Driving me a little crazy - a tangent on Winnipeg drivers

I likely shouldn't offer up a critique on driving.  I have a reputation, not so much for being a bad driver, but for being a little speedy.  Or as S says, aggressive.  I prefer the description of 'assertive,' but admittedly, I'll be happy to finally get our Manitoba plate on the van so I don't stick out.    


With many thousands of kilometres under my belt in many different places, some seemingly far more scary than Winnipeg, I've never had more than fleeting thoughts that I may be involved in an accident.  It's a feeling I've had more frequently, however, in the past two months of driving here.  Coming from someone who grew up in Surrey, that says a lot, I think.   


Picking up S from the Greyhound station a few weeks back, I mentioned my conviction that Winnipeg has some really bad drivers.  He laughed.   In Kenora the previous night, he'd had dinner with a number of folks from Toronto.  When he mentioned he now lived in Winnipeg, they all said, "Ohhh - they have really bad drivers there."   All places have their share of them.  Selfish ones, too.  But some of the main tricks I've noticed fairly often here are:


1.  No signal usage!  Not fun to have cars change lanes and turn corners with no indication.


2.  U-turns galore - and on very busy roads, too.  A little thoughtless when done in the left-hand turning lane and it takes the whole light for the opposing traffic to clear enough for that one driver.  I must admit, however, that I might get used to doing these, now that I know its a little more acceptable . . . 


3.  Yield = stop.  Which in snowy conditions would be understandable.  Freeway entrance ramps are made to keep traffic flowing and that just doesn't seem to happen here.


4.  Choose whatever lane you'd like to enter - not the one closest to you.  Scary!  On A's daily drive to school, we head down a number of three-laned roads.  It's disconcerting that  whenever someone turns on to the road, they usually go for the middle lane, even the far one - even if that's the lane your'e traveling in.   Not nice.


5.  No right turn on a red light even if it's clear of traffic.  And no right turn on a green light if there is someone in the left hand lane.  This one is particularly annoying as I'm often in a rush and have a major right turn to do before I'm flowing towards A's school.  The only sense I can make of this one is that with number 4 above, drivers are so unsure of what lane people might come into that they decide to wait until they're totally sure they have the green and no one around.  


6.  If the lanes have to merge or suddenly there is a parked car in your lane, you can not come into mine.  Period.  I've not experienced Winnipegers to be overly friendly when it comes to a forced lane entrance/merge.  


Stereotypes, I know.  Winnipeg's reputation for pot-holed roads had preceded it and now that we're here, it makes sense of any slower drivers.  Some of these roads are in rough shape and in the West End and many other areas, they're very narrow.  So you work with what you have.  Obviously there are decent drivers in the mix and with Winnipeg being far less hectic than Vancouver in general, on the roads it is, as well.  I wouldn't think there's as many intentionally nasty drivers . . . just perhaps as many bad ones per population.


Today I had a driver to my right decide on the green that he wanted to turn left - without signalling, he turned right left in front of me!  I also had someone in the left turning lane decide to just go straight instead when the light turned green - both not okay if I hadn't been paying attention!  I just wanted to say that its a good thing Manitobans are reportedly friendlier - otherwise, there could be some really nasty road rage.  Part of adjusting to my new life here will be adjusting to some new traffic rules, its seems - I certainly will need to change my attitude as well as my van tires.  These new road tricks are bound to make winter driving that much more adventurous - how happy I'll be that A will be on the school bus come December!