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I think more a matter of no respect for granola crunchers, Michael.

"I just moved from the D.C. metro area"

We are not worthy...

@JDR-Late night drinking? Your statement makes no sense, at least not to a transportational cyclist. Is it a shot at the recreational cyclists?

@neocon-If you say so.

Anyone care to comment on the summary? It's aimed at both sides of the aisle.

Someone from the DC area complaining about traffic in little Greensboro? Funny I can't remember all the polite drivers in DC who obey the speed limits, that is when traffic is actually moving. Ditto for any other major metro area.

I ride defensively . . . and I've yet to see a cop jump out of his car to catch a non-signaling cyclist or stop to catch the car who just tried to run me over . . . every man for himself . . .

@Dan-DC drivers don't tailgate other drivers who are doing the speed limit. They have sense enough to change lanes.

DC drivers are more inclined to pay lip service to traffic control devices. I suspect some of that has to do with red light cameras and police who will cite you for running a red light or stop sign.

DC drivers also aren't as free with their horns (except when a light turns green). On my first commute to work, despite being on multi-lane roads I was honked at twice within three miles. That matched my total honks in DC Metro for the entire summer.

I guess my point is, why are people so polite and friendly face to face but put them behind wheel of a motor vehicle and you get the whole Jekyll and Hyde thing going?

@JPRT-That is one of my complaints--GPD doesn't seem to care about traffic issues. I contacted them about a problematic stretch of road and they never got back to me despite having a high level of detail about one of the offenders. Also, you appear to need an attitude adjustment--cars never try to do anything. They can't, they aren't alive. It's motorists that fail to make safe passes that you should rail against. BTW--How far right do you ride? I suspect too far right to be practicable. I would recommend no farther right than the right wheel track. Motorists are bound by the same "keep right" requirement as cyclists so they have established the track as the farthest right practicable line of travel.

"why are people so polite and friendly face to face but put them behind wheel of a motor vehicle and you get the whole Jekyll and Hyde thing going"

It's a lot of repressed anger about Yankees and others coming down here and complaining about the way we do things "around here".

I'm just kidding. I think your letter hit on a lot of truths. The most important is that traffic laws are not enforced. When you have a pattern of lawlessness on our roads, people get defensive. They get angry. And they get rude.

The running of red lights is pathetic. We had red light cameras and once they took them down, people got the idea that nobody is watching. And honestly, I think they are right.

Having driven in DC, I've had my foot on the accelerator and started going 1 second before the light turned green, and the car behind me STILL honked.

If you see a green Toyota in front of you and they seem to be slowing down in relation to the closer you get to their bumper, that's probably me. I go the speed limit. Deal with it.

@Earnestine-I've had conversations with others about the RL cameras that were removed. It appears to have been a lawsuit filed after poorly worded legislation left the cameras unfunded. IMHO it would be a good idea to reintroduce the legislation, properly worded to allow funding, in an effort to reduce the number of crashes at intersections. As I said before, traffic deaths outnumber violent crime deaths by 2.5 to 1 (CDC mortality figures) and most of those occur at intersections (from T-bones and head-ons, side swipes on open road or merges have much less force involved). Let's pick some of this low hanging fruit and save a few lives.

I was born and raised in NC. Have always lived in NC except for a year in Puerto Rico. I have traveled from Maine to Florida to Illinois and to points in between. Greensboro drivers are, imho, the most impolite in the state and second only to New Jersey drivers in the nation (where I have visited).

OMG! There is good customer service in Greensboro? Please please please tell me where because I don't see that very often. I had recently been thinking of taking an anger management class because I seem to have more and more run-in's with clerks, waiters etc. I was starting to think I was the one with the attitude. Then I was talking to a couple of co workers who have been seeing similar attitudes. You know, you could feed me a crap sandwich and I'd eat it with a smile as long as your nice to me.

As far as the whole traffic thing, I too have traveled a lot. I don't see any difference here than anywhere else---that is of course except for the optional use of the turn signal! =)

Welcome to the area, Michael.

Municipalities were free to keep the cameras up, but it was never about safety or "saving lives." The cameras came down because a judge ruled that 90% of the money they took in had to be sent to county schools vs. to the camera companies (~70% of the take) and municipalities.

I have to call proverbial cow dung on this letter.

I grew up in DC and learned my driving chops on the Beltway. It's a slalom up there, with diplomatic immunity tossed into the mix.

It takes an hour to get anywhere, the drivers don't give a vermin's hindquarters about anyone but themselves and it's almost impossible to avoid getting inextricably committed to taking a long exit ramp to nowhere on a regular basis.

One good thing, though. Since the Democrats ride on the left and the Republicans on the right, pragmatists have the HOV lane all to themselves.

@Pragmatist-I never found the Beltway to be a good manor of getting around but when I used it I tended to stick the to the right two lanes assuring me of never missing the exit I wanted. Operating within the speed limit definitely has its advantages when looking for an exit. Also, to get somewhere fast, take the Metro or shop locally.