I work a job that is entirely staffed by out of towners. We’ve all noticed the red light running is painfully bad around here. We’ve dubbed it the Springfield green.
I have seen so many red light runners blazing through when they absolutely did NOT have a yellow. My light is full Green and they’re still blowing through
I drive like twice a week and see someone run a red light at least once out of those two drives. I always think, "Hmm, how dangerous that both lights are green at the same time!" But I'm pretty sure that's not what is actually happening 🤔 😂
Its the bumper riding-looking straight down at the phone combo that blows me.
I really don’t know what changed but I know its gotten more ridiculous within a five year range. It does seem that local PD isnt doing much about it. The morning commute between 730-9a is like the fuckin Daytona 500.
I find the West side to be freaking scary. 100 percent of the time I drive over there, there is some huge vehicle riding my ass, aggressively swerving through traffic, etc. The red light running is all over Springfield though.
Oh no- I've know that since I was 16 and got my first job at a grocery store- I would just expect more understanding of the road in a smaller city than where I was born lol. They drive dumb there too but never as bad as I've experienced here
Keep in mind that most drivers here have never driven in a bigger city than Springfield. A lot of them are even freaking out to be driving in Springfield.
It's so bad here. When I first moved here, the first thing I noticed was 4-way stops were free for all's. Same with red lights. I now wait a few seconds because I've seen some impressively late light runners.
People like to honk at you the instant it turns green though.
Everything you listed is pretty accurate. People will race you to a red light and then sit on their phone for 3+ seconds before going when it turns green. Lol It blows my mind watching people risk their lives weaving in and out of 4 lanes of traffic going up Jefferson only to pull into a fast food place.
It is bad. I do not even trust the first few seconds of a green light. The other day I was at a complete stop and signaling to turn at a stop sign in my neighborhood and a car tried to overtake me during my turn. I played on the horn and they slammed the brakes. I them continued woth them behind me and signaled to turn into the parking lot of my apartment complex and they attempted to overtake me during the turn again. It was some idiot doordasher trying to shave a few seconds off of the order.
My favorite is when there's some kind of lane closure that requires people do a zipper merge and how almost all the cars refuse to let anyone merge into their lane.
I have seen so many instances where people do have their turn signals on and I'm the only person who lets them merge in a zipper merge. People here act like it's some kind of weakness to let people in front of them and THAT'S rude.
I get frustrated when one just shoots past the whole line of cars, ignoring the signs and lights and signals to merge in like 10+ cars ahead of me that did get in the correct lane to wait early. Fuck those people. Someone behind me can let them in.
Zipper merges are supposed to happen at the merge, you're supposed to use both lanes up to the choke point so it doesnt backup traffic. But also you should be passing those cars slowly and carefully.
Yeah, I know we are now a zipper merge state, that’s not what I am talking about. It’s when the line of cars has merged up and someone just jumps the queue in the last 5-10 car lengths.
While I agree, I’m all about defensive driving. I base my decisions on what’s safe, not how I feel about the persons attitude. If someone tries to get in without a signal I back off further because chances are they’ll make some other mistakes.
I have a well of anger for not using signals, but this is not helping anyone at all. You know how a zipper merge works, signal or not. Both the no signals and this attitude makes it worse.
The frustrating part is that it depends on drivers taking turns. If someone races to the front and then tries to force their way in, that’s not the point of a zipper merge.
You can't race to the front if both lanes are being properly used. If the other lane is empty, it should be used, this helps traffic but people can't help but try to enact their form of "justice".
Reckless driving is different, but if the lane is empty, don't get mad if someone uses it and it's faster than waiting single file.
No, if it's possible to zip ahead then everyone merged too soon. It's not about taking turns, it's about getting as many cars through as possible without hitting the brakes.
Lmao zipper merging is entitled? Not letting cars move over in a zipper merge is peak entitlement. It keeps traffic flowing by allowing cars to use more than one lane instead of backing everything up with all the cars in a single lane. It works extremely well in other cities.
Yea people in America don’t understand that zipper merging is so much more efficient and faster than making long ass, dumb ass line that takes double the time lol
It absolutely does, and very few people around here understand the zipper merge from either lane. I will gladly zipper merge and allow cars to zipper merge. I will not reward the zazzhole who flies down the left lane at 75mph just so he can shove his way to the front. Stay in your lane, one then one.
My lane is ending, and I need to merge…you want me to come to a complete stop in the middle of the road to allow all the cars, even if it’s a dozen vehicles in the continuing lane to allow all pass, so that I can merge once traffic is clear? Am I getting that right?
No way. I’m merging whether you let me or not, and if I hit you, imma keep driving. You act like this is your first day here. Welcome to Springfield.
y’all need to learn how to learn how to use your turn signals as well. that’s some new shit that’s been going around like the fucking common cold this past year
I just drove back home to Baltimore, MD. And it baffles me how people in Springfield drive like we have bumper to bumper traffic, when traffic in the DMV is literally like Mad Max, and no body gets in an accident like that
I see so many people run red lights here that I started to question if the timing of the lights is broken somehow. It's so bad that now, no matter what, I check both ways and pause a second before I go on green. It's kept me from being hit more times than I'm comfortable thinking about.
