If the moderate city you describe is situated somewhere in southwestern PA, then I know exactly what you mean. I live in an area where there are crazy spaghetti streets, many of them one-way, nonsensically narrow 5-way twisty intersections situated sometimes on precipitous hills (winters here are hell-you take your life into your hands daily), slippery & lumpy brick or cobblestone streets, blind curves everywhere, not to mention cavernous-sized potholes we have to dodge in the spring, plus the endless road construction that creates constant traffic jams in the summer. Not to mention the cops hiding out everywhere all the time who will not hesitate to cite you on the merest infraction.

But if people here are generally polite drivers, it's because they're pretty much forced to be-they may drive a little slower than in some cities, but given the unfortunate road & topography circumstances, it's necessary. And yes, that can be extremely infuriating in & of itself.

I always pity the drivers who have to come here from out of town for the first time...because as a nearly lifelong resident, for the most part, I STILL can't get from point A to point B in areas of this town I'm not completely familiar with.

I'm a New Yorker and Vanderbilt's bullshit about NYers not signaling pisses me off. Douchebag NYers and recent transplants don't signal. Normal people do.

Some writers seem to think that signaling slows you down - well I guess it would if you're dumb or have the reflexes/coordination of a mollusk. Assuming that you're not cutting somebody off - then the space in front of you that you want to enter is yours for the taking. Signaling lets the drivers behind you (who have no reasonable expecation of egtting there first) of your intentions.

Now if the driver behind you guns it in an attempt to get their first, despite your having the lead, who's the jerk - you or the guy behind you?

If you drop your speed by half everytime you switch lanes or want to make a turn - then you're the jerk who can't handle your vehicle.

I purchased this book about three weeks ago, started reading it, misplaced it a few days ago, found it late yesterday, put it in my employer-owned car for a 70 mile commute and about 45 minutes later crashed said car into a guardrail on a remote rural two-lane highway, my first real accident in 27 years of driving, shattering a nearly perfect driving record. I pilot airplanes for a living, and indeed, I was enroute to start a 12 hour shift as an air-ambulance pilot. Several hours later, I find this review.

You know what they say about flying vs. driving? It's true. Driving is dangerous. Piloting an airplane requires one's total attention really only during the departure and arrival phases. Cruise flight allows for a modicum of relaxation. Full attention to the road, however, all the time one is in motion is an absolute (I wasn't talking on my cell or even listening to a podcast on my iPod, as I am wont; though John Kerry was sonorously intoning live through the sound-system from the Democratic Convention). This is not only true of motorcycle operations; and yes, as a younger person I logged about 100,000 injury-free miles riding in traffic and on long-distance rides, hewing to an accurate line while studying the pavement, drivers' faces, activity along the road and how it might affect the situation, etc. I should have been in my old motorcycle mindset. It always comes in handy.

Ironically, had there been oncoming traffic, I likely would have been watching the road and approaching vehicle rather than remarking to myself about the geologic formation to my left a half second too long as the car drifted right and off the edge of the pavement at highway speed, which I responded to by braking and attempting to steer back onto the road-- and which I managed to do, but once back on the pavement, somehow couldn't get the car to stop continuing left into the opposite guardrail where it impacted at about a 45 degree angle, coming to a rest pointed about 90 degrees counter-clockwise. A few minutes later a driver came by and reported the accident for me down the road where there was cell phone reception. A subsequent driver stopped to ask if I was alright. I really wanted to ask her to do something for me, but even with the busted car and bent guardrail backdrop, I didn't have the audacity to ask that she put a seatbelt around her 4 or 5 year old daughter whose pretty face was on display through the windshield as they approached.

All I have is a little soreness from the shoulder harness, never touched the airbag with my face. I was lucky, as usual. Maybe this reminder will save me or someone riding with me or nearby on the road from something worse in the future. I'll never know, of course.

I have to agree with Greg from a few pages back. California drivers know how to drive. Traffic gets congested, sure, but people generally know how to deal with it. Traffic moves bumper to bumper at 70mph+, people make space for merges and lane changes, most people use turn signals most of the time, and you almost never hear a horn.

Street driving in Northern California presents a constant set of challenges as people slow down to look for parking, make poorly planned U-turns to get to parking, and stop randomly in the street becuase there is no parking. However, other drivers generally know how to handle the situation. Rather than honking and/or stopping behind the (temporarily) parked cars, drivers keep traffic flowing by moving around the blockage, using whatever lanes are necessary. No harm, no foul. And definitely no need to use the horn- after all, we've all been there.

There is is the occassional asshole who tailgates when the fast lane is already full, or who stops behind a randomly stopped car on the street, or who weaves in and out of stop-and-go traffic. But generally, people seem to be polite and professional. I guess if you spend 1+ hours a day commuting, you have to be.