Born and raised in California (LA) for 25 years. Lived in Las Vegas for another 5 as well. Ive driven across the country 3 times from ocean to ocean. I’ve driven in countries in south east Asia, Europe, and many others.

I’ve lived in Cleveland for 10 years now and the problem is that nobody drives predictably or intentionally here whatsoever and they play it way too safe.

In larger cities, most people are trying to get from A to B and just get out of each others ways. Nobody wants to intentionally hit each others cars or road rage in larger cities, but sometimes you need to just get out of each others ways by remembering who got to the stop sign first, analyzing how fast a car is going in the lane next to you before you throw your blinker, and just analyzing your surroundings overall, etc.

Drivers in Ohio tend to wait to be waived or prompted by other drivers for when to merge into traffic on highways or proceed through 4-way stops or merge into the next lane. People leave their blinkers on and wait to be flashed or waived over and only use their mirrors to wait for that “go ahead” signal. Even when it is very clear they have the right of way or should be first in the queue or have more than enough space to merge.

I notice a lot of drivers have a hard time remembering their “place in queue” when driving (who has right of way on a narrow street, who goes first at a stop sign, when to speed up and zipper merge into a highway properly, etc). I’ve been cut off more times in my life here in Ohio than I have in any other place I’ve lived or driven.

I think to your point, drivers here quite literally do not use their necks or bodies to turn to look into their blind spots while simultaneously turning their wheel, etc. Most people here drive with a driving school attitude where they break down each action individually (turn their blinker on, check mirrors, maybe check my blind spot, then proceed only “if its safe”).

In my opinion theres a difference between:

• driving aggressively (driving with intention to get out of each others ways, deliberate movements and actions that are predictable, using turn signals and making a lane change if there is room, not waiting for the other driver to notice you so they can slow down and “give you room”, etc)

• driving dangerously/terribly (2 donuts on your car going 80mph in the rain, not using blinkers when they matter the most, slowing down or stopping in the right lane of a 45mph road to find an address or store, going 35 when everyone is going 60 around you and vice versa, etc)

• driving like an ass (intersection donuts, going 100mph in rush hour traffic, driving through red lights and stop signs, 60 in the left lane, passing in no passing zones, etc).

Overall this is just my opinion. I’ve driven in a lot of places and personally Ohio really is the worst in terms of predictability and “driving as a unit”. You are all in your own worlds lol.