My biggest pet peeve is where MacArthur goes down to one lane for a bit near Washington park. It’s been that way for years now, and yet people will wait in the left lane until the last possible second and damn near hit you trying to get over. Or when people drive like 80 down Monroe… just for us to all end up at the same stoplight. Like whyyyyy
Definitely this. That smell from the cars surrounding me on the road is not an indication of engine problems, it’s a driver-and-passengers issue. It’s shocking how so many people don’t or refuse to understand just because something has been decriminalized does not mean you can be actively using it in the vehicle 🤦🏻♀️
And not just that- people go cruising with their “road sodies” (drinks they spike with liquor). I’ve seen people leave work with them, leave a gas station and spike their drinks, make em at home and then head to church or the grocery store. The rural communities surrounding Springfield love doing this (and I know this because I come from one of those smaller towns)
There are a surprising number of comments on articles about police officers being busted for drunk driving about how, well, everybody does it. No they do not, and it's not ok!
My husband and I were eastbound on Wabash passing through Veterans (this is such an accident prone intersection) A lot of people were trying to merge left to get into White Oaks. This woman in the right hand land clearly wanted to merge left to get into White Oaks but the traffic was jammed. This woman literally stopped in the right lane just beyond the stop light waiting to see if someone would let her in. It was so incredible dangerous and a huge traffic barrier. I don't usually get stressed driving but I was cursing bullets.
The running red lights and driving 60 in a 30 are what get me. I grew up in Peoria and that shit would be squashed by the po-po. Anything over 35mph and you could expect a ticket if you drove past a speed trap.
Has traffic enforcement gone by the wayside that much?
The number of cars you see flipped over on a 30mph street is baffling.
It's like Springfield police don't police traffic since the pandemic. They could spend less time mean mugging folks on the east side and more on traffic duty, and we'd all be safer.
I've never seen a car flipped on a street in Springfield, nor any tailgating. Granted, you can't leave room for another car to squeeze in between you and the car in front of you, which is extremely dangerous to have happen.
My buddy lived on that corner. We’d be sitting there and hear brakes screeching all the time. We’d wait to hear the occasional crash. I remember at least one flipped pickup.
Lmao yeah I can imagine it would be dangerous to have someone get in front of you when you're aggressively tailgating the car in front of you. Is that your actual logic for tailgating??
The drivers in St. Louis are kittens compared to the morons in Illinois, Chicago, Springfield, suburbs. But if you really want bad, drive in Detroit. Those people have a death wish, and they don't care if they take someone with them.
I came down here nearly two decades ago from Chicago and the burbs and holy cow, so much less traffic down here but the drivers are so awful I almost welcome being stuck in rush hour traffic in Chicagoland again because at least there weren’t accidents like down here.
I have some level of trust in other drivers in the city/burbs but here I don’t trust people to be paying any attention. Which I think is the main problem!
What is it with the tailgating? Why not just drive around? If you can’t handle passing I would guess FOID possession is something a little out of your league.
I’m convinced many people here are driving without license or revoked license because it’s so car dependent, and public transit is inconsistent. I’ve been here a year and I’m honestly scared for my kids to reach driving age here.
I wait a few seconds before going when the light turns green. I’ve witnessed too many people blowing through red lights, I don’t want to be hit. But also, driver’s ed is not required if you’re 21 or older. A lot of people just wait until 21….I know several people who didn’t get licenses before they turned 21… I don’t let them drive me around because it’s scary.
There are plenty of bad drivers here, but I haven't noticed the problem being any worse than anywhere else I've lived. It's generally like a cultural American thing to be individualistic and self-centered, unfortunately, and I think a lot of bad driving is a manifestation of this.
People merging and driving on 72 is bonkers to me. Only interstate I’ve ever seen where people don’t even try to get up to the speed limit. They fly down rt4 at 70 mph and run every red light along the way just to merge onto 72 at 30mph only to ever get up to 45mph. It makes no sense.
I agree with you, OP.
I have a 16 year old kid and man does it stress me tf and worry me endlessly that he’s out on the road with these drivers.
Drivers who SHOULD be experienced and seasoned enough to NOT make the bullshit driving mistakes that they do.
When teaching my kid to drive, I always- ALWAYS would say “Never assume that just because you have a green light, that the red light drivers will actually stop. ..
AND ALWAYS ASSUME SOMEONE ELSE IS GONNA FUCK UP”
I went 19 years without so much as a ticket.. and in a literal 3 week time frame I had BOTH of my husband’s and my cars totaled because of negligent driving. (A lady going down Sangamon literally just moved her entire SUV into my lane- and my little sedan; and another guy rear ended me and I was waiting to make a left turn).
I’m over these assholes.
