Calivermia drivers

Growing up, we used to make fun of Californian drivers for their awful driving habits. Unfortunately, those drivers stuck around and switched their plates over to Washington plates. The quality of driving in our state has deteriorated drastically in a relatively short time, and we went from a reputation of have some of the better drivers to a reputation of having some of the worst. This is among the many problems that I have had with the massive migration of Californians to Washington, and one of the reasons that I started to refer to them as Calivermin.


In recent years, the Calivermin have been fighting back. They insist that they have a lot of experience with drivers in Calivermia and drivers in Washington. Of course, most drivers in Washington right now are actually Calivermin. They compare the two and insist that they are not responsible.

I should be fair. Quite a bit of time has passed. Maybe Calivermin have improved. Maybe Washingtonians have changed when they had to deal with higher traffic volumes. Maybe Washingtonians who feel that it's rude to honk even when hey are about to be hit don't mix well with the Calivermin driving style.

Last year, I went on a vacation that took me and my sister to Calivermia. This was the first time in decades that I could see Calivermin in their own habitat. One thing that I couldn't help noticing was their drivers. I can now say with certainty that Washingtonians are still better.

The big problem that I had with the Calivermin drivers is that they are bullies. For example, we were in a parking lot. Someone in front of us and a long line of cars saw a spot that he drove past. He started backing up. We defied Washingtonian tendencies and honked so he knew he was backing into another car. The driver stopped for a moment. He obviously knew he was heading into another car. What did he do next? He resumed backing up. We had to back up toward the car behind us to avoid getting hit.

We also were trying to get out of another parking lot. Again, we had a bit of a backup. One driver getting sick of waiting with everybody else decided to go around us. There wasn't a whole lot of space for this maneuver, and we had to hold up before we could go. What's worse is that driving closer to parked cars reduces their ability to see him. Fortunately, we did not see anyone back into him.

Another example was when we were trying to make a legal right-hand turn. We were waiting our turn and were signalling to turn right. A car drove onto the shoulder and around us in order to make a right-hand turn.

Of course, these were the bigger problems we encountered. There were numerous lesser problems such as abundant tailgating. Calivermin seem to believe that if they don't like what you are doing, they can just push you. This is why I called them bullies. It's also why I have to repeat that Calivermin drivers are still worse than Washingtonains.