It’s “The Season” and Highway 111 is a freakin’ mess. I honestly long for the days of Summer when all you had to do was worry about every road on your way to work being torn up for construction. Now, you’re dodging drivers changing lanes with no signal, others puttering along at 20 mph in the left lane, and don’t even get me started about the hell on earth that is the four-way stops on El Paseo.
I decided to take out my road rage in blog form by ranking the terrible drivers of the Greater Palm Springs area by their license plates. Rankings go from worst to best.
1) Washington
Is it that every driver who comes to the Coachella Valley is just distracted by seeing the sun for once? Or is it just that everyone who comes south from the Evergreen State is unaware of turn signals and hasn’t been taught to park between actual lines? Whatever the case, if you are behind a car with Washington plates on Palm Canyon Drive, you are probably going to be pissed about something they do.
2) British Columbia
I’m sure, since they are Canadian, they are apologizing after they realize they cut you off – but they are still cutting you off! Maybe they just don’t fear an accident as much as you because of their publicly funded healthcare system? I don’t know. But, if you see a Canadian plate on the road (and when you do, 99% of the time it will be from B.C.), it’s probably best to get as far away from that vehicle as possible.
3) California
Oh what? You thought I was just going to rip on all the Northern Snowbirds? Nope. There are a lot of great drivers in California, but there are also a bunch who really, really suck at it. When a Civic and a Maxima whiz by you and then zig in and out of traffic as they race down Highway 111, they always have California plates. And don’t even get me started about all the Californians on their damn phones while driving – especially people that put the phone on speaker, but then hold it out a few inches in front of their face like a walkie talkie. Put. The. Phone. Down.
4 – 50) Every Other State But the One Below
Yeah, you might have a bad experience here or there with someone from Idaho, Florida, or Alaska – but, not as often as the two above. This huge group of out-of-towners are are all about equal when it comes to their crappy driving in the desert. Side note: I saw a Rhode Island license plate in La Quinta the other day – which was cool since it must be one of only three registered in the entire, tiny state.
51) Arizona
Have you ever had a bad experience with a driver from Arizona while in Palm Springs? Maybe. But probably not. Perhaps it’s because they, like us in the Coachella Valley, are already pissed off enough about living in 120 degree temps half the year that they figure they should be nice to other drivers for fear that those other drivers are this close to snapping from the living in the scorching heat. Whatever the reason, thanks for not pissing us off on the roads, Arizonans.
What are your thoughts? Let’s discuss in the comments.
Related: The 7 types of drivers on Highway 111
