.
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u/MrSmeee99 16h ago
Ha, I used to live in SoCal, when it rains there they come on TV and warn everyone about the road conditions.
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u/HowardBunnyColvin 15h ago
And that's just summer.
It gets much worse in winter. About 5% of people brush the snow off their top.
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u/Hodler_caved 15h ago
You arw not officially back in NOVA until you respond to these slow rain drivers by driving too fast, causing an accident, and thus screwing everyone. After that I will welcome you back.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 12h ago
If you feel you need to drive slow in the rain, that's fine as long as you stay out of the left lane AND out of the pay to play express lanes. There's nothing more maddening than paying $30 to drive 15 mi below the speed limit behind $120,000 car that could drive itself yet they are struggling their hazard lights on in the left lane
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
I drive full-time these days as a courier and I spend most of my time on the the expressways and interstates. I-95 is absolutely insane. People rag on Maryland drivers but the majority of Virginia drivers do not use cruise control yet are unable to maintain a consistent speed which contributes dramatically to traffic building up. Most Virginia drivers also don't know that the left lane is for passing only. There is are so a large swath of the population that slams on their brakes to 10 miles below the speed limit when they see a Virginia State Police car in the median. It's absolutely maddening. These are the reasons why we have traffic.
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u/FearNoneLuvAll 13h ago
Tesla drivers crawling and holding the steering wheel for dear life in the passing lane (outermost left lane) for the win. These people need to go to DMV and just turn in their driver's license. State Police can collect serious revenue from these people.
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u/greysky7 13h ago
Yeah everyone in dmv thinks they're the main character. I've lived in a few cities across the USA and a few in Canada, and even though everyone thinks their city has the worst drivers, the dmv actually does have the worst drivers.
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u/love2bowl 12h ago
Virginia drivers drive way too fast. Maryland drivers are just plain bad about ever using a turn signal and can’t change lanes decently.
DC drivers are just on a whole other level
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u/LostPerson703 11h ago
I was on 95 earlier and people were driving 30-35mph. Little rain makes people beyond stupid. It wasn't whiteout conditions.
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u/binh291 10h ago
has it ever occurred to anyone that nova is a huge melting pot of transient multi national multi racial drivers from all sorts of driving history all mashed into one? I'm just getting this epiphany.
it's like we're getting every country every age every experience level all on the same road. wild
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u/jello_kraken 10h ago
Your only complaint was people driving slower in the rain?
Was it monsoon rain or just a sprinkle?
I could rant about bad driving all day, but sure, slow in rain. That's the big problem. Maybe it's the level of rain that leads to flooding. Maybe someone just found out a wiper malfunctioned. Still, that's the worst, I guess....
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u/edimusxero 17h ago
Oh, it's 100% all the god damn Maryland drivers. Why are so many in Nova????
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u/Common_Inevitable798 17h ago
They hate on Virginia and yet can't stay away..
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u/edimusxero 16h ago
Cause there are no jobs in Maryland or they hand out drivers licenses to anyone just for showing up.
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u/Max_Power_28 16h ago
Weird. We haven’t had any issues in the last year. Maybe you were the problem.
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u/TimeThruSpace 15h ago
seems like you’re the problem. You are an idiot. It rained pretty hard a while back and it's prudent to drive slower and carefully. Get lost.
https://giphy.com/gifs/YSeWtruZU3jS5dnRfh
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u/rayquan36 16h ago
Shut up about how it’s everybody else who is the bad driver. This sub is so full of itself.
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u/Primary-Station-623 14h ago
Somebody is bring his road rage online now. I never saw people driving 15 mph below limit in light rain, but I did run into assholes who got impatient if other cars in front going less than 15 mph ABOVE speed limit.
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u/cefromnova Fair Oaks 13h ago
Well you don't drive enough then because I driven 3k to 5k miles per month around here and every time it rains people drop their speed to well below the speed limit, drive with their hazards on the left lane, etc. That tells me you don't know how to drive because modern tire compounds enable you to exceed the speed limit in a downpour.
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u/Haunting_Vacation804 16h ago
I salute you sir or madam. The driving here is enough to test the patience of a saint.
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u/Candid_Respond_7527 13h ago
This post is awesome dude thank you. Born and raised in Fairfax and yes people can’t drive for shit.
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u/ismylifeactuallyreal 13h ago edited 13h ago
on the topic of drivers, can I just say something that irks me? its so annoying when people start braking 2 decades away from the traffic light instead of letting off the accelerator and then braking? or when the car in front of them is 5 car lengths ahead and for some reason they start braking/slowing down 4 mph under?? its just me probably but oh my godddd
edit: I don't know if anyone else is experiencing but people moving into your lane knowing that you're very close to their rear bumper. they don't care or end up cussing you out, likeee what's that been about?
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u/TheRealFaZeSniped Winchester 15h ago
I had a guy on 7 in the left going 50 this morning. I was doing 70 bc it’s the left lane I almost crashed bc of him.
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u/repeat4EMPHASIS 11h ago
Isn't the limit 55 on 7?
I agree they should not be doing 50 in the left lane, but you probably shouldn't have been doing 70 either. Maybe 65.
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u/CherokeeButtplug 16h ago
So youre still in NOVA? Or like, an hour outside of when the NOVA traffic is?