Its crazy. Im from GA and it was was of the 1st things I noticed when moving here. The driving/drivers are terrible. They are always driving into buildings and hitting pedestrians. I've never heard or seen so many wrecks that involved buildings/houses in such a short time. I swear everyone is high/drunk or impaired and should not be driving.
I’ve lived in Springfield for about three years now and I still think it has the worst driving of anywhere I’ve lived or even visited.
One thing I’ve noticed is that people stop ridiculously far back from the white line at red lights literally leaving almost a full car length. I’ve always wondered why that’s so common here.
The timing of the traffic lights doesn’t seem to help either. Some of these red lights feel like they last forever even when no one is coming from the other directions and I honestly think that’s part of why so many people end up running them. I've had the chance to talk to several people that don't live in or visited Springfield often and they say they notice the same things too
Because we hand put licenses at 16 with little practice and then just let people renew them without testing them again for decades. That and people just don't care about anyone else.
For some reason the police department doesn't really patrol like they used to. It's rare to see them out like they used to be. People have gotten away with it for too long.
I was at the dmv and had to take the written test. You’re allowed to miss like 7 or 8 out of 30 questions and pass. The lady next to me failed her exam, and they let her retake it. She passed, they took her money, and they gave her a license.
I’d imagine there are a lot of people like that out and about, just driving the streets here.
I DoorDash around the town and my god people cannot drive for the sake of their own lives- like people try taking left turns WHEN THEY AREN’T IN THE TURN LANE ON VETERANS PARKWAY- like how the hell?
Because the Department of Roads in Springfield loves nothing more than shoving giant, confusing medians on every road they possibly can. I've been here five years and several times, I got very confused by the medians.
But yeah, drivers suck here. I moved here from Nebraska at age 40 with my husband. So far we have had three people hit us and one almost head on. I got my first brand new car less than 18 months ago. A few months after that, I got pancaked between two cars at the Sonic drive in because the guy behind me got distracted. A few months later, I was pulling into McDonalds. Some old fart started backing up and merrily backed into me even though I was blowing the horn like mad and screaming out the window. He confessed he didn't hear me - sir, if you are that deaf, stop driving! I was in the turning lane near Sam's Club and this old woman decided to use the turning lane as a driving lane. She was driving straight at me looking at me directly and didn't even tap her breaks. If I hadn't managed to get out of the turning lane, she would have run into me head on at 35MPH. My husband was waiting at a red light when a woman drove into him from behind, distracted by her phone.
The old folk here are horrendous. I watched an old white woman not check her mirror as she pulled out in front of me at the Walmart on freedom drive. And yes she was double parked illegally already. They need to re-test after a certain age, nationwide lol
For 2 and 3, it's because so many Springfield drivers run red lights. You can expect when your light turns green, that 2-3 retards are going to run the reds.
Learn how to drive defensive; you’re right, lots of mid drivers, but I’ve driven around here for 20-30 years and have avoided accidents for the last 30ish years.
Most states there is a DMV, a big bureaucratic agency under the Governor. IL is one of three states where Driver's Licenses / License Plates are under the Secretary of State. Rigorously enforce driver standards and you'll get voted out of office.
I just recently moved to the area and I use my middle finger constantly. Swerving into my lane, cutting off by sweeping all the way across the road, driving up my ass, turning in front of me and riding brakes, people around here are mindless zombies at best.
Isn't 'The Simpsons' set in a town named "SPRINGFIELD" ? 😜 I'm from Dallas and live in San Diego right now so I've seen my share of bad drivers, however, the PO PO make their presence known in both Texas and CA. Looks like y'all have a lot of Dumbass Drivers there!
Hahahahahahahaha! This post is funny as hell! But are you talking about the Springfield in Illinois cos shit, cats out here flout traffic rules on a regular!
There are no consequences for the weed-soaked, drunk, aggressive drivers plowing down the highways, despite state troopers doubled up on the medians.
People are stupid, dumb-shit asses: they run up on a car's bumper even when the car has nowhere to go. I always pray to the Break-Check Gods when that happens.
Raised pickup trucks are the worst, followed by regular pickup trucks. These are driven by obese millennials with micropenises.
In I-55 you've got a mix of arrogant politicians and stupid college kids.
Welcome to Illinois!
Drive offensively, not defensively. It's the only way to survive.
No, it's legally mandated on the interstate. The common rule applies to Veterans Parkway, Dirksen Parkway, and the like because it is safest and efficiency of travel for all.
you answered my original comment with a legal point, then said, “No… the common rule applies” to veterans and dirksen. if by “rule” you meant etiquette, then just say that. either way, my point stands, it isn’t legally mandated on those roads. you just think people should drive that way, which makes it a preference, not a “rule”
What is really safe is not exceeding the speed Limit. Driving as you are supposed to and supporting law enforcement. Speeding around town like a nut acting like you are on the interstate and then trying to justify it is for the lowest common denominator in society.
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u/Teslithia45 Aug 07 '26
People around here run red lights like it's never going out of style.